Courses is available in Element Success. See our packages overview for details.

Overview

The Ethos Integration allows you to sync student data from your SIS—Banner or Colleague—directly into Element451. This integration is ideal for institutions that use these systems as their system of record, especially for academic and enrollment-related data.

Ethos can bring in a broad range of student information, depending on what’s stored in your SIS. This might include:

Student profile data (e.g., type, status, ID)
Academic programs, majors, and degrees
Enrollment and registration details (terms, course sections)
Advisor assignments
Holds, alerts, or academic statuses

💡 Pro Tip: If you also use an LMS (like Canvas), you can integrate both systems. Element451 is designed to sync data from each source appropriately based on where that data lives. If there is overlapping data, the SIS will always be treated as the authoritative source. LMS data supplements where appropriate but will not override SIS values.

🚨 Important: You can only sync one SIS at a time through Native Courses Integrations.

Integration Setup

Element451’s Ethos integration supports both Banner and Colleague. Configuration steps vary slightly depending on which SIS you're using. Select the setup path below based on your institution's system:

Colleague

Step 1: Set Up Your Ethos Proxy User

Before connecting to Element451, you’ll need to configure a proxy user in Colleague for Ethos to use.

📌 Note: You can use the same user as your baseline Ethos configuration or create a new one, depending on your internal security policies.

On SCD: Define a Security Class for this user.
On SOD: Create an Opers Equivalent, using the Security Class from above.
On NAE: Create a PERSON record and note the Person ID.
On DRUS: Register the user and note the username.
Use CCDF/CCSU to set a secure password for this account.

Step 2: Configure Required Permissions in Colleague

Use the MRPR screen in Colleague to assign necessary permissions to the proxy user. Attach these permissions to the user via AROR, ensuring you set a start date.

Required Permissions

VIEW.STUDENT.TRANSCRIPT.GRADES
VIEW.STUDENT.INFORMATION
VIEW.STUDENT.ACADEMIC.PROGRAM
VIEW.STUDENT.ACADEMIC.PERIODS
VIEW.STUDENT.ACADEMIC.CREDENTIALS
VIEW.SECTION.ROSTER
VIEW.SECTION.INSTRUCTORS
VIEW.SECTION.GRADING
VIEW.SECTION.ATTENDANCE
VIEW.REGISTRATIONS
VIEW.ANY.PERSON

🚨 Important: Permissions that are missing or misconfigured may cause the integration to fail or partially sync. You can check the status in Element451 once connected.

Step 3: Create an Application in Ethos

To enable Element451 to communicate with your Colleague instance via Ethos:

Log in to Ethos.
Navigate to the Applications tab and click Create New App: Manually.
Check the box for Configure REST API Proxy and click Continue.
Enter the following details:
- Application Name: Element451 Courses
- Description: Element451 Courses integration application
Click Next and choose Add Source Application.
Select your Colleague WebAPI application (name may vary by school).
Provide the Colleague proxy username/password from earlier.
Click Add.

Step 4: Subscribe to Resources

To ensure Element451 can detect and sync updates or changes automatically, you must subscribe to the following resources:

courses
instructional-events
persons
sections
section-instructors
section-registrations
student-transcript-grades
student-unverified-grades

Step 5: Connect and Authenticate in Element451

Now you’re ready to connect Element451 to your Ethos application.

In Element451, go to:
- Settings > Integrations > Native Course Integrations
Click the SIS (via Ethos) button.
Paste your API Key from Ethos.
Click Connect.
Run the permission test to confirm everything is set up correctly.

If the permissions test fails, revisit MRPR and AROR to ensure the necessary permissions and roles are active for the proxy user.

Banner

To configure the integration with Banner, follow these steps:

Step 1: Create a Proxy User in Banner

Create a proxy user for Ethos to use.
- This can be the same user from your baseline Ethos setup or a new one based on your institution’s security policies.

Step 2: Assign Required Permissions

Ensure the proxy user has appropriate access to the academic and enrollment data required by Element451.
- These permissions are configured via Banner’s security and roles systems. (Work with your IT or Banner admin to ensure this user can access all necessary APIs and data endpoints.)

Required Permissions

Element451 must have read access to the following resources:

academic-periods
buildings
course-categories
course-statuses
courses
educational-institution-units
grade-definitions
grade-schemes
instructional-delivery-methods
instructional-events
instructional-methods
persons
rooms
section-instructors
section-registrations
section-statuses
sections
sites
student-transcript-grades
student-unverified-grades
subjects

Step 3: Create Application in Ethos

Log into Ethos.
Go to Applications > Create New App: Manually
Check Configure REST API Proxy > Click Continue
Enter:
- Application Name: Element451 Courses
- Description: Element451 Courses integration application
Click Next > Add Source Application
Select your Banner Web API application
Enter the username/password of your Banner proxy user
Click Add

Step 4: Subscribe to Resources

To ensure Element451 can detect and sync updates or changes automatically, you must subscribe to the following resources:

courses
instructional-events
persons
sections
section-instructors
section-registrations
student-transcript-grades
student-unverified-grades

Step 5: Connect to Element451

Once your Ethos application is configured, connect it to Element451:

In Element451, go to:
- Settings > Integrations > Native Course Integrations
Click the SIS (via Ethos) button
Enter the API Key from your Ethos application
Click Connect
Perform the permission test to confirm successful setup

After making changes to permissions in Ethos, you can re-test from this screen using the Check button.

Managing the Integration

Once the connection is active, you can access the Settings for your integration.

Here, you will see two tabs:

Details Tab

Integration Status

On this tab, you will find:

When it was created
Last sync time
Last updated by (user)

Permissions

On this tab, you will find:

A visual checklist of required permissions
Use the Check button to re-test after changes in Ethos

Sync Preferences Tab

Use these preferences to customize how Element451 maps and syncs your SIS data.

Settings

The settings listed here determine how data in Ethos maps into Element451.

Data to Sync

Courses
- Imports course information from Ethos (such as course name, code, and department).
- Always imported by default and acts as the foundation for related data—sections cannot exist without courses.
Sections
- Imports course section information from Ethos (such as start/end dates and assigned instructors).
- Required for enrollments and students to be imported successfully.
Enrollments
- Imports student enrollment records from Ethos, including student grades.
- Represent the connection between students and sections and therefore cannot be imported without them.
Students
- Must be imported alongside enrollments, since enrollment records require a valid student reference.

Student Import Options

Match Student Contacts (default)
- Matches incoming student records with existing contacts in Element451 using unique identifiers (such as email or student ID).
- This option is always enabled to ensure enrollments connect to the correct students.
Insert Student Contacts
- Creates new student contacts for any records not found in Element451.
- Automatically adds their related enrollments.
- Enable this option to add new students from your SIS who aren’t already in Element451.
Update Student Contacts
- Updates existing student contact data in Element451 with information from your SIS (such as name, email, or other synced fields).
- Enable this option to keep student profiles in Element451 aligned with your SIS.

Grades + Attendance Import Settings (When LMS Integration is Active)

These options appear only if you’ve integrated both your SIS (Banner or Colleague) and an LMS (such as Canvas, D2L Brightspace, or Blackboard). They let you control which system provides grade and attendance data.

Import Grades*
- Imports grades from your SIS alongside student enrollments.
- When both integrations (SIS + LMS) provide grades, the SIS data takes precedence.
Import Attendance*
- Imports attendance data from your SIS alongside student enrollments.
- When both integrations (SIS + LMS) provide attendance, the SIS data takes precedence.

Ethos Maintenance Window

When Ethos is under scheduled maintenance, Element451 will not attempt to sync data. To set your maintenance window, use the following settings:

Frequency (daily, weekly, monthly)
Start and end times
Time zone

Sync Dates

Element451 will sync course sections that started on or after the provided start date, along with their related courses, enrollments, and students.
Defaults to 5 years in the past, but you can update it to a specific date of your choosing.

ID Translations

To match your Ethos records correctly, enter your institution's key identifiers:

School ID
- Maps from Ethos "credentials" to Element451 SCHOOL_ID
- Default value is colleaguePersonId
Username ID
- Maps from Ethos "credentials" to Element451 USERNAME_ID
- Default value is colleagueUserName
School Email (Email Type ID)