Overview

CCCApply has created a new, optional, noncredit workflow feature in the CCCApply Standard Application. Development requirements for the first version of the new feature were implemented under the guidance of the CCCApply Redesign Workgroup, the CCCApply Advisory sub-committee for Noncredit application and the CCCApply product development team. 

This UAT plan will outline the details of the CCCApply Noncredit Application pilot project across the remaining stages of pre-production development, testing and implementation. 

Product information is available here:  CCCApply Noncredit Application

CCCApply Noncredit Application: Pilot Phase

Project Outline 

Below is an outline of the CCCApply Noncredit Application Pilot Project, including development and production phases: 

Production Phase (coming)

1. Beta Version Plan
   1. College participation
   2. ES Training Plan
2. College Implementation Plan
   1. Working with Enabling Services
   2. Working with Support Services

Status of Development Phase

Development requirements for the initial version of this application (v.1.0) were drafted and implemented by the CCCApply Redesign Workgroup and sub-committee for the Noncredit Application. Details of the v.1.0 development specification can be found here: Noncredit Change Requirements and CCCApply Noncredit Application. 

Pilot Overview

A soft launch release to a limited number of colleges for a 12-week pilot project deploy to the CCCApply pilot environment on February 2019, as part of the CCCApply release 6.4.0. 

A set of pilot colleges will work with the Workgroup and sub-committee, as well as the CCCApply product development team, to ensure the initial development design and IT implementation processes meet the success criteria outlined below. A continuous feedback process has been outlined to ensure all bugs and missing critical requirements are identified and prioritized for production release.  

The overarching goal for the project is to prepare the new feature for a larger scale Beta version release to more colleges in May 2019, and ultimately to production release to all colleges in June 2019.

Pilot Objectives

The objectives for the pilot project are designed to ensure that the new Noncredit workflow path meets the minimum viable functionality and data collection requirements to comply with changes to the state residency requirements for noncredit students as passed in AB 3101

• Ensure the initial design meets MVP (minimum viable product) requirements for use with students
  • Ensure the code is free of bugs, issues and errors
  • Ensure the pre- and post-application workflow meets the needs of noncredit programs
• Identify "must have" features required to meet MVP acceptable standards for majority of noncredit programs
  • Review requirements for collecting "Intended Major/Program of Study" question data to meet the needs of most noncredit programs?
  • Do the majority of noncredit programs require Supplemental Questions? What types of questions would the majority of noncredit programs ask?
  • What other enhancements are required for the MVP implementation?

Participating pilot colleges objectives: 

1. Approved pilot colleges will commit two staff representatives to participate in the full 12-week project (One admissions office and one IT staff participants) and complete minimum UAT activities
2. Participants should contribute to meeting project goals, objectives, and timelines in order to meet proposed success criteria
3. Participants will attend scheduled meetings and provide feedback on development and implementation requirements and processes to ensure compliance with AB 3101
4. Pilot project management will document and share college feedback and track progress of overarching goal to meet production phase timeline  

Project Timeline

A tentative schedule of project activities are detailed below (subject to change).

Project Goals & Success Criteria 

Pilot College Participation

The CCCApply Noncredit Application Pilot project will initially consist of 6 - 8* district colleges from the CCCApply Redesign Workgroup and the CCCApply Advisory Committee's sub-committee for Noncredit Application. The minimum number of pilot participants to provide validation is 6. Pilot project activities are scheduled across a 12-week period between February 19 - June 15, 2019.   

Participating Colleges

Colleges from within the CCCApply Redesign Workgroup and the CCCApply Advisory Committee that will be participating in the project:

• Chabot College
• City College of San Francisco
• Coastline College
• Foothill College
• North Orange CCD
• Riverside CCD
• Santa Monica City College
• Santa Rosa College
• Sierra College*
• South Orange CCD
• Bakersfield College*
• Cerritos College*

Participation Requirements

Participation activities and requirements include:

• Attendance at all meetings
• Complete all UAT Implementation activities and testing goals
• Contribute to design and requirements discussions; provide feedback and support to other pilot colleges
• Contribute to the development of best practices and support materials 

Pilot UAT Plan

The user acceptance testing (UAT) plan process and objectives for the CCCApply Noncredit Application Pilot project are listed below. 

• UAT Objectives & Success Criteria
• Required Documentation 
• Getting to the Pilot Application 
• IT Implementation Steps
• Data Fields & Downloads
• Admin Configuration 
• Reports
• Feedback & Support Processes

UAT Objectives & Success Criteria

See Noncredit Application UAT Plan Slide Deck

Required Documentation

Technical specifications for the Noncredit Application workflow feature are included in the CCCApply Standard Application Data Dictionary. 

• CCCApply Release 6.4.0 Notes Summary
• CCCApply Noncredit Application
• CCCApply Noncredit Path Change Requirements
• /wiki/spaces/OPENAPPLY/pages/846561851
• CCCApply Standard Application Data Dictionary v.2019.1
• CCCApply Administrator 2.0 User Guide
• CCCApply Download Client User Guide v.2019.1 
• UAT Slide Deck: Noncredit Pilot UAT Plan

• Change Specification:  2018-24R: Revise CCCApply to Support Noncredit Students & AB3101

Project Docs

• CCCApply Redesign Project
• CCCApply Redesign Project - Q3 User Interface Changes (PPT)
• CCCApply Redesign Project Dashboard

Additional Docs

• All CCCApply Implementation Documentation Home
• All CCCApply Data Dictionaries  
• All CCCApply User Guides
• All CCCApply Special Implementations

Getting to the Pilot Environment

Pilot colleges can begin previewing and testing the new Noncredit Application feature after the CCCApply 6.4.0 pilot release on February 19, 2019.  

• CCCApply Pilot Environment
• Pilot Application URLs  (NOTE: These are not the Noncredit URLs).

Noncredit Application URL

Accessing the Noncredit application workflow path within the Standard Application requires a separate, college-specific URL. This unique, college-specific URL is one of the key characteristics that partitions the noncredit workflow path within the Standard Application, as well as distinguishes the submitted applications that started from the Noncredit URL from those started from the original Standard Application URL.

See here for the list of College Noncredit URLs.

When a user starts and submits a Noncredit Application (using the college-specific URL) the new Noncredit Status flag is set to True, which is appended at the end of the URL. 

College IT Implementation Steps

Follow the steps below to setup the Non-Credit Application workflow feature to conduct user acceptance testing: 

1. Paste your college-custom Noncredit App URL for the Pilot environment into a new Chrome browser window and navigate to the CCCApply sign-in page 
   
   1. If you have a Pilot OpenCCC test account, click "Sign In".  Landing in your My Applications page, click on "Start a New Application"
   2. If you don't have a Pilot OpenCCC test account, click on "Create an Account" and follow the three page account creation process
      
      
2. From your My Applications page, click on "Start a New Application".
   1. Land on the Enrollment page and complete the required fields: 
      1. Select a Term, Education Goal
      2. Select a Major Category and Major/Program of Study
         
3. Complete the required pages in the Noncredit app workflow  
   1. Complete the Enrollment page
   2. Complete the Account Information/Mailing page
   3. Complete the Education page
   4. Complete the Needs & Interests page (optional)
   5. Complete the Demographic Information page (optional)
      
      
4. Complete all remaining required portions of the application and submit the application 
   1. Review your application responses on the Submission page (optional)
   2. Complete the Consent to Release Information checkboxes (required)
   3. Complete the Submission requirements (required)
   4. After submission, note the application's Confirmation number (App_id) and your CCCID.
      
      
5. Review the confirmation screen and note your confirmation number for the Noncredit application version you just submitted:
   1. Note that the Confirmation number begins with a "NC-" preview
6. Continue to the Student Satisfaction Survey and complete the survey (optional)
7. Continue down the page and review the Special Links & Opportunities for your application
8. Click "Finish & Sign-Out" or if MyPath college, click "Finish and continue to MyPath" (confirm)
   
   
9. Return to the My Applications page and locate your submitted Noncredit application in the submitted applications Table
   1. Note the confirmation number begins with a "NC-" prefix
   2. Sign out of My Applications
      
      
10.  Add new Noncredit App data fields to existing CCCApply Standard Application Pilot download files
    1. Add the new data fields to your existing Standard Application Format Definition XML file for the Pilot environment:
       1. Noncredit Status = <non_credit>
       2. Integrity Flag 81 = <integrity_fg_81>
    2. Review all data field changes (new values, formats, logic, etc.) shown in the New & Changed Data Fields Table below.
       Note: All changes are also detailed in the Change Log of the CCCApply Standard Application Data Dictionary v.2019.1 
    3. Review data dictionary specification information for these fields
    4. For help updating your Format Definition file, see the CCCApply Download Client User Guide
       
       
11. Update your existing Download Client Jar File with version 6.4.0 or higher (v.6.4.0 for Pilot release)
    1. Find and replace the "transfer-client.jar" file in your CCCApply Download Client with the latest version for this release (v.6.4.0).
       1. transfer-client.V6.4.jar
       2. NOTE: The 'transfer-client.jar" file has the same as the download client jar file 
       3. Refer to the latest version of the Download Client User Guide v.2019.1
       4. Refer to the Download Client User Guide for instructions on replacing and running the Jar file for each application in each environment (Pilot and Production).
    2. Run a test download Job in the Pilot environment.
       
       
12. Optional Admin Configuration Changes for Noncredit Application
    
    1. Navigate to the Pilot CCC Administrator (CAP) and login using existing user account credentials
    2. Select "CCCApply Administrator" from the Applications menu on the homepage
    3. From the CCCApply Administrator home page, select "CCCApply" from the Applications menu 
    4. Select your college from the College selection menu bar
    5. Select "Messages" from the Modules menu bar
       1. Click on Add new Message and create a custom Message using the new CCCApply Noncredit Status field <non_credit>
       2. Save Message
    6. Select "Rules" from the Modules menu bar
       1. Click on Add New Rule button and create a custom rule using the new <non_credit> = True field in the code editor
       2. Reference the new Message created in the Messages module that includes the new noncredit status merge field
    7. Select the Majors module from the Modules menu bar
       1. Click on Add New Major button and complete a new test Major, populating the following fields:
          1. Major Code
          2. Major Name
          3. Major Start Date
          4. Major End Date (or select No End Date)
          5. Major Category = create new category called "Noncredit Programs" and enable the tag for this new Major
          6. Save New Major
       2. From the Majors Summary Table, select a test major row and click "Edit Major"
          1. In the Major Category field, add "Noncredit Programs" for this test major
          2. Repeat the process for 1-3 addition test Majors 
    8. Repeat steps 1 - 4 - start a new Noncredit application and navigate to the Enrollment page
       1. Complete the Term field
       2. Select an Education Goal
       3. In the Major Category menu, confirm that "Noncredit Programs" is a category in the list, and select that category
       4. In the Intended Major/Program of Student field menu, confirm that only the majors tagged with the Noncredit Program tag are displaying in the Major Category filter/menu
          1. Select one of the majors tagged as a Noncredit Programs  
13. Ensure the new Noncredit Application data fields are appearing as reportable fields in the CCC Report Center
    1. Navigate to the CCC Report Center and login with your existing Pilot user account
    2. Navigate to "Create New Ad Hoc View" from the main menu on the homepage
    3. running reports Status Flag

1. Repeat the process for the Production environment.

Changes to the CCCApply Download Client

The following data fields have been added or changed in the CCCApply Noncredit applications. For updated data specification documents, please see the CCCApply Data Dictionaries and User Guides space.

Updating Your Existing Download Files

To download the new Noncredit Application data fields and new values in existing CCCApply download files, you must add the new fields to your CCCApply Standard Application Format Definition XML and update the (transfer-client.jar) file for the Noncredit v.1.0 Pilot release.  

Update the Pilot Download Client Jar File

We recommend adding the new Noncredit Application path data fields and updating your Download Client Transfer file in the Pilot environment  whether you plan to implement the Noncredit application path or not. The Pilot DLC jar file should be updated first, then repeat the process for your Production downloads. 

In your installed Pilot Download Client directory, replace the following files:

• • Replace transfer-client.jar (V6.4) with: transfer-client.V6.4.jar

Follow the instructions in the Pilot CCCApply Download Client User Guide.

Update the Download Client Jar File

To update your Download Client Transfer file for the Production environment, the process is the same as the Pilot environment update. The same jar file is used for both environment. 

In your installed Production Download Client directory, replace the following files:

• • Replace transfer-client.jar (V6.4.0) with: transfer-client.V6.4.jar

Follow the instructions in the CCCApply Download Client User Guide.

Pilot Project: Feedback & Support

During the Pilot Project (see pilot schedule above), pilot colleges will meet bi-weekly to provide feedback and discuss pilot objectives with the Pilot committee and CCCApply product manager.  Non-critical bugs, change requirements, and change enhancements will be reviewed and prioritized during each meeting. 

Severity Levels

S1 - Application / service is unavailable.  

S2 - Required business process is prevented from being used.  No workaround is available

S3 - Less important business process is impacted and/or workaround is available.

S4 - Low impact or cosmetic issue

Below is a breakdown of the pilot support and change management process and response times.

Issue Resolution During Pilot Project

• Feedback will be categorized as bugs, MVP requirements, or change enhancements. Only Severity 1 issues (issues that prevent critical business functions from being accomplished) will be considered as release blockers.
• Pilot colleges should include the following information in the support request email:
  • Identification of issue
• 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

BUG Prioritization Levels

Change Request Form Templates

• High-Priority Change Requirement Form
• Change Request Form