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The Report Prioritization Group just released several enhancements to the BI Portal report Undergraduate Transcript Course Search by Major

In this news story we provide a summary of the change. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to write help@uw.edu and put “BI Portal Report Question: UG Transcript Course Search by Major” in the subject line.

Change Summary:

In this section we reference several key concepts. For more on these concepts, explore Knowledge Navigator:

• Student Major
• Pending Major
• Extension Credit

Based on user feedback, we updated the report in the following ways:

• Credit for AP/IB and other Extension Credit:

  • Previously, the report displayed a “Y” in the Course Taken Indicator column only if a student:
    • Took a UW course and received credit for it.
    • Received transfer credit for a course taken at another institution.
  • Now the report also displays a “Y” in the Course Taken Indicator column if a student:
    • Received credit for an Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate course.
    • Or, received any other type of extension credit.

• Updated the report population to include Pending Majors:

  • Previously, the report only included “Declared Majors” — students whose Major 1, 2, or 3 was the user-selected Major.
  • Now the report also includes students whose “Pending Major” matches the the user-selected Major.
  • We made this update based on feedback from the advising community that “my majors includes my declared majors and my pending majors”.
  • This report’s student population, now aligns with the Undergraduates Eligible to Register student population.

• Added Pending Major Columns:

  • Since we added Pending Major students to the report population, we also added Pending Major 1, 2, 3 columns to the report. You can now choose to display a student’s Pending Major from the Columns to Display filter.

• Bug Fix:

  • We fixed a bug in the report that was causing row duplication. When a user selected multiple curriculums that had the same course number, the report would display two rows (e.g. T ACCT 210 and T BGEN 210).
  • This is an uncommon use case, but we fixed the issue while we made the other updates.

Questions?

For more details on the initial release of this new report, please read this news story in IT Connect: RPG New Report Release: Undergraduate Transcript Course Search by Major

This report references important institutional concepts like “Pending Major“, “Extension Credit“, and many others. If you have questions about the meaning of these or any other terms, please explore the links or find more detail in the Knowledge Navigator.

As always, if you have any questions, please write help@uw.edu and put “BI Portal Report Question: UG Transcript Course Search by Major” in the subject line.

We are currently implementing report formatting changes across all reports in the BI Portal. This story summarizes those changes and shares some important updates.

1. What Is Changing?

We are updating all of our existing reports to align with a new, clean, consistent, and UW-branded format. See for yourself:

This new report format has many benefits:

• Consistency: A consistent look and feel that aligns with UW branding across all reports.
• Modern: A clean, updated, and modern interface. There are now fewer extra elements clogging up your browser.
• Simplified: Fewer elements means it is easier for us to maintain. This means we can spend more time helping you, and less time fixing formatting bugs.

2. Academic Reports: We are removing the report/data filter

Many of our reports feature a filter that looks like this and lets you strip out formatting if you select “Data”:

We are removing this filter from all academic reports. It is a legacy filter that is now obsolete with new built-in export options. If you want a clean export of the report data, you can now select “CSV” from the Export menu:

The CSV export option strips out the header, footer, and additional formatting, and gives you just the data in an Excel workbook.

3. We simplified the Export Options!

The report export dropdown used to include lots of unnecessary export options including (TIFF, MHTML, etc.). We streamlined the dropdown to only include the relevant export options. See for yourself!

The CSV export option strips out the header, footer, and additional formatting, and gives you just the data in an Excel workbook.

4. We are applying these changes to all reports, for a consistent look and feel

The reports in the BI Portal were developed over the course of a decade. As a result, they have very inconsistent formatting. This introduces confusion for our users, and makes maintaining and testing reports more time-consuming than it needs to be.

We’re taking this:

And turning it into this:

But don’t worry, the important contextual information for your reports is still available in the BI Portal! The only change is that from now on we are only going to maintain it in the BI Portal. See for yourself!

5. Finance Reports: We are not removing the “clean XML export” (We promise!)

On many finance reports, there is a note like this one on the Forecasting Template:  “choose “XML file with report data” from the Export dialog above”. The XML export feature cleanly exports this heavily formatted report to a version in Excel that resembles the report in the browser. 

Based on user feedback, we learned this is a very valuable feature to our users, and we will not remove it!

6. We are making reports easier to maintain!

When you’re running your report in your browser, this may look like a trivial formatting update. But behind the scenes, it is a very important change for the team that supports the reports you access in the BI Portal. This work will enable us to more quickly update and deploy the data tools you need to do your work.

7. What is the timeline for these changes?

We are beginning to publish these updates in August 2020, and hope to have the work completed by November 2020. We’re implementing these updates iteratively, so the next time you run a report you may see the updates. Please be patient with us while getting familiar with the new fit and finish.

8. Research Reports: No More Big Green Button

If you use Research Reports you may be familiar with the Big Green (export) Button on the Research Proposals and Research Awards Report. It looks like this:

In this series of formatting updates, we removed the Big Green Button in favor of the CSV export option in the built-in export dropdown. The big green button is a legacy feature that is now obsolete with new built-in export options.

Many users of the Research Reports export the reports to Excel, then put the data in a pivot table to work with it. If this is your approach, we recommend that you use the CSV export option to get a “clean” and unformatted dataset to work with.

Additionally, if you’re using the Research Proposals or Awards reports in this way, we also recommend that you try to ResearchAdminData Cube! You can learn more about cube training options here: https://www.washington.edu/research/research-administration-learning/research-administration-data-cube/

Questions?

As always, if you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to write us at help@uw.edu with “BI Portal Report Format Updates” in the subject line.

The Report Prioritization Group just released two enhancements to the BI Portal report Undergraduate Transcript Course Search by Major

In this news story we provide a summary of the change. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to write help@uw.edu and put “BI Portal Report Question: UG Transcript Course Search by Major” in the subject line.

Change Summary:

Based on user feedback, we updated the Course Filter in the following ways:

• Updated Course Filter Dropdown List:

  • Previously, the course filter dropdown only displayed courses offered in the user-selected quarter.
  • We updated the dropdown to display all courses offered by all “active curricula”, regardless of quarter.
  • For example, if you choose to see a list of Summer 2020 “Current Students”, after this update you are now able to choose courses that are offered in quarters other than Summer 2020 (e.g. a course that is only offered in Autumn quarter).

• Added “Curriculum Abbr” to Course Number Filter:

  • Previously, the filter only displayed the course number (e.g. 101).
  • We updated the filter to display curriculum abbreviation and course number (e.g. GEOG 101)
  • Now if you select two curricula (e.g. ENGL and GEOG), you can discern the different course offerings (e.g. ENGL 100 vs GEOG 100)

Questions?

For more details on the release of this new report, please read this news story in IT Connect: RPG New Report Release: Undergraduate Transcript Course Search by Major

This report references important institutional concepts like “Eligible to Register“, “Student Hold” and many others. If you have questions about the meaning of these or any other terms, please explore the links or find more detail in the Knowledge Navigator.

As always, if you have any questions, please write help@uw.edu and put “BI Portal Report Question: UG Transcript Course Search by Major” in the subject line.

Based on user feedback, the Report Prioritization Group released updates to the BI Portal report, Minor Codes.

Change Summary:

Based on user requests, the Minor Codes report was simplified to reduce confusion. Now when you run the report for a department, it displays all Minors managed by the department, active and discontinued. We made the following updates:

• Filter Update:

  • The “Include Only Active Codes” button was causing confusion because a minor can be “active” but have an end quarter that is in the future.
  • We removed the “Include Only Active Codes” radio button altogether to reduce confusion.

• Column Updates:

  • In the report the “Current Status” column displayed “Active” or “Discontinued”. Again, this column was causing confusion because a minor can be “active” but have an end quarter that is in the future.
  • We removed the “Current Status” column and added two new columns:
    • Start Quarter:
      • Displays the first quarter the minor was active.
    • End Quarter:
      • Displays the last quarter the minor is active
      • If a minor does not have an end date, the column displays “No End Quarter”

Questions and Feedback:

This report references many concepts like CIP Code and Minor. To get detailed definitions for these and other terms, please check out Knowledge Navigator!

As always, if you have any questions, please write help@uw.edu and put “RPG: BI Portal Minor Codes report” in the subject line.

Based on user feedback, the Report Prioritization Group released several updates to the BI Portal report, All Applications.

Please note: The All Applications report displays data for active applications for admission to UW. Communications to undergraduate applicants should NOT be undertaken without first consulting with the respective admissions office(s).

Change Summary:

The first version of the All Applications report was released in 2015. Since then, we’ve gained lots of institutional knowledge about application data, and how it is used by the UW data user community. These updates are really about incorporating that new information, and consistent reporting standards into the report:

Report Population Update:

• The report previously enforced a rule where, in the case when an applicant’s requested major and their (actual) assigned major are different, the applicants were excluded from the report population.There was no documented justification for this rule and we heard many requests to remove this rule.
• We updated the report so that an applicant is included in the report based on the applicant’s first, second, or third Requested Major or their first, second, or third Assigned Major based on the user’s selection of the new filter, Major Cohort Type.

Filter Updates:

• Major Cohort Type:
  • The report now includes a filter called Major Cohort Type, that allows the user to select the relationship between the applicant and the major:
    • Did they choose the major as one of their Requested Major(s)?
    • Was the major their Assigned Major?
    • Is the major either their Requested Major or their Assigned Major?

• Class Filter:
  • The logic for grouping class levels in the class filter was out of date, and was inconsistent with other academic reports.
  • We updated the filter selections so that they are consistent with the user community’s expectations, and other academic reports.

• New Filters: Consistent with other academic reports, All Applications now allows users to filter on the following attributes:
  • New, Continuing, Returning Status
  • Residency
  • Ethnicity
  • Underrepresented
  • Gender

Column Updates:

• Race/Ethnicity:
  • This column was updated to display student race-ethnicity data based on IPEDS race-ethnicity categories
  • For more information on the IPEDS race-ethnicity categories, please see Knowledge Navigator: Student Race-Ethnicity
• Ethnic Long Description:
  • The “Race” column was re-labeled to “Ethnic Long Description” and now displays a comma-separated list of all of the applicant-provided ethnicity values.

New Columns:

• Consistent with other academic reports, All Applications now allows users to display the following columns (using the “Columns to Display” filter):
  • Application Number
  • NCR
  • Underrepresented
  • First Gen
  • First Gen 4 Year
  • Honors Program
  • Special Program
  • Veteran Status
  • Veteran Benefits

Known Issue:

For active applications, the report truly shows “All Applications” regardless of application status type. However, for applications for a quarter that is over 1 year in the past, the report only shows a subset of applications.

If you are looking at quarters older than 1 year, the report currently only considers students that applied and enrolled at UW. This is a known issue and we are currently working on a resolution so that the report truly shows “All Applications” for all quarters.

Questions and Feedback:

This report references many concepts like Requested Major, Student Class, and many others. To get detailed definitions for these and other terms, please check out Knowledge Navigator!

As always, if you have any questions, please write help@uw.edu and put “RPG: All Applications report” in the subject line.

Based on user feedback, the Report Prioritization Group released updates to the BI Portal report, Time Schedule Information.

Change Summary:

Based on user requests, The Time Schedule Information report now includes Section Comments:

• In the Columns to Display filter, select “Section Comments”, and the section comments will display in the report.
• The column displays the section comments from the Time Schedule construction tool.
• You can now review section comments in bulk for accuracy and detail using the report.

Other Important Updates:

RPG has invested a lot of effort into updates to the Time Schedule Information Report. Here’s a Recap:

• RPG Release: Updated Instructor Title on Time Schedule Information
• RPG Release: New Fields Added to Time Schedule Information Report
• RPG Release: Updates to Time Schedule Information report

Also, in case you missed it, we recently introduced a new visualization to the BI Portal that allows you to visualize Time Schedule Enrollment data by day and time:

• RPG Release: Time Schedule Enrollment by Day and Time Visualization in BI Portal

Questions and Feedback:

This report references many concepts like Time Schedule and Online Learning. To get detailed definitions for these and other terms, please check out Knowledge Navigator!

As always, if you have any questions, please write help@uw.edu and put “RPG: Time Schedule Information report” in the subject line.

The Report Prioritization Group just released the newest addition to the BI Portal: Undergraduate Transcript Course Search by Major

In this news story we explain the purpose and benefits of the new report. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to write help@uw.edu and put “BI Portal Report Question: UG Transcript Course Search by Major” in the subject line.

What’s In a Name?

We admit, the report has a long name, Undergraduate Transcript Course Search by Major. But each word explains something about the report’s function.

• Undergraduate: This report is based on the same underlying population and data in the Undergraduates Eligible to Register report. As a result, this report currently only lets you look at Undergraduate student populations. For more on who is considered “Eligible to Register” in this report, please see the Definitions tab and Knowledge Navigator.
• Transcript Course Search: This report queries the student’s transcript information to see if a student has taken, has not taken, or has registered for the user-selected course.
• by Major: The report allows users to filter the population to specific majors. Please note, the report excludes Pending Majors for the chosen quarter, and only includes students “in the major”.

How To:

Use the first set of filters to choose the population of students you want to see:

Use the second set of filters to identify the course(s) you want to search:

Users and Use Cases:

The primary audience for this report is the academic advising community, and several UW advisers provided significant input on the report’s design! The following are real use cases from our data user community:

• An adviser would like to look at “their majors” (students who are eligible to register for a given major) and see a list of students that have not taken a program-required course by the end of their Sophomore year.
  • The adviser runs the report for her Major(s), filters down to exclude Freshmen and Sophomores, and selects “No” on the “Course Taken Indicator” filter. The report returns a list of all Juniors and Seniors in the chosen major who have not taken and completed the course. The adviser can email the students to with an action plan.

• An adviser would like to look at “their majors” and generate a list of students that have taken 2 particular courses. The adviser will use this information to identify if a student has taken a required course or that course’s pre-requisite. They will then use this information for outreach to students.
  • The adviser runs the report for her Major, does not apply a “Class” filter, and selects “All” on the “Course Taken Indicator” filter. The report returns a list of all students in the chosen major, and one record for each student-course combination. If a student took a course multiple times, there will be a row for each time the student registered for the course. This is an intentional duplication!

What About Transfer Students?

You may be thinking:

“this report is helpful if a student took a class at UW, but what about Transfer Students who got credit for a course taken at a different institution?”

If a student got UW Credit for a transfer course, the report will display a “Y” in the Course Taken Indicator column. Because transfer grade data comes from many different institutions with different grading schemes, the transfer grade data is not standardized, so a ‘Y’ displays if the following rules are satisfied:

• There is a valid 2 character grade in the column (e.g. 10, 20, 40)
• There is a grade on the 00-40 or 0.0-4.0 scale (e.g. 32 or 3.2)
• The UW assigned grade or the transfer credit grade has any valid number in the column
• The course number is a 3 digit number (e.g. 101)

Questions?

This report references important institutional concepts like “Eligible to Register“, “Student Hold” and many others. If you have questions about the meaning of these or any other terms, please explore the links or find more detail in the Knowledge Navigator.

As always, if you have any questions, please write help@uw.edu and put “BI Portal Report Question: UG Transcript Course Search by Major” in the subject line.