POSTGRADUATE ACADEMIC SUPPORT (PAS)

GENERAL GUIDELINES

TABLE OF CONTENTS

BACKGROUND WHO WILL BENEFIT FROM USING PAS?WHERE DOES THE INFORMATION COME FROM?WHO HAS ACCESS TO PAS?HOW DO I GAIN ACCESS TO PAS?WHAT DOES PAS LOOK LIKE?GeneralConsoleGroups of peopleFunction Bar

BACKGROUNDWhat is PAS/NAOoPAS is the abbreviation for Postgraduate Academic Support, and is a web based system developed for staff members concerned with the management of postgraduate students. Its Afrikaans acronym – NAO – is the abbreviation for Nagraadse Akademiese Ondersteuning oPAS provides integrated and timeous information about postgraduate students concerning the outcomes of administrative processes such as application, registration, funding, etcoPAS provides a simple interface for capturing Study Leaders, Examiners and Titles securely to the central system of SUoVarious Excel reports can be generated via PASoHistoric data of postgraduate students are available for as far back as 2000oGroups of students can be contacted via PAS

BACKGROUNDThe following needs were identified –

o Staff members involved with the daily management of postgraduate students need a consolidated system which makes information on postgraduate students available in an integrated and user-friendly way

o Different groups of staff members need access to the same information to improve processes and cooperation

o Making contact with groups of postgraduate students according to faculty, department, programme, etc.

WHO WILL BENEFIT FROM USING PAS/NAO?

o Postgraduate Coordinators from Academic Departments

o Heads of Academic Departments

o Staff members from Departments or Faculties involved with Postgraduate students and /or Research

o Faculty Managers

o Faculty Secretaries

WHERE DOES THE INFORMATION COME FROM?

o From the SU Central Administrative System

o The main PAS console information is refreshed on a daily basis and reflects all transactions captured during the previous day

o All data captured via PAS is stored in the SU Central Administrative System and is readily available at all times

WHO HAS ACCESS TO PAS/NAO?

o All academic staff members should only have automatic access to their ‘own’ postgraduate students via PAS

o Departmental staff members have access to only their own Department’s postgraduate student information

o Faculty staff members have access to information of all postgraduate students falling under the particular Faculty

HOW DO I GAIN ACCESS TO PAS?

o Presently by means of a URL provided by IT if your request is accompanied by an email from your line manager authorising your access. Please send email to Rita de Jager, Head: Postgraduate Academic Support, Information Technology, SU at rd@sun.ac.za in this regard

o Hopefully PAS/NAO will be made available via my.sun.ac.za in 2014 in such a way that you would be able to apply for access to the system once only with the approval of your line manager (same principle as annual leave)

o If your line manager changes, you will have to apply for access again

WHAT DOES PAS/NAO LOOK LIKE?

LANDING PAGEKeep an eye out for notices! New functions and other news will be announced here

WHAT DOES PAS/NAO LOOK LIKE?

CONSOLE Your registered postgraduate students are shown automaticallyChoose any other group of students on the menu to the left

WHAT DOES PAS/NAO LOOK LIKE?

CONSOLEo Sort by clicking green headingso Light brown rows are International students (hover cursor over

row for more information)o Icons in 2nd column show that Functionaries and /or Research

Outputs have been captured

WHAT DOES PAS/NAO LOOK LIKE?

STUDENT GROUPSClick the student group that you would like to display on the console

WHAT DOES PAS/NAO LOOK LIKE?

STUDENT GROUPSAll groups are persons of the Faculty or Department where you are employed

oInterested Persons - All persons who have requested that a yearbook of your Faculty be mailed to them

oFinal Year Undergraduates - For postgraduate recruitment purposes

oApplicants - To facilitate planning

oCurrent students - All registered postgraduate students and those currently busy with postgraduate studies but not registered yet

WHAT DOES PAS/NAO LOOK LIKE?

STUDENT GROUPSAll groups are persons of the Faculty or Department where you are employed

oGraduatesAll students who have graduated during the current or previous year

oPostdoctoral FellowsCurrently shown only per Faculty but the facility to display the group per Department will be made available during 2014

WHAT DOES PAS/NAO LOOK LIKE?

FUNCTION BAR: FILTER OPTIONSFilter on the fields below, e.g. Department, Programme Type and many others

WHAT DOES PAS/NAO LOOK LIKE?

FUNCTION BAR: ADMINISTRATIONChoose a student on the console and view the information by clicking an item on the menu

WHAT DOES PAS/NAO LOOK LIKE?

FUNCTION BAR: STUDY GUIDANCEChoose a student on the console, capture the information shown on the menu below to the central SU system and generate Excel reports

WHAT DOES PAS/NAO LOOK LIKE?

FUNCTION BAR: RESEARCH OUTPUTSChoose a student on the console and submit the thesis/dissertation or publish it via the e-thesis system

WHAT DOES PAS/NAO LOOK LIKE?

FUNCTION BAR: REPORTSPrint an Excel report of the following students:•All students appearing on the console when the report is requested•All registered and non-registered students to whom you have access, on the same report

WHAT DOES PAS/NAO LOOK LIKE?

FUNCTION BAR: EMAILSend email to all students on the consoleCreate email wording in both Afr and Eng and the system will dispatch emails correctly

WHAT DOES PAS/NAO LOOK LIKE?FUNCTION BAR: FORMS

As many forms as possible are to be created interactively with data from the central SU system. This task will receive priority in 2014.

A PAS MANUAL WITH FURTHER DETAILS WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE IN DUE COURSE

Enquiries may also be directed to the Postgraduate & International Office

postgraduate@sun.ac.za