SITS Experts Section 1 – Introduction and Advanced SITS 23 rd January 2014

Contents Introduction Content and outcomes of each section Making use of the skills and knowledge gained Survey feedback SITS Experts Importance of data and how it is displayed or used by other systems University processes SITS at Aston Advanced retrieval, manipulation and analysis of records Sorting, dropping/keeping and drilling A few challenges Advanced SITS Part 1 Exporting and the various ways of formatting fields Challenge – create a presentable export using fields from various tables Useful tips and shortcuts Advanced SITS Part 2

SITS Experts Introduction Becoming a local expert in retrieving and analysing records; using SRLs to report on or display data; the creation of MAP content and Business Objects reports Problem solving Understanding University processes and how data is maintained After this course… Have a go at creating SRLs and MAP content in SITS Test/Train and creating Business Objects reports Share what you have learnt with colleagues Work with the CSS team on more complex projects

SITS Experts Survey feedback Areas of interest Primarily MAP and Business Objects What did you hope to gain MAP task ideas Student related – displaying assessment information; reporting their own absences; signing up to seminar groups Staff related – viewing DOCs Data held outside of SITS Accreditation and scholarship data; producing spreadsheets with submissions, exam board decisions, class lists etc.

Four sections to the course Advanced Use of SITS – 23 rd Jan Complex retrieval, navigation and analysis Exporting and formatting fields Useful tips and shortcuts SRLs – 27 th Jan Creating and running the different types SRL syntax Using HTML in SRLs MAP Content – 5 th Feb The different types of content and controlling access Using SRLs to display data Creating vistas Business Objects – 11 th Feb Using Infoview to run and schedule reports Creating reports and customising them Understanding complex reports and how they can be amended

SITS at Aston SITS LISFinance Alumni Blackboard DANU Celcat Guild Elections ID Cards Access Control User Accounts PG App.UCAS Accomm. Pure Why is the integrity of the data so important? Numerous returns Links to other systems Data displayed to students and staff How do we maintain SITS data? Departmental Staff Students University processes…

University Processes Some of the key processes Enrolment and re-enrolment Annual roll forward Creation of applicant records Subsequence transfer to student records (ATR) Invoicing Displaying student teaching and examination timetables Creation of new modules and programmes Monitoring student engagement Awarding students Withdrawing and transferring students Recording coursework submission Running Exam Boards and progressing students Not an exhaustive list! What part do you play in these processes and what if they go wrong?

Importance of accurate data in SITS Can we list 5 examples where inaccurate data can have a negative impact, and what do we currently do to prevent it?

Advanced use of SITS Use of wildcards Templates (RET) Retrieving records Go to Sorting Dropping/Keeping File - Release Manipulation of records Quick analysis Cross reference analysis Templates (RET) Analysis of records Familiarising yourself with field codes Drilling into other tables/records UDFs SITS Tables and Fields

Some challenges Use the methods covered today to solve these in SITS Train Of all current students in ABS, what percentage are female? Hint – use SPR, retrieve then quick analysis Easy Using retrieval template ‘3/4P NEXT YEAR’ in SCE, which programme is expected to have the most placement students in 2013/4? How does this compare to the actual number of students that are on placement in 2013/4? Hint – quick analysis of programme (not course!) Medium Of all current final year students, how many have been on the Ordinary degree at some point and how many have an Ordinary degree award code? Hint – retrieve in SPR, then keep records with notes field containing ‘ordinary’ A little tougher

Exporting Data Exporting Any combination of fields within the table/entity Export for whichever records have been retrieved Field Formatting &L/&R/&C – Left, right and centre justify &A – Append/Add (prefix or suffix) &U/&V/&W – Uppercase, lowercase, title case &D – Date/time variations &N – Number formatting &E – Extract words &F – Field formatting (specify parts of a field) &G – Get field value (from another table) &M – Mathematical expression &S – Search and replace (i.e. an M with Male)

Creating an export using fields from another table Using the &G field format Exporting a field from STU is possible in SPR as the STU code is stored in SPR Export the STU code from SPR and use &G followed by the field code, entity and dictionary &G’s can be stacked to return the gender name field from the GEN table, as in the example shown &G can be used in quick analysis

Lets put this into practice Use the screen of your choice Try out each of the field formats Use &G to bring in fields from other tables Create an export Retrieve some records in SPR and try getting fields from STU to use in quick analysis or cross reference analysis You can also store this as a template to save time in future Using &G in quick analysis

Making use of SPD and DOC SPD (Student Personal Documents) Additional detail stored against STU record Categorised using the Detail type and can be password protected Some MAP tasks automatically create SPD records Exam notes for individual students can be stored as Exam type Document Manager Files electronically stored against any entity i.e. transcript in SPR or Module Board Report in MAV Each document type (DTY) can have different access levels Can be created or viewed in e-vision

Useful Tips and Shortcuts HUB, STUS, SDC, SAP Useful Screens Field descriptions and the purpose of each screen SITS ManualKeyboard Shortcuts SITS Menu Search, History and Favourites

Conclusion What have you learnt? Some new ways to work with SITS records More complex use of quick analysis and templates Exporting data and formatting fields Some new screens and shortcuts Making use of what has been covered Understanding field codes and field formatting is useful for writing SRLs Create more complex exports that you can use repeatedly Are there new ways you’d like to use SPD, DOC or UDFs?