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CHAPTER 10: Graduation Checker System

Last Revision: 02/23/06

Chapter Summary

This chapter deals with the AFD Screen and Graduation Checker System, which is used by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences to do graduation checks. The AFD screen is used to enter data that then appears when the Graduation Checker Screen is accessed.

Accessing the AFD (Application For Degree) Screen

NOTE: In order to access the EFS system, you must have a login and password. Notify the ARTS support team if you need access to the EFS system. EFS is accessible in two ways. You may have the EFS icon (see Figure 10.1a) on your desktop, which you can double-click. You can also access EFS by going to the main ARTS menu, clicking on "Auxiliary Systems", then selecting "Electronic Folder System (EFS)" (see Figure 10.1b).

      

Figure 10.1a-EFS Icon.       

            Figure 10.1b-Accessing EFS through the ARTS menu.

Double-clicking the EFS icon will launch the EFS program and display a login screen (see Figure 10.2). Enter your initials in the "initials" box and press , or click on the "password" box. Enter your password and press "Enter" or click on "Login". If you do not remember or wish to change your password, contact ARTS support.

Figure 10.2-EFS Login screen.

Click the AFD Button that is located in the lower right-hand corner of the main EFS screen (see Fig. 10.3).

Fig. 10.3--Clicking the AFD button in the EFS screen.

This will bring up the AFD screen (see Fig. 10.4).

Fig. 10.4--AFD Screen.

The fields shown in Figure 10.4 are numbered and described below:

  1. Reload/Add/Edit/Delete: These buttons let you Reload, Add, Edit, and Delete the AFD records. Click on "Reload" if you wish to reload all of the student's AFD records. Click on "Add" when you wish to add a new record, and type the AFD term you wish to add, pressing "Enter" afterwards. Click on "Edit" when you wish to edit the record displayed. The "Edit" button will then become the "Submit" button, and the "Delete" button will become the "Cancel" button. Make your changes, then click on the "Submit" button or hit the "F10" key to lock them in. Click on "Cancel" or hit "Esc" to cancel your changes. Click on "Delete" when you wish to delete a record. If the "Edit" and "Delete" buttons are grayed out, then your department is not allowed access to edit or delete this record. If you need to have the department designation changed on this record, contact the ARTS Support Team or a designated EFS administrator. NOTE: If you have unintentionally deleted a record, please contact the ARTS Support Team immediately. You do not need to re-add the record.
  2. AFD/HOLDS. These buttons allow you to switch back and forth between the AFD and Holds records for the student. If the "Holds" button has a dark blue square in it, this means that Holds records exist for the student. The Holds Screen is described below.
  3. ID/Name/Last Run/Last Run Date and Time. The first two fields contain the ID and the name of the student. This information is retrieved from the Basic Screen. The "Last Run" field to the right of the "Name" field contains the results of the last Graduation Check run ("Issue", "Do Not Issue", or "Issue Some"). The "Last Run Date and Time" field contains the last date and time a Graduation Check was processed for the student using the Graduation Checker. This field is used to determine which students will print when running a Graduation Report.
  4. Plan/Sub/MCS/ISS/Minor/Min/Issue. The Plan and Subplan fields contain the Plan(s) and Subplan(s) for which the student has filled out an AFD form. The "MCS" field is a flag that indicates whether the student has filled out a Major Certification Sheet. "ISS" is a flag that indicates whether the student can be issued the degree for the plan that corresponds to the "ISS" field. The "Minor" field is where the student's minor is, and "MIN" indicates whether or not the student has completed a Minor Certification Sheet. "ISSUE1" is the flag that indicates whether the corresponding minor degree can be issued. The AFD screen supports up to three plans with three corresponding minors. If any of the "ISS" fields are set to 'Y' and others are set to 'N', then the Graduation Checker will indicate a yellow "Issue Some" in the "Issue" field at the bottom.
  5. Comments. This field contains comments for the student. This field applies for all of the student's AFD records.
  6. ID/Search. This is the field where you enter the ID or name you wish to find. After entering the ID or last name of the student you wish to locate, hit "Enter" or click on the magnifying glass button. If you type in a last name, the Name Search Screen will come up from the Basic Screen. with a list of matching last names. If a student has no AFD's, the screen will come up empty and you can add AFD's from there.
  7. Term. This field contains the term of the selected AFD. If the student has multiple AFD's, you can drop this list down and select the appropriate term's AFD.
  8. Force\Modwho\Moddate\Access\Dept: These fields contain audit information regarding who has added or changed the record, when the record was last changed, if the record is departmental or world access, and which department "owns" the record for editing and/or deleting. The "Force" field contains a character indicating whether the AFD was forced using the Graduation Checker Screen and is used for troubleshooting purposes.

The Holds Screen


The Holds Screen contains courses or other things the student needs to complete their degree. There are two types of holds you can enter here: (R)equirements and (H)olds. (R)equirements are actual courses the student needs to complete to satisfy the hold. The Graduation Checker goes through the courses the student has taken and compares them to the course entered here to see if it has satisfied the hold's (R)equirement. (H)olds are miscellaneous, non-course items that alert the advisor running the Graduation Checker that something is needed for the student to graduate. The following fields shown in Fig. 10.5 are numbered and described below:

Fig. 10.5--The Holds Screen.

  1. Reload/Add/Edit/Delete: These buttons let you Reload, Add, Edit, and Delete the Holds. Click on "Reload" if you wish to reload all of the student's Holds. Click on "Add" when you wish to add a new record. Click on "Edit" when you wish to edit the record displayed. The "Edit" button will then become the "Submit" button, and the "Delete" button will become the "Cancel" button. Make your changes, then click on the "Submit" button or hit the "F10" key to lock them in. Click on "Cancel" or hit "Esc" to cancel your changes. Click on "Delete" when you wish to delete a record. If the "Edit" and "Delete" buttons are grayed out, then your department is not allowed access to edit or delete this record. If you need to have the department designation changed on this record, contact the ARTS Support Team or a designated EFS administrator. NOTE: If you have unintentionally deleted a record, please contact the ARTS Support Team immediately. You do not need to re-add the record.
  2. AFD/HOLDS. These buttons allow you to switch back and forth between the AFD and Holds records for the student. If the "Holds" button has a dark blue square in it, this means that Holds records exist for the student. The AFD Screen is described above.
  3. ID/Name. These two fields contain the ID and the name of the student. This information is retrieved from the Basic Screen.
  4. Type/Require/Crs. These fields contain the basic information about the hold. "Type" determines whether the hold is a (R)equirement (a course is needed) or a (H)old (non-course related). "Require" is the description you give the course needed to satisfy the hold, or the non-course related hold. "Crs" is the actual course that is needed for the (R)equirement. A Department and Course Number without spaces are needed here--the course number needs to be four numbers with a leading zero. For example, English 101 needs to be entered as "ENGL0101". The Graduation Checker goes through the courses the student has taken and compares them to the course entered here to see if it has satisfied the (R)equirement. If a course has been found that satisfies the (R)equirement, the record will not show up in the Graduation Checker screen (it will still show if the course is in the repeatable courses table so you can verify which instance of the repeatable course taken meets the (R)equirement).
  5. Grid: This grid contains all of the Hold records for the student. You can navigate between the records by clicking on the one you wish to edit, and its data will appear in the blanks above the grid. The arrow keys can also be used to navigate the grid. NOTE: This grid is for navigation only. You cannot use the grid to enter data.
  6. ID/Search. This is the field where you enter the ID or name you wish to find. After entering the ID or last name of the student you wish to locate, hit "Enter" or click on the magnifying glass button. If you type in a last name, the Name Search Screen will come up from the Basic Screen. with a list of matching last names.
  7. Status/Where/Term. These fields contain additional information about the hold. "Status" contains a list of possible status values: (I)ncomplete, (E)nrolled, (T)ransfer, (S)tudy Abroad, (C)orrespondence, (G)rade Waiting, and (F)ailed. "Where" contains the location of the course, and "Term" is the term in which the student is taking the course. None of these fields are used in Graduation Check processing, and only show up on the Graduation Checker for informational purposes.
  8. Add Date\Who Mod\Mod Date\Dept: These fields contain audit information regarding who has added or changed the record, when the record was last changed, if the record is departmental or world access, and which department "owns" the record for editing and/or deleting.

Accessing the Graduation Checker

Use the following steps to access the Graduation Checker:

  1. Access the ARTS Form Generation Screen.
  2. Type in the ID or ID list name for which you wish to access the Graduation Checker.
  3. Type in the term you wish to pull the Graduation Check for into the "Current Term and Assumed Grade" blank(see Fig. 10.6).
  4. Check the "GradCheck" box on the ARTS Form Generation Screen (also see Fig. 10.7).
  5. Click on "Print".

Fig. 10.6--Current Term and Assumed Grade blank and GradCheck Box.

The Graduation Checker screen should now appear(see Fig. 10.7). The gray fields are for viewing, and the white fields are fields you can edit. The following are items numbered in Fig. 10.7:

Fig. 10.7--Graduation Check Screen.

  1. ID/Name/AFD Filed For. These fields contain the basic information about the student on the screen. If an ID list was used, the ID dropbox can be dropped down to select a different student on the list.
  2. Plan/Subplan/Title/MCS?/Issue?/Major GPA/JR SR Res Hours Needed/Min?/Issue? These fields contain the plan/subplan/minor information for the student. The Plan and Subplan fields receive their information from the EFS AFD screen. The Title field receives its information from the EFS plans table. The MCS (Major Checksheet) checkbox corresponds to the "MCS" field on the AFD screen, and it is checked when the "MCS" field is set to 'Y'. You can check this checkbox and it will set the "MCS" field to 'Y' in the AFD record. The "Issue?" checkboxes correspond to the "ISS" fields on the AFD screen, and you can change those fields from this screen as well. This will change the results drop box down below to "Issue Some" in yellow. The "Major GPA", "JR SR Hours" and "Res Needed" (junior/senior hours in residence needed) fields contain data extracted from ARTS. See the table below in Fig. 10.8 for more information about the GPA and Hours fields.
  3. Total Hrs Needed/JR/SR Hrs Needed/KU GPA/KU Res Hours. These fields contain information derived from ARTS calculations. "Total Hrs Needed" takes the minimum required and subtracts the student's current hours count. "JR/SR Hrs Needed" takes the minimum JR/SR hours required and subtracts the student's current JR/SR hours count. If the student has sufficient hours for these fields, "OK" will be displayed. "KU GPA" and "KU Res Hours" are derived directly from ARTS calculations (see Fig. 10.8 below).

    The table in Fig. 10.8 represents the ARTS-related fields and the ARTS requirements that correspond to them:

    Grad Check FieldARTS Requirement Name
    Major GPAJRSR-ALL
    JR SR Res Hours NeededRES-JR/SR (min needed - actual)
    Total Hours NeededTOTALHRS (min needed - actual)
    JR/SR Hours NeededJRSRHRS (min needed - actual)
    KU GPAKUGPA
    KU Res HrsKUHRS

    Fig. 10.8--Table of ARTS Requirements used in Graduation Check.


  4. Remaining Graduation Requirements. This grid contains information about the (R)equirement holds entered on the Holds Screen. You cannot change this information here; it is for viewing purposes only. If you were expecting a (R)equirement hold to show up here, it may have been satisfied by a course.
  5. Holds. This grid contains information about the (H)olds that were created using the Holds Screen. You cannot change this information here; it is for viewing purposes only. These (H)olds stay in this screen until they are deleted in the Holds Screen.
  6. Status/Save/Reload/Report/ID List/Grad/Exit. The "Status" field contains information on whether the AFD record was loaded successfully. The "Save" button is used to save any changes you make to this screen (the white fields are the fields you can edit). The "Reload" button can be used to reload the AFD record (the GPA's and hours fields are not re-calculated when you reload the screen; you will need to re-run the Graduation Check to do this). The "Report", "ID List", and "Grad" buttons are described below. The "Exit" button closes the window.
  7. Current Semester. This field contains a summary of courses in which the student is currently enrolled. Credit hours are listed out to the right of the course title. If grades are available, they are also listed.
  8. Graduation Check Results and Force Checkbox. As the Graduation Checker reads in ARTS data and looks at holds, it evaluates whether the student is an "Issue All", "Fig. 10." (meaning that at least one of multiple plans above has "Issue" set to 'Y'), or "Do Not Issue". The "Force" checkbox--if checked--allows you to force, or override, an AFD record's result to "Issue All" (green), "Issue Some" (if the student has multiple plans--yellow), "Do Not Issue"(red), or "Deleted"(blue). See Fig. 10.9 for an example of a student's Grad Check being "Forced". Once it is changed, the drop list will change to the appropriate color. "Deleted" does not delete the record from the database. It merely allows you to run a list of reports and exclude any Grad Check AFD records that are marked "Deleted". See below for more information about report options. If you wish to remove the "Force", simply uncheck the checkbox and click on the "Save" button to save your change. You will then need to close the Graduation Check Screen and re-run the Graduation Check to get the results (Issue/Do Not Issue/etc.) that are calculated by the system. NOTE: If you wish to force the results to "Issue Some", be sure and check the "ISS" checkbox of the corresponding plan above.

Fig. 10.9--Forcing a Graduation Check Record.

Reporting Functions and ID Lists

The Graduation Check Screen has a few functions that allow you to print single or multiple Graduation Check reports, print Hold Reports, create ID lists and graduation reports. The functions are detailed below.

Printing Individual or Multiple Graduation Check Reports and Hold Reports

This function allows you to select and print which Graduation Check reports you want. To get to the screen for producing these reports, click on the "Report" button on the Graduation Checker Screen. The following screen (see Fig. 10.10) is numbered and discussed below:

Fig. 10.10--Graduation Check Report Printing Screen.

  1. Individual/Batch. This button allows you to select whether you want to print the currently displayed student or the entire batch of students (if you ran a list of students through the Graduation Checker). If you select "Batch", the list of selection checkboxes becomes enabled.
  2. All Students on List/Deleted Only/Filter Out Deleted/Issue All/Issue Some/Do Not Issue. These checkboxes allow you to narrow down the number of Graduation Check reports you wish to print. The "All Students on List" box, when checked, disables all other boxes. This box should be checked when all students on the list need to be printed. "Filter Deleted" prevents the software from printing any students who have been Forced to "Deleted". "Issue All", "Issue Some", and "Do Not Issue" are all used to select students whose last Graduation Check run had those results (or were forced to those results). "Deleted Only" disables all other checkboxes, just like the "All Students" box does.
  3. Print/Cancel. Use the "Print" button to run the report(s), and click on "Cancel" to close out of this screen.
  4. Holds Report/Term/Alpha Range/Type. This function will allow you to print a report of the holds in the database for a given alpha range of student last name and a given term. The "Term" field is used to specify which term the Holds are for. The Alpha Range is an inclusive range of the first letter of the last name that can be selected, and "Type" is the status of the hold you want to select from: (I)ncomplete, (E)nrolled, (T)ransfer, (S)tudy Abroad, (C)orresp, (G)Wait Grade, (F)Change Grade, and ( )Unknown. This selection refers to the "Status" field referred to on the Holds Screen. After you have selected your parameters, click on the "Print" button next to "Type".
  5. Printed. The "Printed" field shows how many Graduation Check reports/Hold records have been printed. A sample Holds Report for holds of type "Enrolled" for students with last names beginning in the range from A through D is shown in Fig. 10.11 below.

Fig. 10.11--Sample Holds Report.

Extracting ID Lists

This function allows you to create an ID list from an alphabetical range of students' last names and a specific term their AFD was filed for. Use the "ID List" button on the main Graduation Check Screen to access the ID List screen. The screen is shown in Fig. 10.12 and described below:

Fig. 10.12--Extract IDs to List Function.

  1. From/To A-Z. These two fields let you determine an alpha range (by last name) of students for which you wish to extract an ID list.
  2. For Term. Put the AFD term for which you wish to extract ID's here.
  3. Output To. Type in or select an existing ID list as the name of the output ID list.
  4. #IDs. This field shows the number of ID's that were extracted to the output ID list.
  5. Extract/Cancel. Click on "Extract" to begin the extraction process. Click on "Cancel" to close the form.

After running the Extraction process, you can open the ARTS Form Generation Screen and select the ID list you've created and run the Graduation Checker again.

Running a Graduation Report

This function creates an alphabetical (by last name) report of students that have AFD's filed in a selected term, that have last Graduation Check run dates at or since a selected last run date. You can access this function by clicking on the "Grad" button from the Graduation Check Screen. The Graduation Report Screen is shown numbered below in Fig. 10.13:

Fig. 10.13--Graduation Report Screen.

  1. Term. This field allows you to select the AFD term for which you want to run the report.
  2. Last Run Date. This field has a calendar picker that allows you to select a "cutoff" date, and narrow down the report to only include students who have had Graduation Checks run on or after that date.
  3. All Dates/Generate. Check the "All Dates" checkbox if you wish to include students' AFD's with Graduation Checks run for any date, including those who have not had a Graduation Check yet. Click on "Generate" to print the report.

Simply close the window to exit the Graduation Report Screen. A sample report with a selected term of 4059 (Fall 2005) and Last Run Date of 01/16/2006 (indicated on the report by "CUTOFF IS") is shown in Fig. 10.14:

Fig. 10.14--Sample Graduation Report.