course 5 online and paper admission applications · 2015-07-21 · course 5: online and paper...

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Course 5

Online and Paper Admission

Applications

Student Information Management System (SIMS)

Office of the Registrar

Version 1D AB 22.04.2015

COURSE 5: ONLINE AND PAPER ADMISSION APPLICATIONS

2009 University of Malta

This guide was prepared by:

ANIKA BARTOLO - SIMS OFFICE

EDMOND FORMOSA - SIMS OFFICE

Checked by:

ELISA VELLA - OFFICE OF THE REGISTRAR

Logo design on cover:

NEIL PARIS – SIMS OFFICE

The content of this guide is based on manuals produced by:

Tribal Education Ltd.

The information in this guide is the property of the

University of Malta. It may be reproduced and circulated within the

University of Malta. Staff must not disclose or issue this guide in any

form to any other party.

© Copyright 2009 – University of Malta


2009 University of Malta

Table of Contents

Introduction to Course 5 ..................................................................................... 4

What is SIMS? .................................................................................................... 4

Aims ................................................................................................................. 4

Courseware ....................................................................................................... 5

Activities ........................................................................................................... 5

Format Conventions ............................................................................................ 5

Lesson 1 – Online Admissions Process & Retrieval of Applicants’ Data................ 6

Introduction – Updates regarding the Post-Application Process ................................. 6

Differencies and Similarities – ACD table ............................................................... 7

Various Ways of Retrieving Different Data ............................................................. 7

Lesson 2 – Generating and Printing Admissions Reports ................................... 17

Introduction ..................................................................................................... 17

Generating and Printing Different Admissions Reports ........................................... 18

Faculty Recommendations Reports...................................................................... 19

Application Decision Reports .............................................................................. 20

Retrieving the MAS Course Code from ACD ............................................... Appendix I

Retrieving the SRS Course Code from ACD ..............................................Appendix II


4

Introduction to

Course 5 What is SIMS?

SIMS (Student Information Management System) software is a comprehensive program used to record and manage student data. The program was developed by a UK software house called Tribal.

The SIMS program facilitates the management of data accumulated during the students’ study period at university. The program was introduced at the University of Malta following:

� an elaborate exercise to identify the appropriate data management software suitable for the University;

� a wide consultation with academic staff, administrative and technical staff;

� substantial hardware and software investments.

Aims

This course provides information about the different ways that multiple data can be retrieved on the ACD table . It also highlights the differences between the admission reports that are available to different users. Some Tips for Usage are also included in the training manual.


5

Courseware

The courseware that follows is made up of 2 lessons. The first lesson introduces trainees to the different ways by which one can retrieve data on SIMS. The second lesson is about generating and printing reports that are available through the ACD table .

Activities

The training is based on practical step-by-step activities that will help you master the skills required to retrieve applicants according to your needs. All the typing that you are expected to enter in SIMS has been provided in the courseware. Screen shots have been included so that you can check your computer output.

Format Conventions

This symbol alerts you about cautions to be observed.

This symbol indicates reading material.


6

Lesson 1 -

Online Admissions Process & Retrieval of Applicants’ Data

Objectives

By the end of this lesson you will learn about:

� Updates regarding the Post-Application Process;

� Differences and Similarities between Online and Paper Applications;

� Various Ways of Retrieving Different Data;

� Different Types of Applicants.

Introduction – Updates regarding the Post-Application Process

In July 2008, the University of Malta ran a Pilot Project for admission to its undergraduate courses by offering an alternative facility to the paper application form.

Following a positive response to the online application for admission, the system has been further developed to accept applications from applicants with local and overseas qualifications for undergraduate and postgraduate courses.

Consequently, the online application necessitated slight changes to the post processing of the applications.

In this lesson, some instructions and screen shots are given in order to help you retrieve various data that you may find useful during the Intake period.


7

Differences and Similarities - ACD table

The only difference between the online and the paper applications is the application number. Online applications do not have an application number. Instead, the ‘Application No’ field of those applications that were submitted online (Fig. 1) is automatically populated with the word ‘ONLINE’.

Figure 1

Various Ways of Retrieving Different Data

In this section, you will learn how to retrieve different data depending on which fields you populate. A summary of some of the ways in which data can be retrieved is listed below:

� Online Applications ONLY of 1 application course code. (Fig.2 - Pg8) � Both online and paper applications of 1 application course code. (Fig.3 - Pg9) � Both online and paper applications of 1 SRS course code. (Fig.4 - Pg10) � Both online and paper applications of your Faculty / Institute / Centre

(including all courses) (Fig.5 - Pg11) � 1st Preference ONLY of 1 application course code. (Fig.6 - Pg12) � All Postgraduate/Undergraduate applications within your Faculty / Institute /

Centre (Fig. 7 - Pg13) � A specific Application Category of 1 application course code. (Fig.8 - Pg14)

� Both online and paper applications after a particular date. (Fig. 9 - Pg16)


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� Online Applications ONLY of 1 application course code (Fig 2):

FIELD

TO INPUT

MAS crs

Application Course Code (Refer to Appendix I – last page of this Manual)

Entry Year

Admissions Intake Year (eg. 2009/0)

Month Code

Intake Month (eg. OCT for October Intake FEB for February Intake)

App Category

Applicants with Maltese Qualifications - H* (gold star) Applicants with Overseas Qualifications - O* (gold star)

Application No

ONLINE

Figure 2


9

� Both online and paper applications of 1 application course code (Fig 3):

FIELD

TO INPUT

MAS crs


Entry Year


Month Code


App Category


Figure 3

Please note that the ‘Application No’ field was left blank. This means that all applications will be retrieved, i.e. both paper and online applications.


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� Both online and paper applications of 1 SRS course code (Fig 4):

FIELD

TO INPUT

SRS crs

Course Code (without areas) (Refer to Appendix II – last page of this Manual)

Entry Year


Month Code


App Category


Figure 4

This retrieval method can be used for courses that have an area/s of studies. eg. Bachelor of Arts (Faculty of Arts); Bachelor of European Studies (EDRC) Please note that the ‘SRS crs’ field is being used instead of the ‘MAS crs’ field.


11

� Both online and paper applications of all the courses within your Faculty / Institute / Centre (Fig 5):

FIELD

TO INPUT

Entry Year


Month Code


App Category


Faculty

Faculty / Institute / Centre Code

Figure 5


12

� 1st Preference ONLY of 1 application course code (Fig 6):

FIELD

TO INPUT

MAS crs


Pref

Preference Number (eg. 01 for 1st Preference 02 for 2nd Preference)

Entry Year


Month Code


App Category


Figure 6

Please note that if you leave the ‘Pref’ field blank, all applications will be retrieved, i.e. both 1st and 2nd preferences.


13

� All Postgraduate/Undergraduate applications within your Faculty / Institute /

Centre (Fig. 7):

FIELD

TO INPUT

MAS crs All postgraduate courses - P* (gold star) All undergraduate courses - U* (gold star)

Entry Year


Month Code


App Category


Faculty

Faculty / Institute / Centre Code

Figure 7


14

� A specific Application Category of 1 application course code (Fig 8) on page 14:

All the different applicant types are given an application category in the ACD table . These application categories can be divided into two groups. In order to identify these two groups, the first letter of the application category code is either ‘H’ or ‘O’. ‘H’ - applicants who present Maltese qualifications ‘O’ - applicants who present foreign qualifications Please note that online applications are initially marked as either HNOR for applicants presenting Maltese Qualifications, or OVR for applicants presenting Overseas Qualifications. The Admissions and Records Office will update these categories into one of the various categories as listed below: Applicants presenting Maltese Qualifications (H): HNOR - Applicants presenting the MATSEC Certificate, Univeristy of Malta degrees, or other qualifications considered as local.

H85 - Applicants presenting the MATSEC Certificate, University of Malta degrees, or other local qualifications + applying under Reg. 8.5 of the Admission Regulations HMAT - Mature applicants presenting Maltese Qualifications

HM85 - Mature applicants presenting Maltese Qualifications + applying under Reg. 8.5 of the Admission Regulations Applicants presenting Overseas Qualifications (O): OVR - Applicants presenting Overseas Qualifications

O85 - Applicants presenting Overseas Qualifications + applying under Reg. 8.5 of the Admission Regulations OMT - Mature applicants presenting Overseas Qualifications

OM85 - Mature applicants presenting Overseas Qualifications + applying under Reg. 8.5 of the Admission Regulations


15

Cont/... � Cont/...A specific Application Category of 1 application course code (Fig 8)

FIELD

TO INPUT

MAS crs


Entry Year


Month Code


App Category

Choose any application category from the above list.

Figure 8

Please note that if you want to retrieve all applicants presenting Maltese qualifications, you can insert H* (gold star) in the ‘App category’ field. Similarly, applicants with overseas qualifications can be retrieved with O* (gold star) in the ‘App category’ field.


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� Both online and paper applications after a particular date (Fig 9):

With the introduction of the online application, Admissions and Records Office are accepting applications as from December of the previous year of the October Intake, ie. Applications for courses commencing in October 2014 are made available towards the end of December 2013. You are required to print applicant details periodically rather than all applications at one go. To ensure that you do not retrieve the same applications twice, you may use the Created date field (Fig. 9) so that only applications that were received after your last printing date are retrieved.

FIELD

TO INPUT

MAS crs


Entry Year


Month Code


App Category


Created date ‘From’ date of creation of ACD record (eg. > 01/Jun/2009)

To insert the ‘Greater Than’ (>) symbol:

� Click on the ‘Created Date’ field � Click the right mouse button � Click on ‘Insert Wildcard’ option � Click on ‘Greater Than (>)’ option


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Lesson 2 -

Generating and Printing Admissions Reports

Objectives

By the end of this lesson you will be able to:

� Generate and Print Different Admissions Reports;

� Understand the Purpose of the Faculty Online Application Qualifications Report;

� Understand the Purpose of the Faculty Recommendations Reports

� Understand the Purpose of the Application Decision Reports

Introduction

Those applications that have been submitted online will not have any application forms. Consequently new reports have been created in order to help administrative staff to process both online and paper applications. These reports have been designed with the intention of integrating both paper and online applications.


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Generating and Printing Different Admissions Reports � Faculty Online Application Qualifications Report The Faculty online application qualifications report has been designed in order to enable administrative staff to vet applications that have been submitted online. For ease of use, the paper application was reproduced as much as possible in the design implementation of the report. The report is generated and printed in alphabetical order by surname since there is no application number and each applicant is printed on a seperate page. During the intake period, it is highly important that you keep the online applications report in this order. After the applicant is accepted for a course, the page pertaining to the student can be inserted in the respective student’s file instead of the Faculty (pink) admission application form. How to generate the report: 1. Fill in the fields on the ACD table as on Fig. 2 on page 8 of this document. 2. Retrieve the applicants by clicking the ‘F5’ button. 3. Go to the Menu Bar and choose ‘All’. 4. From the drop-down list choose ‘Gen+Print Letters’. 5. From the list of reports choose ‘Faculty Online App Quals Report’. This report can be printed in 2 different modes according to your needs. A more detailed explanation is given in the table below.

1 CAP-RPT-OQ5A Faculty Online App Quals Report - By Name

This report sorts the applicants in alphabetical order by surname.

2 CAP-RPT-OQ5B Faculty Online App Quals Report - By Route & Name

This report sorts the applicants by route and then in alphabetical order.

In this circumstance, the CAP-RPT-OQ5B is normally used by the Faculty of Health Sciences.

It is highly important that you keep the paper application forms (pink forms) in application number order, while the Faculty online application qualifications report must be kept in alphabetical order.


19

� Faculty Recommendations Reports Once the Faculty Online App Quals Report has been printed, officers can start vetting the applications. The decisions on the applications can be written in the space provided on the Faculty Recommendations Report. Unlike the previous report, one can generate and print a report showing all applications that have been submitted - both online and in paper form. How to generate the report: 1. Fill in the fields on the ACD table as on Fig.3 on page 9 of this document. 2. Retrieve the applicants by clicking the ‘F5’ button. 3. Go to the Menu Bar and choose ‘All’. 4. From the drop-down list choose ‘Gen+Print Letters’. 5. From the list of reports choose ‘Faculty Recommendations Report’. This report can be printed in 4 different modes according to your needs. A more detailed explanation is given in the table below:

1 CAP-RPT-FR1A Faculty Rec. Report - By App No

Paper applications are listed in application number order followed by online applications which are sorted in alphabetical order.

2 CAP-RPT-FR1B Faculty Rec. Report - By Route & App No

This report is similar to report no. 1 with the exception that each area of study is printed on a seperate page.

3 CAP-RPT-FR2A Faculty Rec. Report - By Name

Paper and online applications are listed together in alphabetical order.

4 CAP-RPT-FR2B Faculty Rec. Report - By Route & Name


The CAP-RPT-FR1A report should be used when cross checking decisions on the applications by the Faculty, the Admissions & Records Office and the SIMS automation process report. In this circumstance, the CAP-RPT-FR1B is normally used by the Faculty of Health Sciences. It is important that you always choose the order of the report you choose according to the order of the applications.


20

� Application Decision Reports Once the decisions have been inputted on the ACD table by the Admissions office staff, officers can print the Application Decision Reports. In this report, all applications that have been submitted both online and in paper form can be printed. How to generate the report: 1. Fill in the fields on the ACD table as on Fig.3 on page 9 of this document. 2. Retrieve the applicants by pressing ‘F5’. 3. Go to the Menu Bar and choose ‘All’. 4. From the drop-down list choose ‘Gen+Print Letters’. 5. From the list of reports choose ‘Application Decision Report’. This report can be printed in 4 different modes according to your needs. A more detailed explanation is given in the table below:

1 CAP-RPT-AD1A App Decision Rpt - By App No

In this report, applicants are divided by decision eg. accepted, refused. Paper applications are listed in application number order followed by online applications which are sorted in alphabetical order.

2 CAP-RPT-AD1B App Decision Rpt - By Route & App No


3 CAP-RPT-AD2A App Decision Rpt - By Name

In this report, applicants are divided by decision eg. accepted, refused. Paper and online applications are listed together in alphabetical order.

4 CAP-RPT-AD2B App Decision Rpt - By Route & Name


5th August 2014

The CAP-RPT-AD2B report should be attached with the Faculty Admissions Recommendation Report that is signed by the Dean / Director of your Faculty / Institute / Centre and is presented to the University Admissions Board.


21

Retrieving the MAS Course Code from ACD:

1. Double click on the MAS crs field and the pop-up window as shown in Figure A will be displayed.

Figure A

2. Click on the Add Criteria button and the pop-up window as shown in Figure B will be

displayed. 3. In the Name field, type a word from the course title in between two gold stars as

shown in Figure B. 4. Click the F5 button and all the courses bearing the inputted word from the course title

will be displayed. 5. Double click on the course that you would like to retrieve in order to display it

automatically in the MAS crs field of the ACD table.

Figure B

Figure C

Appendix I


22

Retrieving the SRS Course Code from ACD:

1. Double click on the SRS course field and the pop-up window as shown in Figure D will be displayed.

Figure D

2. Click on the Add Criteria button and the pop-up window as shown in Figure E will be displayed.

3. In the Name field, type a word from the course title in between two gold stars as shown in Figure E.

4. Click the F5 button and all the courses bearing the inputted word from the course title will be displayed.

5. Double click on the course that you would like to retrieve in order to display it automatically in the SRS course field of the ACD table.

Figure E

Figure F

Appendix II

course 5 online and paper admission applications · 2015-07-21 · course 5: online and paper...

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