2019-20: Noncredit App v.1.0 Feature Enhancements

Request No.2019-20
Date of RequestMarch 04, 2019
RequesterNoncredit Pilot Committee
Application(s)Noncredit Application
Section / Page

Various

Steering Hearing DateMarch 22, 2019
Proposed Change to Download FileTBD


Problem / Issue

What are the minimum viable product (MVP) "must have" features required for the v.1.0 release in June 2019?



Proposed Solutions



Approved Changes

During the meeting, three features were identified as "must have" requirements for the first version of the Noncredit Application (v.1.0):

  1. Different Welcome/Landing page: Implement a different landing page in the Noncredit Application (than the Standard Application)
  2. Different Majors: Implement the ability for the Noncredit Application to have different Majors/Programs of Study than the Standard Application
    1. Disable the Major Category filter in the Noncredit Application
  3. Different Supplemental Questions: Implement the ability for the Noncredit Application to have different supplemental questions than the Standard Application.

Different Welcome/Landing Page

Field / Feature

Current Implementation

Current Limitations

Proposed Change for the Noncredit Application

Different Welcome/Landing page for the Noncredit Application


  • The same Welcome page is used by the Standard and the Noncredit application paths.

TBD

Add a Noncredit Intro page (landing page) that appears when the user enters the application using the Noncredit URL. 

Add a new landing page for the Noncredit application workflow, with the following language:

Noncredit Application to College

Before applying to college you must first have an OpenCCC account.

The OpenCCC single sign-in account allows you to access the online services of the California Community Colleges.

OpenCCC is a service of the California Community Colleges Chancellors Office. The information in your account is kept private and secure.




Student User Story

"As a student enrolling exclusively in noncredit courses I need to see the label, "Noncredit Application", on the welcome page (landing page) to minimize confusion about which application I am applying with to college."  

Different Majors/Programs of Study

Field / Feature

Current Implementation

Current Limitations

Proposed Change for the Noncredit Application

Different Majors: Implement the ability for the Noncredit Application to have different Majors/Programs of Study than the Standard Application

Applicable Field: Intended Major / Program of Study

  • Required field 
  • Colleges configure custom Majors/Programs in the Administrator
  • College Majors/Programs are the same across Standard & Non-Credit
  • Currently there is no way to implement separate Majors menu/fields in the Standard & the Non-Credit;
  • All Majors/Programs will appear in both apps

Colleges need the ability to display different Majors/Programs of Study in the Noncredit Application. 

Implement the ability for the college to identify/specify which application each of their custom Majors should display in. (This could be an "Application Type" flag - or similar - which is set for each individual major in the Administrator.)  

The Application types would include:  

  • Standard App
  • Noncredit App
  • Both Standard & Noncredit

But still need to be able to display all the same majors as the Standard Application, if they choose to.

  • Implement a tag/toggle in the "Add/Edit Major" modal that identifies if  a Major/Program should appear in the Standard App, the Non-Credit App, or Both apps.  otherwise it will NOT appear.
  • Implement logic that will only display the Majors that have the Noncredit App tag in the NC App.
College User Story

"As a college admissions staff, I need the ability to identify which of our custom majors/programs of study should appear in the Standard application, or the Noncredit application, orboth applications, so that noncredit students see only the majors/programs that pertain to them."

Student User Story"As a student using the Noncredit Application to apply to college, I should only see the majors, programs, or courses in the "Intended Major/Program of Study" field menu on the Enrollment page that are applicable to students enrolling exclusively in noncredit courses (in which no credit is given)."

Field / Feature

Current Implementation

Current Limitations

Proposed Change for the Noncredit Application

Disable the Major Category Filter in the Noncredit Application Only


Applicable Field: <category>

  • Optional field / filter
  • Colleges create custom categories in the Administrator and then tag their Majors with them for the purpose of filtering
  • Major Category filter menu Only appears in the Standard Application IF one or more majors are tagged with a category
  • Currently there is no way to implement separate Category filters in the Standard app vs the Non-Credit app;
  • Disable the Major Category filter in the Non-Credit App
  • Even if the Major is set to display in the both the Noncredit and Standard Apps AND there is a category associated with the Major.
  • The Major Category filter should ONLY display / integrate with the Standard Application

NOTE

  • This change should only be implemented in conjunction with the "must have" change requirement above pertaining to differentiating majors in each application.
  • individual Majors can be flagged to display in both application, but if a category is also associated with the Major, the additionalMajor Category filter should only display in the Standard Application;
College User Story

"As a college admissions staff, I need the Major Category field/filterdisabledin the Noncredit Application so that noncredit students don't get confused by an extra layer of filtering that isn't necessary - because the Noncredit Application itself is a filter."

Student User Story

"As a student enrolling exclusively in noncredit courses using the Noncredit Application, I should not have to select a Major Category in addition to selecting my Intended Major/Program of Study because the Noncredit application itself is a category and this would add an unnecessary step in the enrollment experience."


Different Supplemental Questions


Field / FeatureCurrent ImplementationCurrent LimitationsProposed Change for the Noncredit Application

Different Supplemental Questions: Implement the ability for the Noncredit Application to have different Supplemental Questions than the Standard Application

  • Optional; colleges are not required to setup Supplemental Questions

  • Colleges configure their optional supplemental questions in an XML file and upload the file to the Administrator

  • Colleges must configure the questions using XML code 

  • Only one page of Supplemental Questions can be active and displayed at any one time

  • There's no way to schedule when Supp Questions display; the display specs are set in the Administrator and it's either Active or Inactive

  • Currently there's no way to separate or differentiate Supp Questions page for the Standard vs. Non-Credit applications; If one page is uploaded and enabled, it will appear for both applications by default;

Colleges need the ability to ask different supplemental questions to their Noncredit students. Implement the ability for different supplemental questions to appear in the Noncredit Application (optional).

  1. Best case scenario: Colleges want the ability to have different supplemental questions in the Standard vs Noncredit applications using one Supp Questions XML file which would include an Application Type indicator within the code of each question. The Application Type could be Standard, Noncredit, or Both.

  2. Next best scenario: Colleges want the ability to have different supplemental questions in the Standard vs. Noncredit applications, period. If we can't use the one (the same) XML file, allow the ability to have two XMLs (one for each Application) active in both applications. 

  3. At the very least: If we can't have different questions in each application, then colleges would rather have the supplemental questions turned OFF in the Noncredit application - with the option to implement the ability to turn them on or off as a future enhancement. 

NOTES:

Implement an "Application Type" flag that includes:

  • Standard App
  • Noncredit App
  • Both Standard & Noncredit

Data Fields: Ensure that the existing set of Supplemental Question data fields can be used by the Noncredit application as well as the Standard Application so that the college doesn't have to add/create any new data fields for the non-credit app.

Ideally, all questions will download to the same Format Definition XML file, regardless of which application the question fields appear in. The college should use care to track which questions are aligned to each download field on a spreadsheet.  It is recommended that colleges do not use the same download field for different questions. The "Working with Supplemental Questions User Guide" will include detailed implementation instructions for this feature. 

For example: If the college has 12 supplemental questions total, but:

  • 10 of them pertain to Standard App only = Standard App
  • 6 of them pertain to both Standard & Noncredit apps = Both Apps
  • 2 of them are exclusively for Noncredit students  = Noncredit App

All of these supp question data fields would need to be added to the Standard Application Format Definition XML (download file) - which is the file that the Noncredit Application downloads to, as well as the Standard application.

Best Case - College User Story

"As a college admissions staff, I need the ability to display different supplemental questions in the Noncredit Application than the Standard Application so that noncredit students see only the supplemental questions that pertain to them."  

 Student User Story"As a student enrolling exclusively in noncredit courses, I should only have to answer supplemental questions that pertains to noncredit experience."

Deferred Changes


09:06:57 From Morgan : For the initial page, can we also include making the "create new account" more predominate since the application is focused on NC students and this would most likely be their first application (not log in)

09:07:07 From carter_dione to Patty Donohue (Privately) : Patty, please see the email I sent yesterday in regards to the proper spelling of noncredit (no hyphen), WIOA II MIS data elements, etc. Thank you. Dee Dee

09:08:02 From Tina King : It gets confusing when we consider noncredit as majors. Noncredit does not have majors.

09:10:31 From carter_dione to Patty Donohue (Privately) : Also social security # should be kept as an option due to the new CASAS/WIOA survey rollout

09:11:59 From carter_dione : Also social security # should be kept as an option due to the new CASAS/WIOA survey rollout/requirement.


09:10:46 From Monika Liu : Noncredit has certificates & high school diplomas as Program of Study. Can these be available for the Noncredit only.


09:12:51 From Triseinge Ortiz : Using Title 5 buckets as programs for noncredit would be a good means of organization.
09:13:09 From Tina King : I know we are not focusing on changes; however, for the future we should consider the required new MIS elements from the state. Please see the elements and the language we will be using for our insitution.
09:13:39 From Tina King : This is required to be collected for all students so this would be an ideal mechanism to include these new questions. FYI.
09:14:21 From Tina King : For Noncredit we should focus on the Title 5 buckets as programs. Please see the below buckets:


09:52:48 From Tina King : The Program Areas accroding to Title 5/Ed Code state approved noncredit categoies. The categories include: ABE, ASE, ESL, Immigrant Education, Home Ec, Parenting, Older Adult, Pre-Apprenticeship, Short-term Voc, and Workforce Prep. These are the buckets or program areas we should use for this app.


Dependencies, Risks and/or Reporting Requirements?


Question

Yes

No

Which data field(s)?

What/How?

Would this change affect an existing question or data field on the Standard Application?
  •  
  •  


Would this change affect an existing question or data field on the International Application?
  •  


  •  
  •  


Would this change affect an existing question or data field on the Promise Grant Application?
  •  
  •  




Would Account (OpenCCC) data be affected by this change?
  •  
  •  


Does the question or data field align to an MIS reporting requirement now?
  •  
  •  


Does this change affect any other state or federal regulations or requirements?

  •  
  •  


Would this change affect existing residency logic?
  •  
  •  


Would any other data fields be affected by this change?
  •  
  •  


Would students users be affected by this change?
  •  
  •  


Would colleges be affected by this change? 
  •  
  •  


Would the Download Client be affected by this change?
  •  
  •  


What other tech center web services will be affected by this change?
  •  
  •  

i.e., Glue staging table?  Multiple Measur
Other dependencies?



Other implementation considerations?




Supporting Documentation

DescriptionFile TypeURLNotes