Everything you need to know about Period Structure

Posted on Tuesday, August 11th, 2026

The Period Structure process is a small but integral change that is coming with the new Student Information System (SIS), Thesis SM. If you currenly set up time periods in GeneSIS, then this short and sweet summary is for you! We’ve highlighted the most important changes to ensure you’re prepared for go-live.

Period Structure

The new SIS will be using something called Parent and Child Periods. As the name suggests, these two types of periods are directly related to each other; a Child Period comes from a Parent Period and cannot exist on its own.

Parent Periods will represent the Academic Terms (Period A, Period B, etc.) and Child Periods will represent the months within those periods (October, November, December, etc.).

The best part? This new structure will allow for more consistency across the board with unique deliveries, such as ACO monthly intakes and programs that deliver 717s (Apprenticeship or EAP). These will be represented through Academic Periods, which include the Parent and Child Periods.

Period Setup

In GeneSIS, Period Setup includes determining the period name, start and end dates, fields for grades, grade publishing deadline, refund dates, and any other required attributes.

The good news about Period Setup is that the process will remain nearly the same with the new SIS! The only big difference is the number of records that need to be set up every year.

Organizational Structure

As for Organizational Structure, there is one significant change that needs to be highlighted. In Thesis SM, there will be no access restrictions based on the department, which is different to how it currently works in GeneSIS.

For example, a Course Loader from the Department of Health could accidentally load against the Department of Business. This means that Course Loaders will need to make sure they’re selecting the correct Academic Department.

Forecasted Benefits

To summarize, the new Period Structure process comes with the following changes:

  • The inclusion of Parent and Child Periods in Thesis SM. These set dates will need to be configured on an annual basis, more than 3 times a year.
  • The number of records that need to be set up every year.
  • The Organizational Structure will not limit someone’s access in Thesis SM regarding Course Loading.

And that’s it for Period Structure! This smaller change doesn’t affect as many people, but it’s still important to be informed to understand the bigger picture.

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Want to learn more about the new SIS? Check out the FAQ page and Glossary on our website for more information or contact us if you have any questions. While you’re here, feel free to sign up for our next R3 Showcase event.


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