Generating Batch Attendance Rosters

This section provides an overview of batch attendance roster generation and discusses how to generate attendance rosters in batch mode.

The following list discusses some of the reasons why you would need to run the batch attendance roster generation process:

  • Create new rosters or update existing rosters based on a certain date range.

  • Update rosters because students add or drop classes after you generate the initial rosters.

  • Update the roster with only newly added students and keep on record those students who have dropped or withdrawn from classes.

To generate attendance rosters in batch:

  1. Access the Attendance Roster generator page and specify your run parameters.

  2. Click the Roster Options link to access the Roster Generator Options page where you can specify roster options for a specific sequence item in your run control set.

  3. Click the Run button on the Attendance Roster generator page.

Before you can generate attendance rosters in batch, you must:

  • Define scheduled meeting patterns for the classes for which you generate attendance rosters.

  • Select the Generate Class Meeting Attendance check box on the Course Catalog - Components page.

  • Select the Generate Class Meeting Attendance check box on the Schedule of Classes - Basic Data page.

Page Name

Definition Name

Navigation

Usage

Attendance Roster Generator

RUNCTL_SRPCATNP

Curriculum Management > Attendance Roster > Generate Attendance Roster > Attendance Roster Generator

Create or update attendance rosters for multiple classes within a term, based on the criteria and options that you select.

Roster Generator Options

ATT_ROS_GEN_SEC

Click the Roster Options link on the Attendance Roster Generator page.

Narrow your processing parameters.

Access the Attendance Roster Generator page (Curriculum Management > Attendance Roster > Generate Attendance Roster > Attendance Roster Generator).

Field or Control

Description

Academic Institution

The institution for which to generate rosters. The system populates this field with the value from the User Defaults 1 page, which you can change. This field is required.

Term

Select the term that contains the classes for which to generate attendance rosters. Term values are defined on the Term Table page.

Attendance Create/Update Flag

Use this field to specify a default for the same field on the Roster Generator Options page. This is a default that you can change on a row-by-row basis by clicking the Roster Options link in the grid. Values for the default are the following:

Create Attendance: Select when you want to create new rosters or replace old ones.

Update Attendance/Active Only: Select when you want to add and delete students from the roster, based upon their current enrollment statuses in the course for the specified group of attendance rosters. The add and drop date on the STDNT_ENRL table determines how the system updates rosters. Select this option when a student drops the class and you want to remove the student and leave no attendance history.

Update Attendance/All Students: Select when you want to add, but not delete students from the specified group of rosters. Students who have dropped are made inactive when their Present flag is set to Off. New students will be added to the rosters, but they can be marked only as present or otherwise for the class sessions that occur after the add date.

Commit Frequency

The system populates the commit frequency field with 1 by default. The lower the commit frequency, the better concurrence of data. While a higher commit frequency enables faster processing of the job, the job could get tied up with another process. You should leave the commit frequency at 1.

Attendance From Date and Attendance To Date

Use these fields to specify defaults for the grid below them. These values determine which rosters the process updates. If you do not specify a default, the system sets the values in the grid to the length of each class as defined on the schedule of classes, enabling you to update all of the term's rosters (like a wild card). If you manually specify a separate attendance from date and to date range on the Roster Generator Options page, the process updates class rosters only for those dates that are greater than or equal to the Attendance From Date field and less than or equal to the Attendance To Date field.

Use the fields in the grid, and click the Roster Options link, to indicate specific criteria for each sequence number. The system uses this detail to determine which attendance rosters it generates when you run the process. Select as many selection criteria as necessary. Insert rows as needed.

Sequence

The system sets the sequence number to 1 and increases it by one for each row that you add to the request. The number specifies the order in which the system processes class attendance rosters.

Class Nbr (class number)

Enter the class number for which to generate attendance rosters. The system prompts you with the classes that are defined in the schedule of classes for the term. After you enter the class number, exit the field, and the system populates and hides some of the remaining fields on both the Attendance Roster Generator page and the Roster Generator Options page.

Session

Select the session for which to generate attendance rosters. The system prompts you with the sessions that are defined for the term. Values for this field are delivered with your system as translate values. You can modify these values.

Acad Org (academic organization)

Select the academic organization for which to generate attendance rosters. Academic organization values are defined on the Academic Organization Table page.

Campus

Select the campus for which to generate rosters. Campus values are defined on the Campus Table page.

Subject

Select the subject area for which to generate the rosters. Subject area values are defined on the Academic Subject Table page.

Roster Options

Click to access the Roster Generator Options page, where you can further specify your processing parameters for each sequence number.

Note: Because your institution can define multiple meeting attendance types for a course in the course catalog, the system uses the class meeting attendance type on the Academic Institution 3 page for all attendance rosters that you generate by using the Attendance Roster Generator page. The attendance type indicates the type of attendance roster, such as Class Meeting, Conference, Field Trip, Instructor Consultation, or Study Group. If you want to create attendance rosters with different attendance types from that of the default, change the value for individual class meetings on the Class Attendance page and Class Attendance By Template page, or you can change it for individual students on the Student Attendance page.

Click Run to run this request. PeopleSoft Process Scheduler runs the SRATTEND process at user-defined intervals. After the process finishes, the system makes the row unavailable but continues to display the processing parameters so that you can view a history of what you have done. These rows have no impact on future processing. You can click the Delete button to delete them.

Access the Roster Generator Options page (click the Roster Options link on the Attendance Roster Generator page).

Field or Control

Description

Attendance From Date and Attendance To Date

Use these fields to specify the range of rosters to create or update. Only class rosters that are for dates greater than or equal to those in the Attendance From Date field and less than or equal to those in the Attendance To Date field are updated. If you do not specify a value, the system sets the fields to the values on the Attendance Roster Generator page. If you do not specify from and to dates on either the Attendance Roster Generator page or the Roster Generator Options page, the system sets the values to the length of each class as defined on the schedule of classes. This enables you to update all of the term's rosters.

Catalog Number From and Catalog Number To

If you have a specific range of catalog numbers within a subject area for which to generate rosters, enter a value in the Catalog Number From and Catalog Number To fields.

Class Start Date From and Class Start Date To

If you have a specific start date range for which to generate attendance rosters, enter a value in the Class Start Date From and Class Start Date To fields. If you enter an individual class number in the grid on the Attendance Roster Generator page, the system hides these fields and populates them with the class start date from the Schedule of Classes - Meetings page.

Populate From Student Enroll

Select to have the system populate attendance rosters with the enrolled students for every scheduled class meeting that matches your processing criteria. The system selects this check box by default. If you clear this check box, the system still creates attendance rosters for every class meeting but you will have to manually enter the students and their enrollment data into the rosters.

Note: A student might appear twice on an attendance roster because enrollment is keyed by academic career. For instance, a student might enroll in a class twice, each time through a different academic career, and would thus appear on the attendance record twice.

Generate Class Mtg Attendance (generate class meeting attendance)

Select to have the system generate or regenerate attendance rosters only for classes in which you select the Generate Class Mtg Attendance (generate class meeting attendance) check box on the Schedule of Classes - Basic Data page. The system selects this check box by default on the Roster Generator Options page. If you clear this check box, the system generates attendance rosters for all scheduled classes matching your processing criteria, regardless of how the Generate Class Mtg Attendance check box is set on the Schedule of Classes - Basic Data page.

Sync Attendance with Class Meeting (synchronize attendance with class meeting)

When you run the attendance roster generator process, you can update all rosters within your parameters or update only those that have had meeting pattern changes since the original rosters were generated. To update changed rosters, select the Sync Attendance with Class Meeting check box. To update all rosters (even if a roster has had no changes), clear the Sync Attendance with Class Meeting check box.

Attendance Create/Update Flag

Use to specify the type of roster to generate for this sequence number. The system populates this field with the value specified on the Attendance Roster Generator page, but you may change it on a row-by-row basis. Values are:

Create Attendance: Select when you want to create new rosters or replace old ones.

Update Attendance/Active Only: Select when you want to add and delete students from the roster, based on their current enrollment statuses in the course for the specified group of attendance rosters. The add and drop date on the STDNT_ENRL table determines how rosters are updated. Select this option when a student drops the class and you want to remove the student and leave no attendance history.

Update Attendance/All Students: Select when you want to add, but not delete students from the specified group of rosters. Students who have dropped are set to inactive status by having the Present flag set to Off. The system adds new students to the rosters, but only marks these students as present for the class sessions that occur after the add date.