SIS Terminology

SIS Terminology	Definition
academic career	All course work that a student undertakes at an academic institution and that is grouped in a single student record.   For example: Credit, Non-Credit, and Clock Hour are academic careers.
academic institution	An entity (such as a university or college) that is independent of other similar entities and that has its own set of rules and business processes.   An institution code and number, PCC01, GCC02, GWC03, MCC04, SCC05, RSC06, SMC07, CGC08, PVC09, EMC10.   Note: Throughout the system you will use Academic Institution as a key value to group data into tables and search against those tables to extract data.
academic organization	An entity that is part of the administrative structure within an academic institution. At the lowest level, an academic organization might be an academic department. At the highest level, an academic organization can represent a division.
academic plan	An area of study that exists within an academic career/academic program.
academic program	The entity to which a student applies and is admitted and from which the student graduates.
access Key	An access key is an ALT + key + Enter combination that just moves the focus to a specific field on the current page.    The action will not be performed until the user presses Enter.  These key combinations apply only to the buttons found within the page being used and may not be relevant to all pages.
activity	An instance of a catalog item (sometimes called a class) that is available for enrollment. The activity defines such things as the costs that are associated with the offering, enrollment limits and deadlines, and wait listing capacities.
add	Data entry mode used to create a new record within the system.
address usage	A grouping of address types defining the order in which the address types are used. For example, you might define an address usage code to process addresses in the following order: billing address, dormitory address, home address, and then work address.
adjustment calendar	The adjustment calendar controls how a particular charge is adjusted on a student's account when the student drops classes or withdraws from a term. The charge adjustment is based on how much time has elapsed from a predetermined date, and it is determined as a percentage of the original charge amount.
administrative function	A particular functional area that processes checklists, communication, and comments. The administrative function identifies which variable data is added to a person's checklist or communication record when a specific checklist code, communication category, or comment is assigned to the student. This key data enables you to trace that checklist, communication, or comment back to a specific processing event in a functional area.
admit Term	Admit term represents the first term of enrollment.
admit type	A designation used to distinguish first-year applications from transfer applications.
analysis database	Database tables that store large amounts of student information that may not appear in standard report formats. The analysis database tables contain keys for all objects in a report that an application program can use to reference other student-record objects that are not contained in the printed report. For instance, the analysis database contains data on courses that are considered for satisfying a requirement but that are rejected. It also contains information on courses captured by global limits. An analysis database is used in Academic Advisement.
as of date	The last date for which a report or process includes data. This field could also be the date for which the current data is displayed.
audience	A segment of the database that relates to an initiative or a membership organization that is based on constituent attributes rather than a dues-paying structure. Examples of audiences include the Class of '65 and Undergraduate Arts & Sciences.
authentication server	A server that is set up to verify users of the system.
billing career	The one career under which other careers are grouped for billing purposes if a student is active simultaneously in multiple careers.
biographical details	Demographics that might include data such as Name, Address, Phone Number, etc.
business activity	The name of a subset of a detailed business process. This might be a specific transaction, task, or action that you perform in a business process.
business task	The name of the specific function depicted in one of the business processes.
business unit	Each college is a separate business unit.
cache (pronounced “cash”)	The location where your computer stores copies of frequently accessed pages.  This way, the computer doesn’t have to retrieve the page from the network each time you view it.
campus	An entity that is usually associated with a distinct physical administrative unit, which belongs to a single academic institution that uses a unique course catalog and that, produces a common transcript for students within the same academic career.
campus community	Campus Community data is shared student information.
career	See Academic Career
Cashiers office	Each college uses one or more cashiers offices for processing payments
catalog item	A specific topic that a learner can study and have tracked. For example, “Introduction to Microsoft Word.” A catalog item contains general information about the topic and includes a course code, description, categorization, keywords, and delivery methods. A catalog item can have one or more learning activities.
category	A broad grouping to which specific comments or communications (contexts) are assigned. Category codes are also linked to 3C access groups so that you can assign data-entry or view-only privileges across functions.
chartField	A field that stores a chart of accounts, resources, and so on, depending on the application. ChartField values represent individual account numbers, department codes, and so forth.
chartField combination edit	The process of editing journal lines for valid ChartField combinations based on user-defined rules.
chartKey	One or more fields that uniquely identify each row in a table. Some tables contain only one field as the key, while others require a combination.
checkbox	Small square box that operates as a toggle switch for a data field that can have one of two values.
checklist code	A code that represents a list of planned or completed action items that can be assigned to a student. Checklists enable you to view all action assignments on one page.
class	A specific offering of a course component within an academic term.   See also course.
class section	A unique identifier for identical course offerings scheduled within a session.  MCCCD will use a four-digit numbering scheme for each subject area beginning with 0001.    The class section helps track the number or sections offered and is used foe setting up the Auto Enroll feature.
class status	A class status can be: Active, Stop Further Enrollment, Cancelled Section, or Tentative Section.    SIS populates this field from the Schedule New Course – Enrollment Cntrl page.
Clone	In PeopleCode, to make a unique copy. In contrast, to copy may mean making a new reference to an object, so if the underlying object is changed, both the copy and the original change.
cohort	The highest level of the three-level classification structure that you define for enrollment management. You can define a cohort level, link it to other levels, and set enrollment target numbers for it.   See also population and division.
comm key	See communication key.
comments	A free form field that enables a user to add comments (anecdotal notes).
communication key	A single code for entering a combination of communication category, communication context, communication method, communication direction, and standard letter code. Communication keys (also called comm keys or speed keys) can be created for background processes as well as for specific users.
communications	Communications (letters, email, phone call, personal contact, facsimiles, etc.) enable an institution to track and analyze all contact, both outgoing and incoming, with students, staff, constituents, and organizations inside and outside the institution.
component	Consists of one or several pages to perform a specific function, or functions.
content reference	Content references are pointers to content registered in the portal registry. These are typically either URLs or iScripts. Content references fall into three categories: target content, templates, and template pagelets.
context	In PeopleCode, determines which buffer fields can be contextually referenced and which is the current row of data on each scroll level when a PeopleCode program is running.   A specific instance of a comment or communication. One or more contexts are assigned to a category, which you link to 3C access groups so that you can assign data-entry or view-only privileges across functions.
corporate account	Third party organizations may have SIS contracts for paying charges.  The financial transactions will  show in the organization’s SIS corporate account.
correction	Data entry mode that allows the user to make changes to all data in the panel group.
course	A course that is offered by a school and that is typically described in a course catalog. A course has a standard syllabus and credit level; however, these may be modified at the class level. Courses can contain multiple components such as lecture, discussion, and lab.   See also class.
course catalog	The terminology used in legacy is Course bank.
course offering number	This number is created in the course catalog and represents your college number.
course share set	A tag that defines a set of requirement groups that can share courses. Course share sets are used in Academic Advisement.
current Data	Data that has an effective date closest to the current date, without going past it, is considered to be the current data for that record.
data elements	Data elements, at their simplest level, define a subset of data and the rules by which to group them.
data entry mode	Determines what you can see and do on a particular page (e.g., Update/Display, Include History, Correct History).
dataset	A data grouping that enables role-based filtering and distribution of data. You can limit the range and quantity of data that is displayed for a user by associating dataset rules with user roles. The result of dataset rules is a set of data that is appropriate for the user’s roles.
degree or certificate	The terminology used in the old legacy system equivalent to Academic Plan in the new SIS.
description	A description—up to 30 characters—for the value you are defining. This description may be used in searches, display text, and reports throughout the system.   See also Short Description and Long Description.
detailed business process	A subset of the business process. For example, the detailed business process named Determine Cash Position is a subset of the business process called Cash Management.
division	The lowest level of the three-level classification structure that you define in Recruiting and Admissions for enrollment management. You can define a division level, link it to other levels, and set enrollment target numbers for it.   See also population and cohort.
document sequencing	A flexible method that sequentially numbers the financial transactions (for example, bills, purchase orders, invoices, and payments) in the system for statutory reporting and for tracking commercial transaction activity.
drop-down list	Vertical bar that appears to the right of the field that will display valid values from a translate table.
dynamic detail tree	A tree that takes its detail values—dynamic details—directly from a table in the database, rather than from a range of values that are entered by the user.
edit box	Rectangular box in which data is entered.  The length of the database field determines the size of the edit box.
edit table	A table in the database that has its own record definition, such as the Department table. As fields are entered into an application, they can be validated against an edit table to ensure data integrity throughout the system.
effective date	A method of dating information.  Information can be predated to add historical data to the system, or postdate information in order to enter it before it actually goes into effect. By using effective dates, values are not deleted; a new value with a current effective date is entered.  `   The Effective Date also defines when the Status that you select is valid.   An Effective Date is a column in a table that is a key but it is not a search key.
effective sequence	Only one action can happen at a time, so on some panels, there is an effective sequence giving order to events happening on the same effective date.
enrollment actions reasons	Equivalent to the old legacy term for Drop codes.
enrollment cancellations	Equivalent to the old legacy term for Purge.
enrollment status	A classes is designated to be in Open or Closed status based on when enrollment capacity is met.
equity item limit	The amounts of funds set by the institution to be awarded with discretionary or gift funds. The limit could be reduced by amounts equal to such things as expected family contribution (EFC) or parent contribution. Students are packaged by Equity Item Type Groups and Related Equity Item Types. This limit can be used to assure that similar student populations are packaged equally.
error message	Text may appear when the user attempts to save data.  It is a message alerting the user that the system has identified incorrect data or is missing data.
event	A predefined point either in the Component Processor flow or in the program flow. As each point is encountered, the event activates each component, triggering any PeopleCode program that is associated with that component and that event. Examples of events are FieldChange, SavePreChange, and RowDelete.
external organizations	Other colleges, businesses, high schools, third party contract organizations, etc.
fact	In applications, facts are numeric data values from fields from a source database as well as an analytic application. A fact can be anything you want to measure your business by, for example, revenue, actual, budget data, or sales numbers. A fact is stored on a fact table.
favorites	Also known as Bookmarks, works as a shortcut for accessing components and pages that a user will need to access often.
field types	Edit Box – a free form edit box.  Edit box with a dropdown is a formatted edit box.  Drop-Down List Box with prompt presents user with a search page to view valid values on system tables.  Drop-down list will display the valid values of a translate table.
financial aid term	a combination of a period of time that the school determines as an instructional accounting period and an academic career. It is created and defined during the setup process. Only terms eligible for financial aid are set up for each financial aid career.
forecast item	A logical entity with a unique set of descriptive demand and forecast data that is used as the basis to forecast demand. You create forecast items for a wide range of uses, but they ultimately represent things that you buy, sell, or use in your organization and for which you require a predictable usage.
free format text	New functionality allowing you to enter a freehand note or edit a preexisting note.
gap	An artificial figure that sets aside an amount of unmet financial aid need that is not funded with Title IV funds. A gap can be used to prevent fully funding any student to conserve funds, or it can be used to preserve unmet financial aid need so that institutional funds can be awarded.
generic process type