Core Curriculum/Learning Support Data Collection Introduction

The Core Curriculum/Learning Support (LS) Data Collection System gathers information about courses and grades for all students who take specified core courses. This information is used, in part, to evaluate the effectiveness of learning support programs and to study course withdrawal patterns. This special data collection selects courses that students generally take in the first year (or second year for LS students), and then collects data on the students in those courses. Data collected are not from LS courses but from other courses that LS students typically take. The system collects data in the Fall about courses for which a common System course prefix and number have been designated and for which the course was taken in Fall 1999 by at least 1,000 students in the System.

The Core Curriculum/Learning Support Data Collection at this time collects information from only those courses that have been identified and listed by the Office of Strategic Research & Analysis. Only those courses for which a common System course prefix and number have been specified may be submitted through Banner.

Timeline

The Core Curriculum/Learning Support data collection is based on data for the prior fiscal year. For example, data collected in Summer 2001 are for the Fiscal Year 2001-Summer 2000 through Spring 2001. Since this collection is based on courses in the prior year, most of the student data collected are from academic history.

Prerequisites and Specifications

• Banner institutions must apply the Georgia Enhancements 3.6 before data collection.
• Recommended browser for the website is Internet Explorer 5.0 or greater for faster results.

Instructions for Submission of Core Curriculum/Learning Support Data

Data are loaded into a central database for Learning Support through a database-to-database transfer for Banner institutions or a data load process for non-Banner institutions. The contents of the database, which is the list of the specified courses being collected, are available on-line for review. Each institution logs in to the following URL to view data submitted by the institution:

http://www.usg.edu/information_technology_services/webapps/

Users must have a valid login and password to access the site.

• ID is your 2-digit SIRS code
• Password is your ftp password for usgdata.usg.edu.

The following sections indicate procedures necessary for Banner and Non-Banner institutions to submit their data for the Core Curriculum/Learning Support data collection.

Instructions for Non-Banner Institutions

1. Create Flat File
Create a flat file for the requested fiscal year and terms using the following layout:

Field Number	Field Size	Columns or Positions	Current Description	Data Type
01	6	1-6	Institution Code (FICE)	Numeric
02	4	7-10	Fiscal Year	Numeric
03	1	11	Fiscal Term	Numeric
04	4	12-15	Course Acronym	Alpha
05	5	16-20	Course Number	A/N
06	45	21-65	Course Name	Alpha
07	5	66-70	Section Number	A/N
08	5	71-75	CRN	A/N
09	9	76-84	Student Identification Number	A/N
10	3	85-87	Course Grade	A/N

2. Submit Data

Your institution must FTP the flat file to usgdata.usg.edu with the name ls_<FICE#>, where <FICE#> is your 6-digit FICE code. If you need your ID and password, contact OIIT Customer Services.

FTP areas are checked hourly for data files and loaded into the Core Curriculum/Learning Support database. If errors are found in certain records or incorrect term codes are used, data for those records are not loaded into the database.

3. Verify Report

After the file has been loaded into the Core Curriculum/Learning Support database, verify the results by checking the database in the same location:

http://www.usg.edu/information_technology_services/webapps/

Verify the submitted data by reviewing this site. If no data are found or fewer records are present than expected, check the term code(s) used and the file format. After making corrections, resubmit the database and verify again. Contact ITS Customer Services if you need additional help.

Instructions for Banner Institutions

1. Establish or Verify Database Link
Technical staff should first establish the USGDATA database link to OIIT before submitting Core Curriculum/Learning Support data.

• Place sqlnet.ora in Oracle home directory.
  This release of the ls_collect.sql script requires a copy of the production sqlnet.ora to be placed in the ORACLE_HOME/network/admin directory, or other directory, such as /etc, where your production tnsnames.ora file resides, on your Banner Unix server, with permissions set to world readable. This sqlnet.ora file provides the ability to validate database connections via the OIIT Oracle Names Server in addition to the campus’ local tnsnames.ora file. This setup is necessary for connection to the OIIT databases. If the DBA installing this process does not have access to the sqlnet.ora file, obtain a copy by initiating an ftp session to ftp.usg.edu and downloading the file in ASCII mode from the banner/prod/oracle directory.

  Log in to sqlplus as general or system and enter the following: @mk_ban_link.sql
  to create the USG database link

• Set value of GLOBAL-NAMES database parameter to FALSE.
  For the database link to work properly, the value of the GLOBAL_NAMES database parameter in your local Banner database must be set to FALSE. If this value is not set to FALSE, either set this parameter in the init.ora file and reboot the database or modify the setting in sqlplus prior to executing the ls_collect.sql script using the sqlplus command “ALTER SESSION SET GLOBAL_NAMES = FALSE”

• Test connectivity.
  After installing the sqlnet.ora file into the specified directory, you must test connectivity before executing the ls_collect.sql script.

  From the Unix command line, enter sqlplus testconn/regents@sirs.prod.regents.usg_ons. If this command connects you to sqlplus, enter DESC LS_COLLECTION, which should display a description of the learning support data table. If you are not successfully connected to sqlplus using this command, call ITS Customer Services for assistance.

2. Submit Data
Technical staff should first run the script ls_collect.sql to create and compile the database procedure used to submit the Learning Support data. The compiled procedure must then be executed for the specified fiscal year to submit data. We recommend creating a spool file to log the results of the database procedure compilation process.

To compile the procedure, log in to sqlplus as baninst1 and type the following: @ls_collect
to create the procedure. No parameters are needed. Messages indicating the successful creation of the procedure, synonym, and grants should be displayed.

Login to sqlplus as general and enter the following:

ALTER SESSION SET GLOBAL_NAMES = FALSE;

exec ls_collect(‘BEGIN’,’END’);

where BEGIN and END are the beginning and ending fiscal year term codes.

Note: These codes must be in the 5-digit Regents/SIRS term code format-not Banner term codes. Functional users should provide these term codes to the technical staff by referencing the Term Code Translation Form (ZOATRMT).

When the script completes, technical staff should contact functional users to verify the data.

3. Verify Report

After the file has been loaded into the Core Curriculum/Learning Support database, verify the results by checking the database in the same location: http://www.usg.edu/information_technology_services/webapps/

Verify the submitted data by reviewing this site. If no data are found or fewer records are present than expected, check the term code(s) used and the file format. Contact the ITS Solution Center if you need additional help.

Banner References

Data for the Core Curriculum/Learning Support collection are from a student’s academic history. The table below identifies the location of each element collected in Banner.

Current Description	Data Type	Banner Reference
Institution Code (FICE)	Numeric	SHATERM/ SHBCGPA_INST_FICE
Fiscal Year	Numeric	ZOATRMT/ZORTRMT_SIRS_QUARTER_CODE
Fiscal Term	Numeric	ZOATRMT/ZORTRMT_SIRS_QUARTER_CODE
Course Acronym	Alpha	SHATCKS/SHRTCKN_SUBJ_CODE
Course Number	A/N	SHATCKS/SHRTCKN_CRSE_NUMB
Course Name	Alpha	SHATCKS/SHRTCKN_CRSE_TITLE
Section Number	A/N	SHATCKS/SHRTCKN_SEQ_NUMB
CRN	A/N	SHATCKS/SHRTCKN_CRN
Student Identification Number	A/N	SPAIDEN/SPRIDEN_ID
Course Grade	A/N	SHATCKS/SHRTCKG_GRDE_CODE_FINAL

For documentation on the Banner forms/tables listed above, refer to the Banner Student User Manuals and the Georgia Banner Enhanced Student and Financial Aid Systems Documentation.

Support

If you have any questions or problems, please contact Customer Services.

Web: http://www.usg.edu/customer_services/
Telephone: 1-888-875-3697
Email: helpdesk@usg.edu