UCD Registry Administrative Services Belfield Dublin 4 Ireland Clárlann UCD Seirbhísí Riaracháin An Coláiste Ollscoile, Baile Átha Cliath Belfield, Baile.

UCD Registry

Administrative Services

Belfield

Dublin 4

Ireland

Clárlann UCD

Seirbhísí Riaracháin

An Coláiste Ollscoile, Baile Átha

Cliath

Belfield,

Baile Átha Cliath 4,

Éire

Compliance Implementation at University College Dublin

Caroline Barrett

UCD Registry - Administrative Services

2January 2009 UCD Registry - Administrative Services Clárlann UCD - Seirbhísí Riaracháin

Topics

Background/Context

Issues and Solutions

Setting Up Compliance

Running Batch Compliance

Running Individual Compliance

Viewing Compliance Results

Linking Compliance and GPA

Manual Processing & Supporting Reports

The Future…


Background/Context


Background/Context

Glossary of Terms: Major/Minor– An area of study that forms part/all of a

degree.

Level – This is an indication of the difficulty of a module. Levels range from ‘0’ denoting a Foundation level module up to ‘5’ which denotes a Doctoral level module.

Stage – A section of a qualification normally totalling 60 credits. A standard stage will normally take one academic year to complete.

Area – UCD uses Banner Baseline Areas to record the Core modules and Option rules and modules for a given major and stage.


Background/Context

From 2005 UCD made a phased transition from a traditional to a modular, semesterised system entailing the following changes:

Flexible option and elective choices Self-Service online registration Progression to a subsequent stage carrying

outstanding modules Substitution of failed modules Joint Major and Major with Minor qualifications Registration to modules associated with a subsequent

stage


Background/Context

In 2008, we completed our first full cycle of modularised undergraduate programmes, requiring the implementation of a final modularised business process:

Traditional approach (students pass all courses so eligible to complete) is no longer feasible because: More flexible Major structures Students responsible for own registration Progression carrying failed modules

Need for reliable, automated system which would assess students for eligibility for degree award and link with our local Degree GPA calculation tables.


Background/Context

Eligibility assessed across three strata:1. Academic Requirements: (Compliance)

Core Modules Option Modules

2. Credit Accumulation: (Local Reporting) Total Credits per Programme (eg 180 or 240)

3. General Regulations: (Local Reporting) Required number of credits at each level (difficulty)/

eg <10 credits at foundation level.


Background/Context

Figures:

Total students: 22,500

Compliance required for all Final-stage undergraduate students – 2,350 students on 33 Programmes.

Need to include penultimate stage structures. Total of 257 Areas


Issues/Solutions


Issues/Solutions

Issue 1: Dynamic vs. Captive Compliance. Captive: Students are only complied against areas

explicitly attached to the Programme Dynamic: Students are complied against any area for

which they fulfill the Area qualifier (in UCD’s case, only Major is used for this purpose)

Solution 1: Captive Compliance Found Unsuitable Some advantages to Captive BUT incompatible with UCD structures where modules are

shared across Areas within 80% of Programmes Modules complied across multiple Areas so student is found

fully compliant for none So, need to use Dynamic processing


Issues/Solutions

Issue 2: Highly Variable Area Structures UCD uses Area to hold Core Modules and Option Rules

for each Major and Stage Up to 70% of Area structures may change from year to

year Compliance refers to effective term of Area that

matches student Catalog term Catalog term updated yearly Requirement to comply students against both final and penultimate stages Students no longer compliant against penultimate

area where structures have changed


Issues/Solutions

Issue 2: Highly Variable Area Structures (Cont)

Catalog Term: 2006 2007

Student: Stage 2

2006 StructuresStage 3

2007 Structures

Stage 22007 Structures

2006: Student completes Stage 2 under 2006 structures2007: Student completes Stage 3 under 2007 structuresStudent has completed all requirementsBUT, since student has 2007 Catalog when compliance is run

student is assessed against 2007 structures for stage 2

Student Entitled to Comply? YESStudent Compliant? NO


Issues/Solutions

Solution: Duplicate 2006 Penultimate structures with Effective Term of 2007

1. Save Compliance Area code and title in SMAALIB using consistent unique coding convention

2. ‘Default All Detail from Another Area’ (under Options menu) in SMAAREA

3. Copy 2006 structures (including Area Qualifiers) under new code with effective term of 2007

4. Remove dynamic flag in SMAALIB for genuine 2007 penultimate areas to exclude from Compliance processing

Employing this process, we duplicated 128 Areas in 1.5 days.


Running Compliance



SMAPROG

Minimum Compliant Grade must be Entered



SMADFLT

Types of courses for inclusionMin/Max terms for inclusion

Order in which courses are assessed



SMAALIB

Insert Duplicated Compliance AreasUnflag non-Compliance Areas for Dynamic



SMAAREA

Insert Duplicated Compliance Area Code‘Default All Detail from Another Area’



Define Population Selection in GLRSLCT

Term, Program, Type & Student Status



Run Population Selection in GJAPCTL

Enter Variables

‘GLBDATA’



Run Batch Compliance for Population in GJAPCTL

‘SMRBCMP’

Enter Population Identifier



Using this method we successfully

complied 2,357 students in under two

hours.



SMARQCM

Ability to Override Default Settings (SMADFLT)

Enter Student ID



SMARQCM (Cont)

Enter Record Details or Duplicate from Student Record, Degree Record or a previous Compliance Request



View by Group in SMACACT

Student Details Compliance Details



View Individual in SMICRLT

RequirementsMet/Not MetCourses etc Used/Unused



SMICRLT (Cont)

Requirements Met/Not Met Courses Etc Used/Unused

Area Details

Met Ind



SMICRLT (Cont)

CAPP Area Rules (SMAAREA)

CAPP Rule Met?



SMICRLT (Cont)

Course Used Ind



SMICRLT (Cont)

Module DetailsSource eg Registration/Academic HistoryCredits/Grades

Term


Linking Compliance and GPA

SMBAOGN Table

Compliance Request No

PIDM Area Compliance Met Indicator

Local Degree GPA is not calculated for any student where SMBAOGN_MET_IND = ‘N’ for their maximum SMBAOGN_REQUEST_NO


Manual Processing


Manual Processing

Manual Processing was required for a number of reasons:

Inability to systematically process exemptions/transfers/substitutions

Students who had begun one/both of their compliance stages under a traditional system and finished in a modular environment

Difficulties complying modules shared across a student’s majors against the appropriate area

Quantity of manual cases (c. 359) made use of student adjustment functionality procedurally unfeasible


Manual Processing

What student cohorts required manual tracking?

Students with substitute modules (97 - 3.6%)

Students with exemptions/transfer credits (129 – 4.8%)

Students who had both traditional and modularised records (c. 120 – 4.4%)

Students who completed modules shared across their Areas (13 – 0.5%)

Out of a total population of 2,712 Students, 2,353 (86.8%) needed no manual

intervention


Manual Processing

How did we do it?1. Identify manual cohorts2. Identify students on those cohorts3. Students assessed for eligibility to complete by

Programme Offices using suite of Business Objects reports

4. Students deemed provisionally eligible (pending Semester II results) flagged using SPACMNT

5. Once results are finalised, list of ‘COM’ students who have completed their modules forwarded to Assessment Office

6. Assessment Office calculate Degree GPA without reference to Compliance tables


Manual Processing

Current Registration

Modular Academic History

Traditional Academic History


Manual Processing

SWHDGPA – Local Degree GPA Generation Form

Ability to manually override reference to Compliance Tables


Automated Compliance

‘Regular’ Students

Compliance Generates ‘Y’ Record

Compliance Verifies

Requirements Met

Local Form

Generates Degree

GPA


Manual Processing

Manual Students

Requirements Previously Verified by Programme

Offices

Business Objects

Report used to verify

Academic History

Assessment Office

Generates Individual

Degree GPA


Conclusion

Objectives: Reliability

100% Accurate

High level of automation

86.6% of students assessed automatically with limited data build and technical enhancements required

Fit to purpose

Assessed most complex aspect of eligibility – verification of meeting structural requirements – for 2,357 students in less than two hours

Link directly to Degree GPA tables

Effectively linked directly to local Degree GPA generation process


The Future…

Compliance run for all Students

Online Student Self-Service ‘Where am I now?’ ‘If I change now, where can I go?’

Dynamic Facility for Staff Supporting Student

Streamlined Manual Process: Recording Substitutes No Conversion (Traditional/Modular) Process


And Finally…

Any Questions?

[email protected]

[email protected]

UCD Registry Administrative Services Belfield Dublin 4 Ireland Clárlann UCD Seirbhísí Riaracháin An Coláiste Ollscoile, Baile Átha Cliath Belfield, Baile.

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