Take Technology Into Your Own Hands. Joann Denby, Oakland University Ken Harris, Wayne State University

Transcription

1 Take Technology Into Your Own Hands Joann Denby, Oakland University Ken Harris, Wayne State University

2 Returning Student Project At Wayne State University an initiative was started by the Registrar s office to identify, report and communicate with students who had not yet registered for the current semester but were enrolled in the last previous term.

3 Returning Student Project An easy and quick solution was needed that did not require support from Wayne State s main Computer and Information Technology staff, was easy to run and end user friendly. It needed up to date information from the student learner record as well as current registration status and contact information.

4 Returning Student Project The report had to included a chart for quick reference of data that will be tracked. Needed to show like term comparisons Keep a weekly track on the progresses made.

5 Returning Student Project So how did we build this?

6 The Nuts and Bolts of the RSP Microsoft Access - Access uses ODBC (Open Database Connectivity) drivers to connect to Banner productions tables and Ellucian ODS views Visual Basic calls on the queries in Microsoft Access and writes them to an Excel spreadsheet Microsoft Excel host the finished report

7 Did he say Microsoft Access! IT Staff IT Manager DBA DBA

8 Why Use Microsoft Access??? The were good reasons for selecting MS Access. 1. In Access you can cross schemas which was needed for this project. 2. If you do not have DBA profiles to create tables on the main database servers Access allows you to do so on your desktops or on your departmental server. 3. Access is an easy database tool for end users and easily merges with MS office suite such as Excel.

9 Using Access Query Types For the purpose of the Returning Student Project we wanted a table created from students that were registered from a previous term and joined with their most current Banner learner record and contact information. This forms our potential returning student population. We also needed the data to be refreshed with up to date information (i.e. registration, change in status) each time it ran.

10 Using Access Query Types The Returning Student Report uses two different Query Types in Access that I call Action queries. Action queries are queries that take some form of action in a database such as append, create (or make), update and delete. The first is a Make Table Query A Make Table query works by creating a new table and populating it with data from the query that you design.

11 MAKE TABLE QUERY As you will see below we take data from our Census file and Banner production tables to extract the most current student information. WSU_CENSUS

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13 Create Table Query This is process is done for both Undergraduate and Graduate students and it creates two tables with the respective main population from the previous term.

14 Next Step - shifting out the chaff with the Delete Query Delete! The second query type we use is a Delete query. This is extremely useful for eliminating certain student populations from the core table that we do not expect to return. In this case Guest, Post-Bach, Students that applied for Graduation, Non-degree and Stop-Out students. The program also tracks how many students are in these groups.

15 Visual Basic The Visual Basic element allows us to run these queries as a chain. From Table creation, deletion of unwanted populations and to produce the final report.

16 The Final Report Undergraduate Returning Students Returning Registered NR No Holds NR Academic Hold NR Finance Hold Nr Acad & Fin Hold

17 The Final Report Undergraduate Week 24 Week 24 Term to Term Comparison Fall 2011 Fall 2012 Difference Percentage Enrolled Winter 2011/ % Guest % Post Bach % Other ND % Applicant for Graduation % Other Non Returning % Stopout Students % Returning Student % **Returning Registered % Not Registered % NR No Holds % NR Holds % NR Academic Hold % NR Finance Hold % NR Acad & Fin Hold %

18 Final report Weekly Tracking

19 With this information we can: Send targeted or text message notifications to students to prompt them to register. Messages can be tailored to specific groups of returning student populations (i.e. students with financial or academic holds) and direct them to sources that can aid them.

20 Sample Communication Subject: We Noticed You Are Not Yet Registered Soon WSU will be crowded with new students on campus for orientation, registering for their fall classes. Beat the rush and register today. You'll get your selections in first and stay on the path toward graduation.

21 It was deemed a necessary effort to create some form of tracking report to aid the university in achieving these goals With the focus on goals such as: Student Success Graduation Rate Retention

22 Final Outcome

23 Helpful Hints When using the delete query with joined tables be sure to use * asterisk, this give you the option of selecting what table you want to delete information from.

24 Helpful Hints And on the properties sheet the Unique Records indicator must be yes this prevents duplicates.

25 OU Retention Initiative The Retention Task Force formulated a 3 part communication plan to improve retention rates New Students (either first year students or transfer students) Currently registered students at term start up Currently registered students at term end Because reporting is decentralized at OU Reporting Tool MS Access Each department would be responsible for making contact with their major(s). Departments have a wide range of abilities - from none to a lot expertise across departments The database had to be easy to use

26 First Year Students

27 New Students Information PREVIEW STUDENT INFORMATION BUTTON Report of New Students ADDRESSES BUTTON Allows the user to review the count of addresses as well as the actual s. ( address column may be copied and pasted into Outlook s Bcc field.

28 New Student Communication OUTLOOK_ MERGE If the database user uses Outlook as their primary program, e- mail text was created by C&M Dept. to Mail Merge and send to students. Print Welcome Letter and Labels

29 Unsatisfactory Mid-Term Grades Report that lists new students who have unsatisfactory mid-term grades Department may wish to contact them asking if they need help or directing them to the Academic Skills Center.

30 Term Start Current Students by Major

31 Term Start Current Students by Major Make Table Query to create a report listing new and returning students The macro behind the button that runs a query to get s Macro runs a Select Query to get s and open a form that counts them. Counts over 100 have to use a list serv.

32 Term Start Current Students by Major Outlook Merge Button this button performs the same action of merging current students s to the Word e- mail text. The macro that performs this function designates the exact path to the Word file.

33 Term Start Current Enrollment by Major Print Semester Outline Button Prints term start letter/ upcoming department highlights. Again, the letter content was created by C&M. Each department can personalize. Printing Address Labels for the term start letter printed from inside the database.

34 Term End Information by Major

35 Term End Information by Major At term end, grade information is extracted for department review by major. Grade Information Report is for the major selected. Extract Information Button runs macro with several queries to extract enrollment info, grade info and open a report. This report must be run first before getting any other information.

36 Term End Information by Major The department can now review students who s term gpa is higher than 3.0 or lower than 2.0 by selecting the specific button and running a macro to extract the appropriate info. Preview Recognition s Button and/or Preview Below 2.0 s Button each runs a macro to count, find and show students specific s.

37 Term End Information by Major Recognition s or letters. Each button activates various Marcos to find the appropriate data and do the appropriate mail merge. Term GPA is under 2.0. Each button activates various Marcos to find the appropriate data and do the appropriate mail merge.

38 Helpful Hints Lessons Learned When there are Banner upgrades, the database has to be checked and updated as needed. Updated versions are placed on a shared drive users are notified to download the new version. Updated versions have new dates on the forms New employees have to be trained on the database use. I get calls to troubleshoot problems for users remember those employees with varied abilities.

39 Contact Us Joann Denby, Ken Harris, Comments Questions??