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Graduation Specialist Functions

In this section:

• Setting Up the Graduation Subsystem
• Reference Data
• Calendars and Date Aliases
  • Rollover
• Graduation Locations and Venues
  • Setting Up Venues and Locations
• Ceremony Rounds, Awards and Unit Set Groups
• Jobs and Reports
• Online Graduations

This section is written for specialist Graduation staff who have responsibility for setting up and maintaining the Subsystem. The following is assumed:

• An understanding of the information provided in Understanding Graduation
• A working knowledge of :
• The way in which the institution's courses are structured and recorded (Callista's Course Structure & Planning Subsystem)
• The Calendar Subsystem (Calendar Table of Contents).

Setting Up the Graduation Subsystem

Reference Data

In order for the Graduation Subsystem to function effectively, the following reference data must be created and maintained:

Calendars and Date Aliases

A general introduction to the periods and events underpinning Graduation processes in Callista is found under Ceremony Rounds and Dates in Understanding Graduation. This section deals with setting up the Calendar and Date Alias Instances representing these periods and events.

A suggested method for initial setup of Graduation Calendars is to follow these steps:

• Use CALF0220 to set up Ceremony Rounds with a Calendar Category of GRADUATION. It is recommended that different rounds in the year are identified (e.g. ROUND1, ROUND2) and that the Calendar Instance Start and End Dates indicate the period during which Ceremonies are actually held (although no specific functionality is associated with these dates). For example, ROUND1 may have instances for 1^st to 31 May 2004 and 1^st to 31^ST May 2005. Ceremonies can be recorded against both PLANNED and ACTIVE Calendars

The number of rounds required in an Academic Year depends on many variables. For example, the Organisation of Graduation may be decentralised, or some Ceremonies may be held offshore, and the decision may be taken to create separate rounds to cater for such circumstances. See suggested setups for different scenarios in Special Topics.

• Ensure that a Category exists for Graduation related dates (e.g. GRAD) in CALF0410, Maintain Date Alias Categories. This category is recorded against Date Aliases created in the next step
• In CALF0420, create institution defined Date Aliases to represent the following required dates in each round:
• The earliest date on which job GRDJ3100 (Identify and Create Graduands) may be run for a round - e.g. GRAD-START (Start Date Alias)
• The last date in the round on which Graduands can be automatically identified by running GRDJ3100 - e.g. GRAD-END (End Date Alias)
• Dates on which Ceremonies are held - e.g. GRAD-CRMNY (Ceremony Date Alias - only one Date Alias required)
• A closing date after which the process to allocate Graduands to Ceremonies (GRDJ5100) cannot be run - e.g. GRAD-CLOSE (Closing Date Alias)
• Return to CALF0220, locate the previously created Ceremony Rounds and use the Date Alias Instances button to navigate to CALF0512
• Using CALF0512, create the required instances of each of the Graduation Date Aliases for each Ceremony Round. Each round will need:
• A single instance each for Start Date Alias and End Date Alias
• An instance for each date on which a Ceremony is to be held in the round
• One or more instances of the Closing Date Alias. The Closing Dates are recorded against Ceremonies and may vary if the Ceremonies are widely spaced

These Calendar and Date Alias Instances are used when setting up Rounds and Ceremonies in GRDF2100. Each Ceremony Round is associated with one or more Ceremony Round Period comprising a Completion Period (the period of the year in which a student is expected to complete a Course Attempt) and year. Note that completion periods are not represented by Callista Calendars, but are System defined.

Rollover

In order to accommodate Graduands wishing to defer Graduation until a future round, it is recommended that Graduation Calendars are set up for all rounds for the following Academic Year. At present, any rollover would be at individual Graduation Calendar level, and would include Date Alias Instances but not Ceremony details.

Graduation Locations and Venues

The job to allocate Graduands to Ceremonies, GRDJ5100, is designed to place each Graduand at a Ceremony whose venue is associated with the main campus at which they have been studying. In order to achieve this, a structure of linked venues, Graduation Locations and campus locations must be in place.

Each Graduation Ceremony is held at a specified venue. Each venue is associated with a single nominal 'Graduation Location'. A campus location can be associated with one or more Graduation Locations, but one Graduation Location must be nominated as the default for the campus. The example in the diagram below illustrates a possible structure.

grd03

 If required, more than one venue can be linked to a Graduation Location.

Often, a campus will be associated with only one Graduation Location (marked as the default). The reason to associate it also with one or more non-default Graduation Locations is to allow flexibility between rounds. Using the diagram to illustrate:

• It may be that a Course, X123, is studied at both metropolitan and regional campuses. In Round 1, Course X123 is listed against two Ceremonies, one held at the Convention Centre, the other at the Concert Hall. Students graduating from Course X123 at campuses A, B or C will attend the Convention Centre (the venue associated with their default location) while students graduating from X123 at campuses D or E will attend the Concert Hall (the venue associated with their default location)
• But in Round 2, there are substantially less Graduands, and it is decided that all X123 Graduands should Graduate at one Ceremony to be held at the Concert Hall. The job allocating Graduands to Ceremonies (GRDJ5100) will not find X123 listed at any Ceremony at the default location, and will therefore place Graduands from campuses A, B or C in the Ceremony with X123 listed - that is, at a Ceremony associated with the non-default Regional Graduation Location

Extrapolating from this example, all students in Round 2 could be chanelled to the Regional location if no Ceremonies were recorded with venues associated with the metropolitan Graduation Location.

Setting up Venues and Locations

Graduation Location structures are similar to structures required in other Subsystems (notably Assessments). The Graduation Subsystem therefore shares with them a set of common 'Location' forms.

 To set up Locations and Venues for Graduation:

• Ensure that the institution's relevant campus locations are recorded in Callista (normally done as part of setting up the Organisational Structure Subsystem)
• Create one or more Graduation Location types in ORGF0117 (Maintain Location Type) each of which is assigned a System Location Type of GRD_CTR
• Create the locations pertinent to Graduation using ORGF0131 (Maintain Locations) and assign them a Graduation Location Type. This form is also used to record campus locations, amongst others. Note that the Coordinator and Mail Delivery fields have no specific use when defining Graduation Locations

Via the buttons in form ORGF0131, for each Graduation Location:

• Optionally, record a Location Address in ORGF0132 (Maintain Location Addresses) - this might be an administrative postal address
• Link to one or more campus locations in the form ORGF0133 (Maintain Location Relationships), ensuring that campuses are set up as owning locations of the Graduation Location, and that for each campus, one Graduation Location is defined as the 'default'

(You may choose to enter ORGF0133 with a campus location as context. In this case, Graduation Locations are recorded as sub locations of campuses.)

Record and maintain a venue or venues where Ceremonies will be held, in the form ASSF4200 (Maintain Venues). The Supervisor Limit and Priority Code fields are not relevant to Graduation Locations.

For each venue, at least one Venue Address should be recorded in ASSF4201 (Maintain Venue Address), accessed via a button in ASSF4200. This address will be used in correspondence to students giving details of the Ceremony to which they have been allocated. Postal or contact addresses may also be recorded here.

Ceremony Rounds, Awards and Unit Set Groups

Ceremony Rounds and Ceremonies are set up using form GRDF2100.

The Awards to be presented at each Ceremony must be listed in GRDF2110. Apart from Honorary Awards, all Awards are associated with a Course. These Course Awards can be further subdivided into Unit Set Groups in form GRDF2120 to give maximum flexibility in grouping Graduands for presentation. A common use of this facility is to group Graduands according to their major study sequence within a course.

Special Awards such as prizes, gifts or medals are set up in Special Awards (GRDF3600).

Whether at Award level or Unit Set Group Level, order numbers control the presentation sequence. At either level two or more records may be amalgamated for grouping purposes by assigning them the same order number, although at course level this is only possible if they share a common Award Code. When assigning numbers it is recommended that gaps are left in the numbering sequences to allow for later additions to the list of Awards or Unit Set Groups.

The table below illustrates some different grouping combinations. Graduands are grouped:

• Within a Course Award (M614/1)
• By major within a Course Award (S300/2)
• By major across two courses with a common Award (M300/1, M300D/1)
• By Course Award across course versions (E355/1, E355/2)
• By Honorary Award.

It is possible to use any or all of these variations when setting up an order sequence for a single Ceremony.

Jobs and Reports

The jobs and reports listed in the Subsystem Table of Contents need to be set up in the Job Control and Scheduling Subsystem.

Online Graduations  

A student is able to use functions within Graduations while online using Connect. See Connect functions for further details.

The Graduation functions are:

• Online Graduation Ceremony Selection - GRDCER
• Online Ceremony Invitation and Response - GRDCIR
• Online Graduation Ceremony Inquiry - GRDINQ
• Graduand Student Unit Set Attempt - GRDSUSA

Last Modified on 05 September, 2006