Understanding the Candidate Center

The Candidate Center consists of a dozen self-service pages depending on your setup. One of the goals of the candidate center is to expose to the candidate information that is maintained in the Candidate Management and Thesis Management administrator components. Candidates would be able to monitor the status of their research project and thesis evaluation on their own. Because the information contained in these components was not originally intended for candidates to view, administrators have the ability to configure the Candidate Center to limit the information that can be displayed to candidates. In addition to allowing candidates to monitor their status, another goal of the center is to allow candidates to initiate service actions. Candidates are able to initiate existing service requests, as well as a new service action called research service items. Research service items are similar to service requests except that they are designed to automatically update the candidate’s research and thesis records without administrator intervention.

The Candidate Center is comprised of two regions: My Research Projects and My Service Items.

My Research Projects

When a candidate first opens the Candidate Center, if the candidate is assigned to any research projects the projects appear in the My Research Projects region. The links listed below the project allows the candidate to drill down into the project to determine the current status of their research topics, supervisors, thesis, consumption and submission information, and other assignments.

If the candidate does not have an active project (that is, not a research candidate or admissions applicant), the system prompts the user to provide the academic institution. The system uses the academic institution to display any service items that can be initiated by the user, such as a request for admissions information.

My Service Items

In the My Service Items region, candidates see service items that they can initiate. Service items are organized in separate tabs. A selected service item may initiate a service request and be assigned to an administrator for processing, or initiate a research service item that updates the candidate's research information directly.

Candidate Center Status Detail Pages

When you access the following status detail pages, some fields may or may not appear. The pages also show only current information about the candidate. You cannot view historical information from these pages. Comments and attachments that can be viewed are those that are current and are marked for public view.

Status Detail Pages	How to Access
Research Topic Details	Go to Candidate Center, My Research Projects region, then click a research topic link.
Supervisor Details	Go to Candidate Center, My Research Projects region, then click a supervisor name.
Consumption/Submission Details	Go to Candidate Center, My Research Projects region, then click a link in the Completion Dates section.
Thesis Detail	Go to Candidate Center, My Research Projects region, then click a link in the Thesis Evaluation section.
Assignment Details	Go to Candidate Center, My Research Projects region, then click a link in the Additional Assignments section.

Candidate Center Service Item Entry Pages

The following service item entry pages correspond to the various research service items that candidates could initiate, and the page titles correspond to the service item link label. The content or fields on these pages vary and are based on the configuration of the service item. Candidates can use the comment field to provide ad hoc notes to administrators. The other fields display current information about the candidate’s record. When candidates click the Submit button, their records are automatically updated. Candidates can view their updated records in the My Research Projects region.

• Research Topic Details — Submit a new research proposal page

• Supervisor Details — Request a supervisor page

• Assignment Details — Create a new assignment page

• Consumption/Submission Details — Update project submission info page

• Thesis Details — Update thesis information page