North Dakota Center for Distance Education gains expanded student data access via Infinite Campus

The North Dakota Center for Distance Education (NDCDE) will gain its own district instance of Infinite Campus as part of the state's transition to a new student information system. This move is intended to give NDCDE staff secure access to student data that was not previously available, which is expected to improve understanding of individual learning needs and support for students in online courses.

Despite this change, the process for enrolling students in NDCDE courses remains unchanged. According to the announcement, "this change does not affect the NDCDE enrollment process. Schools and families will not enroll students in NDCDE courses through Infinite Campus." Enrollment procedures—such as visiting the NDCDE website, viewing course options, and enrolling or paying using current methods—will continue as before.

Work is ongoing between the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction (NDDPI) and NDCDE regarding data sharing. The agencies are finalizing what information NDCDE can access within Infinite Campus and whether districts will need to provide additional data. Guidance on these matters will be issued once details are confirmed.

Consultadd, the vendor responsible for statewide data migration, is completing its district-support team and expects to begin working with districts soon. Further information about scheduling will be provided when available.

Special Education Unit staff who assist with Infinite Campus implementation must be included on at least one district’s implementation team to receive training. Staff supporting multiple districts only need to be listed by one district for training access.

The announcement also addressed several frequently asked questions:

- On whether eTranscript services are being discontinued: "The current eTranscripts solution will continue to be used for the immediate timeframe. The BRIDGE team will continue to analyze and explore long-term options for this and other related solutions post-launch."

- Regarding support for Special Education Units moving data from Tienet to Infinite Campus: "Consultadd will work directly with Special Education Units to manage Tienet-to-Infinite Campus data extraction, cleansing, and migration. Units will be directly involved throughout the process."

- On how Special Education Units can access student data if it resides at the district level: "Special Education Units will log in to each district's instance of Infinite Campus to access district-specific information."

District staff had an opportunity during November BRIDGE Office Hours sessions to interact with project leaders, ask questions, and get updates on timelines and activities. Recordings from these sessions are available for those who could not attend. Additional office hours are planned as implementation progresses.