Should you import your courses with IT integrations or manually add them?

What Are “Courses” in Penji?

In Penji, Courses are what students select when they want academic support. These usually match the official courses a student is registered for at your college. As an admin, you’ll certify providers (tutors, mentors, etc.) to support specific courses. Whether a student is booking an appointment, joining a drop-in session, or attending an event, they’ll first choose a course to filter for relevant support.

Uploading Courses vs. IT Integration

Admins can upload a list of courses or topics manually using a CSV. However, many schools choose to integrate with Penji to automate this. When using IT Integration, Penji pulls:

1. The full list of courses offered that term.

2. Each student’s registered courses.

More on IT integration can be found here: Data Dashboards and Available Integrations 

Using Custom Courses with IT Imports

Even with IT integration, you can still upload Custom Courses like “MCAT Prep” or “Thesis Writing” to appear alongside imported courses like “CHEM 1301.”

To add custom options:

• Upload a Courses CSV as usual.

• These custom entries will appear in addition to, not instead of, your IT-imported courses.

Renaming “Courses” to Something Else

The Courses step is simply a filter to match students with the right provider. You can rename this category—say, from "Courses" to "Topics", “Subjects,” or anything that better fits your support model. Providers will then be certified for these topics, and students will choose a topic instead of a formal course.

To rename “Courses,” enable IT imports, or upload custom topics, just contact Penji Support.