The act of scrubbing a program in your Terra Dotta site refers to permanently deleting that program. It is not recommended to scrub programs because deleting a program could remove critical application information that is stored in the program's records. Applications to that program would no longer be connected to a program and would lose their location and date information, making any future attempts to report on that data difficult or no longer possible. As the "Scrub Program" option was designed to be a maintenance tool used to remove test data from sites, it is highly suggested that you consider other options for managing unused programs.
Options for Managing Unused Programs
In the event that a program is no longer being offered, here are a few options to consider first:
1. Mark the Program Brochure as Inactive
A program's brochure is removed from the public search listing by marking the program as inactive. This action can be performed with these steps:
- Navigate to the Admin Console > Program Finder.
- Locate your program. From the main Program Finder page, click on the toggle in that program's "Active" column. You can also open the program in full in Program Wizard and access the "Active" toggle in the top right corner of any page.
- A system message will appear confirming that the program has been marked as in active.
It is also possible to deactivate the program brochure for multiple programs at once in Program Finder by using the "Program Brochure Status Change" batch action. See the Program Finder article for full details.
2. Create a Dedicated "Inactive Programs" Program Group
If you'd like to move unused programs out of your general program catalog, consider creating a program group called "Inactive Programs". Then, assign your desired programs to this program group.
3. Recycle the Program
In the event that you have a program you wish to delete that has no applications assigned to it (perhaps it was created in error or was a test program), then the program can be recycled and used the next time you need to create a new program. You can rename and reconfigure the program instead of creating a new one.
If none of the above options meet your needs and you must delete the program, an administrator with
maintenance permissions can do so under
Maintenance > Scrub Program. Please note that after scrubbing a program, the information is completely deleted from your site and cannot be added back to your site.
Scrubbing a Program
Important Note:
- It is highly recommended not to scrub programs that have applications associated with them. A program's ID is used as the basis of most queries, and permanently deleting a program will likely impact your ability to access the desired data for your applications and related reports which were once associated with this program.
- If your program is using cost sheets, then the recommended best practice is to delete those in the program's "Dates and Costs" tab in Program Wizard before attempting to scrub a program.
To scrub a program:
1) Navigate to Maintenance > Scrub Program and search for the program you wish to delete.
2) On the results page, select your desired program.
3) At the bottom of the page, an option will appear for "Remove all applications associated with the selected program". If this box is left unchecked, then all corresponding applications will be converted to classic advising phase applications. If the box is checked, then these applications will be scrubbed along with the program. Click "Next".
4) A security screen with an alert will appear for review. In addition, you will need to copy and enter the security code provided to proceed. Click "Scrub".
5) A series of dialogue boxes will appear to reconfirm that you wish to proceed. These layers of authentication are provided given the permanence of the scrub action.
6) After the program has been scrubbed, the option to "View Logs" can be used to see a list of tasks that have been initiated to scrub programs.