The Book Bag : Records

Integration Insight: Oh Records Where Art Thou?

Allison Davis — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 19:06:00 GMT

You open the linking grid and particular records are missing. Perhaps no Students appear in the linking grid or only records you linked previously appear in the linking grid. Why does this happen? There are a few factors that determine which records appear in the linking grid:

1. Integration Setup

In Set up Integration, let’s say you selected to include students with a particular status and/or grade level. You may need to cross-reference the student’s Education Edge record with your selection in the Students section of Set up Integration with The Raiser's Edge to see if the Student meets the criteria to be included in the linking grid. The same is true for Individuals who are relationships to students.

2. Filters in the Linking Grid

The Filters Button in the Linking grid is the most common culprit. Sometimes users will select particular record types to show only Faculty or only Students in the Linking Grid. When a different user looks at the linking grid, he may wonder why certain records are missing.

3. Drop-downs in the Linking Grid

Add As - In the Add As field, you can filter by Constituent or Nonconstituent if The Education Edge is the record source. If The Raiser's Edge is the record source, you can filter by Individual or Organization.

Matches - In the Matches field, you can select to show records in the grid based on matching status:

<All> - Shows all records regardless of matching status.
Any Match - Shows only records that are matched to a record in the target database based on your matching criteria.
All Unmatched Records - Shows only records that are not matched to a record in the target database based on your matching criteria.
All Unlinked Records - Shows only records not linked to a record in the target database.
Linked - Shows only records that are linked to a record in the target database.
Match - Shows only records that are matched to a single record in the target database based on your matching criteria.
Multiple Match - Shows only records that are matched to multiple records in the target database based on your matching criteria.
Academy Manager Match - Shows only records with an Academy ID that matches an Academy ID on a record in the target database.

Conflicts- In the Conflicts field, you can select to show records in the grid based on conflicts:

<All> - Shows all records regardless of conflicts.
Data Conflict - Shows only records with different values in mapped fields.
Multiple EE Match - Shows only records with more than one matching record in the Education Edge database.
Multiple RE Match - Shows only records with more than one matching record in the Raiser’s Edge database.
Multiple Address Matches - Shows only matching records with multiple address matches.
<None> - Shows only records without conflicts

New Stuff for 7.80: Records

Katie Infinger — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 14:11:00 GMT

Version 7.80 will be released later this quarter and includes loads of new features. Take a look at the new additions to records.

The federal reporting requirements are more specific about tracking ethnicity, so we've updated fields and functionality. When you click the Demographics button in student, individual, applicant, and faculty/staff records, you'll notice a new Latino/Hispanic? field. You can select Yes or No there. We've also updated the Ethnicity field so you can select more than one ethnicity per record. These fields are available in export, too!

On the Restrictions 1 tab of faculty records, you can assign a faculty member as an advisor in specific grade levels or all grade levels.

Do students have separate advisors for English and Science? Now you can enter more than one advisor per academic year for students! Select multiple advisors from the student's progression entry and in the Advisor field on the Bio 1 tab.

As a bonus to those using the multiple advisor functionality, we've added advisor groupings to query and exports, you can assign multiple advisors to students in the Mark for Reenrollment and Enroll Applications wizards, and you can print up to three advisors in the header of report cards and transcripts.

Stay tuned for more new stuff in 7.80!

Love and Merging: Duplicate Records

Katie Infinger — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 19:21:00 GMT

Duplicate records are pretty much unavoidable in most databases. Schools with even the strictest data entry policies likely run across separate applicant and student records. Good thing there's the Merge Records Utility to help out.

Like Integration, merging records is a serious business. For example, selecting the wrong primary record could replace correct data with old data. Before merging any records, be sure to review all considerations so you can make the best merging decisions. We've put some great tips in front of you on the Merge Records page in Administration, such as making sure your primary records are updated with the correct data, consolidating your shared table entries, and determining the matching criteria for finding duplicate records. Here are some additional considerations and settings.

Merging records is a huge change in the database. Make sure you have a recent, valid backup of the database.
Although you can merge records across multiple products (i.e. students in Student Billing and Registrar's Office), merge the duplicates in one product before crossing products.
Merge applicants and students before individual and faculty records. This way, relationship information merges without any issues.
Before merging faculty/staff and individual records, define all attribute types for both record types or the attributes will not merge.
Although you can merge different types of records into student records, you can't merge a student record into a different type of record because you would lose information such as grades, attendance, schedules, and conduct.

When you are ready to merge records and are on the Merge Records parameter, check out these additional options on the General tab:

Keep billing status from the duplicate record - marking this checkbox overwrites the billing status on the primary record with the billing status from the duplicate record. This is especially important when first merging Student Billing and Admissions Office/Registrar's Office records together when Student Billing records are selected as the duplicate record.
Keep current status from the duplicate record - marking this checkbox overwrites the current status on the primary record with the current status from the duplicate record. This is especially important when first merging Student Billing and Admissions Office/Registrar's Office records together when Admissions Office/Registrars Office records are selected as the duplicate record.

If you've merged records and have any other tips, leave a comment!

Tracking Student Activities

Katie Infinger — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:22:00 GMT

School may be out, but that doesn't mean you aren't keeping up with your students' summer activities. If your students participate in community service programs such as camps and community cleanup, you may want to track this information and add it to their transcripts.

In Records, open a student and select the Activities tab. Notice the current academic year defaults in the upper right corner. You can change the default year display to either All Years, Current Year, or Next Year.

Enter the Category and the Activity. As an example, a category would be Community Service and an activity would be Key Club. You can also enter the date of the activity, comments, and ratings. To include the activity on report cards or transcripts, just mark the appropriate checkboxes. When you run the report card or transcript, you can include the activity with the Summary/Notes tab.

Run the Activities report to see the students who participated in specific activities or to get a listing of the activities on a student's record. You can also show activities on the Student Profile report.

What community programs do your students participate in over the summer? Leave a comment!

Track Next Year's New Students with Ease

Katie Infinger — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:41:00 GMT

This is a guest post by Chuck Hays. Chuck is a Senior Educational Consultant for Blackbaud.

During the Spring, you often need to verify new students' information and track them separately from your current students. To streamline the process, use a combination of statuses, queries, and dashboard panels to quickly view a current list at any time in one location. Once you set up the dashboard panels, you can access the list from a single click on a favorite! Here's how:

Step 1: Decide how you will use "interim" enrollment statuses.

In Student Billing, you can use two fields to track student statuses. Use the Enrollment status to track students who are or will be attending and Billing Status to track students eligible for billing.

Determine the interim enrollment status. What enrollment status do you use for students currently attending the school? Let's suppose you use "Current Student." For accepted students who will be attending next year consider a status such as "Accepted - Not Yet Attending." You could also have a status for students who will not be returning next year for reasons other than graduation, such as "Attending - Not Returning." Once decided, add the enrollment statuses to the appropriate configuration table. next add the status to the student records.

If you do not use The Education Edge, add the statuses to the Enrollment Status table in Configuration for future use. Then, when adding the new student, use the appropriate status in the Enrollment Status field on the Bio 2 tab.
If you use The Education Edge, add the statuses to the Student/Applicant Status table in Configuration. Then, if you use Admissions Office, configure the Enroll Applications parameter file to update the status with the appropriate value when creating the student views from Applicant records. If you only use Registrar's Office, add the appropriate Current Status on the Bio 1 tab when adding the new student. The student's Current Status in The Education Edge will display in the Student Billing record's Enrollment Status field.

Decide how the Billing Status correlates to Enrollment Status. The Billing Status field is on the Bio 1 tab. Most likely you will use the same billing status that you use for all current students, such as "Active." In other words, their record is ready for use by the billing office. You can set a Business Rule to automatically use a billing status when creating new students in Student Billing or through The Education Edge.

Step 2: Create a query to group new students based on the enrollment status.

When creating a Record query, select the Enrollment Status field on the Criteria tab to group the new students. On the Output tab, select the fields you would like to use as columns on the Results tab (e.g. Last Name, First Name, Current Grade, Enrollment Status). Sort by Last Name, First Name, or by Grade. Use arrows in the lower right corner to rearrange fields.

Step 3: Display the query results in a dashboard panel as a list.

Dashboards offer an easy way to view and access record information. In addition to the specialized panels, you can display the results of a query. From Dashboard, click the New button to create a new Dashboard page. In the upper left input box, name the Dashboard. In the left panel, select the Student Billing query panel in the Student Billing section. Click the Add button in the middle to add the panel to the panel list on the right. Click the Edit button on the right to configure the panel. Select the query created in Step 3 and give the panel a description. After clicking through the OK buttons, the new dashboard will appear with the query results displayed. A row column will be added as the first column with hyperlinks allowing 1-click access to each listed record.

Step 4: Create a favorite link to the dashboard page.

You can easily access the new dashboard using a favorite. With the dashboard visible, select "Add page to Favorites" from the Favorites menu at the top of the shell. You can retitle the favorite to start with "Dashboard - " instead of "Go to" if you prefer. You can also place the favorite link in the Favorites menu, create a new folder within that menu, or place the favorite on the Student Billing home page.

Once you've completed all the steps, you can simply click the favorite link, refresh the dashboard, and have a current list of all new students at any time!

Integration Insight: New Features Part 3

Allison Davis — Mon, 18 May 2009 13:12:00 GMT

You are working in the linking grid and see a record that does not belong, such as a withdrawn student. You right-click on the student’s row and open his Education Edge record, change his status to Withdrawn, and save and close the record. This ineligible record no longer meets the criteria based on your Integration setup, but he remains in the linking grid.

In version 7.78, you can click the Remove Ineligible Records button on the linking grid toolbar to remove these records. The Remove Ineligible Records option only refreshes the grid to remove previously eligible but no longer eligible records that are not matched. Clicking this button will not refresh the data displayed in each column and will not add rows to the grid.

If data changes on matched records to make the matches no longer valid based on the matching criteria, the user will need to manually remove the matches or click Match All Records to recalculate the matches.

Integration Insight: New Features Part 2

Allison Davis — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 19:37:00 GMT

Linking records through Integration can be a time-consuming task. It can be difficult to determine if matches are correct in the linking grid because sometimes students and parents happen to have the same names (i.e., Jr. and Sr.). Without opening their respective records, it is difficult to know which record is which. You may even see Multiple EE matches or Multiple RE matches in the Matching Records field because records have similar names.

In version 7.78, you can open and even edit records from the linking grid. In the linking grid in The Raiser's Edge, right-click on a match and open The Education Edge or The Raiser's Edge record.

Here's the open record lowdown:

Once you open the record, you can also edit information on the records such as addresses, relationships, biographical information, applications, enrollments, and history of changes.
If a particular row has multiple matches, the Open option displays the Multiple Matches so you can select the record to open.
You can only open Education Edge records from the linking grid in The Education Edge. We're working on adding functionality to open both Education Edge and Raiser's Edge records from The Education Edge linking grid in a future version.

Integration Insight: New Features Part 1

Allison Davis — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 20:19:00 GMT

Integration maps fields and relationships between two databases. The synchronization process looks at the database with the most recent update on these linked records. If the records in both programs were updated since the last synchronization, the most recently updated record wins and overwrites the other program's record.

To keep your data accurate, you should synchronize often. We recommend synchronizing, either manually or automatically, from a single workstation every 15 minutes. When your databases have not been synchronized in more than a day, you can experience issues such as overwritten data.

In version 7.78, you will notice some new prompts appearing when you manually synchronize data. This message informs you of the last time synchronization ran and our recommendations for synchronization. This will help to ensure data changes are accurately reflected in both databases.

The longer you wait to synchronize, the more likely you will lose record changes in one or both databases. Synchronization does not keep track of changes in the order in which they were made. The issue especially occurs with the sharing of address and phone data. For example:

Let's say you run synchronization twice a day, at 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. At 9:00 a.m. you change an address from 123 King St. to 123 King Street in The Raiser's Edge. At 2:00 p.m. the Registrar changes the Zip code from 29403 to 29402 on the King St. address in The Education Edge. At the 5:00 p.m. synchronization any changes will come from the database last updated; in this case, The Education Edge. This means the synchronized address will be 123 King St. with a Zip code of 29402.

Here are some important tips to keep synchronization running smoothly:

To manually synchronize data, click Synchronize Data on the Integration page.
To automatically synchronize data, you can establish settings in your Microsoft Scheduled Task Wizard application. For more information on setting up a scheduled task, see Knowledgebase solution BB211850.
We recommend that you automatically synchronize data every 15 minutes.
All of this is explained in Knowledgebase solution BB604658.

Stay tuned for the next post on new Integration features!

Copying Course Restrictions

Katie Infinger — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 18:06:00 GMT

Course Restrictions define how a course is scheduled from year to year. Without course restrictions, Generate Master Schedule doesn't have a pattern or times restrictions to follow when scheduling classes. As you prepare for next academic year, copying course restrictions can save you hours of data entry time and maintain consistency from year to year.

From the main Courses page, you can copy course restrictions and grading information for multiple courses at the same time. Don't worry, if you only need to copy restrictions and grading information for a specific course record, you can copy within the course record; just select the Restrictions 2 or Grading tabs and you'll see Copy on the action bar.

Remember:

If restrictions for the selected academic year/session already exist on the course record, you'll receive the following error, "Restrictions for this Academic Year and Session already exist."
You can only copy years and sessions that use the same timetable. If your timetable is different, you'll receive the error, "Cannot copy restrictions between sessions with different timetables."
Sessions must have the same marking columns to copy grading information for a course from one session to another. If they do not have the same marking columns, grading information must be entered manually or copied from a different session which does have the same marking columns.

For step-by-step instructions on copying course information, refer to Knowledgebase solution BB148977.

Giving You the Business (Button and Rule)

Katie Infinger — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 16:30:00 GMT

In version 7.78, we've added a Business button on the Bio 1 tab of Individual records so you can easily view the individual's primary business information without selecting the record's Relationships tab. When you click the Business button, you can view everyone who shares the business address and enter non-shared phone numbers specific to the individual, such as direct office extensions.

Another new feature is the organization business rule that allows you to copy and share (or not share) organization address information with any new relationships. This business rule may come in handy if you have individuals who work at office branches or at home and do not have the same address as the organization.

This set of new features was brought to you by The Education Edge 7.78 Update Guide.

The Medical Tab: Nothing to Sneeze At

Katie Infinger — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 19:53:00 GMT

I recently had surgery on one of my fingers. As I unsuccessfully attempted to type emails with a huge bandaged finger, I hit the Caps Lock a lot, and then I thought about the Medical tab. It's important to have this information accessible in case Phoebe misses her swing landing or Jacob has a stomach ache. Let's take a look at this contagious tab:

General: When you select the Medical tab on a student record, you immediately see the student's main physician information and whether or not they can be treated at your school.

Visits/Medications: Track students' visits to the nurse and any medications they take. This could be helpful if you think you have an actor in your school or to analyze a student's recurring symptoms.

Conditions/History: Record students' known conditions, such as allergies or cooties.

Immunizations, Notes, and Insurance: Enter any immunizations, notes, and insurance information in these appropriately named sections.

Emergency Contact: All contact information displays in this section so the nurse knows who to call to pick Jacob up from school.

How does a relationship become an emergency contact? Any emergency contact listed here has the Emergency Contact checkbox marked on the student's Relationships tab.

How can I change the order of the phone numbers? The phone order uses the same order listed on the emergency contact's primary address information. To switch a secondary number to a preferred number, just open the emergency contact's record (Hint: Right-click on the contact name and select Go to Emergency Contact) and switch the order of phone numbers on the Bio 1 tab.

What Now, Doc?
So what can you do with this plethora of information? Run the Medical Report (BB406881), export (BB410102) or query (BB135272) on it.

Want to set up the school nurse to have access to the records? Here are the security rights you need:

In Administration, click Set up system security, and then open the user's security group or create a new user group.
Under System Components, mark Registrar's Office.
Under Registrar's Office Privileges, mark Records and then click Options.
Mark Individuals under Record Types, and then mark the View and Edit checkboxes beside the Individuals in the Individuals Privileges frame.
If you plan on rearranging contact numbers, mark the View and Edit checkboxes beside Addresses.
In the Record Types frame, mark Students, and then mark the View and Edit checkboxes beside Students in the Student Privileges frame.
Mark the View checkbox beside Relationships and the View and Edit checkboxes beside Medical.
Save and close the security group.

Happy to Help – A new Bio 2 tab checkbox for Applicant and Student Records

Lindsey Robbins — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 17:37:00 GMT

After a brief absence I’m back and more than happy to help. It’s been a busy fall especially with 7.77 releasing a couple weeks ago. Not to start back on such a downer but an important feature was added to 7.77 for student and applicant records. If a student or applicant passes away, you can now mark the Deceased? checkbox. The Age field disappears and the applicant/student no longer appears in your mailings. Not only does this help in your processing but you can show sensitivity to the relations of the applicant /student and not send letters or mailings when they are already going through such a difficult time.

On the Applicant and Student records, the Deceased? checkbox appears on the Bio 2 tab.

For more information, see the Records Guide for Registrar's Office or Records Guide for Admissions Office on The Education Edge User Guides page.

Student Billing State-of-Mind Time Saver: Manage Billing Groups

Jennifer Maroney — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 12:12:00 GMT

Here is a great time saver for those of you that need to manage families with multiple children. You can create billing groups to quickly add or update student, individual, and organization records. Manage Billing Groups, the official name of the feature, lets you add records for an entire family at one time, link the records, and copy address and billing information from one record to all the others. Linking records saves you even more time, because if you update one linked address, all linked records will automatically update; no more manually opening each record.

Without further ado let's get started:

In Administration, click Manage Billing Groups.
- To add a record using billing groups:
  1. In the drop-down list, click Add New Student, Add New Individual, or Add New Organization. The record type you select appears in the Records box.
  2. Enter biographical information in the fields on the right.
- To update an existing record using billing groups:
  1. In the Record Name field, enter the individual name or click the binoculars to locate the individual record to update.
  2. Click the down arrow next to Load all associated records and select Load only selected record. The individual's biographical information appears.
  3. Add to or edit the biographical information.
Select the Defaults tab and:
1. Click Payers to define payer information for the individual.
2. Click Statements to define statement recipient information.
3. Click Billing Defaults to add billing defaults.
4. Click Relationships to add relationships.
Select the Addresses tab to add address and contact information.
Click Finish and New to save and close the individual record and open a new billing group automatically, or click Finish and Close to save and close the individual record.

Happy group managing. Talk to you soon!