Student File Semester Maintenance - Next Semester Creation Rules tab (Next Year Process)

Use the Next Semester Creation Rules tab to define which tables are transferred across when you create a new term or semester. This task is usually performed when you install and set up Synergetic.
For every reporting period (semester or term) you have at your organisation, you need to identify tables that you want to carry over from the previous reporting period.

Tip: After you have set up all your rules, print them out or record them as a backup in case the defaults are accidentally loaded.

Defining rules for transferring tables

To set up the rules for transferring tables across when you create new term or semester creation rules:

Select Module > Students > File Semester Maintenance from the main menu.
The Student File Semester Maintenance window is displayed.
Tip: You can also access the file semester maintenance functions by clicking .
Click the Next Semester Creation Rules tab.
The Next Semester Creation Rules tab of the Student File Semester Maintenance window is displayed.
Decide what areas of Synergetic you are using and the tables used in each of these. For example, courses, student classes or timetable definitions. See Commonly defined table transfer rules in this topic.
Determine the number of entries for each table.
Note: The number of entries for each campus, file type and table name combination must correspond to the number of reporting periods your organisation is set up for, based on terms or semesters. See Example of setting up entries in this topic.
Determine the file types that need special treatment. For example, if you are using a timetabling program, consider whether you are going to transfer academic classes.
Click and type in each of the entries.
Click .

Example of setting up entries
For each table you want to transfer, you must create one entry for each term or semester.
For example, with the SubjectClasses table shown above, if you have four terms, you set up one entry for each term.

Table Name	To Sem	From Yr Adj	From Sem	Result
SubjectClasses	1	-1	1	Previous term 1 classes copied to term 1 in new academic year.
SubjectClasses	2	-1	2	Previous term 2 classes copied to term 2 in new academic year.
SubjectClasses	3	-1	3	Previous term 3 classes copied to term 3 in new academic year.
SubjectClasses	4	-1	4	Previous term 4 classes copied to term 4 in new academic year.

Example of transferring co-curricular classes but not academic classes
The following example highlights how to transfer co-curricular classes but not academic classes from one semester to the next. The is defined for classes linked to file type M (music).
You might use this feature if you import your academic classes from a timetabling program but you need your music classes to be copied from term to term within Synergetic.

Table Name	To Sem	From Yr Adj	From Sem	File Type	Result
StudentClasses	1	-1	4	M	Previous term 4 classes copied to term 1 of new Synergetic year.
StudentClasses	2	0	1	M	Term 1 of current year (from Yr Adj = 0) copied to term 2 of same year.
StudentClasses	3	0	2	M	Term 2 of current year classes copied to term 3 of same year.
StudentClasses	4	0	3	M	Term 3 of current year classes copied to term 4 of same year.

Commonly defined table transfer rules
Most organisations define the following rules when creating next semester:
Note: All of the tables listed below have different file types within them. For example, academic, music, sports and so on. You should ensure that each file type used at your organisation is covered.

Table	Description	Typical rules
StudentClasses	Which student is doing which class (either academic or co-curricular)?	Usually do not transfer academic classes as these are imported from timetabling program. Transfer other file types to the next period. For example, transfer music or co-curricular file types to the next period.
SubjectClasses	Definitions of the classes. For example, code, description class type and so on.	Transfer all file types to the next period. For example, you might elect to transfer the details of an academic class to semester 1 from semester 1 of the previous year.
Subject-Assessments-Areas	Subject assessment rules and assessment areas.	Transfer all file types to the next period. For example, you might elect to transfer the details of an academic class to Sem 1 from Sem 1 of the previous year. Usually only used for academic classes with a file type of A.
Staff-Assessment-MarkBook	Staff members' personal mark books for each class that they teach.	Either: transfer to the next period do not transfer transfer from the same period last year, for example semester 1 to semester 1.
Timetable-Definition	Timetable definition rules.	Transfer all file types to the next period.
Timetable	Actual timetable, which is not normally transferred to a new academic year. However, can be from term to term or semester.	If importing from a timetabling program, select courses not transferred. That is, no rules are required.
Courses	Courses defined in Course Maintenance, if any.	Not transferred. That is, no rules are required.
StudentCourses	Which student is doing which course, if any.	Not transferred. That is, no rules are required.

Student File Semester Maintenance - Next Semester Creation Rules tab key fields and buttons
Grid area fields

Field	Description
Campus	Campus. For example, Junior or Senior. Note: Leave the Campus field blank to apply the rule to all campuses.
File Type	Academic or co-curricular classes. For example, A, M, S and so on. Note: Leave the FileType field blank to apply the rule to all file types.
Table Name	Name and description of the tables transferred.
	Table	Description
	Courses	This table contains the list of any external courses you have defined in Course Maintenance. Note: Most organisations do not use this table.
	StaffAssessmentMarkBook	This table contains the staff member's personal mark book for each class that they teach. This is maintained in Staff Maintenance and in Student Results Maintenance.
	StudentAssessmentPrintFlags	This table contains details of the print flags for student assessments. This is maintained in Student Results Maintenance.
	StudentClasses	This table contains details of the students enrolled in each class. This is maintained in: Current Student Maintenance - Classes tab in the Current students manual Class Maintenance - Students tab in the Assessments and reports manual. A class can be an academic class or a co-curricular class.
	StudentCourses	This table contains details of the students enrolled in external courses. This is maintained on the Courses tab of Student Maintenance. Note: Most organisations do not use this.
	SubjectAssessmentAreas	This table contains the assessment rules for the assessable areas. This is maintained in Subject Assessment Maintenance.
	SubjectClassDefaultPrintFlags	This table contains details of the print flags for subject classes. This is maintained in Subject Assessment Maintenance.
	SubjectClasses	This table contains the definitions of classes. The description is linked to an assessment code, then linked to a learning area. This is maintained in Class Maintenance.
	Timetable	This table contains the actual timetable, including period, times and days. Note: Most organisations import their timetable from specialised timetabling software packages.
	SubjectClassResultGroups	This table contains result groups for assessment areas. This is maintained in Subject Assessment Maintenance.
	TimetableDefinition	This table contains the timetable definition rules, including class, day and period. These are maintained on the Timetable Definition tab of Timetable Maintenance.
To Sem	Reporting period the files are being transferred to.
From Yr Adj	Year the files are being transferred from. Note: If the From Yr Adj is 0, it denotes the current year and if the From Yr Adj is -1, it denotes the previous year.
From Sem	Reporting period the files are being transferred from. Note: If the From Sem value is 0, it denotes that it is not to be copied. You can delete the entry; however there can be circumstances where you want to keep the information even though you are not transferring anything. For example, you could use this if you want to import academic classes from the timetabling program but transfer co-curricular classes from one semester to the next.

Buttons

Button

Description

Add new transfer rule.

Delete the highlighted transfer rule.

Load the default rules for creating the next semester.

Tip: After you have set up all your rules, print them out or record them as a backup in case the defaults are accidentally loaded.To record the details in Microsoft Excel, right click in the grid and select Copy Grid Contents to Excel. Also, if you have access to MSQuery, you can print the data from the FileSemesterNextRules table in the Synergetic database.