Contents

Release Scope  

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Release Summary & Strategy

The CCCApply Release 6.23.0 combines the efforts of three project teams, closely coordinated to support the CCCApply 2018 annual update traditional fall release, which primarily consists of the development and integration of the new version of the CCCApply Administrator 2.0 and the launch of a new shared SSO-based staff and faculty "user and access management" system called the CCC Administrator. 

Overall, Minimal Changes to CCCApply Applications - No New Required Data Fields

is a minor release on the FY2019 release roadmap, featuring a feature upgrade to the Race & Ethnicity section in CCCApply (Standard & International) applications.  This implementation was is under the direction of the CCCApply Redesign effort under the direction of the CCC Chancellor's Office. The scope includes a significant change to the Race & Ethnicity section in the Demographic Information page in the Standard & International applications, and a set of styling changes for the purpose of aligning the admission applications to the existing look of the CCCMyPath portal. 

Due to the tight timeline of this release, the Pilot environment release is scheduled for November 19, which provides only  Pilot preview period  disaggregation implementation, proposed by the RP Group and approved by the Chancellor's Office  one major   - in but includes an important change to the highly regulated Race & Ethnicity section in CCCApply (Standard & International). The change includes a new layout of expand/collapse high-level race groups and nearly 200 new ethnicity options xyz.  Because the Race & Ethnicity data is regulated by the federal government and managed by the Office of Civil Rights, the  very few changes to the CCCApply applications themselves in this release. There are no new required questions or data fields that need to be added to data downloads. We took advantage of this release to fix a long list of bugs and technical debt issues across Apply, Promise Grant, and International which are listed below (by Application).   

New Spam Filter Web Service 

However, one new service being added to the CCCApply Standard application - the Spam Filter Web Service - is being implemented to combat the large number of fraudulent applications coming in through the Standard application. This service does have a required user component that colleges will need to monitor regularly in order to ensure the machine-learning prediction model behind the service continues to grow, learn and identify fraud as the spammers change their tactics to avoid being detected. This service sits in the post-submission application pipeline and will not affect the user experience; however colleges will be given training on how to monitor and process spam applications through the new CCCApply Administrator 2.0 as part of their implementation & UAT session.

Release Strategy

Pilot Release & Recurring Updates

Due to the tight timeline for this release, the Pilot Preview period has been reduced to two weeks from the Production release on December 7.

• November 19 (Pilot 1.0):  Initial Pilot environment deployment

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Release Schedule & Timeline

• November 19 - 9:00AM - 4:00PM (Note the Pilot Site will be down during this release).
• December 7 - 6:00PM - 11:00PM - Production Maintenance Window

NOTE: Due to the tight timeline for this release, the Pilot Preview period will span from November 19 - December 7.

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Pilot User Acceptance Testing Plan

UAT and implementation support in the Pilot Environment will commence as early as the evening of November 19, following the Pilot release scheduled for morning.

The objectives for the user testing include:  

• Ensure colleges are able to get race group, hispanic, and race ethnicity data in a format consistent with their legacy format when they add the new data field to their downloads or not
• Ensure colleges are able to get the legacy data formats if they do nothing - if they don't add the new field and they don't run the jar file
• Colleges are able to get the legacy R&E data format in addition to the new Full R&E data if they add the new field and run the jar file

Summary

The new Race & Ethnicity Implementation 2018 is a revision to the highly regulated, Race & Ethnicity section in CCCApply which is protected by federal law and the Office of Civil Rights and aligns to MIS reporting requirements (SB29). The new implementation will be in place before the MIS requirements, which will align closely to these changes but will not be instituted until Fall 2019. Therefore our goal for this roll-out is twofold: 1) implement the new layout, race groups and extensive ethnicity values so that researchers can start collecting data in this area; and 2) but provide colleges with a smooth transition relative to data collection by giving them the same download formats they are getting now in addition to the new data, by way of a new data field (race_ethnic_full). 

Colleges that want to collect the new data should add the new data field to their download files and update the download jar file.

UAT Participating Colleges

We will do UAT testing for all three SIS systems:

• Bakersfield College (Banner)
• Butte College (Colleague)
• Cerritos, Palomar (PeopleSoft)

Pilot Success Criteria

• Colleges are able to get the legacy R&E data format either way: if they add the new data field or not
• Colleges are able to get the legacy R&E data format if they do nothing - if they don't add the new field and they don't run the jar file
• Colleges are able to get the legacy R&E data format in addition to the new Full R&E data if they add the new field and run the jar file
• Colleges are able to comply with MIS requirements successfully with the new R&E implementation in place

UAT Instructions to Colleges

• Use the updated specs for each repurposed and new data field and make necessary changes specified in the CCCApply & International Data Dictionary (v.6.3.0)
• Update your Pilot Standard App & International App Format Definition XML files - as detailed below:
  • Add the new race & ethnicity FULL data field to the Format XML
    
    • CCCApply:  <race_ethnic_full>
    • International:  <race_ethnic_full>
  • Update the format spec for the existing <race_ethnic> fields in both applications:
    • remove spaces in the comma-delimited format
    • Note: the data field has a slightly different name in the International application:  <race_ethnicity>
• Update your custom Import file or process to absorb the changes and the new FULL data field - for Pilot & Production
• Update the Pilot Download Jar file with the latest version (v.6.3.0)
• Run a test download Job in the Pilot environment

Feedback & Resolution Process 

• Feedback should be categorized as bugs and enhancements. Only Severity 1 issues (issues that prevent critical business functions from being accomplished) will be considered as release blockers.
• Reporting: User feedback should be noted in the result section. The following criteria should be followed and documented:
  • Any identified bugs with severity and priority 
  • Enhancement requests with priority identified

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Data Dictionaries & Release Documentation

The following links point to the most current versions of the CCCApply Data Dictionaries and User Guides.

Changes to the OpenCCC Account

The following changes were implemented in the 6.2.0 release. 

Changes to the CCCApply Standard & International Applications

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Changes to the Promise Grant Application (BOG)

The following changes were implemented in the 6.2.0 release code.

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Changes to the Download Client

The following fields have been added or have been revised in the database. Please see specific implementation steps to update your files and download client below.