Academic Calendars and Significant Dates in the student records system at Tri-C
Time period
Fall 1998 thru
the present
Fall 1968 thru
Summer 1998
Fall 1963 thru
Summer 1968
Banner Term Codes for different time periods at Tri-C
Calendar
Banner Term code
Notes
Semesters
80 = Fall
10 = Spring
50 = Summer
Quarters
06 = Fall
01 = Winter
02 = Spring
03 = Summer
Semesters
Codes for this era are Courses from this era are not
unclear; PRs don’t
supposed to be listed individually in
typically show term
Banner
codes for this era
Banner Term codes combine the current calendar year with the appropriate term code.
Examples:
Example: Semesters
2008/09 academic year
Time period
Banner Term
code
Fall Semester 2008
200880
23-AUG-2008thru
17-DEC-2008
Spring Semester 2009
200910
10-JAN-2009 thru
13-MAY-2009
Summer Semester 2009 200950
23-JUN-2009 thru
18-AUG-2009
Example: Quarters
1996/97 academic year
Time period
Banner Term
code
Fall Quarter 1996
199606
16-SEP-1996 thru
08-DEC-1996
Winter Quarter 1996
199701
06-JAN-1997 thru
24-MAR-1997
Spring Quarter 1996
199702
31-MAR-1997 thru
17-JUN-1997
Summer Quarter 1996
199703
23-JUN-1997 thru
18-AUG-1997
Significant Dates in the student records system:
Fall 1963: College opens using the semester calendar; courses have subject (department) names
but no subject codes and 3-digit course numbers, e.g. English 101;
Mathematics 095; Psychology 201 (on Permanent Records, the course number
and title are typically listed with no subject or subject code)
Fall 1968: Quarter calendar implemented; courses have numeric subject codes and 3-digit
course numbers, e.g. 560 101; 690 095; 810 201
Summer 1979: Student Information System (ISIS) implemented. Courses completed prior to
this term generally are not listed in a student’s computerized record; only the
cumulative hour and GPA data were computerized. Courses have alphabetic
subject codes and 3-digit course numbers (from Fall 1988 through Summer 1998,
a small number of courses in several departments included a fourth character,
adding a letter to the number).
Fall 1996: Banner replaced the previous Student Information System
Fall 1998: Semester calendar implemented; all courses have 4-character course numbers,
e.g., IT 1010; MATH 0950; CHEM 130L; DMS 235A
Fall 2002: Implementation of course numbers for non-equivalent transfer courses,
e.g., IT T100; ENG T20L; CHEM T20L; OTHR T1FL
Brief narrative overview of Tri-C’s calendar and student records system:
Tri-C opened in Fall 1963 on the semester calendar. Early in the College’s history, Tri-C
utilized batch data processing: paper records (scan sheets, punch cards) were entered into a
mainframe computer, processed, and output as paper records (class rosters, enrollment reports, report
cards). Each student’s academic record were kept on a Permanent Record (PR) – an 8 ½ x 11” sheet
of card stock for each student, on which a self-adhesive label was manually pasted after each term to
record the courses and grades for that term. The PR label for a term showed the student’s course
numbers, titles, hours and grades, along with term GPA and cumulative hours and GPA; courses had
three-digit numbers; the subject was not typically listed. PRs were kept in fireproof cabinets at the
student’s campus of record. A transcript was provided by photocopying the PR.
In the Fall of 1968, Tri-C changed from its original semester calendar to quarters. Also in
Fall Quarter of 1968, a standardized set of numeric subject codes was implemented (three digits,
e.g., 560 = English; 690 = Math; 810 = Psychology); these subject codes appear on the PRs
beginning in that term. Mainframe/batch data processing continued. In the 1990’s the PRs were
scanned and microfiched; each campus records office has microfiche for the PRs that were kept at
that campus.
Starting in Summer Quarter 1979, Tri-C implemented a real-time computerized records
system: ISIS – the Integrated (or Institutional) Student Information System. Various offices at each
campus had terminals linked to a mainframe computer (wired or via telephone modem). Data could
now be entered immediately and directly, and up-to-date records could be viewed in real time.
Batch processing was still used for functions such as grading, so access to certain data was still
delayed (faculty filled in optical scan sheets for each class list to indicate each student’s grade; the
sheets were collected and batch processed; grade reports were then printed and mailed to students).
Summer 1979 also marked the change to a standardized set of alphabetic subject codes (two to four
characters, e.g., ENG = English; C&CR = Court & Conference Reporting;
PE = Physical Education).
When ISIS was implemented, the plan was to not enter individual courses taken under the prior
record system, the PRs – only the cumulative hours and GPA from each student’s PR were loaded
into ISIS. The PR era became informally known as “pre-79” although that’s not precisely correct –
Winter and Spring Quarters of 1979 were in the PR era, not under ISIS. Students who attended “pre79” therefore had two separate records of academic history: a PR and a computerized record in ISIS.
To prepare a transcript, the records staff would generate a printout from ISIS and manually
photocopy the PR for “pre-79” courses. For academic advising, counselors would get a printout of
the computerized record and a copy of the PR. Over time, the records offices have entered the
individual “pre-79” courses for some students (a small fraction of that population). When they did
so, they typically used the numeric subject codes under which the course was taken, but sometimes
they used the more current alphabetic subject codes.
In ISIS, a student’s records could be inactivated (transferred to back-up tape) after a period of no
enrollment – typically two years. Certain activity during non-enrollment (such as having transfer
credit awarded, or a change of grade) would restart the two-year countdown for inactivity). Upon
returning, an inactive student would fill out a “readmission form” to update any demographic
information; their previous ISIS data would be reloaded from the tapes (the form was just the
Application for Admission – there was a box students would mark to identify themselves as a
“Returning Student.”)
In Fall Quarter 1988, some courses began being offered with four-digit numbers (MATH 100N
and 100D). Music quickly joined in, using a letter as the fourth character of the “number” to
differentiate applied courses (e.g., Piano, Guitar, Voice). Several other subjects eventually offered a
few courses with four-character numbers.
In Summer Quarter 1996, Tri-C implemented the Banner system. All records from ISIS
were loaded into Banner, except for students whose ISIS records were at that point inactive (this is
why the current Application for Admission says “Do not fill complete if you attended Tri-C after
1995” – such attendance would mean the student was not have been inactive at Banner
implementation). Under Banner, students are not inactivated for non-attendance.
In Fall 1998, Tri-C changed back to the semester system. The previous system of alphabetic
subject codes was continued. All semester course numbers are four characters.
199879 Quarter to Semester Roll – certain records are used for the conversion of students’ quarter
system data to semester units. You may see records with this “conversion term” – it does not
represent an actual enrollment term. It falls between the last term of quarters (199803) and the first
of semesters (199880). 199879 may be thought of as the moment when records were recalculated
from quarter to semester values.
In Fall 2002, the Offices of Admissions & Records began to use a system of course numbers for
transfer courses that were not equivalent to any specific Tri-C course. Previously, any course
that didn’t have a Tri-C equivalent was given an appropriate subject code and a course number of
“AREA.” The new system provides improved identification of the level and degree-relevant
content of the non-equivalent course. Some examples:


T200: indicates the course applies to the associate degree 2000-level course requirement
T20L: in subject ENG, denotes the course applies as 2000-level Literature; in a science
subject, denotes the course is 2000-level and fulfills the Laboratory science requirement
Some students’ transfer courses prior to 200280 have been revised with one of the newer codes by
special request, to facilitate that student’s graduation review or selective program admission.
The list of codes can be found at https://portal.tri-c.edu/advising/docs/xfreval.htm - in my Tri-C
space on the Faculty tab, find the Academic Advising channel (default location is near the bottom of
the middle column of three-column page layout). Click “Counselor Resources.” On the page that
appears, click “Transfer Evaluation Procedure and Evaluation of Foreign Educational Credentials”