Preparing to Track Student Data

Using Student Records, you can set up, track, and view non-course related student data.

This chapter discusses how to:

• Set up academic standing.

• Set up honors and awards.

• Set up special grade point averages.

• Review committees and committee members.

• Set up milestones.

• Set up extracurricular activities.

• Manage student groups.

• Set up student attributes.

Common Elements in This Chapter

See Also

Understanding Transcript Levels

Setting Up Academic Standing

To set up academic standing, use the Academic Standing Table component (ACAD_STDNG_TBL) and the Academic Standing Rule component (ACAD_STDNG_RULE).

With academic standing action codes and rules, you can create sets of guidelines for every academic career within your institution. You can then use these codes and rules to assign academic standing to students, either by running the Acad Standing/Honors Awards process (SRPCEASD) through the Academic Standing/Honors and Awards page to evaluate students’ academic standing, or, by entering academic standing codes directly onto a student’s term history record through the Academic Standing page.

This section discusses how to:

• Define academic standing action codes.

• Create academic standing rules.

• Link academic standing, honors, and award rules to academic programs.

See Also

Tracking Student Data

Pages Used to Set Up Academic Standing

Defining Academic Standing Action Codes

Access the Academic Standing Table page.

Creating academic standing action codes is a precursor to defining academic standing rules. Therefore, to define academic standing action codes, you will have to think about how they can be used in the rule sets for the academic standing process.

For example, suppose that students at your institution receive two warnings before being placed on probation, and the warnings are of different degrees. That is, if students receive a second warning it is more severe. In this case you would define two different academic standing action codes for warnings since you want to distinguish them. Later, you define rule details for these codes, and for all other academic standing action codes defined on this page.

Note. If you want to inactivate an academic standing action code that is attached to an academic standing rule, delete the code where it is attached to the rule on the Academic Standing Rule page and enter a status of Inactive on the Academic Standing Table page.

See Also

Understanding Transcript Levels

Creating Academic Standing Rules

Access the Academic Standing Rule page.

Academic Standing Rule	Enter an alphanumeric code that identifies this academic standing rule code.
Effective Term	Select the effective term of the rule. When the system uses the rules that you define here in the Academic Standing process, it verifies that the rule is effective within the term for which the process is running.
Seq No (sequence number)	Enter the sequence number order in which the system evaluates the rule. Sequence your rules from the most severe academic standing action to the least severe. Once a student's academic standing matches one academic standing rule, the Academic Standing process applies the academic standing action code to the student's record and moves on to the next student.
Academic Standing Action	Enter the academic standing action code that you want the system to post to students' records if the rule is satisfied. The system populates the Academic Standing page with the appropriate code once you run the academic standing process.
Cumulative GPA, Current Term GPA, Cumulative Units Passed, Current Units Passed, Cumulative Units Attempted, Current Units Attempted, and Academic Year GPA	These criteria form your rules. For each criterion that you choose to use in this rule, select a qualifier: Greater Than, Greater Than or Equal To, Less Than, or Less Than Equal or To. Do not modify these values. Then, enter the numeric value for each criterion. In the preceding example, the cumulative grade point average must be less than 2.000 and the current grade point average must be less than 2.000. Use the last prompt box to add the connector for the rule: And, Or and blank for none. You can skip any criteria and only enter information in the criteria pertinent for your rule. See the examples to understand the sequencing of rules. Note. For the Academic Year GPA field, the system looks at the term for which academic standing is being processed, determines which academic year on which the term falls based on the value in the Term/Session Table component, determines the student's statistics from all terms in that academic year, calculates the student's grade point average, then compares the student's grade point average against the value you enter on this page.
Exclude No GPA Attempted Units	Select this check box in order to exclude from reporting all classes that were attempted, but are not included in the student's GPA (for example, Pass/No Pass courses, W grades, and so on). The grade's corresponding Include in GPA check box on the Grading Scheme Table page must be cleared (not selected) in order for the system to exclude it from processing. Clear this check box in order to include in your report all attempted coursework, regardless of the assigned grade.
Any Academic Standing Set	Select if it does not matter what academic standing action codes students can have on their records prior to this rule evaluation. The other fields on the page become unavailable for input.
No Academic Standing Set	Select if the student's record should possess no academic standing action code.
Prior Term Academic Standing	Select any academic standing code that the student must posses in a prior term to satisfy the rule. For example, in the preceding page shot, the student must possess the PRB1 (probation 1) code in addition to meeting the grade point average requirements.

Note. By selecting the No Academic Standing Set check box and selecting prior academic standing values, the academic standing rule reads as an 'or' statement. For this rule to apply, the student's record must either possess the academic standing values for the prior term that you select, possess no academic standing action code, or have no prior term for comparison.

Example of an Academic Standing Rule

Suppose that you defined seven different academic standing action codes for undergraduates. Because you want to use all of these codes in the Academic Standing process, you have eight rule detail lines in your academic standing rule, each line numbered from sequence number 10 (being the most severe academic standing action code) to sequence number 90 (being the least severe academic standing action code).

The following examples demonstrate some ways to set up academic standing rules.

The Sequencing of Rule Details

The Academic Standing Rule page looks like the following for the Dismissal 2 action:

In this page:

• The system evaluates this rule second since the sequence number is 20, and one other rule detail line with a lower sequence number exists.

• The cumulative grade point average and current grade point average requirements are higher than that of the sequence number 10 rule, but can be the same or less than that of subsequent rules.

  You can have the same grade point average requirement, for instance, for probation and dismissal. Differentiate these actions by the prior academic standing codes students must possess.

• Students must possess one of the academic standing action codes listed in the Prior Term Academic Standing Value field in addition to satisfying the grade point average rules, to satisfy the Dismissal 2 rule detail.

The Academic Standing Rule page looks like the following for the Probation 2 academic standing action code:

In this page:

• The rule detail line will be evaluated fourth by the system since the sequence number is 40, and there are three other detail lines with lower sequence numbers preceding it.

• The system will post the Probation 2 academic standing action code on student records when they possess a current term grade point average less than 2.000 in conjunction with one of the academic standing action codes selected.

• Students must possess one of the academic standing action codes listed in the Prior Term Academic Standing Value field in addition to satisfying the grade point average rules, to satisfy the Probation 2 rule detail.

Least Severe Rule Detail

In your rules, the least severe rule detail line is one for Warning-may be placed on prbn (warning-may be placed on probation).

The Academic Standing Rule page looks like the following for this rule:

In this page:

• The rule detail line will be evaluated last by the system since the sequence number is 80, and there are seven other detail lines with lower sequence numbers preceding it.

• Students must possess a cumulative grade point average and a current term grade point average that is greater than or equal to 2.000.

  In addition, the student must possess one of the following academic-standing action codes stipulated on the Academic Standing Rule page.

• Students must possess at least one of the academic standing action codes on their record, in addition to the rules set on the Academic Standing Rule page to satisfy the Warning-may be placed on prbn rule detail.

Good Standing Rule Detail

In your rules, the last rule detail line is one for Good Standing.

The Academic Standing Rule page looks like the following for this rule:

In this page:

• This detail line will be evaluated last because the sequence number is 90, and all other rule detail lines precede it possessing lower sequence numbers.

• Students must possess a cumulative grade point average and a current-term grade point average that is greater than or equal to 2.000.

  In addition, the student may possess any academic standing action codes stipulated on the Academic Standing Rule page.

Linking Academic Standing, Honors, and Awards Rules to Academic Programs

Access the Standing/Honors page.

Academic Standing

Honors/Awards

Setting Up Honors and Awards

To set up honors and awards, use the Honors/Awards Table component (SA_HONORS_AWARDS) and the Honors/Awards Rule component (HONOR_AWRD_RULE).

Honors and awards include internal and external awards that you want to record for students. With honor and award codes and rules, you can create sets of guidelines for every academic career within your institution. You can then use these codes and rules to assign honors and awards to students, either by running the Acad Standing/Honors Awards process (SRPCEASD) through the Academic Standing/Honors and Awards page to evaluate students’ honors and awards, or, by entering honor/award codes directly onto a student’s record through the Honors and Awards page.

This section discusses how to:

• Define honor/award codes.

• Create honor award rules.

• Link honor award rules to academic programs.

See Also

Tracking Honors and Awards

Pages Used to Set Up Honors and Awards

Defining Honor/Award Codes

Access the Honors/Awards Table page.

Creating Honor Award Rules

Access the Honors and Awards Rule page.

Define rules for every honor and award code that you want to use in the Honors/Awards process. Honor and award rules are keyed by academic career, therefore, create a broad description for your honor and award rules (such as Undergraduate Rules or Graduate Rules). To define honor and award rules, name the rule, define parameters for the rule, and select the academic standing codes that a student must currently possess in order for the rule detail line to be satisfied. Every rule detail line can have current academic-standing code requirements. For instance, you can require that in addition to other criteria you defined, the student possesses the academic standing code of GOOD to meet the requirements for the Highest Freshman GPA Award.

Linking Honor Award Rules to Academic Programs

Access the Standing/Honors page.

See Also

Linking Academic Standing, Honors, and Awards Rules to Academic Programs

Setting Up Special Grade Point Averages

To set up special grade point averages, use the Student Special GPA component (SPECIAL_GPA_TYPE).

Every institution has its own unique way of calculating grade point averages. Special grade point averages are averages that you define for your institution that differ from the cumulative grade point average. You can enter special grade point averages for a student's academic program, academic plan, or academic subplan. You can then use these special grade point averages to meet your institution's analysis and reporting needs.

This section discusses how to define grade point average (GPA) types.

See Also

Tracking Special Grade Point Averages

Page Used to Set Up Special Grade Point Averages

Reviewing Committees and Committee Members

Use committees to indicate advisory roles. Committees can be faculty standing committees, dissertation committees, thesis committees, and so on. Because committees are discussed in more detail in the PeopleSoft Enterprise Campus Community 9.0 PeopleBook, we will only review them briefly here.

To use committees and committee members:

1. Define committee types and the roles of committee members through the Committee Table page.

2. Assign specific committees to the committee types that you have already defined through Committee Table page.

3. Assign committee members to specific committees through the Committee Members page.

See Also

Managing Committee Data

Setting Up Milestones

To set up milestones, use the Milestone Table component (MILESTONE_TBL) and Milestone Template component (MILESTONE_TMPL).

Milestones are non-course related but vital requirements a student must complete toward degree progress to graduate. You might be able to relate milestones most easily to graduate student progress, but your institution might also use milestones for undergraduates as well. After you define milestones, you can assign milestones and advisors to a student, as well as record the student’s completions of milestones and attempts to fulfill them, through the Student Milestones component.

This section discusses how to:

• Define milestone codes.

• Create milestone templates.

See Also

Tracking Milestones

Pages Used to Set Up Milestones

Defining Milestone Codes

Access the Milestone Table page.

Note. To inactivate a milestone code, remove that code from every milestone template in addition to entering a status of Inactive on this page.

(NZL) Defining Milestones for Unit Standards

When you define a milestone for New Zealand institutions, the Milestone Type field and NQF Detail link are available. Enter milestone type U, and use the NQF Detail page to link NQF codes to the milestone.

See Linking NQF Codes to Milestones.

See Also

Setting Up Transcripts

Creating Milestone Templates

Access the Milestone Templates page.

If you link a milestone template to only an academic institution and academic career, it can be used as a template for any academic program or plan. If you want a milestone template to be restricted to a specific academic program or plan, enter the program and plan in the search dialog box. When you link milestones to academic programs you are making a template, not a permanent link. This information appears in the Student Milestones component when you copy the template to the student’s record.

Setting Up Extracurricular Activities

To set up extracurricular activities, use the Extracurricular Activity Table component (EXTRA_ACTIVITY_TBL).

You can track both internal and external extracurricular activities for individuals.

This section discusses how to set up extracurricular activity codes for this purpose. You will later use the Extracurricular Activity page to link these codes to students.

Page Used to Set Up Extracurricular Activities

Setting up Extracurricular Activity Codes

Access the Extracurricular Activity Table page.

Activity Type	Select the type of activity that you are entering. Values for this field are delivered with your system as translate values. You can modify these values. The delivered values are Athletics, Club, Employment, Music, Other, Publications, Student Government, Theater, and Volunteer.
Internal and External	Select this option to indicate that this extracurricular activity exists at your institution as well as at external institutions.
Internal	Select this option to indicate that this extracurricular activity exists at your institution only.
External	Select this option to indicate that this extracurricular activity exists at external institutions only.
Extra Activity Primacy	Enter the primacy number for this extracurricular activity. When you run the Consolidate Academic Statistics process it searches students’ extracurricular activity records for only the athlete extracurricular activity. The athlete extracurricular activity is delivered with your system. It should not be modified in any way because it has code attached to it. If the Consolidate Academic Statistics process finds multiple athlete records for a student, it writes the one with the lowest primacy number to the student’s consolidated statistics record.

See Also

Consolidating and Reporting Academic Statistics

Managing Student Groups

Student groups enable you to set up groups (such as Athlete or Freshman) and assign these groups to individuals. Then you can perform actions (such as run reports and processes) on a group, which affects all of the individuals in the group.

This section discusses how to set up student groups. You will later use the Student Groups page to assign student groups to students.

Page Used to Manage Student Groups

Setting Up Student Attributes

To set up student attributes, use the Student Attribute Table component (STDNT_ATTR_TBL).

This section provides an overview of student attributes and discusses how to:

• Define student attribute codes.

• Define student attribute values.

See Also

Tracking Student Attributes

Understanding Student Attributes

Although student groups let you track attributes such as participation in clubs, sports, and student government, you might need an additional, more flexible structure that lets you track the attributes of your students based on their career and program. To meet this need, use the Student Attributes feature.

The Student Attributes feature lets you assign all sorts of attributes to a student within an academic career or program and group together the students with similar student attributes. You can then track and report on the student attribute data. For instance, you can track students that begin their education at the same time as a single cohort by creating a student attribute for undergraduate incoming freshmen and attaching the attribute to the records of these students. You can then use the data for federal reporting and also for institutional research purposes to gain information about the type of students that you have in a particular cohort, such as a student's typical course load or how long it takes a student to complete his or her program and graduate.

You can create multiple attributes and multiple attribute values within a single attribute. Then when you assign these attributes to students, you can attach to their records multiple attributes and multiple values within each student attribute. With this flexibility, your students can belong to as many cohorts as necessary to meet your tracking and reporting needs. You can assign these attributes to students at any time, even during the recruiting and admissions processes because the attributes roll from PeopleSoft Enterprise Recruiting and Admissions to Student Records as part of the student's academic career and academic program.

Use the Student Attribute Table component to define different student attributes and student attribute values. You can create broad student attributes for entire academic careers, then attach single student attribute values to each of those careers. For example, you can create a student attribute for undergraduate students called Student Cohort, you can then create different values for Student Cohort on the Student Attribute Value Table page (such as Fall 2005 Entry Class, Fall 2006 Entry Class, and Fall 2007 Entry Class). In addition, you can create smaller student attributes for individual academic programs. You can also define student attribute values for plans and subplans and group them under a specific academic program.

Once you have defined all your student attributes and student attribute values, use the Student Attributes page to attach these attributes and attribute values to individual students, and build reports on the data so you can track statistics such as how many students in a particular cohort graduated in three years, four years, and five years, and how heavy their course load was. The system also reports a primary student attribute as part of the Consolidate Academic Statistics process.

Pages Used to Set Up Student Attributes

Defining Student Attribute Codes

Access the Student Attributes Table page.

Defining Student Attribute Values

Access the Student Attribute Value Table page.

Student Attribute Value	Enter an alphanumeric code that identifies this student attribute value.
Primacy	Enter the primacy number for the student attribute. The system uses the number to determine the primary student attribute value it uses when you extract data to report on cohorts. This primacy value has no relation to Financial Aid primacy. The lowest number takes precedence.

Note. Always assign the lowest primacy number to the student attribute value that you want to use for federal reporting of this student attribute.