The Full Student Journey
Stage 1: Setup (Foundation)
Who does it: Academic Administrator, System Administrator When: Once at implementation; updated at the start of each academic year What happens: Before any student can be admitted, your institution’s academic structure must be defined in the system. This is the foundation layer that everything else depends on.- Academic Year - Create the year label (e.g. “2025-26”) with start and end dates.
- Academic Term - Create terms within the year (e.g. “Semester 1: June–October”, “Semester 2: November–March”).
- Education Settings - Set the current Academic Year and Term so they auto-populate on new records.
- Department - Create department records (optional but useful for grouping programmes and instructors).
- Programmes - Create the qualifications your institution offers. Add the courses that make up each programme.
- Courses - Create individual subjects. Set the default grading scale and assessment criteria per course.
- Topics - Create topics within each course (optional but useful for curriculum mapping).
- Instructors - Create one instructor record per teaching staff member.
- Rooms - Create room records for all teaching spaces.
- Fee Categories - Create the types of charges (Tuition, Examination, Library, Hostel, etc.).
- Fee Structures - Create one fee structure per programme/year combination with amounts per fee category.
- Grading Scale - Create the grade band mapping (e.g. 90–100 = A+, 80–89 = A).
Stage 2: Admissions
Who does it: Admissions Officer When: During the intake period (term-specific or rolling) What happens:- Admission Round Created - The admissions officer creates a Student Admission record for the intake period, specifying the dates, eligible programmes, and whether online applications are accepted.
- Applications Received - Prospective students apply online (if the admission is published to the website) or staff create Student Applicant records manually.
- Applications Reviewed - The admissions team opens each Student Applicant record and reviews the details. They update the Application Status:
- Applied → being reviewed
- Approved → accepted for enrolment
- Rejected → not accepted
- Student Created - For each approved applicant, the admissions officer clicks Create Student. A student record is created with all the applicant’s details pre-filled. The application status becomes Admitted.
- Application missing guardian email → payment notification will fail later
- Application approved without Student Category set → fee structure may not match
Stage 3: Enrolment
Who does it: Academic Administrator / Registrar When: After student records are created; at the start of each academic year for returning students What happens:- Programme Enrolment Created - The administrator creates a Programme Enrolment record for each student, linking them to a specific programme for the academic year.
- Fees Table Populated - Fee schedules are added to the Fees table inside the enrolment record.
- Programme Enrolment Submitted - When submitted:
- Course Enrolment records are created automatically for each course in the programme
- Fee Records (Sales Invoices) are created automatically for each fee schedule in the Fees table
- Payment Request Sent - If configured, a payment link email is sent to the student and guardian automatically.
Stage 4: Student Grouping & Timetabling
Who does it: Academic Administrator When: Before the term begins; whenever a new intake starts What happens:- Student Groups Created - Using the Student Group Creation Tool, the administrator generates student groups for all courses in a programme at once. Each group is assigned the enrolled students and an instructor.
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Class Timetable Built - Using the Course Scheduling Tool, the administrator generates a full semester schedule for each student group:
- Sets the course, instructor, room, date range, and time slot
- Clicks “Schedule Course” - sessions are generated for every day in the date range
- One operation generates 80–100 individual class sessions
- Calendar Published - All scheduled sessions are immediately visible on the Course Schedule calendar. Instructors can see their timetable; students can see their class times.
Stage 5: Teaching & Attendance
Who does it: Instructor (primary); Academic Administrator (oversight and corrections) When: Every class day throughout the academic term What happens:- Class Held - The instructor delivers the scheduled session.
- Attendance Taken - The instructor opens the Student Attendance Tool, selects the student group and today’s session, marks absent students, and submits. This creates one Student Attendance record per student - all submitted automatically.
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Leave Applications - When a student needs to be absent for a known reason:
- Student or instructor creates a Student Leave Application
- Specifies the date range and reason
- Instructor/admin submits the application
- Attendance records for those dates update automatically to “On Leave”
- Attendance Monitoring - Weekly, the pastoral team runs the Absent Student Report to identify students with excessive absences and initiates contact.
Stage 6: Assessment
Who does it: Instructor, Academic Administrator When: Mid-term and end of term (or as scheduled) What happens:-
Assessment Plan Created - The instructor creates an Assessment Plan for the exam or test:
- Links it to the Student Group, Course, and Assessment Group (e.g. “Midterm”)
- Sets the date, time, room, examiner, and supervisor
- Specifies the assessment criteria breakdown (e.g. 60% Theory, 40% Practical)
- Sets the Grading Scale
- Submits the plan
- Assessment Conducted - Students sit the exam or submit coursework.
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Results Entered - Using the Assessment Result Tool:
- Instructor selects the Assessment Plan and Student Group
- All students load in a table
- Instructor enters each student’s score for each criterion
- Clicks Submit - individual Assessment Result records are created for all students
- Grades are auto-calculated based on the Grading Scale
- Report Cards Generated - The Student Report Generation Tool produces print-ready grade reports for distribution.
Stage 7: Fee Collection
Who does it: Finance Officer, Accounts Manager When: Start of term (for billing); ongoing (for collection monitoring) What happens:- Fee Schedule Run - The finance officer creates a Fee Schedule referencing the applicable Fee Structure, sets the due date, adds the student groups to bill, and submits.
- Invoices Created - On submission, one Fees (invoice) record is created per student in the listed groups.
- Payment Requests Sent - If “Send Payment Request Email” is ticked on the Fee Schedule, payment link emails are sent automatically to each student’s email and linked guardian emails.
- Payments Received - Students pay via the payment link (online gateway) or staff record payments manually against the Sales Invoice.
- Outstanding Balance Tracked - The Outstanding Amount on each Fees record decreases automatically as payments are recorded. The Student Fee Collection report shows the current position for every student.
- Follow-up - Accounts staff run the Student Fee Collection report weekly, filtering to students with outstanding balances, and follow up by email or phone.
Stage 8: Review & Reporting
Who does it: Management, Academic Administrator, Finance Officer When: End of each month; end of each term; as needed What happens: The leadership team pulls reports to review institutional performance:
Decisions made from these reports include: attendance warnings to students, academic board referrals, fee collection escalations, and performance reviews.
Stage 9: Progression, Graduation & Exit
Who does it: Academic Administrator, Registrar When: End of academic year or when a student leaves Continuing students:- Run the Programme Enrolment Tool to bulk-advance students to the next year
- New Programme Enrolment records are submitted
- New fee records are created for the new year
- New student groups and schedules are built
- Final grades confirmed on Final Assessment Grades report
- Certificates and transcripts issued (print formats)
- Student Log updated with graduation record
- Student record updated: Date of Leaving set; Enabled unticked
- Open the Student record
- Set Date of Leaving and Leaving Certificate Number
- Record Reason for Leaving
- Untick Enabled - student is now inactive
- Any outstanding fees should be resolved before or after deactivation