1. Why import instead of typing?

A typical VTU department runs dozens of courses, taught by dozens of faculty, across several rooms. Typing all of that into forms is slow and error-prone. Excel import lets you:

  • Add hundreds of rows in seconds instead of one form at a time.
  • Reuse data you already keep in spreadsheets.
  • Cut typos — vPlan validates each row and flags problems before anything is saved.

Use the import for your initial bulk load, then switch to individual forms for small additions.

2. Download the template

vPlan ships a ready-made Excel template so you always use the right columns. On the dashboard, open Download Excel Template — you'll get a .xlsx file with the correct headers for each entity.

Enterprise template: larger colleges can use the Enterprise variant, which adds columns for multi-department setups and department-scoped data.

3. Fill in your data

Keep the template's header row exactly as-is — vPlan reads columns by their header names. A typical course sheet looks like this:

course namecourse codedepartmentsectioncredits
Data StructuresCSE-301Computer ScienceSection A4
Database Management SystemsCSE-401Computer ScienceSection A4
Operating SystemsCSE-403Computer ScienceSection B4

Repeat the pattern for the instructors sheet (name, department, courses taught) and the rooms sheet (name, capacity, building).

  • Match department and course names exactly as they appear elsewhere in vPlan.
  • Remove empty rows and stray spaces.
  • Keep amounts as plain numbers — no currency symbols or commas.

4. Upload & review

  1. Open Upload Excel from the dashboard.
  2. Choose your filled-in .xlsx file.
  3. vPlan validates every row and shows a preview — any row that fails (missing department, duplicate course code, bad credit value) is listed with the exact reason.
  4. Fix the flagged rows in the file and re-upload, or confirm to import the valid rows.
  5. Once imported, the new courses, instructors, and rooms appear in their respective list pages instantly.

5. Pro tips for a clean import

  • Import departments first — courses and sections reference them, so they should already exist.
  • Use plain text for all names. Don't copy cell formatting from other sheets.
  • One entity per upload to keep validation errors easy to read.
  • Keep a master spreadsheet as your source of truth — re-import after semester changes instead of re-typing.
  • Test with 10 rows first before importing your entire college, so you learn the format on a small batch.

Remember: after importing data, head to Faculty & Subject Mapping — imported instructors still need to be tied to their subjects before generation.