Oracle Student System
(OSS)
Graduate Admissions
Office
Version 4.3
Projects Training Team
IT Services
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Section 1 - Introduction to this Manual ............................................................... 1-1
OSS Course Objectives - Central Administrative IT Training ............................... 1-1
Prerequisites for Training ..................................................................................... 1-1
Conventions Used in this Manual ........................................................................ 1-2
Flex Fields ........................................................................................................ 1-2
Menu Names and Window Titles...................................................................... 1-3
Navigation Paths .............................................................................................. 1-3
Naming Conventions ........................................................................................ 1-3
Section 2 - Creating a Basic Application Record ............................................... 2-1
Objectives ............................................................................................................ 2-1
Entering Core Applicant Details ........................................................................... 2-1
Mandatory Data................................................................................................ 2-2
Duplicate Records ............................................................................................ 2-4
Entering Address Information .............................................................................. 2-6
Address Usage................................................................................................. 2-8
Displaying Addresses....................................................................................... 2-9
Entering Telephone and Email Information ........................................................ 2-10
Entering Biographic and Ethnicity Details .......................................................... 2-11
To Record an entry in the Alias tab.................................................................... 2-12
Entering Residency and Citizenship Information ............................................... 2-13
Entering Passport Information ........................................................................... 2-16
Entering Criminal Conviction Details.................................................................. 2-17
Invalid College Selection ................................................................................ 2-22
Barcode Printing ................................................................................................ 2-24
Print the Barcode for the Paper Application ................................................... 2-24
Entering HESA Domicile Information ................................................................. 2-25
Section 3 - Understanding Statuses .................................................................... 3-1
Objectives ............................................................................................................ 3-1
Viewing Status Information .................................................................................. 3-2
Application Processing Status ............................................................................. 3-2
Outcome Status ................................................................................................... 3-3
Response Status ................................................................................................. 3-4
Application Instance Status ................................................................................. 3-1
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Table of Contents
Section 4 - Supporting Materials.......................................................................... 4-1
Objectives ............................................................................................................ 4-1
Entering Supporting Materials ............................................................................. 4-2
Print Barcodes for the Supporting materials ..................................................... 4-3
Automatic Processing – Pre-evaluation ............................................................... 4-5
Entering Supporting Material for Non Active Applications.................................... 4-6
Waiving Supporting Materials .............................................................................. 4-9
Section 5 - Entering Remaining Application Details .......................................... 5-1
Objectives ............................................................................................................ 5-1
Entering Additional Information ............................................................................ 5-1
Availability for Interview, Accommodation Requirements ................................. 5-1
Applications to Other Institutions ......................................................................... 5-3
Entering Admission Test Information ................................................................... 5-4
Entering Higher Education Qualification Details .................................................. 5-7
Entering Details of any Special Needs................................................................. 5-9
Entering General Funding Details ...................................................................... 5-11
Method one: from the Direct Admission form ................................................. 5-11
Method two: from Navigator ........................................................................... 5-12
Identifying the Correct Application Record ..................................................... 5-13
Selecting the Correct Application Record....................................................... 5-13
Entering General Funding Details .................................................................. 5-14
Entering Scholarship Details .......................................................................... 5-15
AHRC Applications......................................................................................... 5-15
Section 6 - Scanning and Indexing ...................................................................... 6-1
Graduate Applications (Auto) ............................................................................... 6-2
Graduate Applications ......................................................................................... 6-7
Index The Batch After Scanning..................................................................... 6-10
Create A Document........................................................................................ 6-12
Create Exceptions .......................................................................................... 6-13
Manual Lookup............................................................................................... 6-13
Saving The Batch ........................................................................................... 6-15
Review Exceptions ......................................................................................... 6-16
Graduate APPL Manual Lookup ........................................................................ 6-18
Section 7 - Digitise Electronic Documents ......................................................... 7-1
Save and Rename as PDF file ............................................................................ 7-1
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PDF Upload Request ........................................................................................... 7-3
Section 8 - Move, Copy or Delete Graduate Application Documents ............... 8-1
Section 9 - Withdrawing / Voiding Applications ................................................. 9-1
Objectives ............................................................................................................ 9-1
Recording an Incomplete Application .................................................................. 9-4
Section 10 - Recording An Application As Entered In Error ........................... 10-1
Record an application as entered in error before a decision has been made .... 10-1
Record an application as entered in error after a decision has been made ....... 10-2
Section 11 - Rerouting an Application............................................................... 11-1
Rerouting an application before a UAB decision has been made ...................... 11-1
Rerouting an application after a UAB offer has been recorded in OSS ............. 11-2
Section 12 - Entering 1+3 Applications ............................................................. 12-1
Section 13 - Early Starts ..................................................................................... 13-1
Section 14 - College Placement ......................................................................... 14-1
Objectives .......................................................................................................... 14-1
GAO College Allocation ..................................................................................... 14-1
Section 15 - Deferrals.......................................................................................... 15-1
Objectives .......................................................................................................... 15-1
Recording a Deferral.......................................................................................... 15-1
Creating a Deferment Application for the Next Admission Period ...................... 15-2
Updating Milestones and Maximum Submission Dates ..................................... 15-3
Section 16 - Reporting and Requests ................................................................ 16-1
Objectives .......................................................................................................... 16-1
Running OSS Reports.................................................................................... 16-1
The Concurrent Manager ............................................................................... 16-1
Concurrent Processes.................................................................................... 16-1
Running a Report............................................................................................... 16-2
Types of Requests ......................................................................................... 16-2
Phases ........................................................................................................... 16-5
Statuses ......................................................................................................... 16-6
Submitting Future Report Requests................................................................. 16-10
Scheduling Reports ......................................................................................... 16-12
Scheduling Options ...................................................................................... 16-13
As Soon as Possible .................................................................................... 16-13
Once ............................................................................................................ 16-13
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Periodically ................................................................................................... 16-14
On Specific Days.......................................................................................... 16-17
Running OSS Concurrent Processes .............................................................. 16-19
Section 17 - Appendix A - Keyboard Shortcuts ................................................ 17-1
Section 18 - Appendix B: Reports and Requests ............................................. 18-1
GRAD2: Process Application ............................................................................. 18-1
Incomplete Applications Report (XXIGS: Graduate Incomplete applications) 18-1
Complete Applications – UAB Notification Report .......................................... 18-2
Graduate Cover Sheets Report ...................................................................... 18-2
GRAD4: Agree College Place ............................................................................ 18-3
Applicants Without College Placement – Allocation Report ........................... 18-3
College Availability Report ............................................................................. 18-3
Section 19 - Appendix B - Dealing with Duplicate Records ............................ 19-1
Decide which record to retain and which to discard ........................................... 19-1
Record to be retained ........................................................................................ 19-1
Record to be discarded ...................................................................................... 19-1
Section 20 - Appendix 20 – Socio-economic data codes................................. 20-2
Document Information - This document is only valid on the day it was printed
.............................................................................................................................. 20-1
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Introduction to this Manual
Section 1 - Introduction to this Manual
This document was written to accompany the Oracle Student System (OSS) Training
sessions run for Central Administration.
It is designed primarily as a reference guide to allow new users of the Oracle Student
System (OSS) to understand all Information Technology (IT) related to the graduate
admissions process.
OSS Course Objectives - Central Administrative IT Training
Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

Process applications

Process supporting materials

Update UAB decisions and conditions as appropriate

Update college decisions and conditions as appropriate

Run reports

Use the correspondence facility

Update applicant responses

Update deferral information
Prerequisites for Training
All individuals attending this course should have previously attended navigation
training.
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Section 1-1
Introduction to this Manual
Conventions Used in this Manual
Indicates there are step-by-step instructions to follow to perform the given
task. For example:
 Choose a Different Responsibility

Click on File / Switch Responsibility
OR

Click on

Select a new responsibility from the Responsibilities window

Click on
Note: indicates additional useful information, perhaps a good tip, or a shortcut,
for example:
 Note: Any changes that you make in the Oracle Student System (OSS) will be
time stamped and recorded in your name
Important:
When text is in a box like this, it is important that the contents are read carefully, it
may contain critical information about the data being entered.
FLEX FIELDS
Flex fields are used within forms to
capture additional information. The
illustration shown depicts the flex
field that holds details about items
such as interview availability and
college accommodation
requirements.

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Click on the flex field to open
the new form
Section 1-2
Introduction to this Manual
MENU NAMES AND WINDOW TITLES
Menu names and window titles are indicated in bold. For example:

Open the Navigator window
Pictures of the buttons appear in the instructions and keys on your keyboard are
indicated in bold text enclosed in square brackets. For example:

Press [F4]

Click on
NAVIGATION PATHS
Menu navigation paths are in bold and options indicated using a forward slash. For
example:

Click on Edit / Preferences / Change Password
This translates to: from the Edit menu, select Preferences, then Change Password.
NAMING CONVENTIONS
OSS:
Oracle Student System; refers to the actual IT system.
Student Systems:
system.
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Refers to the project as a whole, therefore process and IT
Section 1-3
Creating a Basic Application Record
Section 2 - Creating a Basic Application Record
Certain core details are needed to create a basic applicant record in OSS. These
include name and contact information, ethnicity details (as required by the Higher
Education Statistics Agency - HESA), and programme of study information
(academic term applying for, UAB and college choice).
Objectives
The objectives of this section are to enable you to:

Enter Core Applicant Details

Enter Address information

Enter Telephone and Email information

Enter Biographic and Ethnicity details

Enter Residency and Citizenship Information

Enter Programme of Study Information

Enter HESA Domicile Information
Entering Core Applicant Details
Applications are created via the Direct Admission form. This is a key form in the
admissions process in OSS as many other forms can be accessed from it.
Important:
Ensure that the responsibility selected is Oxford Central Graduate Administration
(the responsibility is listed in the Navigator title bar).
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Section 2-1
Creating a Basic Application Record
 To Enter Core Applicant Details

In the Navigator window, click on
the Direct Admission sub-menu

Click on
OR

Double click on the
Admission sub-menu
Direct
 Note: This is a frequently used option.
Add it to the Navigator’s Top Ten
List
The Direct Admission form appears:
MANDATORY DATA
Some fields are yellow, which means that they are mandatory when data is being
entered, i.e. OSS will not let the record be saved until data has been entered into
these fields.
To create an applicant record in OSS, the person’s last name, first name and date of
birth must be entered and saved.

Enter the following details in the corresponding fields:
o Last: person’s last name
o First: person’s first name
o Title: do not use this field! Use prefix instead
o Prefix: e.g. Mr, Doctor, Miss. Type in the prefix or choose it from the LOV.
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Section 2-2
Creating a Basic Application Record
o Suffix: do not use this field!
o Middle: middle name, if applicable
o Preferred Given: automatically populates with the applicant’s first name,
but can be updated manually. If the first name is changed, this field (if
applicable) will need to be updated also, as it will not do so automatically
o Gender: this field will be populated automatically if a gender-specific prefix
is entered, such as Mr or Mrs, otherwise enter manually
o Date of Birth: use the LOV (calendar) or enter the date in the following
format: dd-mmm-yy, e.g. 12-JAN-85
 Note: In some situations, a student may only have a Last Name and not a First
Name – in this case a ‘9’ should be placed in the First Name field and the correct
Last Name inserted as appropriate
 Note: The HESA manual states that the last name field may only contain upper
or lower case letters, a – z, A –Z, or an apostrophe, hyphen or full stop. A full
stop must be immediately preceded by ST, St, JR or Jr. Also acceptable are:
A.L., a.l., A/L, a/l, S/O, s/o, D/O, d/o, A/P, a/p.

Click on
to save
Important:
On saving OSS will search for potential matches and display any possible matches
as Duplicate Records.
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Section 2-3
Creating a Basic Application Record
DUPLICATE RECORDS
If there is a person record in the system that matches the data entered, the
Duplicate Person Details form will display to list all possible matches for the
applicant entered:
If a duplicate is found (duplicate person form will appear):

Click on the relevant existing applicant record

Click on
The Duplicate Person Details form closes and the Direct Admission form returns
with the saved record displayed.
If no duplicate is found:

Click on
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to create a new person record
Section 2-4
Creating a Basic Application Record
The Duplicate Person Details form closes and the Direct Admission form returns
with the saved record displayed.
 Note: When a new person record is created, OSS automatically assigns it a
Person Number. Make a note of this number.
Important:
Person records cannot be deleted from OSS so please take care when creating
records. If a new person record is created with incorrect information, amend the
record with the correct information.
 Note: If a duplicate person record is created on the system, please see page 191 for the policy on dealing with Duplicates
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Section 2-5
Creating a Basic Application Record
Entering Address Information
The following information refers to Section B of the application form. These details
are stored in the Person Details form in OSS, which can be accessed via the Direct
Admission form.
 To Open the Person Details Form

In the Direct Admission form, click on
The Person Details form appears:
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Section 2-6
Creating a Basic Application Record
In the Address tab of the Person Details form, enter the following details in the
corresponding fields:
o Country: type in the country or choose it from the LOV
 Note: To make searching through a list easier, use the wildcard symbol %: e.g.
if searching for the United Kingdom, type in ‘un%’ and press [Enter]. A shorter
list will appear, from which the United Kingdom entry can be easily selected
o Address: four lines are provided
o City/Town: enter as applicable
o Postcode: enter the postcode or use as applicable for the given country
Important:
The postcode must be entered for all UK addresses, as the Higher Education
Statistics Agency (HESA) requires this information.
o State/ Province, use as applicable for the given country
o County: not to be used
o Effective Dates: enter From
and To dates. Use the LOV
(calendar) or enter the date in
the following format: dd-mmm-yy, e.g. 12-JUL-04
Important:
All addresses entered must have a start date, as the Higher Education Statistics
Agency (HESA) requires this information.

Click on
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to save
Section 2-7
Creating a Basic Application Record
ADDRESS USAGE
Address usage in OSS corresponds with the type of addresses applicants are
requested to supply in Section B of the application form: Home Address and
Correspondence Address.
Important
OSS will always use the correspondence address, unless the end date has passed.
If there is no correspondence address with a current date then OSS will choose the
address that has the Primary box ticked.
If the applicant gives two addresses, one should appear as Home with the Primary
box ticked, the other as Correspondence without the Primary box ticked.
Correspondence should also have an end date, enter this if populated on the
application form.
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Section 2-8
Creating a Basic Application Record
 To Enter Address Usage

Enter the following details in the corresponding fields:
o Description: select ‘Home’ or ‘Correspondence’ from the LOV
OR
o Description: type ‘Home’ or ‘Correspondence’ in the field
o Primary: tick box if applicable (for Home)

Click on
to save
 To Enter a Second Address

Click in the Country field

Click on

Enter the following details in the corresponding fields:
to create a new record
o Address: enter as shown on the previous page
o Effective Dates: enter as shown on the previous page
o Description: select ‘Correspondence’ or ‘Home’ from the LOV
o Primary: tick box if applicable (for Home)

Click on
to save
DISPLAYING ADDRESSES
The number of available address records is displayed in the status bar.
 To View Additional Address Entries

Click in one of the address fields

Press the down arrow key
The new address is displayed.

Press the up arrow key to go back up the list
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Section 2-9
Creating a Basic Application Record
Entering Telephone and Email Information
 To Enter Phone and Email Information

Ensure that the Person Details form is open.

Click on the Phone / Email tab:

Enter the following details in the corresponding fields:

Type: enter phone line type from the LOV, e.g. daytime, mobile, etc.
o Country Code: enter the country code from the LOV
 Note: In this list, a code always prefixes the country name. Use the wildcard
symbol % to search by country name, e.g.: to search for the United States type
in %un% and press [Enter]. A shorter list will appear, from which the United
States can easily be selected
o Area Code: enter as appropriate
o Phone Number: enter main number as appropriate
o Extension: enter if applicable
o Primary: tick this box if this is to be the main contact number
Now add the email details
o Email Purpose: leave blank
o Email Format: select ‘HTML mail’ from the LOV
o Email Address: enter as appropriate
 Note: if the Primary box is not ticked for one of the entries, OSS will
automatically tick this box for the latest record entered when the information is
saved

Click on
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to save
Section 2-10
Creating a Basic Application Record
Entering Biographic and Ethnicity Details
For the quick entry of a new applicant’s information, only the ethnicity details (next
page) need to be entered at this stage. However, as the Country of Birth field is
located on the same tab, it is easiest to enter it now.
 To Enter Country of Birth

Ensure that the Person Details form is open.

Click on the Biographic tab:

Enter the following detail in the corresponding field:
o Country of Birth: enter as appropriate by using the LOV or typing the
name of the country directly
 Use Great Britain, N. Ireland, Wales, Scotland for all British students. Use
%Gre to locate.

Enter the following details in the corresponding field:
o Ethnic Origin: select the appropriate entry from the LOV
 Note: Even though the Race field appears in yellow (colour code for mandatory
entries in OSS), when ethnic origin is selected, a value does not need to be
entered in this field. All other fields can be ignored.
Important
The University is required under statute to seek and return information about the
ethnic background of all its applicants for the Higher Education Statistics Agency
(HESA).

Click on
to save

Click on
to close the form
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Section 2-11
Creating a Basic Application Record
To Record an entry in the Alias tab
The Aliases tab is used for two reasons.
Firstly, it is used to record any legal former names declared by an applicant on their
application.
Secondly, it can be used to keep a history of a wrongly spelt name such as an
individual’s surname which may have been entered in to the system incorrectly at the
applicant stage. It is then possible to input an Alias Type of Admin Error and
provide details as summarised below.
The process involves two stages. Firstly, it is necessary to enter the original details
as Alias information, following which, the individual’s new details can be input in the
standard fields.
 To Record an entry in the Alias tab
 Ensure the Person Details form is open:
 Click on the arrow to the right of the tabs to reveal all items.
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Section 2-12
Creating a Basic Application Record
 Select Aliases from the list and the Aliases form will be displayed
 Enter the following details in the corresponding fields:
o Alias Type: Select from LOV
o Surname: Field will auto complete
o Given Names: Field will auto complete
o Title: Complete as appropriate
o Effective Dates: Complete From date as appropriate (see note below)
 If this is the first entry in the Alias tab, enter the person’s Date of Birth. If there is
already an entry in the Alias tab, end date the existing Alias and enter an
effective date for the new Alias following on from the previous end date.
 Click on
to Save
 Enter the following details in the corresponding fields:
o Last: Enter new surname
o Prefix: Enter new title
 Click on
to Save
 Click on
to close the form
Entering Residency and Citizenship Information
The University is required to enter information regarding the applicant’s country of
residence in order to determine whether they will be considered as an international
or home student for fee calculation purposes.
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Section 2-13
Creating a Basic Application Record

To Enter Residency and Citizenship Information

In the Person Details form, click on
:
The Residency / Citizenship Details form appears:
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Section 2-14
Creating a Basic Application Record
Click on the Citizenship tab:

Enter the following details in the corresponding fields:
o Citizenship/Residence Status. This field may be left blank although it
appears as a yellow mandatory field. Select INDEF from the LOV if this is
specified on the application form.
o Country of Citizenship: type in the country or choose it from the LOV.
Enter both countries if dual nationality is indicated on the application form.
 Note: If you do not type the country exactly as it appears in the LOV, the list will
appear and allow you to choose the appropriate entry. To search for the United
Kingdom in the LOV, type in un% and press [Enter]. A much shorter selection
will appear, from which you can easily select the United Kingdom entry
o Start Date: use the LOV (calendar) or enter the date in the following format:
dd-mmm-yy, e.g. 12-JAN-78. Use the Date of Birth unless a different date
has been indicated on the form.
o End Date: enter the end date, if applicable, using the same method as for
the Start Date field
o Country of Legal Permanent Residence: enter the appropriate value
using the same method as for the Country of Citizenship field
 Use UK for all British students except for applicants from the Channel Islands or
the Isle of Man.
o Start Date: use the LOV (calendar) or enter the date in the following format:
dd-mmm-yy, e.g. 12-JAN-78. If no start date is given on the application
form enter the date of the declaration in the final section of the application
form.
o End Date: enter the end date, if applicable, using the same method as for
the Start Date field

Click on
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to save
Section 2-15
Creating a Basic Application Record

Click on
to close the form
Entering Passport Information
Passport details must be recorded for anyone who needs to apply for a Visa in order
to study at Oxford. If an applicant has more than one passport, they should indicate
which passport they will be using for their Visa application.
 to enter the details of the passport to be used in the Visa application

In the Person Details form, click on
:
The Residency / Citizenship Details form appears:
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Section 2-16
Creating a Basic Application Record
 Click on the Passport tab

Enter the following information in the appropriate fields:
o Passport Number: Enter the number of the passport to be used for the
Visa application
o Country Code: Select the country code from the LOV
o Expiry Date: Enter the expiry date of the passport

Click on
to save

Click on
to close the form
Entering Criminal Conviction Details
If an applicant records that they have a criminal conviction on their application form,
this must be recorded on OSS.
 To record a criminal conviction

In the Person Details form, click on the Others button
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Section 2-17
Creating a Basic Application Record
A list of options will be displayed.
 Select Disciplinary from the list of options.
The Person Disciplinary Details form will be displayed.
 Click on the down arrow to the left of the question: Ever Convicted of a Felony?
 Select Yes from the list
The Nature of Crime field will become editable.


Enter the details and date from the Applicant's documentation.
Click on
Click on
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to save
to close the form.
Section 2-18
Creating a Basic Application Record
Entering Programme of Study Information
Each programme of study in OSS is linked to a calendar and to categories such as
postgraduate research admission and postgraduate taught admission.
 To Enter Initial Programme Information

In the Direct Admission form, click on
The Session Details window appears:

Enter the following details in the corresponding fields:
o Academic Calendar: select the appropriate entry from the LOV
Important:
The codes in this LOV appear in the format: 0910ACYR1M, this code breaks down
into:
0 9 1 0 A C Y R 1 M
0910 stands for the start
and end dates of the
academic year, e.g.
2009-2010
ACYR
stands for
Academic
Year
1M means the
application is for entry
in the first term Michaelmas term
o Process Category: select the appropriate entry from the LOV, e.g. Post
Graduate Research Admission, Post Graduate Taught Admission, or Post
Graduate Non-Matriculated Programme Admission
o Admission Calendar: select the appropriate value from the LOV. This field
populates automatically if the Academic Calendar field is entered

Click on
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Section 2-19
Creating a Basic Application Record
The Application form appears, with some details already filled in:

Enter the following
corresponding field:
detail
in
the
o Change the Application Date to the
date shown on which the application
form was received.
o English First Language: enter ‘YES’ or
‘NO’ in the field; type this into the field
directly, or select a value from the LOV
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Section 2-20
Creating a Basic Application Record

Ensure the Program tab is selected:

Enter the following details in the corresponding fields:
o Program Code: select the appropriate code from the LOV:
The Program Code List of Values appears:
 Note: To search for a programme title, use the wildcard symbol %, e.g.: to
search for Philosophy type in %phil% and press [Enter]
A shorter list will appear, from which the appropriate philosophy programme can
be selected
o Location: click on
next to the field and select the correct college
The Programme Offering Pattern window appears:
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Section 2-21
Creating a Basic Application Record
 Note: Entering the college via this list will automatically populate the following
fields:
Location
Attendance Type
Attendance Mode
Invalid College Selection
If the first choice college is invalid select the second choice college by default
and email the applicant to inform them the choice they made was incorrect, that
you have allocated the second choice college and that they are happy with this.
If both colleges are invalid, pick a college on students’ behalf and email them to inform
of your action. Invite them to tell you immediately if they are unhappy with the
selection and suggest a replacement.

Enter the following application source details in the corresponding fields:
o Entry Status: Select Re-Re-Reroute, Early Start or Re-Reroute/Early
Start if applicable.
o School Applying to: Select Studentship or Rhodes Trust if applicable
o Application Source: Select appropriate value from LOV if Entry Status
values are not applicable to the application
When the Application Source field has been populated, a flexfield will open.
Complete all fields as follows:
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o

Click on
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Interview availability
Where the applicant heard of the course
Intention to apply for research degree
Interest in college accommodation
Accompanying adults (if blank enter 0)
Gender and DOB of children (if blank enter 0)
Thesis title (if applicable)
Proposed Research Supervisor (if applicable)
Override College choice for funding (Yes/No)
Degree level qualification taught in English
Completed course under UK Tier 4 child visa
Purchase order number (if paid on online store)
Socio-economic information (from Appendix B). Employment and
gross annual income categories should be entered by the relevant
number.
to save.
Section 2-22
Creating a Basic Application Record
 Note: If you use Reroute or Early Start you must ensure that the original
application is WITHDRAWN
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Section 2-23
Creating a Basic Application Record
Barcode Printing
The use of barcode printing is important in that it is the way that the scanning
software indexes the scanned document to the OSS application. Every paper
application must be input into OSS and supporting documentation received for any
application recorded in Personal Statements as normal. A barcode is printed for
each application and every piece of supporting material for any paper application
received in the Graduate Admission Office. The relevant barcode is then attached
on the first page of each document.
PRINT THE BARCODE FOR THE PAPER APPLICATION
To print a barcode for the paper application form:

Click in to the Application Date field

Click on the

Click on
menu
in the menu
The BarPrinterControl window is displayed:
On the window the barcode identifier and the Print Barcode button is displayed.

Click the
button
The printer prints the barcode on a label. If the barcode is printed correctly:

Close the BarPrinterContol window

Attach the barcode to the first page of the application form
533568611
Section 2-24
Creating a Basic Application Record
Entering HESA Domicile Information
Domicile information is required by HESA and should be part of the applicant record
in OSS. As this information is not collected explicitly on the application form, it is
derived from the applicant’s stated home address.
 To Enter HESA Domicile Information

In the bottom part of the Applications form, click on
until the
button appears:

Click on
The HESA Admission Details form appears:
533568611
Section 2-25
Creating a Basic Application Record
Enter the following detail in the corresponding field:
o Domicile: use the LOV to select the country indicated in the applicant’s
home address.

Click on
to save

Click on
to close the form
 To Close the Applications Form

Click on
to close the form
The Direct Admission form appears, from which a new application record can be
created.
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Section 2-26
Understanding Statuses
Section 3 - Understanding Statuses
Objectives
The objectives of this section are to enable you to:

View status information

Understand the Application Processing Status

Understand the Outcome Status

Understand the Response Status

Understand the Application Instance Status
Throughout the admissions process, it will be necessary to check some of the
following statuses: the Application Processing Status, the Outcome Status and
the Response Status for a given application. This allows all parties involved in the
admissions process to quickly see what stage any given application has reached.
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Section 3-1
Understanding Statuses
Viewing Status Information
 To View Any Status Information

Open the Direct Admission form from Navigator

Ensure that the Application Summary tab is selected
All the status information is accessible from this form.
Application Processing Status
The Application Processing Status field is highlighted below:
Possible values for this field and their meanings are as follows:
Value
Meaning
ACTIVE
The application is open and can be edited in OSS
COMPLETE
The candidate has accepted and returned the contract, or
conditions have been failed – no further processing is required
WITHDRAWN
The applicant has withdrawn or ‘incomplete too late’.
533568611
Section 3-2
Understanding Statuses
Outcome Status
The Outcome Status field is highlighted below:
Possible values for this field and their meanings are as follows:
Value
Meaning
COND_FAIL
The conditions were not fulfilled
GRAD_OFFER
An offer has been made
GR_RE-EVAL
The applicant is due to be re-evaluated in the next application
deadline
GR_REJECT
The applicant has been rejected by the UAB
GR_WAITLIST
The UAB has decided to waitlist the applicant
PENDING
The application is awaiting UAB evaluation
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Section 3-3
Understanding Statuses
Response Status
The Response Status field is highlighted below:
Possible values for this field and their meanings are as follows:
Value
Meaning
DEFER
The applicant has requested a deferral and the request is being
considered by the UAB
FINAL_C
The applicant has accepted the final offer and sent back the
signed contract
PENDING
The applicant’s response is outstanding
WITHDRAW
The applicant withdrew after an offer had been made or was
‘incomplete too late’
NOT_REQ
No response is expected from the applicant
CONT_SENT
The UAB has sent the University contract to the applicant
EARLY_ST
Means this application record was closed because applicant
wanted to start early. Another, correct, application record will
have been created
533568611
Section 3-4
Supporting Materials
Application Instance Status
 To View the Application Instance Status

Open the Direct Admission form from Navigator

Ensure that the Application Summary tab is selected
The Application Instance Processing Status field is highlighted below:
Possible values for this field and their meanings are as follows:
Value
Meaning
INCOMP_TL
All supporting materials had not been received before the last or
only application deadline passed
WITHDRAWN
The applicant has withdrawn
533568611
Section 3-1
Supporting Materials
Section 4 - Supporting Materials
Objectives
The objectives of this section are to enable you to:

Enter Supporting Materials

Add Attachments

Understand the Automatic Processing of Records

Enter Supporting Materials for Non Active Applications

Waive Supporting Materials
Supporting materials can come into the Graduate Admissions Office at any time and
need to be recorded and barcoded against the application instance. Materials
arriving with the application should be recorded as part of the initial creation of the
application record on OSS (see Section N of the application form).
Supporting material can also be recorded in Personal Statements and barcoded after
an application has been processed, as and when each item arrives at the Graduate
Admissions Office.
Before entering supporting materials, check the Application Processing Status to
find out whether the application is ‘active’ or not (see Understanding Statuses in
section 3-1).
533568611
Section 4-1
Supporting Materials
Entering Supporting Materials
 To Enter Supporting Materials for ‘Active’ Applications

Open the Direct Admission form from Navigator

Search for the relevant applicant record

Place the cursor in the record of the application
you wish to view (the blue record indicator will
show in that field):

Click on
The Applications form appears.

Click on
The Personal Statements form appears:
Enter the following information in the corresponding fields:

Personal Statement Type: Select the appropriate type of supporting material
from the LOV, e.g. statement of purpose, research proposal, transcript, etc.

Description: automatically populates once the type is entered

Date Received: automatically populates once the type is entered. To change,
use the LOV (calendar) or enter the date in the following format: dd-mmm-yy,
e.g. 12-JAN-05

Click on
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to save
Section 4-2
Supporting Materials
PRINT BARCODES FOR THE SUPPORTING MATERIALS
The Personal Statements form is displayed. The supporting material (Personal
Statement Type) is inserted as normal in the list and saved.

Click on a Personal Statement type line that you would like to print the barcode
for. Ensure the

Click on the

Click on
is adjacent to the personal statement type selected
menu
in the menu
The BarPrinterControl window is displayed:
533568611
Section 4-3
Supporting Materials
On the window the barcode identifier and the Print Barcode button is displayed.

Click the
button
The printer prints the barcode on a label. If the barcode is printed correctly:

Close the BarPrinterContol window

Attach the barcode to the first page of the supporting document

Put the document to one side
Repeat the procedure for each item of supporting material /Personal Statement Type
Barcodes can be printed for selected documents as many times as
needed by visiting Personal Statements and following the procedures
above.
Barcodes are printed and attached to the first page of each document. When
placing the documents to one side they should be placed in page order so that they
are scanned, digitised and collated in page order. When scanning, Sorting Office
application reads the barcode and creates the documents depending on where the
barcode is.
Important: If the student has requested an English Language Test Waiver, enter this
as another Personal Statement Type. Also, if the student has been granted an
English Language Test Waiver from their UAB, please enter this as another Personal
Statement Type.
533568611
Section 4-4
Supporting Materials
Automatic Processing – Pre-evaluation
Once the basic application record has been set up, various updates and checks
need to be made on the record, these include the assignment of the appropriate
supporting material set and assessing the status of the application. An automatic
process (request set) has been set up to carry out this set of processes. This
automatic process is scheduled to run at 1 am and 1 pm every day. The functions
covered by this automatic process are as follows:

Assignment of the correct supporting material set to the application

Updating of the supporting material set items (mandatory items of supporting
materials recorded when inputting the basic record will be ‘ticked off’ as
received and the tracking status updated as applicable)

Update of the Application Completion Status according to the result of the
previous step (located by clicking on
application record)
from the

Allocation of the appropriate application deadline

Set up of the college decision rating record (where colleges enter the results
of their evaluation)

Assignment of the college evaluator

Running and printing of the “Coversheets Report”
If for any reason the automatic process has not run at one of its scheduled times or if
it must be run urgently for a application requiring immediate processing, the process
can be run manually. Please refer to the Reporting and Requests in section 16-1 for
further details on how to do this.
Important:
The automatic processes will produce coversheets and labels for each applicant that
has successfully completed their application (i.e. they have provided all required
items of supporting material in time for a valid gathered field). Each one of these
coversheets will need to be sent to the UAB.
533568611
Section 4-5
Supporting Materials
Entering Supporting Material for Non Active Applications
Items of supporting material may be received for an application whose status in OSS
is no longer ‘ACTIVE’ (i.e. the Application Processing Status field shows
‘COMPLETE’, or ‘WITHDRAWN’). In this case, supporting materials cannot be
added in the usual way, as such applications can no longer be edited in OSS.
Instead, their receipt must be entered as a ‘note’ against the person’s record.
 To Enter Supporting Material Notes

Open the Direct Admission form for the applicant in question

Click on
The Person Details form appears:

Click on
A Forms window appears from which you can select a variety
of other forms

Select Notes

Click on
533568611
Section 4-6
Supporting Materials
The Person Notes form appears:

Enter the following information in the corresponding fields:
o Person Note Type: select ‘LATE_APP_INFO’ from the LOV
o Description: automatically populates when Person Note Type is selected
o Start Date: automatically populates with the current date

Click on
533568611
Section 4-7
Supporting Materials
The Text Notes window appears:

Enter free text in this form to describe the item of supporting material that has
been received
Important: Free text fields are available to input notes which may be relevant to the
application. Please note that under the Data Protection Act of 1998, which came into
force on 1 March 2000, replacing the Data Protection Act of 1984, individuals are
entitled to request copies of any information the University holds on them, and this
includes the content of free text fields.

Click on
to save

Click on
to close any open forms
533568611
Section 4-8
Supporting Materials
Waiving Supporting Materials
In exceptional circumstances, a UAB might make the request that a particular item of
supporting material for a given applicant be waived.
 To Waive Supporting Materials

Open the Applications form, navigation: Direct Admission / Open
Application

Click the
button
The Requirements form appears:

Ensure that the Admission Processing tab is selected

Click the
button
The Tracking Items form is displayed:

Select the item of supporting material to be waived by clicking into its field (the
blue record indicator will show)

Tick the By-pass box for that item:
533568611
Section 4-9
Supporting Materials
Click on
The Tracking Item Step Notes form appears:
Enter the following information in the corresponding fields:

Tracking Note Type: select ‘BYPASS’ from the LOV

Description: automatically populates with ‘Tracking step bypass reason’

Click on

In the Text Notes window that appears, type in the details of the bypass
request. This includes the name of the requester, the date of the request and
the reason for the bypass
Important:
Each item of supporting material that is bypassed will need to have its own note as
the note refers to that item only.

Click on
to save

Click on
to close any open forms
533568611
Section 4-10
Barcode Printing, Scanning and Indexing
Section 5 - Entering Remaining Application Details
Objectives
The objectives of this section are to enable you to:

Enter additional information

Enter admission test information

Enter higher education qualification details

Enter details of any special needs

Enter general funding details
Entering Additional Information
 To Enter Additional Information
Direct Admissions > Direct Admissions
AVAILABILITY FOR INTERVIEW, ACCOMMODATION REQUIREMENTS

From the Direct Admission form, select the relevant application

Click on
Important:
Notice the blue record indicator (highlighted above), this indicates the record you
have selected. It is important to ensure you have the correct record selected before
choosing Open Application.
The selected application opens as a new form:
533568611
Section 5-1
Barcode Printing, Scanning and Indexing

In the Program tab click on the flex field (highlighted) next to the Application
Source field:
The Programme Application Instance window is displayed:

Enter the following details in the corresponding fields, as applicable (some of
the LOVs are not visible and if you wish to use them you will need to use the
scroll bar to view them):
o Dates of availability for an interview
o Where the applicant found out about the course: type this in or use the LOV
o Intention to apply for a research degree: type this in or use the LOV
o Interest in accommodation: type this in or use the LOV
o Number of accompanying adults for accommodation, if applicable
o Gender and date of birth of accompanying children
o Research Applicants: Thesis Title
o Research Applicants: Proposed Research Supervisor: if known
o Studentship Competition: leave blank (this is recorded elsewhere)
o Override College choice for funding: type Yes or No

Click on
533568611
Section 5-2
Barcode Printing, Scanning and Indexing
Applications to Other Institutions

In the Applications form, click on
The Application Details form is displayed:

Enter the following details in the corresponding field:
o Institution Code: enter the institution code in the field
 Note: Institutions are prefixed by a code. If you want to search by the institution
name you will need to use the wildcard symbol %, e.g.: to search for the London
School of Economics type in %econ% and press [Enter]. A shorter list will
appear, from which you can easily select the school – had the search used
%London% a fairly long list would still have appeared.
 Note: An ‘s’ prefix is used to indicate Institution codes which are part of
Undergraduate Admissions.
 Note: If an Institution cannot be found, please address the query to the OSS
Support Centre in the first instance.
o Name: this field automatically populates when the code is selected

Click on
to save

Click on
to close any open forms
533568611
Section 5-3
Barcode Printing, Scanning and Indexing
Entering Admission Test Information
This section records details of admission tests such as the CPE or GRE that the
applicant may have taken. This information is listed in Section H of the application
form.
 To Enter Admission Test Information

Open the Direct Admission form from Navigator:

Click on
twice
 Note: You will notice that each time you click the button, additional buttons are
displayed

Click on
533568611
Section 5-4
Barcode Printing, Scanning and Indexing
The Admission Test Summary form appears:

Click on
The Admission Test Results form is displayed:
Enter the following details in the corresponding fields:

Test Type: select the appropriate entry from the LOV or type in the name of
the test (e.g. ‘GRE’ or ‘GMAT’)

Test Date: enter the date the test was taken by using the LOV (calendar) or
enter the date in the following format: dd-mmm-yy, e.g. 15-JUL-03

Grade: CPE ONLY - this field is used to enter an alphabetic grade for the CPE
- this information will come from the ‘Overall Result’ section of the application

Score Received Date: populated automatically with the current date once the
test date is entered, but can also be updated manually if required

Score Type: populated automatically once test type is selected
533568611
Section 5-5
Barcode Printing, Scanning and Indexing
Ensure that the Test Segments tab is selected:
Enter the following details in the corresponding fields:

Test Segment Name: select the relevant constituent score name from the
LOV
Important:
Overall results are also entered in this way; their Test Segment Name is ‘Total’ with
the exceptions of IELTS, which is ‘Overall Band Score’ and CPE which will populate
with the default ‘mandatory segment’ when the LOV is clicked. This must be
selected even though CPE tests do not have segments, as it is a mandatory field.

Test Score: enter the numeric value as appropriate
Repeat as appropriate
When complete:

Click on
to save

Click on
to close any open forms
 Note: Admissions Tests must be also be recorded as Personal Statements,
barcoded and scanned.
533568611
Section 5-6
Barcode Printing, Scanning and Indexing
Entering Higher Education Qualification Details
 To Enter Higher Education Qualification Details

Open the Direct Admission form from Navigator:

Click on

Click on
until the Qualification Details button appears
The Qualifications Details form appears:
533568611
Section 5-7
Barcode Printing, Scanning and Indexing
Enter the following details in the corresponding fields:
o Qualification: use the LOV to enter the name of the degree (e.g. BA,
MSC, etc.) or type it into the field
o Description (qualification): automatically populates with the long name of
the qualification once the qualification has been selected
o Subject: select the appropriate entry using the LOV. The field is updated
with the subject code
 Note: The two Subject fields at the bottom of the form are used when an
applicant has a combined honours degree and is recorded in conjunction with a
Qualification line. If you know the code of the subject you need, simply type it
into the field and press [Enter]. If you need to search the list, use the wildcard
symbol %, e.g. to find microbiology, type in ‘%micro%’ and press [Enter]. A
much shorter selection will appear, from which you can easily select the subject
needed
o Description (subject): automatically
populates with the name of the subject
once the subject has been selected
o Predicted Result: do not use, claimed
result should be used if no proof of
result is available
o Approved Result: enter the result here
if a transcript is received, proving the
result of the qualification
 Note: To see the Approved Result field
and other fields, use the scroll bar at the bottom of the form
o Claimed Result: enter the result in this field if the end date of the
qualification has passed but no proof (e.g. transcript) has yet been received
o Year: type in the year the qualification was obtained, format XXXX, e.g.
1998
o Sitting: populated automatically once the year information is entered, but
can also be updated manually
o Awarding Body: select the correct institution from the LOV
Important:
If the institution needed is not in the LOV, select either the ‘UK Other’ or ‘OO
Overseas Other’ entry.

Click on
to save

Click on
to close the form
533568611
Section 5-8
Barcode Printing, Scanning and Indexing
Entering Details of any Special Needs
The following information refers to Section M of the application form.
 To Enter Special Needs Information

Open the Person Details form, navigation: Direct Admission / Person
Details

Click on
The Person Special Needs form is displayed:

Enter the following information in the corresponding fields:
o Special Need Type: select the appropriate option from the LOV, e.g.
‘None’, ‘Dyslexia’, etc
o Description: automatically updates when you
appropriate value in the Special Need Type field
have
selected
the

Start Date: Enter the date shown in the declaration section of the application
form.

Click on
533568611
to save
Section 5-9
Barcode Printing, Scanning and Indexing

Click on
533568611
to close any open forms
Section 5-10
Barcode Printing, Scanning and Indexing
Entering General Funding Details
All applicants are required to provide general funding details.
information refers to Section L of the application form.
The following
 To Enter General Funding Details
METHOD ONE: FROM THE DIRECT ADMISSION FORM

Open the Person Details form for the relevant applicant, navigation: Direct
Admission / Person Details

Click on
The Residency/Citizenship Details form appears.

Click on
from the menu bar
The Maintain Person Funding Details form appears with the applicant’s details
displayed.
533568611
Section 5-11
Barcode Printing, Scanning and Indexing
METHOD TWO: FROM NAVIGATOR
In the Navigator window:

Open Bursary Award Maintenance

Open Person Funding Details
The Maintain Person Funding Details form appears:

Search for the relevant applicant record
533568611
Section 5-12
Barcode Printing, Scanning and Indexing
IDENTIFYING THE CORRECT APPLICATION RECORD
A person may have more than one application record in OSS

Check the following fields to ensure the correct record with which to associate
the funding information is selected:
o Academic Calendar
o Programme Type
o Programme Code
SELECTING THE CORRECT APPLICATION RECORD

Click into one of the fields in the Programme of Study section (except the
Person Status field)

Use the down and up arrows on your keyboard to see all existing applications
for that person
 Note: The status bar at the bottom of your screen will show
which record you currently have selected:
533568611
Section 5-13
Barcode Printing, Scanning and Indexing
ENTERING GENERAL FUNDING DETAILS

In the Maintain Person Funding Details form, ensure the Finance
Information tab is selected. This tab should be used to enter all information
from section L of the application form except AHRC details.

Enter the following details in the corresponding fields:
o Fund Source: select the appropriate funding source from the LOV, e.g.
‘Family funding’, ‘Employer’, etc. If ‘Foundations (specify)’, is chosen, type
the foundation information in the white Notes field below.
 Note: if the applicant is applying for an Ad-Hoc Studentship select STUSHP in
the Fund Source field and enter the studentship reference code in the Notes
field below. (Ensure the School Applying To field has been updated to read
Scholarship.)
o Award Status: select the appropriate entry from the LOV, e.g. ‘Applied to’,
‘Confirmed by responsible body’, or ‘Intention to apply to’
o Amount: type in the amount as indicated in the application form
o Period Covered: select from the LOV, e.g. ‘1 year’, ‘2 years’, etc
o Expenses Covered: select from the LOV, e.g. ‘Course and college fees’,
‘Living expenses’, etc.
o Award Notification Date: this field is not mandatory if you have selected
‘Firmly secured’ in the Award Status field, but if any other award status has
been selected, this field must be entered
o Document Received: tick this box if required documentary evidence has
been received
o Notes: this free text field can be used to enter any additional comments
regarding the applicant’s funding information
Important:
Free text fields are available to input notes which may be relevant to the application.
Please note that under the Data Protection Act of 1998, which came into force on 1
March 2000, replacing the Data Protection Act of 1984, individuals are entitled to
request copies of any information the University holds on them, and this includes the
content of free text fields.

Click on
533568611
to save
Section 5-14
Barcode Printing, Scanning and Indexing

Click on
to close the form
ENTERING SCHOLARSHIP DETAILS

In the Maintain Person Funding Details form, ensure the Student Funding
tab is selected. This tab should be used to enter all information in Section M of
the application form plus AHRC information from section L (see next section
on entering AHRC applications).

Enter the following details in the corresponding fields:
o Award Name: select the award indicated on the application form
o Award Status: select PENDING from the LOV
o Date: enter appropriate date
o Period Covered: select UNKNOWN from the LOV, Expenses Covered:
select from the LOV, e.g. ‘Course and college fees’, ‘Living expenses’, etc.
o Expenses Covered: select OTHER from the LOV
o Notes: this free text field can be used to enter any additional comments
regarding the applicant’s application
o Click on
to save
o Click on
to close the form
AHRC APPLICATIONS
If an applicant has indicated that they intend to apply for an AHRC award this should
be recorded in the ‘Student Funding’ tab.

In the Maintain Person Funding Details form, ensure the Student Funding
tab is selected:
533568611
Section 5-15
Barcode Printing, Scanning and Indexing

Enter the following details in the corresponding fields:
o Award Name: Arts and Humanities Research Council
o Award Code: will populate automatically
o Award Status: select from the LOV, e.g. enter ‘PENDING’
o Date: Leave blank
o Period Covered: select UNKNOWN from the LOV
o Expenses Covered: select OTHER from the LOV
o Offered Amount: leave blank

Click on
to save

Click on
to close the form
533568611
Section 5-16
Barcode Printing, Scanning and Indexing
Section 6 - Scanning and Indexing
Scanning and indexing batches of documents is the process of converting hardcopy
applications and supporting materials to electronic documents stored on OSS and
viewed through the Submitted Graduate Applications dataview.
After the barcodes have been printed and attached to the documents to be scanned
they should be checked to ensure all the pages of the documents are in the correct
order. Any staples and paperclips removed. The documents can then be placed in
batches of approximately 100 pages or less.
Batches can include different supporting materials and applications.
They do not necessarily have to only comprise of documents for one
application. The barcode on the document is the important part of this
process and when read the scanned document will be indexed to the
correct application on OSS.
Any document not to be scanned, eg: a duplicate of a document already
received or confidential financial information should be separated by a
red card.
Scanning is completed using the TokOpen and SortingOffice applications and a
Kodak scanner. Depending on the office preference, before scanning; a profile must
be selected. This profile defines how the scanned documents are indexed with the
OSS applications. The profiles are as follows:
Graduate Applications – This profile allows the Graduate Admissions Office to
work in a production line style. This way of working can be used at busy times, is
very modular and allow for work to be broken down and completed by a number of
people.
Graduate Applications (Auto) – This profile allows the scanning of documents and
automatic indexing after checking the digitised documents. There is a provision to
save it without indexing if you are unable to review the documents after scanning. It
is envisaged that this setting will be used for most processing in the Graduate
Admissions Office.
Graduate APPL Manual Lookup – This profile was created to take in to
consideration the possibility that the Graduate Admissions Office may run out of
barcode labels or the barcode printers fail. It allows the scanning of documents and
indexing by typing the barcode identifier in to the document indexing module.
All scanned documents get indexed to an application in OSS. A process is
scheduled to run regularly that uploads them to OSS for users to view in the
Submitted Graduate Applications dataview or from the OSS back office forms.
533568611
Section 6-1
Barcode Printing, Scanning and Indexing
Graduate Applications (Auto)
After barcoding and checking the documents place them face down, landscape on
the feed tray of the scanner. Ensure that the scanner is switched on and given time
to warm up (this takes approximately two minutes).
To scan with profile Graduate Applications (Auto):

On the desktop double click ‘Shortcut to TokOpen.exe’ icon
The TokOpen 2.4 screen is displayed:

Click the
on the TokOpen Title Bar to minimise the screen
Open Sorting Office:

On the desktop double click ‘Shortcut to SOMain.exe’ icon
The SortingOffice ToolBar is displayed

Click the
533568611
button
Section 6-2
Barcode Printing, Scanning and Indexing
The SortingOffice Scanning Module window is displayed

Select and double click
533568611
Section 6-3
Barcode Printing, Scanning and Indexing
The Scanning Module screen is displayed:

Click the
button
The documents are fed through the scanner and a preview of the images is
displayed in the Scanning Module screen.
533568611
Section 6-4
Barcode Printing, Scanning and Indexing
The green-bordered images in the preview screen indicate that a barcode has been
identified and read. The red-bordered images in the preview screen indicate that
there is not a barcode attached to the document or if there was, it had not been read.
The images are reviewed on the screen and can be navigated through and
corrections completed by using some of the buttons on the toolbar. They are
described as follows:
Start scan.
Rescan Page. Click on the image in the preview that you want to
rescan, place the hardcopy page on the feed tray of the scanner
and click the button. The scan will automatically replace the
selected image.
Insert Page. To insert a page before the scanned page selected in
the preview pane. Place the hardcopy page on the feed tray of the
scanner and click the button. The newly scanned document will be
inserted before the image selected in the preview pane.
Delete either a selected image in the preview pane or a range of
scanned pages in the batch.
Save.
Fit Image To Both.
Zoom In.
Zoom Out.
Multi-purpose button allowing you to pick Pointer, Select Zoom
Area, magnify Image Area or Pan Image.
Rotate Image. Each click will rotate the selected image 90
degrees.
Flip Image. Each click will flip the selected image 180 degrees
Navigation buttons. For viewing the first scanned page and the
last scanned page in the batch.
Show Previous Page and Show Next Page
Toggle switch button to Un-highlight Barcodes or Highlight
Barcodes on the images if present.
Exit Scanning
533568611
Section 6-5
Barcode Printing, Scanning and Indexing
Images can be selected using the mouse or toolbar. When an image is select the
Page number is highlighted in blue:
When all the images have been reviewed and are correct:

Click the
button
SortingOffice performs the lookups within OSS and the Save fully indexed
documents Now dialogue box is displayed:

Click the
button
Click the
button if the images have not been reviewed. They
can be indexed using the Graduate Applications profile, see page 6-7
The Scan Another Batch dialogue box is displayed:

Click the
button to scan another batch
or

Click the
533568611
button to exit the Scanning Module screen
Section 6-6
Barcode Printing, Scanning and Indexing
Graduate Applications
The Graduate Applications profile is used to break the work of scanning, reviewing
and indexing down to it s component parts allowing many people to do the work in
busy periods. This profile will make use of the Terminal Services in most
circumstances. To access TokOpen and SortingOffice via Terminal Services see
page ## for instructions.
With TokOpen logged in (page 6-2) open Sorting Office:

On the desktop double click ‘Shortcut to SOMain.exe’ icon
The SortingOffice ToolBar is displayed

Click the
button
The SortingOffice Scanning Module window is displayed

Select and double click
533568611
Section 6-7
Barcode Printing, Scanning and Indexing
The Scanning Module screen is displayed:

Click the
button
The documents are fed through the scanner and a preview of the images is
displayed in the Scanning Module screen.
533568611
Section 6-8
Barcode Printing, Scanning and Indexing
The images can be reviewed on screen and can be navigated through and corrected
by using some of the buttons on the toolbar. The toolbar buttons are described on
page 6-5
When all the images have been reviewed:

Click the
button
That Batch Save Options is displayed:
If needed use the drop down arrow
Indexing’

Click the
to change the option to ‘Save Batch For
button
Use the drop down arrow
to change the option to ‘Hold batch For Later
Review’ if you want to save the batch but it is not ready to be indexed.
The Scan Another Batch dialogue box is displayed:

Click the
button to scan another batch
or

Click the
533568611
button to exit the Scanning Module screen
Section 6-9
Barcode Printing, Scanning and Indexing
INDEX THE BATCH AFTER SCANNING
After the saving the batch for indexing the Index button is used from the
SortingOffice ToolBar Module. This allows the user to review the images and ensure
they are related to the correct application on OSS. After checking, the document is
created and batch processed. If a document cannot be created in the batch an
option is available to create an Exception so further investigation and correction can
be done.. The batch can be opened and closed as many times as it takes to
complete the processing, creating and indexing of the documents. Once the batch is
completed it will disappear from the list in the SortingOffice Indexing Module
From the SortingOffice ToolBar Module:

Click the
The SortingOffice Indexing Module screen is displayed:

Select the batch to work on in the list

Click the
533568611
button
Section 6-10
Barcode Printing, Scanning and Indexing
The Indexing Batch ()Student Applications screen is displayed:
The screen is separated into four major areas:
 Preview – Displays the image that is selected in the thumbnails area. An image
is selected by using the mouse, keyboard (up and down arrows) and toolbar
Show Previous Page and Show Next Page buttons
 Application and indexing details – This area shows the OSS application details
gathered when the batch was saved and the lookup done on OSS. Information
will show for each barcoded image when it is selected to create a document
 Thumbnails – This area displays images of all the pages scanned. It is the
working area when adding pages to create a document, create an exception,
delete images or selecting images for preview
 Batch Pages – This area displays a list of created documents and exceptions
533568611
Section 6-11
Barcode Printing, Scanning and Indexing
CREATE A DOCUMENT
The thumbnail area of the screen will display the images scanned. The first image/s
on the left of the screen will have a blue highlight underscoring the images. This is
what SortingOffice indicates is a document. To select or deselect an image before
creating the document, place the mouse on the image and right click. Repeat this for
each image required for selection or de-selection.
If this is correct and it is the correct number and pages:

Click the
button
The New document is displayed in the Batch Pages area:
If a mistake was made in creating the document it must be taken out of the list and
put back into the thumbnail area so work can be completed on it. To move the
document back to the batch thumbnail area:

Right click on the document in the list
A shortcut menu is displayed:

Click
533568611
in the menu
Section 6-12
Barcode Printing, Scanning and Indexing
The Indexing Module – Are You Sure You Want To Release Document: 1 To Batch
Pages dialogue box is displayed

Click the
button
The document is released back to the batch and the images can be worked on again
before creating the document once more.
CREATE EXCEPTIONS
On rare occasions there may be times that the system cannot index a document to
an application on OSS and there is little time to correct it. An exception can be
created so the images can be worked on later. Exceptions can not be reviewed until
the whole batch has been saved.
To create an exception:

With the batch open select the images in the thumbnail view you would like to
create an exception for

Click the
button.
MANUAL LOOKUP
On rare occasions there may be times that the system will not lookup the OSS
application properly because the barcode was not read.
To complete a manual lookup:

Select the image that the barcode had not been read from

Click the

Hover over the barcode on the image and hold down the left mouse button
533568611
button on the SortingOffice toolbar
Section 6-13
Barcode Printing, Scanning and Indexing
The barcode is magnified:

Write down the code on a piece of paper

Type the application number (first set of numbers in the bar-code) in the
field

Type the document type short code (two-item code in the centre of the barcode) in the
case sensitive

field. The short code is
Type the barcode document ID (second set of numbers in the bar-code) in the
field

Use the Tab key on the keyboard to move to the next field
SortingOffice will complete a lookup for the application on OSS and when found the
remainder of the fields will be populated with the applicants’ details
533568611
Section 6-14
Barcode Printing, Scanning and Indexing
SAVING THE BATCH
When all documents and exception have been created the batch can be saved and
committed to OSS.
To save the batch in SortingOffice:

Click the
button
If an exception had been created the ‘Save Rest Of Batch As Exception’ dialogue
box will be displayed:

Click the
button
The ‘Verify Next Batch’ dialogue box is displayed

Click the
button to verify another batch
or

Click the
screen

Click the
533568611
no button to return to the SortOffice Indexing Module
button to exit SortingOffice
Section 6-15
Barcode Printing, Scanning and Indexing
REVIEW EXCEPTIONS
From the SortingOffice ToolBar Module:

Click the
The SortingOffice Indexing Module screen is displayed:

Click the
tab
The Exceptions screen is displayed and are listed:
533568611
Section 6-16
Barcode Printing, Scanning and Indexing

Select and exception in the list

Click the
button
The Indexing Batch () Student Applications screen is displayed:
Correct the image and Save The Batch. See page 6-15
533568611
Section 6-17
Barcode Printing, Scanning and Indexing
Graduate APPL Manual Lookup
In this profile it is assumed that barcodes cannot be printed. The document type
must be inserted in to Personal Statements on OSS, see page 2-24. As the barcode
cannot be printed, write the code on a separate piece of paper. This code will be
input in SortingOffice to index the document.
With TokOpen logged in (page 6-2) open Sorting Office:

On the desktop double click ‘Shortcut to SOMain.exe’ icon
The SortingOffice ToolBar is displayed

Click the
button
The SortingOffice Scanning Module window is displayed

Select and double click
533568611
Section 6-18
Barcode Printing, Scanning and Indexing
The Scanning Module screen is displayed:

Click the
button
The documents are fed through the scanner and a preview of the images is
displayed in the Scanning Module screen.
533568611
Section 6-19
Barcode Printing, Scanning and Indexing
The images can be reviewed on screen and can be navigated through and corrected
by using some of the buttons on the toolbar. The toolbar buttons are described on
page 6-5
When all the images have been reviewed:

Click the
button
The Batch Save Options is displayed:
If needed use the drop down arrow
Indexing’

Click the
to change the option to ‘Save Batch For
button
Use the drop down arrow
to change the option to ‘Hold batch For Later
Review’ if you want to save the batch but it is not ready to be indexed.
The Scan Another Batch dialogue box is displayed:

Click the
button to scan another batch
or
Click the
533568611
button to exit the Scanning Module screen
Section 6-20
Barcode Printing, Scanning and Indexing
From the SortingOffice ToolBar Module:

Click the
The SortingOffice Indexing Module screen is displayed:

Select the batch to work on in the list

Click the
533568611
button
Section 6-21
Barcode Printing, Scanning and Indexing
The Indexing batch () Grad Appl Manual Lookup screen is displayed:
Using the barcode written on the your piece of paper:

Type the application number (first set of numbers from the bar-code) in the
field

Type the document type short code (two-item code in the centre of the barcode) in the
case sensitive

field. The short code is
Type the barcode document ID (second set of numbers in the bar-code) in the
field

Use the Tab key on the keyboard top move to the next field
SortingOffice will complete a lookup for the application on OSS and when found the
remainder of the fields will be populated with the applicants’ details. Repeat for each
document and create each in the batch, see page 6-12
Save the batch when it is complete, see page 6-15
533568611
Section 6-22
Digitise Electronic Documents
Section 7 - Digitise Electronic Documents
Due to the fact that some supporting material is submitted electronically, for instance
by email, a process of getting them indexed and committed to OSS was needed. In
this instance the document is saved to a local drive as a pdf file. The file name will
be the barcode. To get the barcode the supporting document must be recorded on
OSS in Personal Statements, see page 2-24. The barcode must be written down on
a separate piece of paper for use when renaming the file. After the file has been
renamed and saved it will be uploaded to OSS using a scheduled request.
In this example it is assumed that the document has been saved to a storage area
agreed by the Graduate Admissions Office.
Save and Rename as PDF file
To save and rename the document as a pdf file:

Open the file

Click the

Click
menu
in the menu
The Print screen is displayed:

Click the Printer Name

Select

Click the
533568611
drop down arrow
from the list
button
Section 7-1
Digitise Electronic Documents
The Save As screen is displayed:

Click the Save in

Select

Navigation to the folder named PDF_Upload. The pathway is –
Digitisation/PDF-Upload

Click into the

Delete the existing file name

Type in the new file name (barcode number). Remember you need .pdf at the
end.

Click the

Close the file
drop down arrow
from the list
box
button
The file has now been saved into the folder on the J: Drive. Every 3 minutes a
process runs in the background to move that folder to an area on the network that
will allow it to be picked up by OSS and committed to the correct application and
personal statement. It is possible to save a number of files to the PDF_Upload folder
before the Request to upload the files to the correct applications is run in OSS
533568611
Section 7-2
Digitise Electronic Documents
PDF Upload Request
[This request will be scheduled to run hourly during working hours, so you should not
need to run it manually unless the document is required immediately]
To run the request:

Oxford Central Graduate Admissions

Requests

Concurrent Manager / Requests / Run
The Submit a New Request form is displayed:

Select the Single Request

Click the
button
The Submit Request form is displayed:

Click the

Select
in the name field
in the list
The Parameter form is displayed:
533568611
Section 7-3
Digitise Electronic Documents

Click the

Select ‘M’ from the list

Click the

Click the
on the parameter form
button without changing the parameter
The Request form is displayed:

Click the
button until the request completes
When the Request completes it will either complete as:
Completed Normal – in which case the files have uploaded correctly
Completed Error – in which case the file did not upload. The file will be moved to the
folder called PDF_Upload_Error. This folder should be checked at least daily and
files not uploaded must be corrected and moved back to the PDF_Upload folder for
processing again.
In either case the
must be checked to ensure the
correct number of files have been uploaded to OSS.
533568611
Section 7-4
Copy, Move and Delete
Section 8 - Move, Copy or Delete Graduate Application Documents
A Request is available to move, copy or delete digitised documents related to
applications and Personal Statements in OSS. It allows the use of existing
supporting material for an additional application submitted by an applicant. It allows
moving an indexed document to another application if it was related to an incorrect
application. It allows for the deletion of documents if duplicated in an application.
To run the request:

Oxford Central Graduate Admissions

Requests

Concurrent Manager / Requests / Run
The Submit a New Request form is displayed:

Select the Request Set

Click the
button
The Submit Request form is displayed:

Click the
533568611
in the name field
Section 8-1
Copy, Move and Delete

Select
in the list
The Parameter form is displayed:
Parameter
Description
Action
Select Move Copy or Delete from the list
displayed.
From OSS Application ID
Insert the application number that to
complete the action on.
Document Type
Select from the list the type of document.
This will show only the documents
already uploaded to the application in
OSS. If leaving this blank will move copy
or delete all the documents related to
that application depending on what was
chosen for the action.
Personal Statement ID
Clicking on the List of Values will
populate the Document ID unless there is
more than one of the same type of
document. It there is more than one of
the same document a document type
must be selected from the list displayed.
To OSS Application ID
Mandatory if used for Moving or Copying
to another application.
When the parameters have been completed:

Click the
button
The Submit Request form is displayed
533568611
Section 8-2
Copy, Move and Delete

Click the
button
The Request form is displayed:

Click the
button until the request completes
When the Request completes it will either complete as:
Completed Normal – in which case the files were process correctly
Completed Error – in which case the file did not process correctly.
In either case the
can be checked to ensure the
correct number of files have been uploaded to OSS. The Application Details form in
OSS can be checked to ensure correct processing.
When deleting documents from an application ensure that the entries in
Personal Statements are deleted after running the Request.
533568611
Section 8-3
Closing Applications Prior To An Offer Being Made
Section 9 - Withdrawing / Voiding Applications
An applicant may decide to withdraw before the UAB has made a decision on the
application. This needs to be recorded in OSS. This includes applicants who have
been Wait listed or Re-evaluated.
Applications may also be received too late, or be incomplete. These must also be
recorded.
Further applications may have been entered in error. This must be entered
differently depending on whether the application has been offered a place or not
Objectives
The objective of this section is to enable you to:

Record an Applicant’s Withdrawal

Record an Incomplete Application

Record an Application as Entered in Error
 Note: Paper applications which are received too late are returned to the
applicant (minus references) and are not recorded on OSS.
533568611
Section 9-1
Closing Applications Prior To An Offer Being Made
Withdrawing an Application
An applicant may choose to withdraw their application. This must be recorded in
OSS.
 To Withdraw an Application

Open the relevant application record, navigation: Direct Admission / Open
Application
The Applications form appears
533568611
Section 9-2
Closing Applications Prior To An Offer Being Made

Select the Withdraw Application tab:

Enter the following information in the corresponding field:
o Application Instance Status: select e.g. ‘WITHDRAWN’ from the LOV
o Reason: select appropriate value from LOV.

Click on
to save
 Note: On saving the Resubmission Deadline date will be entered automatically.
This gives a date up-to which the application may be re-opened

Click on
533568611
to close the form
Section 9-3
Closing Applications Prior To An Offer Being Made
Recording an Incomplete Application
If an application is incomplete by the final application deadline then the Application
Instance Status will need to be updated accordingly.
Incomplete applications may be identified by running the Incomplete Applications
Report in section 18-1
 To Record an Incomplete Application

Open the relevant application record, navigation: Direct Admission / Open
Application
The Applications form appears

Select the Withdraw Application tab:

Enter the following information in the corresponding field:
o Application Instance Status: select ‘INCOMP_TL’ from the LOV
o Reason: select appropriate value from LOV.

Click on
533568611
to save
Section 9-4
Closing Applications Prior To An Offer Being Made
 Note: On saving the Resubmission Deadline date will be entered automatically.
This gives a date up-to which the application may be re-opened

Click on
to close the form
On returning to the Direct Admission form, the application will now show an
Application Processing Status of Withdrawn. The Application Instance Status
will show INCOMPLETE_TL.
 Note: Following each application deadline UABs are sent a list of their
incomplete applications and are given the opportunity to chase for outstanding
material. If by this means an application becomes complete they may made an
academic case for the application to be considered.
533568611
Section 9-5
College Placement
Section 10 - Recording An Application As Entered In Error
Sometimes, an application may be entered onto the system in error. Perhaps
someone else had already started the application or the wrong Programme of Study
was entered on the application. In these instances it is necessary to void the
application and leave it with a status of Error.
The objectives of this session are:

Be able to record an application as entered in error before a decision has been
made

Be able to record an application as entered in error after a decision has been
made
Record an application as entered in error before a decision has been
made
Direct Admissions > Direct Admissions

In the Direct Admission form, open the relevant application and click on

Click on the field next to Application Instance Status and select ERROR
from the drop down

Select No Reason Required from the Reason drop down

Click
 You will notice that the Resubmission deadline is automatically calculated by the
system. If you decide that you actually want to continue with this application,
then you have until that date to do it. Simply click the
the application will become active again.
533568611
button and
Section 10-1
College Placement
Record an application as entered in error after a decision has been made
Direct Admissions > Direct Admissions

In the Direct Admission form, open the relevant application and click on

Click on the Offer Response Status drop down and select ERROR
 The Actual Response Date field automatically populates to today’s date and
you can change this if necessary.

In the Reason drop down, select Admin/System Error

Enter any comments as necessary in the Response Comments field

Click
533568611
Section 10-2
College Placement
Section 11 - Rerouting an Application
A department considering an application may sometimes advise that an applicant
would be more appropriately suited to an alternative programme of study than the
one that they have applied to. The department should contact Graduate Admissions
in writing (e.g. via E-mail) to inform them that they are offering the student a place on
a different programme, or that they have forwarded the application to the assessors
for another programme. All UABs and the candidate must have already agreed to
this. Graduate Admissions will then close the existing application in OSS and enter
a new one for the new programme of study.
If an applicant requests a change of programme of study during the admissions
process, they should be advised to submit a fresh application form and application
fee.
Recommended practice on reroutes may be found in the online GAF Handbook.
Rerouting an application before a UAB decision has been made
Direct Admissions > Direct Admissions

In the Direct Admission form, open the relevant application and click on the
tab.

In the Application Instance Status field select WITHDRAWN from the LOV

In the Reason field select Reroute from the LOV

Click
date.

Close the application to return to the Direct Admission form.
533568611
and close the form. A default date will appear in the Resubmission
Section 11-1
College Placement


Enter a new application. (See Section 2 Entering Programme of Study
Information). All details should match the original application, except for the 6digit programme code.
Enter Re-Route in the Entry Status field.

Ensure that all scholarship and funding details are also copied to the new
application.

If the applicant’s first choice college does not accept the new programme of
study, enter their second choice college instead (see the .pdf of the application
form). If this is not possible, enter a suitable college and inform the applicant by
email that an alternative college has been selected.

Copy the .pdf files from the original application to the new application using the
single request XXIGSP0171: Move, Copy or Delete Graduate Admissions
Documents.

Send the new coversheet to the UAB.
Rerouting an application after a UAB offer has been recorded in OSS
Direct Admissions > Direct Admissions

In the Direct Admission form, open the relevant application and click on the
button to open the Offer Response form.
533568611
Section 11-2
College Placement

In the Offer Response Status field select WITHDRAW from the LOV

In the Reason field select Reroute from the LOV.


Enter a new application. All details should match the original application,
except for the 6-digit programme code.
Enter Re-Route in the Entry Status field.

Ensure that all scholarship and funding details are also copied to the new
application.

If a college has already offered the student a place but does not normally
accept the new programme of study, contact the college to establish that they
are still willing to accept the student. If so, the programme of study set-up will
need to be amended in OSS to enable this college to be entered in the
Location field.

If the application is under consideration at a college that does not normally
accept the new programme of study, notify the college immediately. The
application will usually need to be reassigned to one of the colleges accepting
the new programme of study.

Copy the .pdf files from the original application to the new application using the
single request XXIGSP0171: Move, Copy or Delete Graduate Admissions
Documents.
533568611
Section 11-3
College Placement

Send the new coversheet to the UAB.
 Note: When a rerouted application is entered on to OSS, the UAB and college
will need to re-enter their offers and conditions on the new application (unlike
deferrals, where this information is copied over automatically).
533568611
Section 11-4
College Placement
Section 12 - Entering 1+3 Applications
Some University of Oxford courses are made up of a Masters Degree that is linked
to a Doctorate Degree. In the University, these are thought of as one course but
OSS deals with them as separate Programmes of Study. Both courses need a
separate application record.
This will mean that as applicants apply for these programmes they will need to be set
up as follows:
- MSc application for immediate next year of entry
- DPhil application for immediate next year of entry +1 year
For example, if the MSc application is added into the system for the Academic
Calendar of 1011ACYR1M, then the corresponding DPhil will be entered into the
system on the Academic Calendar of 1112ACYR1M
The UAB and college will need to enter their offers for the DPhil element.
1+3 programmes include:
MSc Neuroscience and DPhil Neuroscience
MSc Radiation Biology and DPhil Radiobiology
MSc Medicinal Chemistry for Cancer and DPhil Pharmacology
If an applicant has applied for the 1+3 programme and are unsuccessful they do not
need to apply again for the standalone MSc. The UAB will consider all applicants for
the standalone course if they are unsuccessful in their application to the 1+3 (unless
the applicant has particularly requested otherwise).
 Note: all pdf files should be copied to both applications.
533568611
Section 12-1
College Placement
Section 13 - Early Starts
Sometimes, an applicant will apply for admission in the Michaelmas term, but will be
available to start in an earlier term, either Hilary or Trinity. In almost all cases these
will be Research applicants. Their original application needs to be stopped and a
new one created. The old application is labelled with a specific Offer Response, and
the new application is generated with an Application Source of Early Start. The
applicant must have satisfied all conditions and be in receipt of a firm offer from a
College and a Department.
 Note: When an early start application is entered on to OSS, the UAB and college
will need to re-enter their offers and conditions on the new application (unlike
deferrals, where this information is copied over automatically).
 To enter an Early Start Admission

Open the original application record, navigation: Direct Admission/Open
Application

Click on
The Application Offer Response form appears:

In the Offer Response Status field select EARLY_ST from the LOV

In the Reason field select Early Starter from the LOV

Create a new application. All details should match the original application,
except for the calendar. See section 2 on creating a new application.

To specify the calendar select the appropriate calendar in the Session Details
form
533568611
Section 13-1
College Placement

Click on

Enter HT-START or TT-START in the Gathered Field field, as appropriate

Enter Early Start in the Entry Status field
to continue to create the Program of Study

Ensure that all scholarship and funding details are copied to the new
application.

Copy the .pdf files from the original application to the new application using the
single request XXIGSP0171: Move, Copy or Delete Graduate Admissions
Documents.

Send the new coversheet to the UAB.
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Section 13-2
College Placement
Section 14 - College Placement
If a UAB has been unable to find a college to accept an applicant the application is
referred back to the GAO for inclusion in the Clearing House process. When a
college is found for an applicant, the record on OSS must be updated to enable the
college administrator up enter their acceptance.
Objectives
The objective of this section is to enable you to:

Make necessary OSS updates throughout the GAO allocation of college
places
GAO College Allocation
 To Add a New College to a Record

Open the required application record, navigation: Direct Admission / Open
Application

In the Program Application Instance section of the form, enter the following
information in the corresponding field:
o Location: select the new college choice from the LOV:

Click on

Click on
533568611
to save
Section 14-1
College Placement
The Ratings form is displayed:

Ensure the Assign Evaluators tab is selected

Click in a blank field to enter a new record:

Enter the following information in the corresponding fields:
o Evaluator Number: select the appropriate college evaluator from the LOV.
To see the values that are available, type ‘%’ in the Find field of the LOV
window and press [Enter]
 Note: To save time, type %70 for a list of the majority of evaluators. 12025 is
the code for ‘No College Evaluator’, and 17046 is the code for Ripon College
Evaluator.
o Rating Type: select the appropriate college name from the LOV
o Rating Scale: from the LOV, select DGS_SELECTION.
o Click on

Click on
533568611
to save
to close any open forms
Section 14-2
Deferrals
Section 15 - Deferrals
Objectives
The objective of this section is to enable you to:

Record a deferral

Create a deferment application for the next admission period
Recording a Deferral
If the applicant requesting a deferral has satisfied all conditions, the UAB will contact
the GAO who will action the deferral on the system.
 To Record a Deferral

Open the relevant application record, navigation: Direct Admission/Open
Application

Click on
The Application Offer Response form appears:

Enter the following information in the corresponding fields:
o Offer Response Status: select ‘DEFER’ form the LOV
o Actual Response Date: automatically populates with the current date but
can be updated manually if required using the LOV (calendar), or by typing
in the date in the following format: 25-NOV-04

Click on the Deferment tab:
533568611
Section 15-1
Deferrals

Enter the following information in the corresponding fields:
o Offer Deferment Status: select ‘APPROVED’ or ‘NOT_APPR’ from the
LOV as appropriate
o Authorized Date: automatically populates with the current date but can be
updated manually if needed using the LOV (calendar), or by typing in the
date in the following format: 25-NOV-04
o Academic Calendar: select the relevant entry from the LOV, e.g.
‘0607ACYR1M’.
The codes in this LOV appear in the format:
0607ACYR3T, this code breaks down into:
0 6 0 7 A C Y R 3 T
0607 stands for the
start and end dates of
the academic year, e.g.
2006-2007
ACYR
stands for
Academic
Year
3T means the
application is for entry
in the third term Trinity term
o Admission Calendar: clicking on the LOV symbol in this field will
automatically enter the correct value and you will be returned to the Offer
Response tab

Click on
to save

Click on
to close the form
Creating a Deferment Application for the Next Admission Period
An admission record for the following year needs to be created once a deferral has
been approved. There is an OSS process set up for this purpose. Please refer to
the Reporting and Requests Section of this manual in section 16-1 for details on how
to run the process.
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Section 15-2
Deferrals
Updating Milestones and Maximum Submission Dates
When the new deferred application has been created the milestones and maximum
submission dates will need to be updated for all research applications.
 To update Milestones and Maximum Submission Dates

Open the relevant application record, navigation: Direct Admission/Open
Application

Click on
+
The Candidacy form appears:

Update the date in the Minimum Submission Date and the Maximum
Submission Date fields. (Move the dates on one year).

Click on

In the Candidacy form click on
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to save
Section 15-3
Deferrals
The Milestones form appears:

Update the Due Date field for each milestone (Move the dates on one year)

Click on
to save

Click on
to close the form
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Section 15-4
Reporting and Requests
Section 16 - Reporting and Requests
Objectives
The objectives of this section are to enable you to:

Run OSS reports

Submit future report requests

Understand and run concurrent processes (single request and multiple requests)
RUNNING OSS REPORTS
This section documents the basic steps to run a standard report in OSS. All reports and
processes are run from the Concurrent Manager, which requires parameters to provide
accurate results. Refer to Appendix B: Reports and Requests in section 18-1 to see a list
of required parameters for reports and processes.
THE CONCURRENT MANAGER
This is the form within OSS that runs and monitors time-consuming tasks such as running
reports and scheduling processes to run at the same time. All reports and request sets
are run as concurrent requests in OSS. The Concurrent Manager is used to view the
status and output of all requests. Parameters and schedules can be defined to determine
the priority in which reports and processes are run.
CONCURRENT PROCESSES
A request is made each time the system is asked to complete a specific task, such as
running a report or process. After the request has been submitted, the Concurrent
Manager automatically takes over the management of the request, which will complete
without further assistance unless there is an error.
Tasks within OSS running simultaneously to complete, such as reports or request sets
(multiple requests that have been pre-defined) are referred to as concurrent processes.
Each time that a request is submitted, a new process is added to the queue.
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Section 16-1
Reporting and Requests
Running a Report
 To Run a Report

From Navigator, open the Submit a New Request form, navigation:
Requests / Concurrent Manager / Requests / Run

Click on
OR

Double Click on Run
The Submit a New Request form appears:
TYPES OF REQUESTS
Single Request
Submits a request for one report or process
Request Set
Submits a request to run multiple reports or processes that have
already been defined to run concurrently and in a certain order. This
function is used to schedule the automatic process run at 1am and
1pm.

Ensure Single Request is selected

Click on
533568611
Section 16-2
Reporting and Requests
The Submit Request form appears:

Enter the following details in the corresponding field:
o Name: select the required report from the Reports LOV
 Note: The options listed in the Reports LOV will depend on the assigned
responsibility

Select the required report

Click on
The Parameters window appears:
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Section 16-3
Reporting and Requests
 Note: This is the Parameters form for the Complete Applications – UAB
Notification report - the parameters vary depending on which report is selected (see
Appendix B: Reports and Requests in section 18-1 to find out mandatory parameters
for each report)

Enter the following details in the corresponding fields:
o Calendar: use the LOV (calendar) or enter the date in the following format: ddmmm-yy, e.g. 12-JAN-05
o Gathered Field: select the next available gathered field for that applicant’s
chosen programme of study from the LOV
o Division: select the relevant division from the LOV
o UAB: select the relevant UAB from the LOV or select ‘All UABs’ if required.

Click on
The Submit Request form will be re-displayed with the report name, parameters, and
scheduled time displayed:

Click on
533568611
Section 16-4
Reporting and Requests
The Requests form appears and lists the name and status of the report or process:
The Requests form will show a Phase and Status summary for each request that has
been submitted. Requests go through four phases as they are processing: pending,
running, completed, and inactive. During each phase of processing the request, the report
or process can result in many statuses in between normal and erred processing.
PHASES
Phase
Purpose
Pending
Request is in the queue waiting to be processed
Running
Request is processing
Completed
Request is completed
Inactive
Programme to run the request is disabled
533568611
Section 16-5
Reporting and Requests
STATUSES
Status
Purpose
Normal
Request is running normally
Standby
Request is pending and being held in the queue awaiting
availability within the Concurrent Manager
Scheduled
Request is scheduled to start at a future time or date
Paused
Request is waiting for another request to finish completing
before it starts
Resuming
Request is in the process of restarting as a result of being
put into ‘Waiting’ or ‘Paused’ status
Terminating
Request is in the process of ending
Waiting
Request is waiting for another request to mark it as
complete before it can continue
Error
Request failed to complete successfully
Warning
Request completed with warnings
Terminated
Request failed to complete successfully and system ended
the process
Disabled
Request to run has not been enabled
On Hold
Request placed on hold

Click on
until the report phase is shown as ‘Completed’
 To View or Print Output
To view or print report details, the results can be viewed within OSS.

Ensure the Phase of the report is ‘Completed’ and the appropriate report is
selected from the results; a blue indicator will appear to the left of the record

Click on
533568611
Section 16-6
Reporting and Requests
The report appears:
 Note: A separate Internet Explorer browser window will open to display the report; this
is the Complete Applications – UAB Notification report

Review the details of the report

Click on
to print the report

Click on
save the report

Click on
to close the report browser window and return to the Requests form
533568611
Section 16-7
Reporting and Requests
 To View the Log File
To identify the details of a report or process that results in errors, the Log File will provide
specific error messages and information about the print options used and a listing of the
Request IDs and missing parameters.

Click on
The Log file appears:

Scroll down to read the contents of the log
Important:
The log file will not show the total number of pages. The only way to find out the total
number of pages is to go to the last page of the log.
533568611
Section 16-8
Reporting and Requests
Button
Purpose
Go To
Displays the Go to Page window; enter a specific page
number and click [OK] to jump to that page
First
Displays the first page of the file
Previous
Displays the previous page
Next
Displays the next page
Last
Displays the last page in the file output

Click on
to close the Log File form

Click on
to close the Requests form
533568611
Section 16-9
Reporting and Requests
Submitting Future Report Requests
Reports and processes can be scheduled to run at a date and time in the future.
Schedules can be set up to run automatically for reports and processes that are run on a
regular basis.
 To Set up a Report Schedule
Submitting requests is one of the most frequently performed actions in OSS. Add the
following Navigator menu option to the Top Ten List.

Navigate: Requests / Concurrent Manager / Requests / Run
The Submit a New Request form appears:

Ensure Single Request is selected

Click on
533568611
Section 16-10
Reporting and Requests
The Submit Request form appears:
Enter the following details in the corresponding fields:

Name: select the required report from the LOV

Select the required report

Click on
The Parameters form appears:

Note: This is the parameters form for the Graduate Intake Targets Validation
Report - the parameters vary depending on which report is selected (see Appendix
B: Reports and Requests in section 18-1 for more details about mandatory
parameters for each report)
Enter the following details in the corresponding fields:

Target Year: select the target year using the LOV

Report Type: select the report type from the LOV

Click on
The Submit Request form will be re-displayed with the parameters and report name
displayed.
533568611
Section 16-11
Reporting and Requests
Scheduling Reports
Reports can be run As Soon as Possible, or a scheduled time can be selected for the
report to run.
 To Schedule a Report

From the Submit request window, click on
The Schedule form appears:
533568611
Section 16-12
Reporting and Requests
SCHEDULING OPTIONS
There are four scheduling options to choose from:

As Soon as Possible: request is immediately
submitted to run

Once: request is for a specific date and time

Periodically: request is for a specific start and end
timeframe to schedule a report

On Specific Days: request is for one or more date(s)
and time(s)
AS SOON AS POSSIBLE

From the Schedule form, select As Soon as Possible

Click on

Ensure the report name, parameters, and scheduled time displayed are accurate

Click on

Ensure the report or process completed successfully

View or print results
ONCE
From the Schedule form, select Once
The Run At field appears:

Enter the following details in the corresponding fields:

Run At: select the relevant start date and time using the LOV
533568611
Section 16-13
Reporting and Requests
The Calendar appears:
o Month: click on
next month
o Year: click on
year
to select the last month, or
to select the last year, or
to select the
to select the next
o Hour: select the relevant value using the LOV
o Minute: select the relevant value using the LOV
o Select AM or PM

Click
to close the Calendar

Click
to return to the Submit Request form

Ensure the report name, parameters, and scheduled time displayed are accurate

Click on

Ensure the report or process completed successfully

View or print results
PERIODICALLY
This option brings up several new fields that allow entry of specific intervals of minutes,
hours, days, or months that requests should be submitted. This option also provides the
flexibility to count intervals from the requested start time of the request or from the
completion time of the request.
533568611
Section 16-14
Reporting and Requests

From the Schedule form, select Periodically
The Schedule form changes to show additional scheduling options:

Enter the following details in the corresponding fields:
o Start At: enter the relevant start date and time using the LOV
 Note: The Calendar form appears after the Start At LOV is selected
o Month: click on
o Year: click on
to select the previous month, or
to select the previous year, or
to select the next month
to select the next year
o Hour: select the relevant value using the LOV
o Minute: select the relevant value using the LOV
o Select AM or PM

Click

Enter the following details in the corresponding fields:
to close the Calendar
o End At: enter the relevant start date and time using the LOV (leave blank to run
indefinitely)
 Note: The Calendar form appears after the End At LOV is selected
o Re-run every: select Month(s), Week(s), Day(s), Hour(s), or Minute(s) using the
LOV and type the relevant whole numbers using the following format: X, XX,
XXX, e.g. 1, 12, 60, 120
o Apply the Interval: select the interval from the beginning or completion of the
requested periodic run
 Note: For example, if the report is scheduled to run at 7:00 a.m. every 5 minutes,
and the process takes 2 hours to complete, then one of two intervals can be specified:
o From the Start of the prior run: results in the report running again at 7:05 am
o From the Completion of the prior run: results in the report running again at
9:05 am
o Save this schedule: tick this box to add this schedule to the list of Pre-defined
Schedules for future use

Click
533568611
to return to the Submit Request form
Section 16-15
Reporting and Requests

Ensure the report name, parameters, and scheduled time displayed are accurate

Click on

Ensure the report or process completed successfully

View or print results
Important:
If the start time is not specified, the system will use the current time as the default. Also, if
the end time is not specified, the system will automatically repeat the request indefinitely
until an end time or cancel request is selected.
533568611
Section 16-16
Reporting and Requests
ON SPECIFIC DAYS

From the Schedule form, select On Specific Days
The Schedule form changes to show additional scheduling options
Enter the following details in the corresponding fields:

Start At: enter the relevant start date and time using the LOV

Month: click on

Year: click on

Hour: select the relevant value using the LOV

Minute: select the relevant value using the LOV

Select AM or PM

Click

Enter the following details in the corresponding fields:

End At: enter the relevant start date and time using the LOV (leave blank to run
indefinitely)

Dates of Every Month: click on the specific date(s)

Days of Every Week: click on the specific days of every week, as appropriate

Save this schedule: to add this to the list of Pre-defined Schedules for future use

Click

Ensure the report name, parameters, and scheduled time displayed are accurate

Click on
to select the previous month, or
to select the previous year, or
to select the next month
to select the next year
to close the Calendar
to return to the Submit Request form
Important: If the start time is not specified, the system will use the current time as the
default. Also, if an end time is not specified, the system will automatically repeat the
request indefinitely until an end time or cancel request is specified.
533568611
Section 16-17
Reporting and Requests
 To Use a Previously Saved Schedule

Open the Submit Request form, navigation: Requests / Concurrent Manager /
Requests / Run

Click on

From the Schedule form, select the appropriate option:



OR

As Soon as Possible: request is immediately submitted to run,
Once: request is for a specific date and time,
Periodically: request is for a specific start and end timeframe to schedule a report,
On Specific Days: request is for one or more date(s) and time(s)

Click on

Select a previously saved schedule from the Pre-defined Schedules LOV

Click on
to close the Pre-defined Schedules form
The Schedule form appears:

Click on

Ensure the report name, parameters, and scheduled time displayed are accurate

Click on

Ensure the report or process completed successfully

View or print results
533568611
to return to the Submit Request form
Section 16-18
Reporting and Requests
Running OSS Concurrent Processes
A concurrent process is a combination of requests that are submitted, in a particular order,
to enable a series of validations and updates to take place. The concurrent process is
managed by the Concurrent Manager, which ensures each action happens in its correct
sequence.
 To Run a Concurrent Process
Navigate: Requests / Concurrent Manager / Requests / Run
The Submit a New Request form appears:

Select Request Set

Click on
to submit the request
The Submit Request Set form appears:

Click on the LOV symbol at the end of the Request Set field
533568611
Section 16-19
Reporting and Requests
The form automatically populates with the required request parts:

Click in the first blank Parameters field
A Parameters window will appear:
Enter the following details in the corresponding fields:

Person Number: select the relevant applicant number from the LOV

Requirements Type: automatically populated

Originator Person: select your name from the LOV

Complete the remaining Parameters for each blank field in the first 4 lines.

Ensure all request parts have been completed

Click on
The Requests form appears and lists the name and status of the process:
Ensure all Phases are completed and review any steps as necessary, see details in
section 16-5 for details of working with statuses and phases.
533568611
Section 16-20
Appendices
Section 17 - Appendix A - Keyboard Shortcuts
Function
Key
Clear Block
[F7]
Clear Form
[F8]
Clear Record
[F6]
Commit (Save)
[Ctrl]+[S]
Count Query
[F12]
Delete Record
[Ctrl]+[Up]
Down
[Down]
Duplicate Field
[Shift]+[F5]
Duplicate
Record
[Shift]+[F6]
Edit
[Ctrl]+[E]
Enter Query
[F11]
Execute Query
[Ctrl]+[F11]
Exit
[F4]
Help
[Ctrl]+[H]
Insert Record
[Ctrl]+[Down]
List of Values
[Ctrl]+[L]
List Tab Pages
[F2]
Next Block
[Shift]+[PageDown]
Next Field
[Tab]
Next Record
[Down]
Next Set
Records
Toggle
Mode
Key
Query [Ctrl]+[B]
Up
[Up]
Update Record
[Ctrl]+[U]
of [Shift]+[F8]
Previous Block
[Shift]+[PageUp]
Previous Field
[Shift]+[Tab]
Previous
Record
[Up]
Print
[Ctrl]+[P]
Return (Enter)
[Return]
Scroll Down
[PageDown]
Scroll Up
[PageUp]
Show Keys
[Ctrl]+[K]
533568611
Function
Section 17-1
Appendices
Section 18 - Appendix B: Reports and Requests
The purpose of this appendix is to list the reports in the order in which they appear
throughout the graduate admissions process. The relevant reports are included with
a brief description of the purpose, notes that pertain to the scheduling options, and a
table reference of the parameters.
GRAD2: Process Application
INCOMPLETE APPLICATIONS REPORT (XXIGS: GRADUATE INCOMPLETE APPLICATIONS)
The purpose of this report is to provide a listing of all applications that are incomplete
or too late at the time the report is run. “Incomplete - too late” applications are those
that were not completed (e.g., supporting material not sent in before the last
application deadline passed).
When should the report be run?
This report should be run after each application deadline to identify “incomplete - too
late” applications, as these will need to be closed in OSS. The report can be run at
any time to identify applications that are incomplete at the time the report is run
(these applications might still become complete before the end of the application
deadline).
Parameter
(M)andatory Description
or (O)ptional
Admission
Calendar
Division
UAB
M
Relevant admission calendar
M
O
Programme
O
Status
Order by
M
M
Relevant division. It is possible to select All Divisions
Lists the University Admitting Body (UAB) offering the programme
of study to which an applicant is seeking admittance
The programme of study being applied for by an applicant at its
highest level (e.g. BA Hons Modern Languages)
Choose Incomplete, Incomplete_TL.
Order by PoS or Applicant Surname
533568611
Section 18-1
Appendices
COMPLETE APPLICATIONS – UAB NOTIFICATION REPORT
The purpose of this report is to provide a list of applicants to be considered within the
application deadline selected.
When should the report be run?
This report should be run daily in between the GF closing date and the UAB decision
date to keep the list up-to-date.
Parameter
(M)andatory Description
or (O)ptional
Calendar
Gathered Field
M
M
UAB
M
Relevant admission calendar
Shows the applicable cut-off date assigned to completed
applications so that the applicant can be grouped and ranked
accordingly
Lists the UAB offering the programme of study to which an
applicant is seeking admittance
GRADUATE COVER SHEETS REPORT
The purpose of this report is to print the cover sheet that should be included when
the dossier is passed in between offices throughout the graduate admissions
process.
When should the report be run?
The GAO should run the report once the application becomes complete (the
application form and all minimum supporting materials have been received). The
report should also be run and the UAB section printed again if the applicant is put
forward for re-evaluation.
Parameter
(M)andatory Description
or (O)ptional
Admission
Category
Admission Year
O
Gathered Field
(Application
deadline)
Department/
Faculty
Administrator
Application ID
Report Sections
Print Duplicate
O
533568611
O
O
O
O
M
O
Allows the report to run for a specific admissions category
(research, taught, non-matriculated)
Shows the admission year in which the application is being
considered
Shows the applicable cut-off date assigned to completed
applications so that the applicant can be grouped and ranked
accordingly
Department or faculty submitting the request
Shows the relevant administrator requesting the report
The applicant record number
Provides the ability to print specific sections of the report
This box should be ticked if the cover sheet has been printed
already for a specific GF
Section 18-2
Appendices
Important: When the Graduate Coversheets report XXIGSR0053 is run with the
parameter of 'Print Duplicate = Yes' only the other parameters 'Application ID' and
'Report Sections' can be entered to produce the coversheet. If any of the other
parameters (Admission Category, Admission Year, Gathered Field and
Administrator) have data entered the coversheet will not be produced.
GRAD4: Agree College Place
APPLICANTS WITHOUT COLLEGE PLACEMENT – ALLOCATION REPORT
The purpose of this report is to list applicants that have not been found a college
place as a result of the intelligent selection process and applicants with inconsistent
rating records (e.g. rating college created but with a rating value of “not applicable”
or “closed”).
When should the report be run?
The GAO should run this report after the second college choice selections have
been completed during the intelligent selection process.
Parameter
(M)andatory Description
or (O)ptional
Admissions
Calendar
M
If no value is given, the current admission calendar is
assigned
Gathered Field
M
Shows the applicable cut-off date assigned to completed
applications so that the applicant can be grouped and ranked
accordingly
UAB
O
Lists the UAB offering the programme of study to which an
applicant is seeking admittance
COLLEGE AVAILABILITY REPORT
The purpose of this report is to list the best possible college matches for the
applicant entered, based on the programme selection and the college target
numbers.
When should the report be run?
This report should be run during the agreement of the college place.
Parameter
(M)andatory Description
or (O)ptional
Person Number
Target Year
Programme Code
M
M
O
533568611
Select to restrict the report to a single applicant
Applicant’s targeted year to begin their programme of study
System code for the programme of study, e.g. graduate
Section 18-3
Appendices
Parameter
(M)andatory Description
or (O)ptional
taught, graduate research, non matriculated
533568611
Section 18-4
Appendices
Section 19 - Appendix B - Dealing with Duplicate Records
This process should be used to close any admissions record that has been created
in error or by the link between OSS and the SBS database.
Decide which record to retain and which to discard
 Select the record that is most suitable to retain. This is normally the first record
that was created as it often has more information in Person Details, or more than
one application attached to it. If you are unsure which should be the duplicate,
refer it to your supervisor.
Record to be retained
 Copy any person details such as addresses, phone numbers etc, and previous
applications that are not already present from the record to be discarded.
 Copy the current application in its entirety from the record to be discarded.
Record to be discarded

Add ZZ to the start of the applicant’s First name,
Last name and Preferred Given name fields. In
the Suffix field add DUPLICATE OF ______,
completed with the OSS number of the record to
retain. SAVE.

If there is a current application on the record to be discarded, it will need to be
closed. Click on Open Application, and select the Withdraw Application tab.
Select ERROR from the LOV in the Application Instance Status field, and
Admin/system error in the Reason field. SAVE.

In Person Details>Others>Forms select Person Relationship. Select
Relationship ‘Superseded by’ and then enter the full name of the student.
SAVE.
533568611
Section 19-1
Appendices
Section 20 - Appendix 20 – Socio-economic data codes
Employment categories
Higher managerial/professional occupations
Lower managerial/professional occupations
Intermediate occupations
Small employers and own account workers
Lower supervisory & technical occupations
Semi-routine occupations
Routine occupations
Never worked and long-time unemployed
None of the above
Prefer not to say
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Gross annual income
Less than £16,000
£16,000-£25,000
£25,000-£42,600
More than £42,600
Prefer not to say
1
2
3
4
5
533568611
Section 20-2
Document Information
Document Information - This document is only valid on the day it was printed
Version:
GAO Manual v
4.0.doc
Date:
18 February 2016
Author:
Training Team
Owner:
Training Team
Intended
Project Management Document
Audience: and GO OSS
Location:
Training Participants
P:\PROJECTS\BSP Training
Team\Course Materials\OSS\OSS
200 - Graduate Admissions
Office\GAO Manual v 4.0.doc
Revision History
Date of this revision:
Date of next revision:
Revision date Version Number
Summary of Changes
02 Feb 05
Removed activities, employment and academic honours
sections after SXB agreement that GO will not enter.
0.2
PCR submitted to project management
23 Jun 06
3.0
Updated for IGSM
08 Aug 06
3.1
Updated with Navigation
28 Mar 07
3.3
Slight chance to incomplete apps report
10 April 2007
3.3
Rebranding of ISIDORE to Student Systems
27 April 2007
3.4
Adding new Response Status’s and removing
DEFERRED and FINAL_NC
27 April 2007
3.5
Added new Deferral IT steps (All done by GAO)
10 May 2007
3.6
Added Early Starts and updated Qualification Details &
new Email Format field as result of RUP3
14 Mar 2008
3.8
AEH: added duplicates policy, as advised by GO
11 Dec 2008
3.9
NBH1 add digitisation. Amend screen shots.
15 Mar 2010
3.10
AEH: added changes as requested by ERT
31 May 2010
4.0
AEH: Approval from ERT
31 Oct 2011
4.1
AEH: Removed reference to AHRC being entered into
"School Applying to" field
29 Nov 2013
4.2
AEH: added additional items: Socio Economic data,
previous criminal conviction.
28 Mar 2014
4.3
AEH: amendments to entering Residency and
Citizenship details as requested by Charles Greenhill.
533568611
Section 20-1
Document Information
Approvals
This document requires the following approvals.
Signed hard copies will be / are filed in the project files.
Name
Job Title
Date of Issue
Sue Bennett
Head of Student Administration
03 Feb 05
Margaret
Taylor
Director of Management
Information Services
03 Feb 05
Anthony
Weale
Academic Registrar
03 Feb 05
533568611
Signature
Section 20-2