Student Record Data in SISAdmin
Individual student records can be accessed throughout SIS by using either the Student ID number, Social Security Number, or by doing a search on the student’s name (note: the % character can be used as a wildcard in an SIS name search, in either the first or last name fields).
To open windows for various types of individual records, you can use either the icon buttons or, from the menu bar, click on the word “Functions” then “Student Info”.
Academic Actions
Probations, suspensions, and similar actions taken by a dean’s office relative to the student’s academic performance are recorded here. Each school defines its own rules as to which actions are entered onto a student’s record, and how long the notation remains on the student’s record. The Comment field is sometimes used to indicate the effective period of that Action or the date the Action was taken. The Display on Transcript settings indicate whether or not a particular Academic Action record will print on the student’s official transcript; typically these are ‘Yes’ on suspensions and expulsions, and ‘No’ on probations but can be overridden by the dean’s office on a case by case basis
Address
Students can and should update their own addresses and phone numbers at WebSTAC, and are prompted at the beginning of the Fall and Spring semesters to provide current Local address information. Deans’ offices and several other administrative areas also have the ability to enter and change student address information through SISAdmin.
The Home address should be a permanent address valid during vacation and break periods. The Local address record should reflect the student’s residence address while in school. For students who live on campus, address information is loaded annually (each fall) into SISAdmin from StarRez. Parent 1 (and Parent 2, where appropriate) address information should be present for all undergraduate day division students. Some graduate students also provide such information. Graduate students and evening students are encouraged to enter Emergency Contact information in addition to Local residence and Home addresses. When a student files his/her Intent to Graduate (ITG) they are asked to provide a Diploma Mailing Address (also called the Post-Graduation address). The Study Away address record can be used when the student is away from campus for a semester. A student can also use WebSTAC to add a Business, Temporary, Alternate, or Other address as appropriate. The HRMS Campus Address comes from HRMS for students who are also employees of the university.
Note: At WebSTAC, students are not permitted to delete a Local or Home address, though some may remove enough meaningful information so as to make the address useless. Previously logged addresses for a student are therefore available through SISAdmin for all address types.
Admin Codes
Various user-defined administrative codes are used to support specific purposes and store data not located elsewhere in SIS, e.g., Personal Email address. This is also where the Dean’s Flag field that previously fed the old SIS-1 system is located.
Class Schedule Maintenance
Course registrations for a given student in any semester can be maintained using this window.
Students may be added, dropped, or placed on a waitlist for specific courses. Drop-down listboxes provide valid grading options for that course and student (C = Credit, P = Passfail, A = Audit, S = UC Special Audit). If a requested section and/or lab is full, deans’ offices have the ability to place the student at the top or bottom of the waitlist, or to force an Add to enroll the student over the class limit (presumably with the instructor’s or department’s permission).
Students dropped from a course will have a Drop Code on that course record. Drops with a ‘W’ are typically used when the course is dropped after the end of the drop/add period in that semester for that division; these drops will print on an official WU transcript. Drops with a ‘D’ are those dropped during the drop/add period and would not print on an official transcript but will show in SIS as evidence that the student was enrolled in that class/section/lab at one point. If the effective date of the drop is to be something other than the date on which the drop action is taken, the dean’s office can specify a Drop Date. Both the effective date of the drop (“Drop Date”) and the actual system date of the drop action (“Notification Date”) are reflected on the drop record for that course in SISAdmin. A drop with a code of ‘R’ indicates an Operator Delete which is only used to remove an erroneous course entry, e.g., wrong course number used by mistake; Operator Deletes are purged every night and no drop record is seen in SISAdmin.
Midterm and final grades are entered into SIS during each grading period by the course instructor using WebFAC/EGrades. Grades can also be entered manually by the deans’ offices. Grade changes require documentation containing the instructor’s signature.
Demographics
Most demographic information is entered into SIS when the student is admitted to WU, and will in most cases remain static. All student records must contain the following data: gender, race/ethnicity, birth date, and birthplace. Students under the age of 18 are noted as MINOR on the title bar of their SIS record.
Student race and ethnicity is self-reported, and a student can report affiliation with more than one race/ethnicity. All international students, i.e., those without U.S. citizenship, Permanent Resident, or Resident Alien status, should always have Visa Type detail in SIS indicating their current visa status (F1, F2, J1, etc.), and the new Nonresident Alien box should be checked as well as any appropriate items for their ethnicity.
The Semester of Entry and Enrollment Status fields reflect the entry cohort in which the student was admitted. For all undergraduate day division students, this information is established by Undergraduate Admissions and is used by several offices to track undergraduate retention. Changes should not be made to a student’s entry cohort without notifying the Office of Student Records.
The Anticipated Degree Date field generally reflects the graduating class with which the student is associated. The Student Expected Graduation field is completed / updated by the student, using WebSTAC. The Frozen Cohort value is administratively set by the University Registrar for undergraduate degree seeking day division students, and is used for cohort assignment during the controlled registration periods, and general cohort tracking.
Date of Death information is noted on a student’s record by the Office of the University Registrar in the event of a student death. The University Registrar also removes all postal and email address information from the student’s SIS record, and adds a full FERPA Restriction (Information Hold) and special Milestone notation. Inquiries should be referred to the Office of the University Registrar.
E-mail Address
For students in most divisions, WU e-mail addresses are assigned and loaded into SIS by the University. The e-mail address is a critical means of communicating with students for many WU faculty and administrators. As a result, in some divisions of the University students are not able to change this address at WebSTAC, whereas in other divisions they are. The e-mail addresses maintained in SIS are the local server addresses reflecting the actual email account; forwarding detail relative to the student’s University E-mail (@wustl.edu) address is displayed in SISAdmin in the lower portion of the Email address screen.
Note: Use the big ‘E’ icon on your tool bar to fire off an e-mail note to that student (no attachments).
FERPA Restrictions
The Federal Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA, also known as the Buckley Amendment) gives all students the right to withhold addresses, phone numbers, and any other pieces of what would otherwise be considered public (“directory”) information from the public domain. This window displays any such restrictions the student has placed on their records from WebSTAC. The I:X on the title bar of any student window in SISAdmin is a general indicator that a restriction exists.
WU personnel who have a legitimate need to know this and other information on the student’s record, are not denied access but are not free to share this information with individuals or agencies outside the WU community (this includes other students) if the student has blocked that information.
GPA
The GPA window contains three screens of data, accessed by window tabs. The Summary tab lists unit and GPA totals for all semesters of WU enrollment. The Detail tab displays current and cumulative unit and GPA information for each semester. The third tab shows a bar graph of the non-cumulative GPA’s by semester for that student.
“Analyzer” is the name of the process by which grade point averages and earned unit totals are calculated. Analyzer is triggered by either MP changes or final grade changes on the student’s record, and when triggered recalculates automatically in a nightly batch process. Analyzer rules vary by and are defined by each academic division. The student’s prime division determines which set of rules are applied when calculating GPA and cumulative unit totals.
Analyzer presumes graduate, evening, and undergraduate coursework to be separate bodies of work, and will group semesters accordingly. The student who, for example, earns an undergraduate degree, then a graduate degree, and then returns again to take evening coursework will have three distinct sets of GPA and cumulative unit calculations. At the recommendation of the dean’s office, an Analyzer Override may be applied to a particular student by the Office of the University Registrar to force the inclusion or exclusion of certain semesters’ coursework in the student’s GPA.
High School
The SIS high school record contains information about the high school from which the student graduated or was admitted to WU. CEEB codes are used to identify most U.S. high schools. A student may have only one high school record in SIS.
Holds
One or more Holds placed on a student’s record in SIS will prevent that student from being able to register for classes or add/drop at webstac and will block the release of an official transcript. Holds are placed and released by a variety of offices and are the sole responsibility of that office. One office may not release a Hold placed by another office, even temporarily, without permission from that other office. The Comments field may be used to provide contact or reference information regarding the resolution of the Hold.
Use the Academic Actions Report to see a listing of all Holds the student has ever had.
Honors
The Honors record in SIS can contain a variety of notations entered by deans’ offices or by the Office of Student Records.
Major Program
The Major Program (MP) record in SIS reflects the programs of study a student has pursued at WU, past, present, and future. Each MP record contains specific information about that program and about the student’s status in that program (Open, Finished, or Closed). The schools may admit a student that is not a candidate for a WU degree or certificate; such unclassified students are referred to as SNCD, or Student Not Candidate for a Degree, and are given an SNCD MP record.
The various programs of study offered at WU are defined and approved by the governing body of each school and its dean. The Office of Student Records must be notified in writing, with documentation, of all new degrees, majors, and minors approved by the schools, and of all programs no longer offered. New degrees must be submitted in writing to the Provost for approval, who will in turn notify the University Registrar for the necessary MP setup in SIS.
Students pursuing more than one course of study at any given time will have a “prime” major program and others referred to as “joint”. All current students must have one and only one open prime MP record, and an open prime must be present in SIS in order to register that student for classes in any semester. The student’s prime MP also establishes his/her prime division, which in turn is used for a variety of purposes in SIS and elsewhere within the University, including the assessment of tuition charges and the allocation of tuition income back to the schools. The student’s prime division is a reflection of ownership on that student’s records, and so the prime school has the ability in SIS to update those records and is responsible for maintaining all current MP information on its students, including the declared majors and minors within that school as well as joint programs being pursued by the student in other WU schools.
Interdivisional Transfers are those students transferring within the University from one school to another. Because the “ownership” of the student’s record changes with the change in school, all interdivisional transfers require the approval of the dean’s offices of both schools. Undergraduate day division transfers are facilitated by the SIS IDT process, which is initiated by the student at WebSTAC and managed by the schools through WebAdmin. Graduate and evening division students who wish to change schools must contact their school registrar who will initiate a paper Interdivision Transfer form; paper IDT form must be signed by both schools and submitted to the Office of the University Registrar for changes to the student’s record in SIS.
Note: students not currently enrolled (no open MP) and not on Leave of Absence may be admitted to a new school or division within the University without written approval from the former school, and a new MP record may be created in SIS by the new school.
All prime division changes must be complete prior to the end of the 4th week of the effective semester.
The Major Program Maintenance tab on the MP window is where MP records can be added or changed. When adding a new MP record:
- Use the Add/Insert Row buttons;
- Look up MP codes for a particular division or department by typing that portion of the MP code in the PgmCode box then Enter. Click to select the desired program from the popup box.
- Obsolete mp codes are noted in red.
The Admit Semester on an MP is that semester in which the student begins that particular course of study. The Termination Semester on an MP should be the last semester in which the student was pursuing that particular program. A Faculty Advisor or Special Advisor can be linked to that student and MP by clicking on the Name button in the Faculty Advisor block and selecting the advisor from the available list. Linked advisors have access to their advisees’ academic records at WebFAC.
The Program Completion Detail area in the lower portion of the MP Maintenance tab is where schools may indicate that requirements have been completed for a specific major, minor or degree. The status of Pending is typically used when the student is currently enrolled in the courses necessary for the completion of that program. The Latin Honors flag here reflects a recommendation made by the school or department of the honor to be awarded.
All degree records are recorded in SIS by the Office of the University Registrar. It is the responsibility of each school to evaluate each of the students enrolled in their programs of study and verify that all requirements have been met by the date of the degree. An Intent to Graduate must be submitted by the student by the deadline date to initiate the degree process. The schools are subsequently provided with a series of working lists of degree candidates from which additions and deletions can be made. All degrees awarded by Washington University require approval from the Board of Trustees or the Chancellor. Deletions received by the Office of the University Registrar after the degree date are not acceptable.
Note: the student’s Unofficial transcript (also the SIS Admin Internal Record and Composite report) notes that a degree is ‘Anticipated’ until the Board approves the final degree list and the University Registrar notes that degree has been officially conferred.
Milestones
Special notations may be entered on a student’s record using a Milestone. Leave of Absence (medical or other) are noted with a Milestone in the semester for which that leave was granted.
The Loss of Student Status milestone (msn 0099) is used for any student who withdraws during an academic term for which some coursework has already been completed. This can/should also be used for any student who completes a sub-semester or mini-term course and then withdraws. The comment field on this record typically contains the date the student withdrew from the University.
Milestones can also be used to provide course topic information on things like Independent Study or Research, where the Action Type and Action ID fields refer to the course number. These will print on an official transcript with the course record.
Other Credits
AP/Advanced Placement credits, transfer credits accepted by WU, and coursework taken abroad are all recorded in SIS as Other Credit records. The dean’s offices determine which credits are acceptable and exercise any limitations defined by that school on the amount of transfer and AP credit that may be applied toward a WU degree. On all transfer and study abroad work, the college or university from which those courses were transferred is also recorded.
Password Info*
This window in SISAdmin became functionally obsolete when WUSTL Key authentication for WebSTAC was implemented. It does, however, display the student’s WUSTL Key username and their wupeople id (WUP ID) which is used in some of the integrations with other university data systems.
Previous School
Undergraduate transfer students and all degree-seeking graduate students should have previous school information recorded in SIS. The location (state or country) of the institution is now a required data element on the Previous School record in SISAdmin (comes up automatically on schools selected from the CEEB list).
Scores
SAT, ACT, GRE, TOEFL and other types of test scores used for admission and placement of the student are recorded here. Most scores are entered in batch from data files received from the various testing agencies, though dean’s offices may enter these manually as well. A test date of SELF is typically entered if the score is self-reported by the student; TRNS if the score is taken from a transcript.
Status
The Status window in SISAdmin provides a quick summary of information about a student, including his/her Student ID Card picture. Current (open) major programs are listed as well as the student’s current (or last) enrollment status.
SISAdmin Reports
Course Info
- Building Occupancy Roster
This report can produce lists of classes in a given building/room(s) as well as lists of students and faculty in those classes. Schedules (day and time) are detailed here. Select Semester, Sub-semester (All, Regular, special term), Campus/Area, Building, and Room to produce the list you need. A quick e-mail can be sent to large groups of the occupants selected. Campus Police, Facilities, The Teaching Center, departments, et al can use this report for emergency situations, building and room problems, etc.
- Courses
This report lists courses offered by department for a given semester. Class meeting times, locations, and instructor name are displayed, as well as enrollment limits and current enrollment and waitlist information. Double-clicking on a course section from this list will drill down to a class roster for that section.
- Roster
This is the class roster of all students enrolled in a particular course or section, including cross-listings.
Departments
- Students by Advisor
This report is sorted first by advisors’ last names, then by students. In addition to showing degree/major/minor, a student’s prime division, level, and anticipated degree date are displayed.
- Students by Program
Use this report to see a list of students by the degree/major/minor they’re seeking together with the name of the student’s advisor. Also displayed are the student’s prime division, level, and degree year.
- Students in Department
This report generates a list of all the students who have an open MP in a given academic department. (Note: MP code dept’s and course dept codes are not necessarily the same for a given department.)
School
- Students by Division
This report generates a list of all students with open MP’s in a specific division. Use the Semester Admitted field to identify students with specific MP Code admit terms. Click the Demographics Report button to include data from the students’ demographics record on citizenship, country code, visa, race, and interests.
- Students in School
Use this report to generate a list of all students with open MP’s in a given school. Click the “Use Admin Codes” box to add Dean’s Flag data (or any of the other admin codes) to your report.
- Undeclared Majors
Use this report to generate a list of those students who are undeclared majors in a given school. Click the “Use Admin Codes” box to add Dean’s Flag data (or any of the other admin codes) to your report.
Student Accounting – Records*
- Account Inquiry
Review all student accounting transactions for a given student and semester or fiscal year with this report. Drill down on specific transactions to see more detail.
- Billing History
This report lets you generate an exact copy of a bill (using Adobe Acrobat) that a student received on a specified billing date, or review bill detail.
- Summer Registration
This report lists those students by school or division who are registered for summer courses, and shows all courses (or just the L/U courses) and the tuition charges assessed to the student. The deans’ offices use this information to evaluate charges and payments.
Student Info
- Composite
The Composite report lets you select specific elements of the student’s full internal record you wish to see/print.
- Grades
This report of semester grades is the same as that which the student can see and print at webSTAC.
- Intent to Graduate
Use this report to review the Intents filed for a particular group of students. Selection criteria include graduation (intent) semester, department, division, and student.
- Internal Record
The Internal Record displays all information on the student’s academic record in SIS.
- Schedule
The schedule report displays the student’s class schedule for a given semester with class meeting days/times, building and room locations, names of instructors, and a final exam schedule. It is the same as that which the student can see and print at webSTAC.
- Test Scores
All test score records in SIS for a given student are listed here.
- Unofficial Transcript
The Unofficial Transcript report in SISAdmin is also available to the student at WebSTAC.
Student Records
- Academic Actions Report
This report can be used to generate a list of all Academic Actions a student currently has or has had in the past (Student History), or generate a list of all students who currently have a particular type of Academic Action in their records. Use the Open MP select to see only the current students. A user selects from these options : Academic Actions (probation, etc.), Honors (Phi Beta Kappa, etc.), Milestones (Leave of Absence, etc.), Special Major Thesis Title, and Holds (Student Accounting, etc.).
- Degree Summary
The Degree Summary report generates a full list by student of all degrees, majors, minors, and certificates either conferred in a given semester (if the degree date has passed) or for which the student has filed an Intent to Graduate.
- Student Search by Parent
If you need to identify a student and have only the name of the parent, use this report as a search tool. All or a portion of the parent’s name can be entered in the search box; remember that SISAdmin recognizes the % sign as a wildcard value in searching. Both non-custodial and custodial parent matches will be identified.