SIS BASICS PART A

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SIS BASICS PART A

• INTRODUCTION TO SIS AND NAVIGATION TECHNIQUES

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Course Outline

• Logging on to SIS
• Navigation Techniques
• Locating Student Records in SIS
• Types of Screens
• Basic Screen Format
• Exiting SIS
• System Resources

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Lesson 1

• Logging on to SIS

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SIS Student Information System 1992-Present

• SIS is a mainframe based system. It represents
  old technology (from a user interface
  perspective).
• The database, and application code are still
  relevant in terms of official, baseline
  institutional student data.
• There is no windows interface, so you do not
  use your mouse.
• We brought the system up in Fall 1992 (concurrent
  with converting from quarters to semesters).
• Many web based user interfaces have been
  developed in the mean time to view the data that
  SIS holds.

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Enter your SIS UserID and password
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Select the productional SIS system.
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The SIS Main Menu appears.
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THE SIS HIERARCHY

• Highest Level
• The SIS Main Menu lists the modules in the SIS
  system.

2nd Level Each Module has its own menu. Each
module groups screens related to a functional
area.
3rd Level Module sub-menus Lowest Level
Support Tables and Processing Screens
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Each of these is a module branching from the SIS
MAIN MENU.
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Lesson 2

• Navigation Techniques

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There are 3 navigation techniques available for
moving around SIS (and none use your mouse)
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Method 1 ITEM MARKING

• Tab to desired selection
• Type any character in the leftmost position next
  to the selection
• Press Enter

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Method 1 Place a mark next to the desired
selection and press ENTER.
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Method 2 PF KEY (FUNCTION KEY)

• Many menus display a PF key assignment in the
  second column.
• Since the creation of SIS, PF keys have evolved
  in to F1-F12 function keys, located across the
  top of the keyboard.

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Method 2 (continued)

• To navigate to any selection using the
• F1-F12 keys, simply press the
• corresponding key.
• To access function keys that are greater than 12
  (i.e. those listed as PF13 thru PF24)
• Press and hold the SHIFT key to give the
  equivalent of F12.
• Simultaneously, press the function key that makes
  up the remainder for that selection.
• e.g. SHIFT F1 PF 13 SHIFT F8 PF20

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Method 2 Press SHIFT appropriate function
key. e.g. press SHIFT F8 to access the
General Person module.
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Method 3 DIRECT TRANSFER

• From anywhere in SIS, one can transfer to any
  module menu by typing the two letter module code
  in the NEXT SCREEN field (e.g. gp) and pressing
  Enter.
• To move to a specific screen within the current
  module, simply type the screen name (eg
  claslist) and press Enter.

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Method 3 (continued)

• To move to a specific screen in a different
  module, in the Next Screen field type the two
  letter module code followed by a space followed
  by the screen abbreviation
• (eg gp persadrl) and press ENTER.

This is the fastest navigation technique, but it
requires knowledge of the module and screen
abbreviations. (Tip Module and screen
abbreviations are conveniently located in the
Table of Contents of the SIS Manual!)
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Method 3 In the NEXT SCREEN field, key the two
letter module abbreviation (followed by the
screen name if desired).
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NAVIGATION TIPS

• Press HOME to move the cursor to the first field
  on the screen (often this will be the PID field).
• Press TAB to move the cursor forward.
• (NOTE SIS was written prior to the advent of
  Windows. Therefore, it is safest not to use the
  mouse to navigate, as results may be
  unpredictable.)
• SHIFT TAB moves the cursor backward by field
• To transfer directly to the SIS Main Menu from
  any screen, type ISIS in the Next Screen field
  and press Enter

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GLOBAL FUNCTION KEYS

• F2 REFRESH
• F3 Returns to the PREVIOUS SCREEN
• (NOTE F3 does not work across
  modules!)
• F6 Defines HOLDS status
• F7/F8 PAGE UP/PAGE DOWN on a multi-paged
  screen
• F9 Defines CONFIDENTIAL INFO status
• F10 NAME SEARCH from any screen with a PID
  screen key
• F10 ENTITY SEARCH from any screen with an
  entity ID as a screen key

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MODULE MENUS

• Most module menus contain a basic set of options
• KEYS
• SUPPORT
• NAVIGATE
• ONE OR MORE SUB-MENUS
• QUIT

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This is the main menu of the General Person
module
Most modules contain the KEYS, SUPPORT, NAVIGATE,
and QUIT options, plus one or more sub-menus
(e.g. ENTITY, PERSON)
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List of screens found on the PERSON sub-menu of
the GENERAL PERSON module.
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Lesson 3

• Locating Records in SIS

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(No Transcript)
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Rules For Searching By Name

• Names are entered in the format
• LASTNAME, FIRSTNAME MIDDLENAME
• MSU Policy on how names are entered in SIS
• No punctuation (ST not ST.)
• No apostrophes (OCLARE not OCLARE)
• No embedded spaces (STJAMES not ST JAMES)
• Hyphenations OK (ANDERSON-SMITH)
• Because there are millions of students now in the
  production version of SIS, it is prudent to do a
  name search with additional data available
  (especially when looking for common names).

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Rules For Searching By Name (continued)

• Can use the asterisk () as a wild card to
  replace one or more letters
• Names are primarily displayed in alphabetic order
• The exception is a previous name, which displays
  with the current name indented beneath

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Select the desired student.
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The screen key is automatically set to the
selected student.
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Error Messages

• If you attempt to display data for a student who
  is not currently associated with your college or
  department, an error message will be generated
  and displayed somewhere on the screen (the
  location depends upon the screen layout).
• This requires the student to enter his/her PAN in
  order to view their record.

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Student must key in their PAN.
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WHAT IS A SCREEN KEY?

• A screen key is any information that specifies
  the PID, semester, level, etc. of the student for
  whom you wish to find information.
• Screen keys remain set from screen to screen, but
  can be over-written if desired.
• For example, when you wish to see student data
  for a different semester, simply type the
  semester code in the appropriate screen key and
  press Enter.
• To see information on a different student, key in
  his/her PID, desired semester, and/or any other
  appropriate screen key information.

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Access the desired record by typing appropriate
information in the screen keys and pressing
Enter.
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WHAT IS AN ENTITY IN SIS?

• SIS contains records for entities as well as
  records for students. Think of an entity as an
  important third party to which we associate
  students, and about which we want to maintain
  information.
• Examples include intercollegiate athletics (so
  we can identify athletes for progress monitoring
  purposes) other universities, colleges and high
  schools (from which students come to MSU and may
  bring transfer credit).
• You can perform an entity search from any
  entity-keyed screen by pressing the F10 key.

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Lesson 4 Types of Screens In SIS
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Types of Screens

• Support Screens
• Processing Screens
• List Screens (that permit drill down)
• Data Maintenance

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Support Screens

• The Support option in each module menu contains
  support table screens. There are hundreds of
  support tables in SIS!
• These tables list codes that are used in
  processing screens (more about those in a
  moment!).
• The codes make SIS flexible, (think of all of the
  different types of students, courses and majors
  SIS is able to handle and make sense of), but
  they also make it consistent and reliable, and
  sometimes their attributes provide additional
  direction for the system.

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The SUPPORT option lists support tables that
contain valid codes used in SIS.
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Support tables within the General Person module.
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The CTZNTYPE Citizen Type support screen
maintains codes for the 4 citizenship types we
have at MSU.
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BASIC INFORMATION ABOUTPROCESSING SCREENS

• There are two primary types of processing
  screens
• LISTING SCREENS Display lists of information
  that are maintained for a specific student in the
  system (e.g. the PERSADRL screen).
• DATA MAINTENANCE SCREENS -- To display detailed
  information on any item on the listing screen,
  LIST it by tabbing to the ACTION (A/L) field,
  type an L next to the desired selection, and
  press ENTER. This will transfer you automatically
  to a
• DATA MAINTENANCE SCREEN.

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DATA MAINTENANCE SCREENS

• When you use a L(ist) action, the screen keys are
  automatically filled in for you (e.g., PID,
  ADDRESS TYPE, DATE).
• To view another selection, return to the list by
  using the F3 global function key and L(ist) a
  different selection.

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Example of using a listing screen to display
detail information.
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Example of a Data Maintenance Screen That
displays specific student information.
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Lesson 4

• Basic Screen Format

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Header lines
Status line
Screen key
Screen key
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Use Global Function Keys to drill for special
data
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CONFID INFO Indicator

• Remember from the guidelines governing the
  release of student data and FERPA discussion,
  that SIS is composed of both confidential AND
  directory data.
• Remember also that students can request that
  their directory data be kept confidential.
• This indicator tells you that the student has
  asked us to keep pieces of his/her directory
  information confidential. E.g., it cannot appear
  in a phone book, or web directory, nor can YOU
  provide it to a third party!

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Data the student wishes To keep confidential.
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(No Transcript)
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Displays info on Holds
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Lesson 5

• Exiting SIS

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EXITING SIS

• From any screen, type QUIT in the RESPONSE field
  and press ENTER
• or
• From the SIS MAIN MENU select the QUIT option and
  press ENTER
• Be certain to disconnect/close your connection to
  the host computer!

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Lesson 6

• SIS Resources

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Training Documentation

• SIS Training Manual
• Commonly used screens are described
• Data Privacy and Security Guidelines
• FAQs
• SIS BASICS PART B

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Who to contact

• Administrative Information Services Customer Help
  Center 353-4420 ext 311
• For help if the system is not behaving properly
• or
• Any question that you dont know who to call!
• Client Advocacy Office 353-4856
• For authorization problems
• Registrars Office 355-3300
• For questions on the data itself
• www.reg.msu.edu for links regarding address
  changes

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Thank you for your attention, andnow on to SIS
BASICS PART B!