Deferred Examination II

The Deferred Examinations (DE) Application pulls data from Oracle, MSSQL and MySQL and it writes data back to all 3 database systems including the Student Information System. Most of this is done from the pdf report based on the actions a staff member has taken.

Conversation

This report came about from a conversation about what they had asked for and what they needed to do. I looked at their business workflow and my capabilities and asked them:

How would you like a report that has all the information that you need to make a decision, and you can confirm your decision on the report itself?

Key Facts

One of the key features of the programming is that it automatically builds additional pages from content the student has uploaded (i.e. scanned medical certificates), and there is functionality to allow staff to add or remove uploaded documents as well.

The DE Application brings disparate data sources together to allow staff to see everything they need in order to make a decision; and that decision is made on the report itself. To date there is no other interactive report or application like it within the university, and it was so well received by the end users that I received a written commendation for my inspiring and innovative work.

Process Flow and Enhancements

Once the report has been actioned, it moves into a historical state (form elements removed and replaced with decision text) and a copy is saved onto the University’s document management system. The staff member also has a choice on whether an email is sent (with or without comments) to the student once the report has been finalised.

A recent enhancement is the ability for the DE report to accept emails. I.e. Staff may have email correspondence with a student and that email trail can be forwarded to the DE email address, and the email (including attachments) will be built into the report.

The DE Application also exports data to Exam Scheduler and has a built in process flow control that allows staff to control the entire lifecycle of the Deferred Examinations period.