Frequently Asked Questions

**Need more help with Catalyst? Contact the Helpdesk on the web (login required), via email, or call at (510) 642-0434 which is staffed on weekdays 9- 5. We respond to weekend tickets on Monday morning!

Please note Study.NET is a separate on-line Course materials distribution system.
To establish a connection choose a link below, or for Customer Service regarding Study.Net,
please email customerservice@study.net
or call toll-free (888) 462-0660 (business hours)
or (888) 805-2956 (after-hours)
  • What is a CalNET ID and how do I get one?

    CalNET is a Berkeley campus service that will ultimately allow you to sign in to various applications and services with a single logon ID and password.

    Catalyst is the first CalNET-aware application developed by Haas Computing Services. For more information about CalNET, click here.
    Every department on campus has at least one CalNET Deputy. This is the person responsible for the creation and distribution of CalNET IDs for the department. For contact information on the Haas CalNET deputies, click here.
  • How do GSI's get the proper permissions to post items to Catalyst and view class rosters?

    Once a GSI has been hired by personnel and their teaching assignment(s) has been processed through Academic Affairs they will see their teaching assignments and the faculty tool box button appear in Catalyst allowing them access to course rosters and giving them the ability to post materials to the course web site.

  • How do Readers get access to courses?

    Once a READER has been hired by personnel and assigned to a class through Academic Affairs they will see the appropriate classes appear in Catalyst.

  • Where do I upload my Syllabi?

    There is no single place to upload a syllabi per se in Catalyst, rather the elements of a syllabus are separated out into the Course Description with texts, Policies: grading, attendance, etc. However, a popular option has been for faulty to cut and paste their syllabus into the course description text box. Faculty have also posted their syllabus as an attachment to the first day their class meets.
  • My courses aren't listed.

    Check to see that you are viewing the correct semester. Click on the Courses button at the left of the screen. Then select the semester you want to view from the pull-down menu.

  • My office hours aren't listed.

    The records in the Dean's office need to be updated. Please contact Haas Academic Affairs Staff in The Deans Suite to update your information. If GSI's need their information updated, they need to contact the head GSI and pass along their current information.
  • Some of the discussion sections of my course don't show up...

    It is likely that an instructor hasn't yet been assigned to the course sections. Since Catalyst is integrated with the Academic Affairs System, all information pertaining to instructor assignments is obtained from Academic Affairs. Courses without an assigned instructor are not displayed in Catalyst. If you need to be added as a GSI for a certain class have the professor submit a request to helpdesk stating which class(es) you should be given access to, and at what level - as a GSI, a Reader, Grader, etc.
  • How do I post materials across sections?

    Once an event or series of events has been created in one section, it is simple to populate those events across sections. After the initial event has been created a copy icon* will appear next to the event title. Double click on that icon and all the other sections and lecture groups affiliated with that class will appear. Check the boxes you want to have the same materials and save your changes.

  • Why can't I upload grades?

    Assuming you are using Internet Explorer (IE), you may need to disable your pop-up blockers before the upload feature in Catalyst will work properly. It may be neccessary to close all IE windows, restart IE and relog into Catalyst for the setting change to take effect.

  • Why doesn't the content I upload to Catalyst appear on the correct date?

    Make sure that you GO* to the date selected BEFORE you upload any content. The "Currently editing:"date and the date displayed in the drop down menu must match. To move to the date you've selected click on Go to date > button marked with an asterisk below.
  • Why some students may not be getting class email?

    It's possible that students are not including their current email addresses in their student information. Instructors and GSIs can check to see whether or not an email address is included or missing by looking at the class roster, see http://catalyst.haas.berkeley.edu/html/help/roster.htm for details on checking the class roster.

    If information is missing or needs to be updated the student will need to make the chages his or herself by going to CalNet Directory Services to update their information.

    Instructors may want to send students a welcome message on or before the first day of class, and alert those who didn't get the message to update their student records. Another thought is to open the class roster in Excel and separate out the students who don't have email addresses and share that list with students. If chosing this option be careful to print NAMES ONLY and NOT student ID #'s or any other personal information.

  • What about course auditors?

    Auditing is not a process supported by automation from any school or campus registration system. However, members of the Faculty Technology Advisory Committee, MBA Program Offices, and Associate Dean Andy Shogun have agreed to allow auditor access for individuals fitting the following criteria: a) Apporved alumni auditors, b) PhDstudents, c)GSI's/Readers/TA's, d) Visiting Scholars, e) Faculty, Concurrent Enrollment students (e.g. University Extension approved by program office. Persons falling outside these categories need to make a request intially through Phil Mahoney ( if the person is a student) or Bryan Lin ( if the person is a non-Haas PhD, VS, GSI/TA/Reader).
  • Can I set Catalyst to publish information on a particular date?

    The ability for timed-release of content is a planned feature and will be under development by Haas and U. C. Irvine. You can, however, upload content to appear on a particular date in the calendar. Note: Any content that you upload to Catalyst will be immediately available for viewing. Specifically, it is possible to move the calendar forward to a particular date and view any content assigned to that date.
  • What's the difference between Catalyst and Courseweb?

    Recently, Vice Provost Christina Maslach communicated to the Berkeley faculty concerning CourseWeb. There may possibly some confusion between CourseWeb and Catalyst. Here is the distinction: CourseWeb is a Berkeley campus course website tool developed by the Student Information Systems unit in the central computing department, Information Systems and Technology. Catalyst is a learning management system provided by Haas Computing Services under a collaborative development agreement with U. C. Irvine’s Graduate School of Business. Both CourseWeb and Catalyst are developed, operated and maintained independently, and there is no integration or link between the two systems.

    CourseWeb enables you to efficiently and conveniently maintain and present core information about a course (e.g., meeting and location times, faculty contact information, syllabus, extended course description, and web links to additional course information). CourseWeb also provides you with the ability to view and download student rosters (in Excel format) from the system of record maintained by the Office of the Registrar. Lastly, CourseWeb allows you to send email to all students in a course via a web form.

    Catalyst provides similar functionality as CourseWeb. Like CourseWeb, Catalyst provides you with the ability to view and download student rosters, with additional student information such as program type (cross-listed course rosters and their web sites are combined into a single roster and web site found in the day version of the course). Catalyst also allows you to communicate with your students by email (using your preferred email software). However, Catalyst provides many additional features not found in CourseWeb, including the ability to distribute a variety of course materials, rosters, electronic assignment drop-boxes, conduct online surveys and quizzes, online threaded discussion forums with attachment support, schedule course-related activities and events, etc.

    Catalyst uses a calendar as the means of presenting course materials to students. You provide all materials to students by creating a calendar entry, selecting the type of content provided, and attaching the files associated with the entry. Once entered, you can copy content to other sections or other courses. Catalyst also allows you to copy an entire course from one semester to another.

    For more information about Berkeley CourseWeb, see http://ets.berkeley.edu/courseweb/. For more information about Catalyst, see http://catalyst.haas.berkeley.edu/html/help/help.html.

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Last Modified: September 23, 2004 - Kv