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New Student Administration System (August 29, 2005)

Memorandum

TO: University of Pittsburgh Faculty
FROM: Robert F. Pack
DATE: August 29, 2005
New Student Administration System

The implementation of the PeopleSoft student administration (SA) system has brought about a number of enhancements for students, faculty, and staff, with more to come. Outlined below is information regarding a number of those enhancements for faculty, as well as details of related issues of importance.

Accessing Course and Class Information

  • The PeopleSoft student administration system enables faculty to view online course information and provides up-to-the-minute information directly from the course and student database through the SA Self Service feature.
  • Currently, faculty can view the Course Catalog, the Schedule of Classes, their Class Schedule, their Weekly Schedule, and their Class Rosters online through SA Self Service.
  • The SA Self Service feature of the student administration system is available via the University’s web portal (my.pitt.edu), as are all features of the new student administration system.
  • Access to the SA Self Service feature and accompanying course/class information is accomplished in the following manner:
    • Go to the my.pitt.edu portal via the web and log in with your user id and password.
    • Click the Faculty Services tab on the main menu or select Faculty Services from the Communities drop-down menu.
    • Click the link for viewing courses and classes located in the PeopleSoft Self Service window (with the words View Courses, Classes, and Rosters beneath it).
    • The PeopleSoft SA Self Service menu will display in a new window. Click SA Self Service, Learning Management, and Management.
    • From there, to view your class schedule, click View My Class Schedule and select the applicable term. To view your classes for the current week, click View My Weekly Schedule. To view your roster for a specific class, click Access Class Rosters and select the applicable term.
    • Faculty can also use SA Self Service to search the University’s course offerings for a given term, as well as view online course catalog descriptions from the University’s course catalog. Simply click SA Self Service, Learning Management, and either Catalog, or Tasks. Either option will then display the features View Course Catalog and View Schedule of Classes. To view course catalog descriptions, click on View Course Catalog, enter the applicable criteria, and click the Search button. To search the classes being offered during a given term, click View Schedule of Classes, enter the appropriate campus and term, and click either Basic Search or Advanced Search.
  • A more detailed description of how to access the information listed above can be found on the main page of the Faculty Services community.
  • Features to be Added in the Near Future
  • In addition to the features detailed in the previous section, additional features and access for faculty will be added in the near future; key among them are:
    • Record Grades – this feature, which will be accessed using the SA Self Service => Learning Management => Management path and will permit faculty to submit their grades for each class electronically, eliminating the need to complete hardcopy op-scan grade rosters.
    • Define Class Assignments – this feature will be accessed using the path outlined above and can be used to define class assignments for each course being taught, if a faculty member chooses this option.
    • Access Gradebook – this feature will also be accessed using the path outlined above and can be used to record all grades and scores on class assignments, and transmit students’ final grades to the electronic grade roster.

• For faculty members who also have a role as an advisor, access to additional information will be provided via a new path (SA Self Service => Learning Management => Advisement).

  1. View Advisee Information – this feature will allow an advisor to review general advisee information, as well as transcripts and degree progress reports.
  2. New/Drop-In Advisees – this feature will permit an advisor to access pertinent data relating to a new or a drop-in advisee.

System Training and Access

  • Over 4,600 faculty members who are teaching in the fall term have been given access to the SA Self Service feature.
  • Over the past 14 months, system training has been provided to the primary system users working with admissions, registration, financial aid, and student financials. Altogether, approximately 1100 faculty and staff on the University’s five campuses have been trained in one or more of these functions.
  • Formal training classes are provided by CSSD. Simply log in view the University portal (my.pitt.edu) and click on the PS Training tab. At this site, you will be able to click on a Calendar tab that will take you to a listing of training offerings. You will also be able to click on a Documents tab that will take you to a listing of course descriptions, as well as training guides and supplements. There is also a Message Board at this site that provides you with up-to-date information regarding training, how to sign up for training, and a link to contact the trainer with any questions you may have.
  • For a number of functions, attending a formal training class may not be necessary. In those cases, training may be provided through web-based tutorials or through a message providing the path to follow within the system.

Elimination of the Social Security Number as the Primary Student Identifier

  • Unlike the legacy student system (ISIS), the new PeopleSoft student system does not require the use of a student’s social security number as the primary identifier. Instead, the new student administration system utilizes a seven-digit, system-assigned number that is unique for each student and differs from both their social security number and their student ID card number.
  • This student system number will be displayed next to students’ names on each class roster, for easy access by faculty, and should be used in lieu of the social security number for any class-related tasks (e.g. with op-scan answer sheets).
  • Remember, federal statutes and University policies (specifically 09-08-01 and 10-02-08) address restrictions on using social security numbers and other personally identifiable information.

New Term Numbering System

  • Unlike our legacy student system (ISIS), where a three-digit term designator is used (e.g. 051 = 2004 fall term; 052 = 2005 spring term; and, 053 = 2005 summer 2005 term), the PeopleSoft student system requires a four-digit term code designator.
  • For the 2005 fall term, where we would have identified the fall term as 061, the designator is 2061 in the PeopleSoft environment. We added “2” as the first digit both to distinguish the switchover to the new student system and to designate the current millennium. It should be noted that almost every screen in the new student system that displays the term code also displays a “decode” next to it. So, where 2061 is displayed, in most cases the decode fall 2005 is also displayed.
  • There have been additional changes to the designation codes for the spring and summer terms as well. Spring terms, starting with 2006 will have the number “4” as the final number in their codes, instead of a “2” as is currently used, and summer terms will have the number “7” instead of a “3” as the final number. Thus, the spring 2006 term will be identified as 2064 (rather than 062 in ISIS), and the summer 2006 term will be identified as 2067 (rather than 063 in ISIS).
  • There are two reasons for these numbering gaps. First, we have historical data with term and session designations that differ from our current three-digit designation and we have to be able to filter those data into the new system. Second, we have left gaps so the University has the flexibility to make changes or additions to the current session and term schemes in the future.