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Course Catalogue Requirements

Story Prefix: CAT Feature Area: Course Catalogue System Overview: university-reg-features.md

CAT-001: Browse Course Catalogue​

As a Student I want to browse the full course catalogue So that I can discover courses available for the upcoming term

Acceptance Criteria​

  • Any authenticated user can access the course catalogue without additional permissions
  • The catalogue lists all active (non-retired) courses with title, course code, department, credit hours, and available sections
  • Results are paginated (default 25 per page) with navigation controls
  • Each catalogue entry links to the full course detail page (CAT-004)
  • Courses marked "Full" display their status and a link to join the waitlist (see course-waitlists-requirements.md)

CAT-002: Search Courses by Keyword​

As a Student I want to search the catalogue by keyword So that I can quickly find courses related to a topic of interest

Acceptance Criteria​

  • A search bar is prominently displayed on the catalogue page
  • Search matches against course title, course code, description, and instructor name
  • Results update without a full page reload (or with a fast response ≤ 1 second)
  • Searching with no results displays a helpful "No courses found" message with suggestions
  • Search is case-insensitive and handles partial matches (e.g., "calc" matches "Calculus")

CAT-003: Filter Courses​

As a Student I want to filter the catalogue by multiple criteria So that I can narrow results to courses that fit my schedule, department, and needs

Acceptance Criteria​

  • Available filters include: department, credit hours, course level (100/200/300/400), delivery format (in-person, online, hybrid), days offered, term/semester, and availability (open, waitlist, full)
  • Multiple filters can be applied simultaneously
  • Active filters are displayed as removable tags so users can clear individual filters
  • Filter state is preserved if the user navigates away and returns (via browser back button or bookmarked URL)

CAT-004: View Course Detail Page​

As a Student I want to view the full details of a specific course So that I can make an informed decision before registering

Acceptance Criteria​

  • The detail page displays: course title, course code, department, description, credit hours, prerequisites, corequisites, learning outcomes, course format, available sections (with instructor, schedule, room/location, and enrollment status), tuition/fees, and required materials
  • Prerequisites and corequisites are displayed as clickable links to their respective catalogue entries
  • An "Enroll" button is present for open sections; a "Join Waitlist" button is present for full sections
  • The page is accessible to unauthenticated users in read-only mode (no enroll button)

CAT-005: Create, Update, and Retire Catalogue Entries​

As an Academic Staff member I want to create, update, and retire course catalogue entries So that the catalogue accurately reflects what the university offers each term

Acceptance Criteria​

  • Academic Staff and Administrators can create a new catalogue entry with all required fields: title, code, department, description, credit hours, prerequisites, corequisites, learning outcomes, and format
  • Course codes must be unique; the system rejects duplicate codes with an error message
  • Existing entries can be updated; a change history is maintained and viewable by Academic Staff and Administrators
  • A course can be marked "Retired" which hides it from the student-facing catalogue but retains it in historical records
  • Retired courses cannot be enrolled in; active enrollments in a course being retired require administrator confirmation
  • Students with read-only access cannot create, edit, or retire entries; attempts are rejected with a 403 response