Class of ‘55 Room, Van Pelt Library – May 23, 2012
Student Data User Group 5/23/2012 - Agenda
• News
• Business Objects “Tip”
• Increasing report sharing
• NGSS project update
• Student Data Training
• Frequent queries & query frustrations
• Speakers & topics for future meetings
News – Recent Changes
Business Objects upgraded to the latest release patch for our version.
 IE zoom issue fixed, where InfoView would freeze if you had IE set to zoom
the screen beyond 100%
 A reminder about supported browsers for Webi.
Mac OS X:
Safari 5 (with Apple 1.6.0_xx)
Firefox 11 (with Java for OS X Lion 2012-002) *
* not on the supported list, but successfully tested at Penn
Windows XPsp3 or Win7:
IE 9.0 (with Sun 1.6.0_xx) - compatibility mode
Firefox 8 (with Sun 1.6.0_xx)
See the Query tools and FAQ for workaround pages for details.
News – Recent Changes
New view Census Student Advisor Term (cen_stdt_advisor_term )
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Allows reporting on advisors for a student or group of students in a given term.
Added PhD_Term_count to Census Student Term (cen_stdt_student_term)
•
Populated beginning with Spring 2012.
New view Major Cluster (major_cluster_v) in STDTCANQ universe.
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Previously an internal Business Objects construct.
Nursing Accelerated Program program definition was changed.
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Combined BSN/MSN 5 yr degree pursual program, was considered “Traditional Undergraduate”.
New definition starts with the class of 2017 (entry_term = 2012C).
Designated by primary Special Program Code = “NAP”
Will be considered “Professional and Other Degree Programs” (like LPS undergraduate degree students).
Distinguishes from other nurses for financial aid, tuition calculation and tuition distribution purposes.
News - Upcoming Changes
Adding Entry Year Cohort to SRS Term Calendar table for all students
(in warehouse table only)
 Spring term (“A”) is considered same cohort as previous Summer (“B”) and Fall (“C”)
terms.
Term
Entry_Year_Cohort
2011B
2011
2011C
2011
2012A
2011
2012B
2012
2012c
2012
2013A
2012
Nightly data load processing - evaluating how to shorten the load times
to ensure earlier completion.
Business Objects Tips/FAQs How-To’s Highlight
• How to ensure that a report saved to Excel starts in cell A1:
Before : Report saved to Excel
starts in cell B2
After : Report saved to Excel
starts in cell A1
Business Objects Tips/FAQs How-To’s Highlight
• How to ensure that a report saved to Excel starts in cell A1:
1.
From InfoView, select the top-most table in the body, click Align, Relative Position.
then change both entries under
Position: Within the Report to zero.
2.
Business Objects Tips/FAQs How-To’s Highlight
3.
4.
Save report to my computer as Excel.
… the report in Excel starts in cell A1
Note: From Webi, these settings appear under Properties
Expanding Corporate Reports Library – Public Folders
 What reports do you wish were available?
 Any reports you use that might benefit a broader set of users?
 In your Favorites folder
 In your specific school/dept/division Public folder
Discussion: Identify 2 -3 reports to share beyond current folder
Data admin will assist report owners – with suggestions for changes to prompts, hardcoded filters, report names, etc, in preparation for sharing to broader audience.
NGSS Project (Ann White and Bill Branan)
 As previously reported, the NGSS project is currently
evaluating the access strategy for student data
 Points discussed during individual School/Center meetings:
 Student data being accessed from the warehouse
 Method used to access student data in the warehouse
 Any additional processing being done after the data is retrieved
 Whether the data access is scheduled, ad-hoc, or both and whether
this process is automated or manual
 Student data from the warehouse used to support any local
operational systems
 Benefits of more frequent data updates
NGSS Project (Ann White and Bill Branan)
 Schools met
 Graduate School of Education
 Perelman School of Medicine
 School of Arts and Sciences
 School of Engineering and Applied Science
 School of Veterinary Medicine
 Wharton School of Finance and Commerce
 Schools to meet
 School of Dental Medicine
 School of Law
 School of Nursing
NGSS Project (Ann White and Bill Branan)
 Preliminary findings
 Sample systems (SAS) using student data:
 IRQDB
 Online Course Catalog
 Degree Granting System
 More real-time data updates would allow for:
 More accurate reporting especially during drop/add periods
 Student access to most updated instructor and location
information and course materials
 Faster authorization of local student accounts
 Up-to-date student tracking through degree process (e.g.,
graduation checkout status, degree requirements)
NGSS Project (Ann White and Bill Branan)
 Next Steps:
 Based upon our findings:
 Identify the opportunities to consolidate functions currently being
provided locally that can now effectively be accomplished with the
Next Generation Student System
 Determine the most effective methods and sources for providing
student data to those local systems where it cannot be
accomplished by the new student system
 Compile our complete findings and present summary information
at a future meeting
 Have we missed your school or center?
 Please contact us if you’d like to discuss your student data access
needs (annwhite@isc.upenn.edu, branan@isc.upenn.edu )
Student Data Training
 Student Training in WebI
 Quarterly sessions
 Canned examples followed by ad-hoc questions
 Mixed attendance
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Skill
Interests
Numbers
 Feedback
 Is the format useful
 How can we improve
Frequent queries & query frustrations
When you include address information in your queries (not email),
which of these do you do most frequently?
 Are you looking for other student information, and you just want to
include the students’ current address? Or
 Are you looking for another specific address type (other than current)?
If so, which address type do you use the most often?
 What kinds of things do you use mailing address for?
Frequent queries & query frustrations
When you include degree information in your queries, which of
these do you do most frequently?
 Are you looking for other information, and you want to include the
students’ primary degree? Or
 Are you looking for people in a specific degree, regardless of whether
it’s their primary or secondary program?
 …or do you do both of the above with equal frequency?
Frequent queries & query frustrations
When you include major information in your queries, which of these
do you do most frequently?
 Are you looking for majors in a specific term/terms? Just the latest
term? Across all terms?
 Are you looking for other information, and you want to include the
students’ first major?
 Are you looking for people in a specific major, regardless of whether it’s
their first or second or third?
 Are you looking for people studying in an academic area regardless of
whether it’s their major or minor?
 …or do you do all of these with equal frequency?
Frequent queries & query frustrations
When you include course information in your queries, which of
these do you do most frequently?
 Are you looking for all students enrolled in a specific course(s) or
 Are you looking for specified student(s) and the courses they are taking?
 Do you need to know what degree that course is being counted towards?
 Are you looking for course(s) in a specific term, or multiple terms? If a
specific term, is that usually the current term?
Frequent queries & query frustrations
When you include instructor information in your queries, which of
these do you do most frequently?
 Are you looking for all instructors or just the instructors with load > 0?
 Are you looking for the course information and you just need to know
who is teaching the course, or
 Are you looking for instructor information, and you want to know what
that person is teaching? If instructor information is the thing you most
frequently need, what do you need to know about instructors?
Frequent queries & query frustrations
Thinking about the kinds of queries that you do most
frequently:
What are some of the biggest challenges you encounter
when using the STDTCANQ universe?
Speakers & topics for future meetings
Next Meeting: August or September?
Content TBD based on your input today
• Suggestions for topics/ presentations/ speakers ?
• Volunteer(s) to present?
Mike, Susan, and Ed are available to assist with the presentation