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Problems with using instructor info


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#1 DMTC_Supervisor

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Posted 05 February 2008 - 10:27 AM

I'm sorry to be flooding the forum, but I've collected these problems over the last couple of months, and just haven't had the time to ask about them until now. I figured you'd want me to post them separately rather than in one long email to keep threads by topic.

Anyway, this is my last issue, which has actually been a frustration for me for a long time, and maybe you have already addressed it in Accutrack 10 (crossing fingers).

It is difficult to use the instructor info in any way that is useful to me. We are an institution that gives our instructors regular reports on the students of theirs who visit us. I finally gave up trying to send them comments, because there is no report that allows one to group comments by teacher, one can only send the comments one by one, which is silly. The teacher's email box would be flooded, and it would take a long time to go through every appointment in a week and send it out one by one.

Okay, so I settled for sending them names and times, but our Writing Center still isn't using Accutrack for this reason. They insist on sending comments and continue to limp along with an old Access database program in order to send out comments by hard copy. They're waiting for me to work out all the ins and outs of Accutrack before they use it, and they bought it a year before I did!

Okay, so this works fine if I want to use hard copies. I figured out how to customize the report so that each teacher gets his or her own copy with a correct header. However, I don't want to use hard copies. I want to save printer ink and paper. Accutrack offers an email feature.

However, one can only use the email feature for the reports (and I love that you allow us to send PDFs, that's awesome) one by one. In other words, one cannot send out reports all at once, simply because the report itself is one that includes all teachers, and I have simply customized it so that a new page is forced for each teacher.

Okay, so I can deal with that. We're not so large a college that sending out emails individually for each report takes more than a solid hour or a bit more. BUT, I have to type the email for each teacher into the form that allows me to email the pdf report to the teacher. I don't understand this, because I am choosing each teacher individually and creating a special report just for that teacher. I've included the teacher's email in the teacher's list. Why won't that field automatically fill in in the form so that all I have to do is click send?

Also, there is no report that allows me to print out a teacher's list with email addresses the way one can with staff employees. I do not have a list of email addresses, and must keep my Outlook program address book open as I do this to show the college list of email addresses. I don't want to print this out because it's HUGE, and I only need the faculty from this one campus. I've sent out reports to teachers like this once, and I'm not looking forward to doing it again (though the teachers loved getting the reports in their email).

I'm including a screenshot to show what I mean. Our address is automatically filled in, but the teacher address is blank.

easily.Attached File  screenshot.jpg   47.69K   23 downloads

There are some lovely and useful features-if one could just use them

#2 DMTC_Supervisor

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Posted 05 February 2008 - 10:34 AM

oops. I'm not sure what happened with that screenshot. I'll try again, but won't include an in post link.



well, I tried again, and still the picture doesn't seem to open, so I've uploaded it here:

http://hccfl.edu/dm_.../screenshot.jpg

Attached Files



#3 Mon

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Posted 05 February 2008 - 01:02 PM

Hi,

Thanks for posting the questions separately. This is how we want to see them here as that makes it easier to respond and then follow up with each issue. Also feel free to post your questions as we like to get users' feedback.

Regarding this issue, from what I understand you want to generate the Session Log report, but you'd like to get this filtered by instructor. Even though the software does not currently support an instructor filter directly, you can still do this via a powerful feature called Student Groups. Here is how:

1. Generate an Attendance by Instructor report (under the Instructor Node) for a certian instructor.
2. Instead of clicking on the "Show Report" button, click on the "Create Student Group" button. Give the group a name like the Instructor's first initial and last name.
3. You can now generate the Session Log report filtered by the Student Group you just created!

You can repeat the above steps for other instructors with the same requirement.

Note that you can create and edit the Student Groups manually via the Setup -> Student Setup -> Group screen. You can also import groups via the AccuTrack Import Wizard.
Mon Nasser
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http://www.accutrack.org

#4 DMTC_Supervisor

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Posted 06 February 2008 - 11:08 AM

Hi,

Thanks for posting the questions separately.  This is how we want to see them here as that makes it easier to respond and then follow up with each issue.  Also feel free to post your questions as we like to get users' feedback.

Regarding this issue, from what I understand you want to generate the Session Log report, but you'd like to get this filtered by instructor.  Even though the software does not currently support an instructor filter directly, you can still do this via a powerful feature called Student Groups.  Here is how:

1. Generate an Attendance by Instructor report (under the Instructor Node) for a certian instructor.
2. Instead of clicking on the "Show Report" button, click on the "Create Student Group" button.  Give the group a name like the Instructor's first initial and last name.
3. You can now generate the Session Log report filtered by the Student Group you just created!

You can repeat the above steps for other instructors with the same requirement. 

Note that you can create and edit the Student Groups manually via the Setup -> Student Setup -> Group screen.  You can also import groups via the AccuTrack Import Wizard.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>



I get the following message for every teacher. The report will come up, but no group will be created.

"Report does not contain necessary data to create a group"

I then tested it by creating a group manually, and that works great, but there is still the problem of not being able to have the teacher's name automatically included in the field to send. One must type in every individual teacher for each report. Also, the report does not show the teacher's name. It doesn't even show the title of the student group that was created. Anyway, this wouldn't work if we have to create the groups manually. There's just no way we would be able to keep up with adding all the new students who come to us during the semester to the appropriate group.

The thing is, teachers are simply not included in the hierarchy of the relationships between the tables in the right way for us to do what we need to do. The optimal add student screen would include fields for instructors and courses, and the optimal reports screen would allow us to filter on anything that we need.

I know, just from trying to do this in Access, that there are limitations. I had the same problem there. I had to input the teacher's name and the course every single time we entered a comment. I couldn't figure out how to keep the instructor(s) and course(s) attached to a student from the moment of adding the student to the database.

I see it's the same with Accutrack. When appointments are made, there is no option to input the teacher. You can only do it when you manually sign the student in. When the student signs in for his or her appointment, one can only make them choose a tutor, not a teacher, and when students make their own appointments, they don't have to choose a teacher, either. Only walk-in sign-ins have the capability of choosing the teacher upon signing in.

Having said all that, these are the things that would be most beneficial to us:

1. At the making of an appointment, teacher must be chosen, too.
2. Have email field fill in automatically with the teacher's email address when one clicks the "email as pdf" option on an "Attendance by Instructor" report.
3. Failing that, have a report that prints out the teacher list with their email addresses so that we have them easily at our fingertips.
4. Figuring out why our "create group" option won't work when pulling up an "Attendance by Instructor" report.

Thank you for your patience with me.

#5 Mon

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Posted 06 February 2008 - 11:51 AM

You don't need to create groups manually. As I mentioned in my last post, you can import the groups via the import wizard. All you need is the student ID number! You can get this data from the class roster. Also I suggested the Instructor report because I thought you have your instructors and their classes already setup in AccuTrack. If you did not do this yet, then of course the data is not there for AccuTrack to use in a group.

I think the groups import would get you very close to where you want to go.
Mon Nasser
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mon@accutrack.org
(888)249-7227
http://www.accutrack.org

#6 DMTC_Supervisor

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Posted 06 February 2008 - 01:50 PM

You don't need to create groups manually.  As I mentioned in my last post, you can import the groups via the import wizard.  All you need is the student ID number!  You can get this data from the class roster.  Also I suggested the Instructor report because I thought you have your instructors and their classes already setup in AccuTrack.  If you did not do this yet, then of course the data is not there for AccuTrack to use in a group. 

I think the groups import would get you very close to where you want to go.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>



We have no way of setting up instructors with their classes in Accutrack. We add the students as we go. We do not get class rosters from the teachers, nor are we in any way integrated with the school's database system. I do not have access to that information.

The group import will not work for us. What will help is to require that the teacher be input at the time an appointment is made in the same way that it's required when a student signs in on a walk-in basis.

#7 Mon

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Posted 06 February 2008 - 04:30 PM

Thanks for the explanations.

Regarding the Group Creation:

We’ll check on why the Instructor report is not generating the group.

Note that you might be able to generate the group from other reports. For example, you could filter a student attendance report by class, and then generate a group from there. If the students visiting for that class all belong to the same instructor, then you have your group ready.

Of course the easiest way for adding the groups is via import. This is done via the Import Wizard (System Administration -> Database -> Import). I am not sure why are not able to get this data from your college. Other AccuTrack users depend on this data for populating their AccuTrack database and get it periodically from their IT department.

Also you mentioned that the instructors tell you which students are enrolled in their class. If they provide you with this info in an Excel file or other electronic format, you can import this list into AccuTrack.

Regarding your Suggestions for Appointment Changes

You seem to have a unique method for appointment scheduling that is geared towards instructors. AccuTrack is designed for scheduling appointments with the center's staff (e.g. tutors, advisors, consultants, etc.), which does not involve instructors. Unfortunately it is not possible to change the AccuTrack design because other users depend on it working that way.
Mon Nasser
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mon@accutrack.org
(888)249-7227
http://www.accutrack.org

#8 DMTC_Supervisor

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Posted 07 February 2008 - 10:35 AM

Thanks for the explanations.

Regarding the Group Creation:

We’ll check on why the Instructor report is not generating the group.

Note that you might be able to generate the group from other reports.  For example, you could filter a student attendance report by class, and then generate a group from there.  If the students visiting for that class all belong to the same instructor, then you have your group ready.

Of course the easiest way for adding the groups is via import.  This is done via the Import Wizard (System Administration -> Database -> Import).  I am not sure why are not able to get this data from your college.  Other AccuTrack users depend on this data for populating their AccuTrack database and get it periodically from their IT department.

Also you mentioned that the instructors tell you which students are enrolled in their class.  If they provide you with this info in an Excel file or other electronic format, you can import this list into AccuTrack.

Regarding your Suggestions for Appointment Changes

You seem to have a unique method for appointment scheduling that is geared towards instructors.  AccuTrack is designed for scheduling appointments with the center's staff (e.g. tutors, advisors, consultants, etc.), which does not involve instructors.  Unfortunately it is not possible to change the AccuTrack design because other users depend on it working that way.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>



I'll go through the reports and see what I can come up with, but we don't have classes, we have courses, which means many teachers. I really don't know where else we could get the group created.

The teachers do not provide me with their rosters. As for our college set up, we're ahead of the times in some areas, and behind in others. I'm working on that for our area. It would definitely help to get class rosters that we could import.

Actually, if a field to choose the instructor were included in the appointment screen in the same way as it is for signing in for walk-ins, that would be a really big help. Is this not a possibility?

#9 Mon

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Posted 07 February 2008 - 12:17 PM

Actually, if a field to choose the instructor were included in the appointment screen in the same way as it is for signing in for walk-ins, that would be a really big help. Is this not a possibility?

Actually no, because I don't understand why this matters here. The appointment is cheduled with a tutor and not an instructor.
Mon Nasser
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#10 Mon

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Posted 15 February 2008 - 11:29 AM

Regarding the issue of the Instructor report not generating a Student Group, this was fixed and this feature will be functioning in the next maintenance release of AccuTrack 9.
Mon Nasser
AccuTrack Manager
mon@accutrack.org
(888)249-7227
http://www.accutrack.org




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