Issue Summary
MaineStreet coding issues have been identified by UMS IR for Veterans and Dependents. There are a number of fields used to identify these students, as well as a number of different means of identification. In addition, information can continue to be added to MaineStreet over the course of a semester, and even retroactively applied to a completed semester, causing inconsistencies depending on timing.
Veterans and dependents are identified by optional self-reporting and a variety of tuition assistance programs. Different types of tuition waivers are recorded and even described differently across institutions.
July 2021 Proposal Forum
Resources
Veterans Coding proposal
Proposal Forum Presentations Slides presented by Justin Young
Proposal Summary
The goal of this proposal is to create a centralized mechanism for identifying UMS students as Veterans and/or Dependents. The current methodology for identifying these groups of students includes querying multiple data sources, evaluating those sources, and combining the results, which is a time-consuming process that can also lead to variances and inaccuracies across multiple analyses.
It is our goal with this project to create a new table/view with simple Veteran or Dependent status, and make this view available in PeopleSoft Query.
The benefits of creating this single data field with an authoritative indicator of Veteran or Dependent status are multiple for both staff and students alike. Students will be more readily identifiable as a Veteran or a Dependent, and may benefit from appropriate programming and funding as a result. In addition, students’ data will be more secure as it will be processed by IT integrations and made available through secured access in PeopleSoft only to those employees with the appropriate access. Staff and faculty supporting Veterans and Dependents through programming, funding, advising, etc. will have increased assurance that all Veterans and Dependents have been identified. Finally, those who regularly gather data and report out on these populations will be able to do so almost instantly, and with confidence that the data is accurate.
Background
There are increasing needs for the rapid and accurate identification of Veteran and Dependent students. While these requests are currently being fulfilled by School Certifying Officials, by campus or system IR personnel, or by IT data specialists, the process of gathering multiple data sources and bringing them together is cumbersome and invariably leads to differences in reported numbers of Veterans and Dependents.
Solution & Next Steps
- Gather criteria from multiple data sources to accurately identify Veterans & Dependents
- Build mini data mart to access relevant data & evaluate student status
- Import resulting data set into PeopleSoft for access in PS Query
Comments & Questions
- This appears to be an effective, simple, and straightforward solution
- Question regarding timeframe for querying:
- Justin has always looked at all history; timing could be dependent on when someone is receiving benefits
- Usage of residency exception: it does not tell you specifically veteran or dependent, but only that they are one or the other….
- Very few students fall into the category of having a residency exception and not having any other data indicating veteran or dependent