Webinar Q & A
People had many questions during the MyBU Student February webinar, below are all the questions that were asked, categorized by topic, and their answers.
NOTE: Some questions still need answers. Be sure to check back as more questions get answered
Act as a Student
| There were many questions about the Act As and Look Up Student functionality that we have
summarized here: |
Act as User is the way MyBU Student provides visibility to a student record at our second launch Similar to actions taken by faculty and staff via the Links or Galaxy tasks, students are not notified by the system People with access to the Fac/Staff or Advisor Link in the current systems will hve access to the Act As function Transcripts and advisee lists will not be accessible through Act As Student until after the 3rd launch in May Once you have selected a student you can validate that it is the correct one in Act as Student Compliance holds and descriptions will be available in Act as Student Student Accounts will remain in the current system, accessible by security through the Links until the end of May |
Advising
| Will advisors have access to this starting in May? Or for the upcoming registration cycle? | Advisors will have access to Act as Student at the March deployment but enrollment history will remain accessible through the Links |
| if enrollment history remains in mainframe, does that mean that we can continue to review Degree Advice Reports in the Link while sutdents use myBUstudent to register? | Degree Advice will be available through the Links until the end of May. Courses that students register for in MyBU Student for Fall 24, will not be reflected in Degree Advice |
| as an advisor – where do we go to their academic history and their transcript view? | Enrollment history will be accessible throught the Links until the May Launch when it will be available in MyBU Student |
| where is our list of assigned advisees? | List of advisees will be available in the May launch |
| Will students (and admins/advisors) have a way to view their overall degree progress along with remaining requirements? That is, something similar to the current Degree Advice Report? | New Degree Progress functionality will be included in the May launch – schools who currently have Degree Advice will have this functionality and other programs will be added following the launch |
| Is there a way to export the history of all” Student Notes” I had input into every student record? | We will convert Student Notes from the mainframe into the new SIS |
| I don’t understand. On the link, we have very obvious and easy to access lists of students in a class and list of our advisees. I just click and get their info. I don’t have to know their UID it is right there and it clicks right to the student’s info. This is not going to be possible anymore? | You will have access to a class roster once students start registering in April. When we launch the last component in May, you will have access to a list of Advisees |
| Is the Advising Hold, the replacement for Advising Codes? And just to confirm, all Advisors will be able to put a hold on a student’s account to require them to see their assigned advisor so they can’t register until they meet with us? | Programs that require students to meet with advisors will use Advising Holds which can be removed by advisors |
| Are there valdation to check if the courses student register for are fulilling a student’s degree requirments? | Degree Advice and Enrollment History will be available via the Faculty and Faculty/Staff Links |
| How does staff know if staff have access to view a student schedule? | If you have advisees in the Link you will have access in the new SIS |
| I watched a training video and saw there will be visible a schedule of advising appointments with my students. Will there be a Doodle-like option for students to choose from a professor’s available time slots? | Advising appointment functionality will be availible in May and students will have the ability to request appointments for open times – we can provide a deeper demo as we get closer |
Enrollment Planning
| Can you filter for HUB courses? | You can filter for up to 3 Hub attributes in course search |
| Will there be the possibility for staff to perform enrollment functions for special populations such as the non-degree, visiting students? | There will be an enrollment workflow that can be used to enroll students |
| How will advisors be able to lift the advising hold without access to the new systems advising tools? | The Hold is on the students record and you won’t need the Advising Tool to lift them |
Faculty Resources
| I saw the download csv for a class- but where is the download roster with pictures? | To download a copy of the roster with pictures, select the print option and then print to PDF. |
| Are students able to record the pronunciation of their names? | We are working on adding this functionality but for now it is available in the Directory |
| Will there be student photos available on the roster? | Student Photos will be available on the Roster |
| Can the teaching schedule be linked to our Outlook and/or Google calendars? | Schedules can be downloaded as an ics file to Outlook, Google or other calendars |
| Will there be a function showing all students’ (in a particular class) schedules, so that I could schedule an extra makeup class when needed, like the current Matrix report? | We are working on a report that will replace the “Matrix” report on the Faculty Link, we are planning to have it available in September |
| For faculty who also serve as academic advisors, will advising functions be integrated with their faculty functions? | The roles will be on separate tabs in the interface |
| Is there a way to get the class roster in picture and name view only, like there is with the current system? | There is a list view and a download view available in the new SIS |
| Will this impact the use of Blackboard in online programs? | The Blackboard platform is independent but the data integration will switch from the mainframe to MyBU Student in May |
| Will profs be able to upload syllabi so students can make informed decision when choosing classes? | MyBU Student does not include the ability to upload Syllibi |
| It would be helpful to be able to download all the email addresses for students in a class roster | you can select a student/students or the whole class to send an email, you can also download a list which includes email |
| can we also see the email address in the class roster | You can view the email addresses of all students on the roster by downloading the CSV file. You can also view an individual student’s email address by opening an email to a student from the roster. |
| Can a faculty member change a course description of a class the faculty member teaches? | Each school and college has a process for updating course descriptions – that process is not impacted by the new SIS |
| How will the Attendance Indicator Project be handled with the new system? | This process is in development and will be available in the fall |
| Will there be an equivalent of the Class List Matrix view for faculty or administrators? | Live answered |
Functionality
| What about for classes that have discussion and lab? | Labs and lectures will be bundled together visually when students are selecting section options. The lab and lecture sections will move together when placing options in Schedule Builder or Shopping Cart. |
| If I do not know a students’ ID, and there are multiple students with the same name, its been helpful to see in which school the student is registered. Will the student’s primary school remain visible on the top window? | As of now, the delivered functionality available in Lookup Student is only BUID and First/Last name. The ability to customize this page with additional data is currently being investigated with the vendor. In the meantime, reporting is being considered to supplement and the Program will be viewable in the Academic Program menu when ‘Acting As Student’. Also reminder- the Links will remain available between March and end of May. |
| RE: Student Search — Many times we’ll have a name and DOB, but no ID. Could DOB ever be added as a search criteria? | As of now, the delivered functionality available in Lookup Student is only BUID and First/Last name. The ability to customize this page with additional data is currently being investigated with the vendor. In the meantime, reporting is being considered to supplement. Also reminder- the Links will remain available between March and end of May. |
| Will there be an expanded student search (search shown seemed to bring back just first and last name) especially when searching for students with a common name? Will the system allow searches by student’s preferred name? | As of now, the delivered functionality available in Lookup Student is only BUID and First/Last name. The ability to customize this page with additional data is currently being investigated with the vendor. In the meantime, reporting is being considered to supplement. Also reminder- the Links will remain available between March and end of May. Student’s display name will be available. |
| One thing I regularly use the link for is to see an instructor’s full teaching history. Is this something that will still be available, and if not, is there a way to bulk download this data? | No My BU will not have that full history available there. But we can provide reporting that would support that request. We would just need to have additional information about that requirement but we can provide some reporting support for that. |
| What is the difference between the ‘To Do’ and ‘Tasks’ funtions on the MyBU Student dashbord? | They are both items that the students do need to complete – the “to do” list is a check list where as the “tasks” are interactive and connected to a status in the MyBU Student. |
| Where can you see the student’s year (first year, etc.)? | Act as Student |
| can you repeat the date? 3/2 is when the “planner” becomes available? | March 6th |
| Is there a way to mass look up a group of students as an administrator, not a faculty member? | Depending on what you are trying to do, there will be reports available |
| Can students add their preferred name? | Students can add their display name in the Directory today – it will be integrated to MyBU Student |
| Perhaps not directly related since this is more academic – but will this impact the Business Link and the Student Employment system? | The student enrollment and financial data aspects of the Business Link will be replaced by MyBU Student. The Student Employment System is being replaced in June |
| Since we (faculty) have never really been able to see what Studentlink looks like – ie: How they navigate it, to be sure, is this something we will even see fom their POV? | ‘Act as Student’ allows for some viewing of pages as student experiences them. |
| will we continue to use Handshake with the new system? If not, will we use it for Fall 2024 registration as we are using both systems? | Handshake will continue as the tool used in Career Development, appointment functionality will be replaced by MyBU Student in May |
| How do summer 2024 pre-college programs fit into this timeline? Will there be a special training session for pre-college programs prior to summer 2024. | Summer registration will be in the Mainframe accessible throught the Links until the end of May so most of the summer programs will remain as is for this year. We will provide training and communiction prior to the May launch about the transition |
| What is the difference from ‘Add to Wish List’ and ‘Add to Cart’? Does it enroll them into the course or hold their place? | Apologies, the Wishlist is visible because we are in a test environment – it will not be available when we go live. Students can add items to their “Shopping Cart” prior to their enrollment time and then register directly from there. |
| Hi. I’m an academic advisor – how do I view a student’s Transcript preview? | Transcript preview will remain accessible through the Link in the current system until our 3rd Launch in May |
| Can students “un-enroll” or drop themselves from a class within the time slot alotted? Or Add themselves to a class? | Yes students can add/drop themselves until the deadlines and in the context of the applicabe enrollment rules |
| In the system, will the student’s legal name as well as preferred name be available for faculty/staff to see? | Display name will be the default and access to Legal Name will be limited ot offices that require it |
| I’m assuming that I can still see a student’s previous classes, instructors, grades, etc., but I’d like to check on that. | At our second launch enrollment history will remain on the current system |
| The old system had the ability to pull student lists by school/college and semester, in bulk. Is there a similar function in SIS or will all student lookups be limited to single students and class rosters? | There will be reports available and once we launch in May, there will be advisee lists similar to class rosters |
| I would also like to be able to see how the Student Note functionality works, since I use that a lot to communicate with students and advisors. | Student Note functionality will be available in the 3rd Launch in May |
| Who is responsible for releasing an Advising Hold? Some students have multiple advisors. | Associate Deans at Schools and Colleges have been asked for a list of people who shoud be given this access |
| When will we get more information on processes not specific to advising and processes faculty need i.e. loa or wd, appointment scheduler, notation systems we will have access to? | We will communicate about functionality coming with our 3rd launch when we get closer in May |
| For students who need to be withdrawn, put on a leave, etc., how will that work for FA24? We can currently process those as a program using CG80 in UIS. | There will be new business processes in MyBU Student for Leaves and Withdrawals |
| When a student looks up a class, will the instructor email show, too? (I didn’t see that in the demo, and it would be helpful.) | We cannot make the instructor’s email available in class search but it is available in the BU Directory for students |
Nomenclature
| We received many questions about nomenclature, we have summarized the answers here | MyBU Student is comprised of a few software services including Campus Solutions and Salesforce – it is not custom developed for BU therefore you will hear many new terms and concepts as we go through the demos – you will find a glossary and reference materials on the SIS Renewal Website When referring to the current system, the mainframe is the system – it is accessible through the Links Academic Organization is a term used in the Academic Structure in Campus Solutions – it includes schools and colleges. More information can be found on the SIS Renewal website |
Prerequisites
| Prerequisites: there were many questions about whether the new system will support prerequisite checking | Prerequisites are not checked as part of validation as we are not implementing that functionality until later – prereqs can be found, as always, in the course description People with access in the Faculty and Faculty Staff Link will be able to check for prerequisites there until the end of May |
Registration
| So even for Graduate Students, if there is a Directed Study class they need to be enrolled in, they will have to register for that themselves? Can Administrators over-ride classes, or is that item no longer needed/available? | There will be Workflow forms available that staff can use to register students in Directed Study |
| If registration is close and the student comes to the department to add a class will the department still be able to add classes and override the date? | There will be a function called “Workflow” that will allow departments to request overrides |
Reporting
| Will there be a way to see a full list or number of students per department that are on a wait list? | There is a waitlist report available |
Schedule Builder
| There were many questions about the Schedule Builder that we have summarized here: | Advisors will be able to see what students have built and will be able to add options The Schedule Builder provides an opportunity for a student to consider multiple schedule options and to share it with their advisor who can also offer options. Any conflicts, whether it’s a hold overlapping class, times exceeding units or even classes that have reserved capacity Students can place “back up” courses in their schedule builder and shopping cart There is nothing to enforce that the suggestions of Advisors have been implemented, similar to the current system in most instances the student can register for anything as long as the rules for a particular class are followed We will remind students via the Portal that the creating a schedule in Schedule Builder does not mean you are enrolled |
Security
| Who will have access to the student notes? Fauclty or staff? | Student notes will remain in the current system until our 3rd launch in May |
Shopping Cart
| There were many questions about the Shopping Cart that we have summarized here: | The term “Shopping Cart” is a vendor term that we cannot change – we acknowledge the dislike of this term and will continue to advocate for a change with Oracle
Adding classes to a Shopping Cart does not guarantee a spot in the class (similar to current Planner functionality) Students can move classes from either Class Search or the Schedule Builder to the Shopping Cart prior to Registration and and use the Cart to streamline the process The Shopping Cart will check a number of rules including credit limit and reserved seating – (when we implement prerequisite checking in the future it will check those – but this will not be available at go live) The Shopping Cart checks and messages are related to course attributes and cannot be customized based on Financial Aid, Program or other data fields Advisors will have access to student’s Schedule Builder and Shopping Cart |
Training & Communications
| Will advisors have time to get hands-on expierience with the new system before students start planning for fall classes? | Unfortunately because of the timeline, everyone will get access at the same time – there are videos and training materials available in the SIS Renewal Website |
| do you have a plan for training on Student Account info (tuition charged/paid, etc.)? | Student Accounts will remain in the current system until May – we will provide trying prior to that launch |
| This isn’t a question, but this is all being rolled out quite late and, as an advisor, I feel unprepared to guide my students through registration. Although registration isn’t until April, we start advising students 6 weeks before the last registration Sunday. We really need more information before early March and would appreciate it. Thanks. | We understand that this is a tight timeframe but woth an implementation of this size we require every minute before the launch to configure and test the system. We have tried to mitigate this by providing training guides and videos |
| When will training for DSA’s be available? And when will DSA’s again be expected to solve security issues rather than IT help? | DSA Training will happen in the next couple of weeks, we are trying to preassign as many roles as possible |
| Did the email communication go out to students about the change to Fall 2024 scheduling? And would we be able to see the email communication to reinforce the same messaging? thanks for any insights | Yes, a compliance message went out last week to continuing students who are eligible to register for classes in fall 2024. We’ll be placing training materials in student portal over the next couple of weeks and we’re also going to be posting a link on the SIS renewal site that will include an aggregate of all of the information that we’re distributing to students as well as some other marketing and press assets that you all can borrow, distribute to your teams and students, especially as you begin advising. We’re also working with the Dean of Students on an upcoming message, hopefully next week and so that will be more of our kick off messaging.But the traditional communication that the registration planner is live is what we plan to utilize as the new system is live communication. |
| Similarly how there is a timeline as to student and staff communications, will there be a timeline that is shared when we will receive training on how to utlize PeopleSoft/Campus Solutions/ Oracle/ BU Student for auxillary departments like financial aid, admissions, registrar’s office, student accounting? | There is training available for those offices and in some cases there will be assigned training based on responsibilities |
| I just went to the sites.bu link from the chat—is there a way to get to the sandbox there? or is it just visual how-to guides? | Unfortunately we don’t have a sandbox that is widely available but we do have lots of Guides and Videos! |
User Experience
| In the Teaching Schedule section for faculty, what kinds of courses will appear under “Similar Courses”? I teach in the Writng Program and there are hundreds of WR 120 sections, for example. Will I see all these? Or sometjhing else? | Setting up of the of the class schedule is a departmental driven process. If the students are searching for a certain class subject, they will be together and then you and depending on your role as faculty or administrator or director or course coordinator, you would have access to view all of those different sections of that through recording. |
| For discussion sections, will they see those under each course as not collapsed when they register or do they need to click on the three dots? | Labs and lectures will be bundled together visually when students are selecting section options. The lab and lecture sections will move together when placing options in Schedule Builder or Shopping Cart. |
| Does the landing page look for undergrads and grads? For instance, advisor, registration, and graduation information can vary greatly between these two populations. If possible, could we see an example? | The Portal will have different pages based on these populations: Grad/Undergrad/MED/DENT/LAW/Online at Scale |
| It’s too bad that with a new system the titles of the classes can’t be spelled out in full instead of abbreviated. | There is a character limitation in MYBU Student |
| Can you see who your academic advisor is and what their role is? | That will be available when we launch in May |