With the introduction of the third major phase of the new Student Information System (SIS) on Jan. 12, IU has achieved yet another important milestone in this, the final year of the multi-year project. Students registering for fall classes will be doing so using the SIS, which is being implemented during this year in phases following the academic calendar.

Staff from various campuses, schools and departments are participating in training on the new services and they, in turn, are helping to train others in processes related to academic advising, admissions and student records.

Users can launch SIS services from the OneStart portal, leveraging IU’s single sign-on process. Shortcuts for many SIS services used by administrative staff are available in OneStart, saving valuable time. Many of the same services that were available to admitted and enrolled students through OneStart are now available to prospective students and applicants as well.

SIS services for students are located in a new “Self Service” tab in OneStart. Prospective students as well as current students can view a summary of their personal information and find links to other services such as applying for financial aid. Applicants can check their admission status. Anyone—including the general public—can see how credits from other institutions or from advanced placement courses will transfer to IU campuses.

To help maintain the privacy of students’ Social Security numbers (SSN), the SIS uses a new primary identifier of student records called the university ID (UID). The UID replaces the SSN as the key to student records. The SSN is still used for financial aid and employment information but is no longer considered a student ID number.

All newly admitted students receive the 10-digit UID and can use it to create their initial computing accounts before they ever step foot on campus. Students don’t need to know their UID for registration. Once they log into OneStart with their IU Network ID username and password, they are ready to register for Fall 2004 classes. Currently enrolled students can look up their UID in the “Self Service” tab in OneStart.

The next phase of the SIS implementation on March 1 will provide additional services for students available through the “Self Service” tab in OneStart—including registration for Fall 2004. A link to Insite will also be presented so students can easily reach familiar services, including registration for summer courses. Insite will remain available through the summer.

Some of the new services that will be available in the “Self Service” tab are scheduled for activation in later phases of the SIS, but students will be able to see a preview of what will be available.

To become familiar with the environment that will be delivering the SIS services, faculty and staff can log on to OneStart using their IU Network ID username and password:

http://onestart.iu.edu/

For more information about the SIS:

http://sisinfo.iu.edu/