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

Permission Code LookUp	Description
VIEW.STUDENT.TRANSCRIPT.GRADES	View transcript grades
VIEW.STUDENT.INFORMATION	Api-View student info, including academic history
VIEW.STUDENT.ACADEMIC.PROGRAM	Api-View any STUDENT.PROGRAMS record
VIEW.STUDENT.ACADEMIC.PERIODS	Api-View student academic periods using Ethos Data Model
VIEW.STUDENT.ACADEMIC.CREDENTIALS	Api-View student academic credentials via Ethos
VIEW.SECTION.ROSTER	View course section rosters
VIEW.SECTION.INSTRUCTORS	View instructor assignments
VIEW.SECTION.GRADING	View grading details
VIEW.SECTION.ATTENDANCE	View attendance records
VIEW.REGISTRATIONS	View course registrations
VIEW.ANY.PERSON	Api-View person information

🚨 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.)

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.

Setting	Description
Courses	Import course information from Ethos (name, code, departments, etc.)
Sections	Import course section information from Ethos (dates, instructors, etc.)
Enrollments	Import student enrollment records from Ethos, including student grades
Match Student Contacts	Add enrollments for students already in Element451 database
Insert Student Contacts	Create new contacts for students previously not found in Element451, and add their enrollments
Update Student Contacts	Overwrite existing contact data with data found in Ethos, such as name and email
**Import Grades***	Import grades from Ethos with the student enrollments.
**Import Attendance***	Import attendance data from Ethos with the student enrollments.