Specifications Sheet Student Information System for DNWS.pdf

SPECIFICATIONS for the Defense Nuclear Weapons School (DNWS)

Student Information System (SIS) Overview

DNWS wants to acquire a new student information system to replace a legacy system currently used for registrar functions, which is a foundational requirement for school operations. It is required by the DWNS registrar to post course listings, manage enrollments, and ensure students receive credits; by DNWS course managers who schedule classrooms, work with stakeholders to fill courses and monitor prerequisites; and by students who search for course information, register for courses, and access transcripts. It is also used by the greater Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) for which DNWS provides hosting and registrar functions.

DNWS Background

The DNWS is replacing a legacy custom-built Learning Content Management System (LCMS) that includes Registrar functions as part of many different features that have been developed over the years. This system has become unreliable and unwieldy in maintaining and updating with turnover of internal programmers and changes to programming languages. As a Joint, DOD school, there are also no known systems available that satisfy or improve upon the functions DNWS has come to rely on for student services. Military services typically have their own systems that do not span across all services.

Student Information Systems (SIS)

An SIS is typically used by schools by the Registrar’s Office to manage student data. Commercial SIS customers are primarily colleges and universities. Comprehensive systems include functions appropriate for military schools such as course registration, transcripts, grading, course scheduling, data collection/reporting, Learning Management System (LMS) integration, and security features. Some functions are not applicable to military schools such as financial aid and payment processing. Other functions are aligned to colleges and universities and could be used in slightly different ways by military schools including recruiting and alumni relations.

Professional SIS Requirements

# Priority Function Notes Professional, user-friendly interface for Registrar, customers, and students showing all relevant permissions/services

Reliable student services Reliable data collection (course data by fiscal year, courses completed, number of students, student organization, student supervisor contact phone/email, course module topics/time in hour increments, associated course module instructors, module hours, total hours, instructional hours by instructor, course location, course survey data, course completions by department/course, Data reporting, export to Excel Highly-rated and widely-used system, benefitting from continuous improvement and reliable support

Automation of Registrar, Course Manager, and Faculty tasks Tracking metrics (logins, enrollments, views)

Instance View – shows all information related to the course and enrollment

Software Integration

Onsite vs Vender-hosted Cloud-based Systems Defer to IT for requirement and cybersecurity considerations Cybersecurity Defer to IT for requirement and cybersecurity considerations.

We want to get away from using PII and find a way to migrate data that identifies students by SSN

Data Migration Customer Support/Technical Help Software Integration (minimums)

- Learning Management System (LMS): Blackboard, Canvas, and Joint Knowledge Online (JKO) including the Virtual Classroom (VCLASS)

- Data Reporting: Export to Microsoft Office formats

- Messaging: Links to Microsoft Outlook

Interface with military systems including the Army Training Requirements and Resources System

Link to Course Catalog, Course Descriptions from SIS Link to SIS from website/Course Catalog, at point of Course

Description – Enroll button

Website course enrollment provides feedback on status (enrollment, class full, contact course manager, prerequisites not met, log in/set up account) – Do any SIS provide the external interface for course information/enrollment??

Data backup scheduling

Registrar’s Office

System Administrator permissions and functions for oversight of all courses and student records

1 Academic Alerts that notify the Registrar based on set criteria such as low enrollment

1 Course wait list management and alerts 1 Website contact/inquiry form to contact the Registrar Trouble tickets-allows the student to upload documents

(ex. training certificates from Distance Learning so we can upload to their profile)

Student forms/signed agreements Policy notices to students

Ability to assign permissions to different system roles (System Administrator, Leadership (View/Reporting), Faculty, Course Manager)

1 Course cancellation that sends notices to students and confirms receipt

1 Manually add student We receive request via Email/phone to register students who are not able to access our site and request from 2d Air Force and MCTIMS were we have to add the student to the class.

1 Send email (individual, course, or mass) Ability to sync with your outlook account. Ex. You select the email button, and it opens to a new email using your outlook email address. Once you select send that email is saved to your Sent Items in outlook.

1 Withdraw student (also sends the student an email) 1 Classroom reservations 1 Calendar View 1 Downloading/Print class rosters

Recruiting and Customer Relations

1 Email list to relevant/repeat customers for announcements, awareness, and direction to course enrollments Automatic reminder emails 30 days, 15 days, 3 days before course start date

Student Services

1 Course Catalog including Descriptions and Registration

Requirements

1 Registration/Enrollment and De-enrollment Functions Relevant Forms and Waivers with routing to the Registrar 1 Access to transcripts including download and print 1 LMS course status, grade, transcript, enrollment, withdrawal via SIS

1 Student profile with unique identifier, not SSN Email Address Login vs. Login info generated by site

1 Student ability to recover/change password Forgot Password Recovery Questions

1 Download course materials (might use the LMS for this)

Customer Relations

Ability to communicate with organizations sending students to classes (based on data gathered) for evaluation purposes

Faculty Portal

Faculty (instructors, course managers) can manage classes and communicate with students

Faculty email communication with enrollees (individual and group)

Gradebook Class roster management (enrollees, wait list, prerequisite status, start date, end date, course length, student names/rank/grade/service/email/clearance)

Student surveys Reminders for upcoming courses/course actions Faculty course management interface Downloadable/Printable Tent Cards The tent cards will include all students with a Registered status and will put each student on a separate page in the PDF file.