Hi everyone,

Enterprise Applications & Solutions Integration (EASI) would like to update you on the latest major production releases and updates for the NGSIS program and student systems. From October 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023, EASI completed close to 88 releases for a wide range of applications.

The following are major changes during this timeframe:

New Gender Codes in ROSI (September 2022)
In September 2022, EASI implemented new gender codes in ROSI to reflect changes made by the Ontario Universities Application Centre (OUAC). These changes expanded the gender categories options for applicants and by extension to registered students. Updated ACORN displays were released in mid January and updated ROSI reports were released March 7. The EASI team is now working to modify all remaining associated services and extracts to align with these changes.

Accommodated Testing Services (ATS) – Student and Administrator Launch (January 5, 2023)
In the beginning of March, in partnership with Enterprise Applications and Solutions Integration (EASI), Accommodated Testing Services (ATS) launched enhancements to ACORN allowing students to book requests for accommodated testing via ACORN for assessments written during the whole Exam Period. New functions were also provided to the ATS Admin System that permit ATS staff to maintain some key data required to support students being able to make booking requests through ACORN. ATS also further enhanced a module that will eventually allow staff to coordinate accommodated tests through a new administrative system while instructors continue to submit accommodated test details and documents within the Course Information System.

U of T Student Equity Census (February 21, 2023)
The U of T Student Equity Census is a demographic data collection initiative with a set of seven questions, including questions on gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, Indigenous identity, race and/or ethnocultural identity, and education attainment of parents or guardians. In July 2022, the census was incorporated into ACORN and the Student Information System data environment. On February 21, at the request of the Office of the Vice-Provost – Students, the survey was made compulsory for all students, though students may decline to answer individual questions.

Default to ECOPRINT – PDF Printing (February 27, 2023)
On February 27, 2023, EASI completed changes to the infrastructure that managed physical printing from ROSI. To align with larger efforts in modernization, most physical printing from ROSI transitioned exclusively to PDF printing through ECOPRINT.

Timetable Builder Improvements (February 28, 2023)
The cloud-based Timetable Builder expansion was launched on June 6, 2022 and further improvements were implemented on February 28, 2023. These improvements include, allowing notes management outside of TB start dates and legend, and allowing divisional Calendars to direct users to courses in Timetable Builder. Interface enhancements were implemented, and technical debt was also addressed.

Course Information System (CIS)
The Course Information System streamlines syllabi and exams processes for instructors and administrators. CIS has made the following releases: 

• Launch of the Syllabus Builder Module (November 21, 2022)
  Starting with the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, the new Syllabus Builder module provides instructors with an end-to-end experience for creating their course syllabus document, with the goal of improving the consistency of syllabi across the institution for both students and academic administrators.
• Instructor Imports for Syllabus Builder (March 2, 2023)
  This enhancement to the Syllabus Builder module allows instructors to copy over previously submitted data, to save time and effort when teaching the same or very similar courses over the years.
• UTSC Exam Module Enhancements (March 21, 2023)
  Enhancements to UTSC’s exam modules to improve alignment with business and administrative needs.

BIRT/iHUB Curriculum Management Reports Replaced with Power BI (March 15, 2023)
On March 15, 2023, EASI transitioned all BIRT/iHUB Curriculum Management reports to Power BI. This transition will increase flexibility in developing and modifying reports and allow for cross-application and cross-database reporting. In the future, Power BI reporting will expand to additional reports in various applications.

Hi Everyone,

As some of you may know, changes were recently implemented in the Absence Declaration Reports area in OASIS. Notably, the absence reports are now generated in PowerBI and the Reports window is embedded in OASIS. Please refer to the attached document for details on how you can access and run the reports. Additional help materials will be available in ESC in the near future.

Sincerely,
Student Information Systems

Dear past and present Rocket Shuttle users,

Thank you for taking the time to meet with the Enterprise Applications & Solutions Integration (EASI) team over the past few months to prepare for the Rocket Shuttle Migration. As you are aware, EASI will be replacing Rocket Shuttle with Azure Data Studio and Power BI on May 17, 2023, which aligns with the expiry of U of T’s Rocket Shuttle license.

To avoid any issues with converting queries and transitioning to new applications, we are encouraging most users to prepare well in advance of this deadline and to offboard from Rocket Shuttle by April 6, 2023 (this excludes select users who will be offboarded at the end of license due to business reasons).

To support you in this transition, here are some additional updates and resources: 

• Watch introductory videos for Azure Data Studio and Power BI. We are currently working on intermediate and advanced-level videos and will notify the community when they are complete.

• Drop in for online support on an upcoming Wednesday (March 29, April 5 and April 12) between 2:00 and 3:00 p.m. Find details on the Rocket Shuttle Migration project page.

• Participate in the Power BI & Azure Data Studio Community Channel. We have migrated the ITS EASI RocketWeb User Group into this channel to provide a consistent user experience. If you would like to unsubscribe, simply click on the three dots by the channel name and click “Leave team.”

• For community query users, we are currently testing these queries and will send separate, targeted communications in April when they have been fully validated.

• Visit the Power BI Toolbox and Rocket Shuttle Migration project page for more resources, including a 30-minute presentation, guides, FAQs, links to troubleshooting and more.

Thank you again for your help with this project and ensuring U of T is prepared for the end of the Rocket Shuttle license.

If you have any questions, please contact Katie Babcock at katie.babcock@utoronto.ca.

Dear ROSI Users,

As noted in a communication sent on November 14, 2022, Enterprise Applications & Solutions Integration (EASI) is completing changes to the infrastructure that currently manages physical printing from the ROSI and AMS systems.

On February 27, 2023, most ROSI outputs will transition exclusively to PDF printing. The Destination/Printer popup in ROSI will default to ECOPRINT. To open, save, or print the output, navigate to ROSI Files and open the folder with your ROSI ID then open the ECOPRINT folder.

For details, view the Printing section of  the Getting Started page on the Student Information Systems SharePoint site. You can also view a past Connect+Learn session on Printing to PDF in ROSI.

Documents in ROSI Files are automatically purged after 30 days. Files that need to be retained should be moved to a secure location (e.g., locked filing cabinet if printed, secure departmental server or SharePoint if retained in electronic form).

Please note, some ROSI users are occasionally encountering an issue with ROSI Files where a “Proxy Error” is returned. This has been reported to the vendor of the platform (Crush) on which ROSI Files sits. Users who receive this error should try opening ROSI Files in a private browser or incognito window (or clear their browser cookies).

Sincerely,
Student Information Systems

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

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