i agree with Susan that the errors and duplicate course entries(which
apparently occurred when a later set of information was sent to the SLC) are
very confusing and make the whole database even more unwieldy than it is
already. I do not see the problem in allowing colleges to delete any
errors,whilst allowing them the judgement to properly close courses that
have stopped running.
Generally I did not have too much of a problem, and I was able to return it
OK, with only a couple of later errors,  although I do find it very
frustrating at times.
Anne English

Admin.Assistant-Records & Loans
Academic Registry
University of Brighton
[log in to unmask]



> ----------
> From:         Susan Pike[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Reply To:     Admin-student
> Sent:         12 March 2001 09:41
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      Re: HEI Disc for 2001/2002 Course & Term Dates Data
>
> I have had a few problems returning the data this year but felt it
> was much better than previous years.  Maybe that's because I
> know the creature a bit better!!
>
> With reference to the problem regarding including qualification in
> the title, I was able to overcome this by enclosing the qual. in
> brackets eg. (BSc) after the title.
>
> I haven't experienced the problem of dates being read in the US
> format.  So maybe that is a local problem.
>
> The main problem I have with the Database is the fact that you
> cannot delete errors.  You can only close them.  I now have the
> princely sum of over 400 errors on our database (not all mine)!
> This makes it very difficult when you have a large number of
> courses to check and you keep confusing them with errors.  I hope
> I have solved this one by changing the title of each of the errors to
> "Error 1" and incrementing each one.  These errors were mainly
> created in the early days of using the database when we were
> unsure of what we were doing and now they are there as a
> constant reminder.
>
> It's reassuring to know that I wasn't the only one to submit the data
> late though.
>
>
> Priority:               NORMAL
> Date sent:              Thu, 8 Mar 2001 09:30:47 +0000
> Send reply to:          Admin-student <[log in to unmask]>
> From:                   Paul Norris <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject:                Re: HEI Disc for 2001/2002 Course & Term Dates
> Data
> To:                     [log in to unmask]
>
> Where to start?
>
> To be fair it is an improvement on last year, but they've
> still got some way to go.
>
> Particular problems have been
>
> *  The software would not install correctly.  It took
> several weeks to get a fix out of SLC, despite constant
> reassurances that this was top of their priority list.
>
> *  Although the manual specifies several acceptable date
> formats, the import function will only accept one (and of
> course it reverses day/month to the US format - this could
> well be my PC, but a warning would have been useful).
>
> *  Having forbidden us from including degree titles in the
> course name, the software will not accept duplicate names.
> This has made distinguishing between BSc Chemistry and MSci
> Chemistry difficult (thank God we don't do named UG Certs
> and Dips).
>
> *  Insisting that we stick to the return deadline so SLC
> can issue data to LEAs, when we haven't yet set the dates
> for our PGCE because LEAs haven't finalised school terms
> yet.
>
> I managed under some stress to get a base set of data in on
> time.  I've had it rejected and foresee a long round of
> updates.
>
> Regards
>
> Paul
>
> On Wed, 7 Mar 2001 14:30:01 GMT Jenny Wade
> <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> > My colleagues are working on this disc which should have been back in
> > Glasgow about two weeks ago.   An extension to the end of this week
> > has been agreed.
> >
> > The question is 'How many people are having problems with completing
> > the information required?'
> >
> > A short answer is what we would like to hear from anyone who is
> > having a problem, or had a problem which is now sorted out.
> >
>
> ----------------------
> Paul Norris, Planning Support Office
> Planning, Resource Allocation, Student Records and Statistics
> University of Bristol
> [log in to unmask]
> Sue Pike
> Student Information Department
> Kingston University
> Cooper House
> 40-46 Surbiton Road
> Kingston-upon-Thames
> Surrey, KT1 2HX
> United Kingdom
> Internet: [log in to unmask]
> Tel: +44 0181 547 8082
> Fax: +44 0181 547-7102
>