ROSI Database Quarterly Maintenance – Friday, March 3

Date: February 21, 2023   
To:
ROSI Users; Registrar’s Offices
From:
Enterprise Applications & Solutions Integration
Re: ROSI Database Quarterly Maintenance – Friday, March 3

 

Dear ROSI users,

Please note that we will need to take ROSI and all associated student information systems offline on Friday, March 3 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. to perform quarterly maintenance on the database. We will return the systems to service sooner if the work is completed earlier than 9 p.m.  The following systems will be affected:

  • ACORN
  • Course Information System
  • Degree Explorer (Student and Admin)
  • EASI Institutional File Transfer
  • Elections
  • eMarks
  • Exam photo invigilation
  • Online Administrative Student Information System (OASIS)
  • Rocket Shuttle
  • ROSI
  • ROSI Express
  • ROSI Files
  • Safety Abroad Student Registry
  • Varsity Blues Registration System
  • Web services/APIs

A notice will be posted on the ACORN launchpad and on social media so that students are aware of the outage.

Thank you for your patience as we make these improvements.

This email has been sent from a service account and does not accept replies. Please direct any follow up questions to the Enterprise Service Centre http://www.uoft.me/esc

Sincerely,
Student Information Systems

Teams features that will move to Teams Premium

Some Teams features are part of the preview for Teams Premium and will move from Teams licenses to Teams Premium licenses. Each of these features has a grace period of 30 or 60 days after general availability. When the grace period expires, users will lose access to that feature.

The features that are currently in preview and will be moving to Teams premium are:

    • Live translated captions (to be disabled in April).
    • PPT live chapters.
    • Timeline markers in Teams meeting recordings for when a user left or joined meetings.
    • Custom organization Together mode scenes.

For more information, please read this overview from Microsoft: How does Teams Premium compare to Teams?

EFT Phase 2 – Important Announcements 

Date: February 15, 2023
To:
Departmental Administrators
From:
Electronic Funds Transfer Project Team
Re: EFT Phase 2 – Important Announcements

 

Dear Departmental Administrators,

As noted in a communications sent on January 12, 2023, the University is currently launching Phase 2 of the Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) project.

Starting March 2, 2023, we will begin a gradual onboarding of existing U of T vendors to EFT payments. EFT payment runs will continue to run weekly on Tuesdays.

Please note the following changes to business processes:

  • All payments after onboarding must be paid through EFT.  You can quickly identify vendors that have been set up for EFT payment by using the custom U of T vendor matchcode search and selecting payment method ‘E’. Read this article to find out more.
  • Onboarded vendors will have a single EFT Vendor account in SAP. As a result, duplicate vendor master records will be blocked for posting. Any open items in the blocked duplicate vendor will be paid by cheque, but no new postings will be permitted.
  • Payments above $50,000 will not be processed if documentation has not been attached, which includes EFT and other select vendor groups. When posting vendor payment postings above $50,000 users will receive a reminder to attach backup documentation. If backup documentation has not been attached, users will receive follow-up custom email reminders listing the documents that require attachments, with instructions on how to attach supporting documents. Watch this video to learn more.

For more information on this project, visit the Financial Services EFT page, or email purchasing.help@utoronto.ca.

Sincerely,
EFT Project Team

System Maintenance – Feb. 11 from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Date: January 24, 2023
To: AMS Users
From: Enterprise Applications & Solutions Integration
Re: System Maintenance – Feb. 11 from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

 

Hi everyone,

Please note that the following systems will be unavailable on Saturday, February 11 from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. due to system maintenance:

  • Academic Administrative Appointments (AAA)
  • AMS SAP GUI
  • Azure Data Studio
  • Capital Project Portal
  • Employee Self-Service (ESS)/Manager Self-Service (MSS)
  • Employees@UofT
  • Expense Reimbursement Direct Deposit (ERDD)
  • Fiori Launchpad Reporting
  • Instructor Lookup Report
  • Invoice Workflow
  • My Research (MR/Portal)
  • Power BI
  • uSOURCE
  • U of T Directory

See our System Availability page for ongoing information on system status.

Sincerely,
Enterprise Applications & Solutions Integration (EASI)

System Maintenance – Feb. 11 from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Date: January 24, 2023  
To:
ROSI Users
From:
Student Information Systems  
Re:
System Maintenance – Feb. 11 from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

 

Dear ROSI users,

We will need to take select student information-related systems offline on Saturday, February 11 from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. due to maintenance on the Azure platform.

The following systems will be affected:

  • Accommodated Testing Services (Admin)
  • ACORN (Accommodated Testing Services and the Student Equity Census functionality only)
  • Azure Data Studio
  • Candidacy API
  • Course Information System (Accommodation Module only)
  • Degree Confirmation
  • OASIS (Timetable Builder Admin and Absence Declaration)
  • Power BI
  • Rocket Shuttle
  • Timetable Builder
  • U of T Directory

Degree Explorer, eMarks, and other systems not listed above will remain available. ACORN and the Course Information System will be available with the exception of Accommodated Testing Services and the Student Equity Census.

A notice will be posted on the ACORN launchpad and social media regarding Timetable Builder, Accommodated Testing Services, and the Student Equity Census so that students are aware of the outage.

Thank you for your patience as we make these improvements.

This email has been sent from a service account and does not accept replies. Please direct any follow up questions to the Enterprise Service Centre http://www.uoft.me/esc

Sincerely,

Student Information Systems

Saving time, standardizing electronic transcripts

As part of a substantial upgrade to the Ontario Universities’ Application Centre (OUAC) transcript exchange, U of T introduced consistent, easy-to-read PDF transcripts, allowing admissions staff to view relevant information in one location. It’s a project that has dramatically improved workflows for processing over 20,000 incoming electronic post-secondary transcripts each year.

“We worked with the University Registrar’s Office (URO) to convert incoming post-secondary XML transcripts into PDF format,” says Matt Hendrickson, technical lead with Enterprise Applications & Solutions Integration (EASI). “If admissions staff receive a transcript from any university or college in Canada, they’ll see a PDF with information presented in a standard format.”

The upgrade has had many benefits, leading to streamlined processes for staff.

“In the past, admissions staff consulted a number of different systems to access transcript information, which was sometimes difficult to read and often added more time to the assessment process,” says Sinisa Markovic, deputy university registrar and director of operations with the URO. “Now, we are able to consolidate all the information in Slate, in a user-friendly format, making the process more efficient and less error prone.”

The EASI team used foundational work done by the URO, as part of the Canadian Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council (CanPESC) Common Digital Working Group, as a starting point for the standard PDF transcript format.

“The framework, called the Common Digital Layout (CDL), represents a minimally agreed-upon layout determined by the working group, and it’s something that can then be adapted to meet each institutions’ specific needs,” says the project lead, Joseph Minichini, assistant university registrar, policy and projects with the URO. “The EASI team took our foundational work and referenced it for U of T’s purposes. Using the CDL design, staff are now able to see XML transcripts, coming from a variety of institutions, in the same consistent and familiar format, making it easier for them to work with.”

U of T joined the CanPESC working group, led by OUAC, in June 2019 as the pilot institution. The CanPESC promotes adoption of data standards across Canada.

The PDF transcript project builds on U of T’s previous upgrade to OUAC’s transcript exchange to align with new data standards. The update to a modern data format involved an entire rewrite of the data model and application.

“For over two years, my colleague June Cheng worked with EASI staff and the URO to help U of T modernize its electronic transcript exchange,” says Hendrickson. “This update improved data quality and processing efficiency, and it also set the scene for PDF transcripts.”

In June 2022, U of T presented on the XML to PDF transcript solution at a conference hosted by the Association of Registrars of the Universities and Colleges of Canada and the Pan-Canadian Consortium on Admissions & Transfer.

The working group has published resources that other institutions can use to implement their own CDL transcript, and the group will publish an implementation guide in the near future.

“It’s been a very successful project that has improved the admissions process,” says Hendrickson. “It’s been great working with people at EASI as well as the URO and OUAC to ensure we met the different stakeholders’ needs.”

Electronic Funds Transfer Project – Phase 2

Date:  January 12, 2023
To:
Departmental Administrators
From:
Electronic Funds Transfer Project Team
Re: Electronic Funds Transfer Project – Phase 2

 

Dear Departmental Administrators,

In August 2022, the University launched the Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) project to transition vendor payments by paper cheque to direct deposit, offering increased payment speed while reducing processing costs for the University and vendors. In the first phase of the project, 33 Canadian currency vendors were onboarded, based on their transaction volume and spend.

With Phase 1 now complete, we would like to provide you with an update on what you can expect for Phase 2. From February 2023, we will begin an ongoing strategic onboarding of existing U of T vendors to EFT payments – please note vendor numbers will be limited due to capacity and operational requirements. EFT payment runs will continue to run weekly on Tuesdays.

Onboarding Additional Vendors

We are also ready to accept vendor recommendations from the U of T community for consideration. If you have vendors that you would like to suggest for EFT payments, please review the following before submitting your request:

  • Priority will be given to vendors with high transaction volume and spend across the University
  • 1-series vendors only (CAD payments only)
  • Each unit restricted to maximum of 5 vendors for consideration

Submit request >>

While we will make our best efforts to review your suggestions in a timely manner, not all requests may be accommodated as part of Phase 2.

Please stay tuned for more details regarding Phase 2.

For more information on this project, visit the Financial Services EFT page, or email purchasing.help@utoronto.ca.

Sincerely,
EFT Project Team

Reminder: End of support for Windows 8.1

This is a reminder that as of January 10, 2023 Microsoft will no longer provide support for Windows 8.1. This change will have the following impacts: 

  • Microsoft will no longer provide technical assistance and software updates for devices running Windows 8.1. 
  • Microsoft 365 Apps will no longer be supported on Windows 8.1. 
  • OneDrive desktop applications running on Windows 8.1 devices will stop syncing to the cloud. 

Individuals who are currently using Windows 8.1 should upgrade to Windows 10 or 11 to avoid disruption. Users may also back up and protect their files by manually uploading and accessing them on OneDrive online. 

Learn more here:

February 1, 2023 – Count Procedures

Date: January 2, 2023
To: Faculty Registrars
From: Planning Analytics
Re: February 1, 2023 – Count Procedures

 

To assist you in preparing for the February 1 count, please refer to the procedures below.

On the evening of the retrieval date, February 9th, Planning & Budget will run the enrolment retrieval program to extract the records of all students with academic activities in the Winter session, with a Status Effective Date of February 1st.

Key Dates

  • Winter Count Date = Wednesday February 1st
  • Status Effective Date = Wednesday February 1st
  • Winter Count Retrieval Date = Thursday February 9th

The Winter Count Retrieval Date enables divisions extra time to make required updates in ROSI, backdated to the February 1st Registration Status Effective Date. On February 9th, all academic activities that were approved on or before February 1st will be picked up for each student. Academic activities that do not have a status set to APP (approved) on or before the February 1st Status Effective Date will be excluded from the count. You can continue to process ROSI records between February 1st and February 9th and they will be included in the enrolment count if the Status Effective Date has been set to February 1st.

Actions Required

Please perform the following actions prior to February 1st:

  1. Please run the Count-Date Preparation reports in ROSI (direct command 4 B B) as early as you can. These programs will assist you in identifying student records that may require adjustments. Examine the outputs and enter corrections/changes to the student’s record before the retrieval date.
  2. Please run the Registrations Containing Anomalous Data report in ROSI (direct command 4 B B G). This report will assist you in identifying records that may require follow up with students.
  3. Documents supporting the exempt status of international students who have been exempted from paying international fees must be on file with your division and available for reference. To identify international exempt students, please run the Registration Fee Category Overrides report in ROSI (direct command 4 B B D).
  4. Ensure that students’ Legal Status, Country of Citizenship, Permanent Address, Date of Birth, and Mother Tongue is complete.
  5. Please ensure that all Academic Activity Approval dates and Registration Status Effective Dates are set to February 1st or earlier for students who are legitimately in a course but whose ROSI records were not updated until after February 1st. This includes FINCA’d registrations that were later re-instated with a status of REG.

Please perform the following actions after February 9th:

  1. After the count retrieval, you will receive an email notification that your division’s report dataset has been created. Please review these reports. This is an additional check to ensure that no students have been missed.
  2. Before February 15th, please notify us if substantive changes need to be made to your division’s records.

If you have any questions or if you need clarification, please contact Planning & Analytics by email at planning.analytics@utoronto.ca.

EASI Retirements: February 2023

Congratulations to June Cheng, who will be retiring on February 28 after 33 years of dedicated service to U of T.

Over the years, June has been a key member of the Student Information Systems team. She has extensive business and system knowledge in all areas of ROSI and is unmatched in understanding admissions and the complexity of our interaction with OUAC for applications, admissions and transcripts.

Learn more about June below, and please join me in wishing her all the best in the future thanking her for her dedication!

Cathy Eberts
Director Enterprise Applications and Deputy CIO


headshot of June wearing glasses and smiling

June Cheng, Senior Developer and Project Supervisor
Joined U of T: August 1, 1989
Last day of work: January 13, 2023
Retirement: February 28, 2023

Describe your background and how you arrived at EASI
I studied Computer Science, so when I arrived in Canada in 1989, I naturally looked for a programming job. My first job in Canada was for an insurance company, but I switched within a month when I received the offer from U of T. I never regretted quitting that job as I love working here at U of T so much that I stayed for the next 33 years. During that time I didn’t change departments, but the department changed itself – it merged and split so many times that I can’t even keep track of – and I somehow landed with EASI.

I still remember the day I came to U of T for the interview 33 years ago (I think EASI was called SRS). I saw a guy in shorts coming out of the office, holding a coffee pot to get water and I thought he was an office assistance (I guess it’s a culture difference between here and Hong Kong, where I came from). He was actually one of the interviewers and in fact, the Director of the department! People are so casual here and back then “SRS” was a very small and homey environment, and it has now grown so much bigger into an “Enterprise.”

What will you remember most about EASI?
I have always worked on the Student Record System, which I really enjoy. There have been many platform and technology changes over the years, plus there’s unlimited business knowledge so I just could never learn everything. It has been a very fulfilling job. I really love coding (I feel it’s a honeymoon period when I do coding – of course, if there is no deadline – and if I don’t need to test as I hate testing but no luck in skipping that). While we always face challenges and frustrations, I still love this place, the people, and the work, and it had been a true blessing that I could be a part of it.

I love and will dearly miss and remember many of my co-workers from all these years. I was very lucky to come across many nice, intelligent, and dedicated people here: peers/mentors from within SIS and EASI, users from divisions/departments, and even external partners. All the great teamwork and collaborations we just can’t do without. All the thoughtfulness to enhance the system to be more user-friendly for both the users and those who support them. Everyone is so willing to help and teach; they are supportive and encouraging; they remind me of things; keep me honest; share ideas, knowledge, experiences and frustrations; some are my sounding board; and they see when I need help and jump in to rescue me. And there have been tons of treats (and some homemade); and of course all the fun and humor that makes me laugh; and their care that always touches me (both on a professional and personal level). I sincerely think that this place is full of angels and many have become good and dear friends to me.

What will you remember most about U of T?
U of T really gave me a lot of fond memories that can last for a lifetime. I gave 33 years of my work life to U of T, but I’ve gained so much more. I’ve been rewarded with plenty of joyful moments, job satisfaction, knowledge and skills, and loving friends.

I want to thank all of these angels who have shaped me to be me. I really wish them all the best; that they get what they deserve; that people value their opinions and recognize their contributions; provide support and resources that they need; and that they have an abundant and fulfilling life.

I love the campus a lot too (even though I still prefer to wfh sssshhhh). I especially love the old historical architecture (I mean like Hart House, not like 215 Huron!). I also admire the people who create the beautiful landscaping around campus that I enjoy so much during the summer. St. George campus is special, and is blended into many other businesses, condos, and organizations while still keeping its uniqueness. It also gives us a wide variety of good food nearby.

What do you plan to do in retirement?
I’ve got long to-do lists, usually I’ve got one for work and one for life. I can soon happily leave one behind (can I finish them!?) and focus on the other. Though I started to feel that I am losing my excuses to delay some of the life to-do items that I have less interest in doing. I also started to feel more intense family responsibilities now that work responsibilities are subsiding. But we’ve got to do what we have to do.

First things first, I’ll go home (Hong Kong) for a longer visit – I haven’t seen my mom and family in person for three years. I really need to declutter, and get back to some overdue maintenance for my home, yikes. I need to spend more time with my aging parents/in-laws and figure out how best to juggle between two families in two countries too. I will balance my life with some fun stuff hopefully like travelling (since everyone says to travel). Improve my cooking? And possibly learn to bake? Oh, I must get back to my favorite pottery and metal work. Perhaps learn a language so my brain won’t die so fast!?!

I won’t not-do anything…. I’m actually waiting to see what my “calling” may be (spiritual-wise) and see where to “serve”!?!? (I know, that’s a big word), I mean, I want to do something and not being a couch potato, that’s for sure… well….that’s my plan for the time being.