[Degreeworks-l] DegreeWorks 2011: What the Future Holds

[Leask, Jane]

Good Afternoon!  A couple of weeks ago Cathy Scott and I attended the DegreeWorks Symposium 2011 in Seattle.  The following info comes from several of those sessions (keep in mind that software release dates are always subject to change).

DegreeWorks Product Roadmap and Calendar
* The next few Patches/Minor Releases targeted through March 2013 will retain the nomenclature adopted based on the Greek alphabet.  After that, the DW folks go Disney w/Huey, Dewey, and Louie.  All will eventually correspond to a number.  (NOTE: Wayne Holt chose not to post his Roadmap presentation to the Commons this year-don't know why-so without it as a guide, my notes are based on what I saw and heard at his session-which I hopefully recorded accurately.)  Some release date info can be seen in the PDF of the Plenary session<file:///\\samfordstorage.ad.samford.edu\departments\Workgroups\DegreeWorks\Conference%20Docs\DegreeWorks%20Symposium%202011%20(PPT%20&%20PDFs)\Full%20Screen%20PPT%20Slides%20in%20PDF%20(smaller%20files)\2011_Symposium_P010_-_Welcome_Plenary.pdf> and in the latest DW Release Log<file:///\\samfordstorage.ad.samford.edu\departments\Workgroups\DegreeWorks\Files%20From%20Others\Files-SGHE%20&%20DW%20Related%20(incl%20Commons)\DegreeWorks_ReleaseLog_2011_07_JUL15.pdf>-both of which I've posted to the W: Drive.

Here's what's been released and/or proposed so far: (FYI: Items in Green & Red are of special interest...not just for extra holiday cheer!)

Item

Version/Platform

Date

Notes/Possible Installation Date

Patch or Minor Release

DW4.?.???

Aug 2013, Feb 2014, & Dec 2014
(Huey, Dewey, & Louie)

Proposed: Mobile Tech; Goal Chaser functionality; Overhaul DW Analytic Engine (current one very old); Threaded Notes; etc.

Patch

DW4.1.??

March 29, 2013 (OMEGA)

Proposed: SEP Phase 3; Registration from audit/planner; Replace PC Tool version of Scribe w/Web-based version; etc.

Patch

DW4.1.?

August 31, 2012 (ZETA)

Proposed: SEP Phase 2; Replace PC Tool version of Transit w/Web-based version; etc.

Sunset for PC Tools version of SureCode

PC Tools

July 1, 2012

This is partly why we need to have the Apache Tomcat server in place in DW TEST at least by late Spring/Summer 2012. Action Line will cease support for PC Tool version of SureCode as of June 30, 2012.

Minor Release

DW4.1.0

December 9, 2011 (PSI)

Hope to install this in DW TEST in Spring 2012 and in DW PROD by Summer 2012. FYI: With release of DW4.1.0, this means sunset for 4.0.x versions. However, Action Line will continue to support 4.0.x until the Omega release (approx March 2013).
Upgrade includes: SEP [Student Education Planner] Phase 1 Overhaul; Ability to create Notes from Any Tab; Significant What-If Audit Improvements; Label-tag/Exception improvements; More clickable info within the Diagnostics Report.

Server Setup

Apache Tomcat 6 (for use w/new Web tools)



Hope to install this in DW TEST in late Fall 2011, if possible. Wait on doing the same in DW PROD until thoroughly tested. This platform/setup is required to use the new Web version of SureCode and new SHP Entry tool-also Web-based. Apache Tomcat 6 also required for use with overhauled Student Education Planner, the first phase of which is being released as part of DW4.1.0 in December 2011 (see above for possible installation timeframe).


Patch

DW4.0.9

April 22, 2011

Hope to install this in DW TEST in late Fall 2011 or early/mid Spring 2012, then in DW PROD later in Spring 2012.

Patch

DW4.0.8

December 17, 2010 (THETA)

Version in DW TEST since July 2011 and in DW PROD as of 11/28/11.

Patch

DW4.0.7

Aug/Sept 2010 (DELTA)

Various Patches

DW4.0.1-4.0.6

Dec 2008 thru April 2010



Major Release

DW4.0.0

September 2008

Version we originally came up on in 2008-2009.



DegreeWorks Features - What's Recently Been Added, What's Ahead
I'll try not to bore you with too many details, but here are some of the revised/overhauled DegreeWorks components highlighted at the conference-many of which will be seen in the DW 4.1.0 release coming in December. Please see the full-screen PDFs of the related PowerPoint (PPT) presentations (or if preferred, review the original PPT files themselves), for more information. The full-screen PDFs are smaller in size than the PPT files, so if you want to copy them to a flash drive to review later, they won't take up as much space.

Overhauled Student Education Planner - A MAJOR overhaul of the Student Education Planner has been completed and phase one will be part of the DW4.1.0 release (two more phases will be released as part of future upgrades).  Please review the PPT or full-screen PDFs of the presentation titled: "The Next Generation Student Education Planner (SEP)."  Some of the technical setup requirements are noted (including Apache Tomcat 6 and Oracle WebLogic 11g) as well as a bevy of screen prints of the new look.  I'll post excerpts from this presentation to the our main DegreeWorks Web site later in Spring so that advisors and students can see the new look.  The new SEP will also be able to use Banner Workflow 8 for the plan approval process (if we choose to activate that), and configurations are managed in SHP Entry settings (new Web-based version).  Hopefully we can get all the pieces in place to make use of this overhaul because the current SEP and Planner Template setup is clunky, awkward, and limited.  We also currently lose a lot of plans when students change majors, but the overhauled product eliminates that and greatly improves the way we can work with Templates (which is something we should probably do a lot more of). Click here to see the full-screen PDF of the PPT presentation on this topic<file:///\\samfordstorage.ad.samford.edu\departments\Workgroups\DegreeWorks\Conference%20Docs\DegreeWorks%20Symposium%202011%20(PPT%20&%20PDFs)\Full%20Screen%20PPT%20Slides%20in%20PDF%20(smaller%20files)\2011_Symposium_TB070_-_SEP.pdf>.
What-If Audits - New features will allow users to save, freeze, and delete What-If Audits (if we grant them those permissions). The revision of this DegreeWorks component also includes new filtering and control flags, which will greatly improve how this feature works (i.e., following curriculum rules, so hopefully no more mismatched concentrations and majors). Click here to see the full-screen PDF of the PPT presentation on this topic<file:///\\samfordstorage.ad.samford.edu\departments\Workgroups\DegreeWorks\Conference%20Docs\DegreeWorks%20Symposium%202011%20(PPT%20&%20PDFs)\Full%20Screen%20PPT%20Slides%20in%20PDF%20(smaller%20files)\2011_Symposium_TA062_-_WhatIf.pdf>.
Exceptions - Some improvements of this feature will reduce if not completely eliminate the issue of unhooked exceptions.  Unfortunately, one of the new control flags related to this could lead to some exceptions being accidentally carried over incorrectly when a student changes a major (a reverse problem from our current one). Raymond Deans reviewed the importance of creating unique label-tags, so that's something I'll need to keep in mind as I go forward when scribing new or revised blocks. Click here to see the full-screen PDF of the PPT presentation on this topic<file:///\\samfordstorage.ad.samford.edu\departments\Workgroups\DegreeWorks\Conference%20Docs\DegreeWorks%20Symposium%202011%20(PPT%20&%20PDFs)\Full%20Screen%20PPT%20Slides%20in%20PDF%20(smaller%20files)\2011_Symposium_TA100_-_Exceptions.pdf>.
Diagnostics Audit - Some new features include the ability to identify exactly which courses are being included in a major/minor GPA block.  Also, there should be more pop-up/clickable info when you hover over specific details in the Diagnostics Audit page. Most of the session focused on how to read all the myriad data seen in this audit view.  It can certainly be overwhelming. Click here to see the full-screen PDF of the PPT presentation on this topic<file:///\\samfordstorage.ad.samford.edu\departments\Workgroups\DegreeWorks\Conference%20Docs\DegreeWorks%20Symposium%202011%20(PPT%20&%20PDFs)\Full%20Screen%20PPT%20Slides%20in%20PDF%20(smaller%20files)\2011_Symposium_TA020_-_Diagnostics_Audit.pdf>. (FYI: The blank screens in the PPT/PDF are where a video was supposed to be embedded, but it didn't work in the presentation and of course won't work in the static file.)
Notes - In the new DW 4.1.0 release, Notes can now be added from any tab, not just the Notes tab. Also, Internal Notes (those not intended to be seen by the student) are more clearly identified. We don't currently have that option turned on because it's problematic, but perhaps we will once we install 4.1.0. This new feature was touched upon in the PSI Highlights presentation<file:///\\samfordstorage.ad.samford.edu\departments\Workgroups\DegreeWorks\Conference%20Docs\DegreeWorks%20Symposium%202011%20(PPT%20&%20PDFs)\Full%20Screen%20PPT%20Slides%20in%20PDF%20(smaller%20files)\2011_Symposium_TB010_-_PSI_Highlights.pdf>.
PC Tools move to Web-based format - Completed in part; Still more to come.  We need to configure our server to use Apache Tomcat in order to use Adobe Flex (needed for the Web-based tools).  We've got an EAG work request out there for this to take place in DW TEST, but if I need to resubmit that, I will.  As noted in the calendar above, we definitely need to be using Apache Tomcat by next summer in order to use the Web version of SureCode, since SGHE will sunset the PC Tool version of the same as of June 30/July 1, 2012.  SHP Entry is a new Web-based tool, but we would still have the option of using the server version if we have trouble w/SHP Entry (Web).  The conversion of Transit and Scribe to Web-based has been pushed back to later 2012 and 2013.
[Note about PC Tools on the Web: Once completed, all three PC Tools (Scribe, SureCode, Transit), plus SHP Entry, will be available in the Web-based environment of DegreeWorks.  A major benefit of this is that we'd no longer need to install them individually on a user's computer, which is currently the case for those who access them in Student Records and EAG.  However, according to SGHE the PC Tools weren't configured to work w/Windows 7, although somehow our tech/admin guys were able to get them installed on Windows 7 computers here in Student Records and EAG.  The Web-based option will bypass the need to make the software compatible w/the Windows operating system, although they will need to work within a Web browser.]

For more info on the items listed above-or on any of the 33 presentations the SGHE folks made available via PPT/PDF files-please access the following folder:
W:\Workgroups\DegreeWorks\Conference Docs\DegreeWorks Symposium 2011 (PPT & PDFs)

All of you receiving this e-mail should now have access to that Workgroups\DegreeWorks folder.  Under the Conference Docs\DegreeWorks Symposium 2011 folder, you'll find the following subfolders:
Full Screen PPT Slides in PDF (smaller files; good picture quality)
Orig PPT Files (larger PPT files)
Thumbnails & Notes Column (small print PDFs; picture quality iffy, but terrible if print is tiny)
Thumbnails wNotes Added (just the sessions I attended w/my notes added)

A couple of highlights from some of the other sessions:

*         Action Line BFFs.  I wish I could have attended this session, but the presentation docs stressed that when submitting a Service Request on the Action Line, provide as much documentation up front as possible-ViewSource files, debug files, Word docs where you document the problem, even video clips of the problem in real-time (if you can do this).  No need to wait for them to ask us for specific info if you can gather any of it beforehand.  Of course, sometimes you don't know what they want to see.  In those cases, let them ask us for what they need.

*         Reminder: The technical docs have a new naming convention that was adopted to help them work w/the Banner bookshelf (i.e., dw40007scrbu.pdf instead of DGW_User_Guide_Scribe (DW4.0.7).pdf).  However, I don't think the Banner bookshelf matters much when you're working solely in DegreeWorks, so I'll continue to rename the files after download, but will also continue to keep the original files in a separate folder. (I prefer the old names since the full titles are much more descriptive.) They are accessible at the following location: W:\Workgroups\DegreeWorks\Technical & User Guides

If you still haven't joined The Commons-where DegreeWorks and Banner issues are reviewed and discussed-you can sign up using the following link: http://www.edu1world.org/submitform/SunGardHECommonsInvitation/

DEGREEWORKS CALENDAR UPDATE: I've updated the DegreeWorks calendar in Excel and PDF.  I'm attaching the PDF version but you can also access it from the following location: W:\Workgroups\DegreeWorks.  We just upgraded PROD to DW 4.0.8, but still need to plan for the Apache Tomcat upgrade, DW4.0.9 in DW TEST (and later in PROD), and then DW 4.1.0 sometime next year.  I've tried to color-code the calendar so that dates during which DegreeWorks will be heavily used (advising, registration, orientation, finals, etc.) can be easily spotted and avoided when scheduling future upgrades-at least in DW PROD.  We can be more flexible in DW TEST.
That's all for now.  Let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks, Jane


Jane Leask
Assistant Registrar (Certifications, Publications, and Programming)
Office of Student Records
Samford University
800 Lakeshore Drive
Birmingham, AL  35229
(205) 726-2912
jeleask at samford.edu<mailto:jeleask at samford.edu>

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