Features for Scheduling:
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Color-coded time slots make it easy to spot open appointments, walk-in time and
activities. |
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Schedules may be displayed by advisor showing multiple dates for the same advisor,
by date showing multiple advisors for the same date, and by advisor specialty. |
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Individual and Group appointments and other activity time slots may be set at
standard lengths, but they may also be lengthened. |
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Group appointment capacities are user-defined. |
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Users can search for appointment slots by selected days of the week, times of the
day, advisor specialty, or by next available appointment slot. |
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Walk-in feature is used to register walk-in students and place them in a queue for
services, assign them to an advisor, and calculate waiting time. |
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Walk-in registration and appointment booking feature triggers warning messages if
any potentially conflicting appointments are found in the database. |
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Students can be assigned to specific advisors by last name grouping or special
population group (e.g., veterans or athletes). |
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A log of student appointments and walk-ins enables users to find a student's
current and historical activities. |
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Attendance (show/no show) can be marked quickly and easily. |
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Search for student by name, even when the student ID is not known. |
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A meeting-maker component finds commonly available time slots for meetings.
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Features for Advisors:
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MY GRID - a special screen for advisors - shows detailed schedule and appointment
information. |
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Reports of an advisor's own schedule can be printed or displayed for one or
multiple days. |
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Notepad feature makes it convenient for advisors to view and record notes about
students. |
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Receive notification of appointment arrival at time of check-in via instant
messaging feature. |
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Pop-up alerts warn advisors and schedulers of critical information. |
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Walk-in feature allows advisors to select students to be seen and send a notice
for the student to proceed to the advisor's room. |
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Additional contacts can be simply tallied. |
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Additional Information feature provides for viewing and entering demographic
information about students (e.g., major, veteran status, international Student status, matriculation date, etc.). |
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An integrated e-mail component provides for easy communication with students. |
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Schedules can be exported to advisors' Outlook calendars. |
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Web-accessible feature allows advisors to work with their schedules off-site.
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Features for Students:
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Appointment reminders may be printed as labels or on paper or sent via e-mail. |
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A web-enabled feature allows
students to make, change, view or cancel their own appointments. (SSL certificate is highly recommended to enhance security.) |
| • |
A Public Viewer Waiting List in walk-in sites keeps students updated on their
waiting status.
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Reporting Features:
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A multitude of standardized reports include operational, statistical, system
administration, and table reports. |
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Reports can be viewed on screen, printed or exported. |
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End-users can create their own reports using a third-party reporting tool.
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System Administration and Set-Up Features:
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Each department can design its unique parameters (e.g., appointment parameters,
codes for appointment and non-appointment activities, codes describing reasons for service, and more). |
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Each department controls access to its own schedules and student data. Access
can be assigned to users based on their roles and the desired level of access, all of which can be individually established on a department by
department basis. |
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An Import/Export feature allows colleges to import and export student data
between external data sources and SARS·GRID. |
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Multiple student ID formats are supported. |
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Instant Messaging (SARS·CHAT) component can be set up for notifying
advisors of appointment arrivals, broadcasting messages, and enabling other send/receive chat functions. |
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Works with all versions of Microsoft SQL server database. |
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Includes a built-in interface to Datatel, PeopleSoft, SunGard Higher Education's
Banner Digital Campus, and Microsoft Outlook. |
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Works with bar code readers. |
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Automated updates keep the system current. |
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System can support foreign country information.
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Add-on Component:
An optional Text Messaging component is available. Use it to notify students of their position on a waiting list for walk-in
visits, to alert students that an advisor is ready to see them, to send confirmations of future appointments, and to send notifications of
same-day appointments up to two hours in advance of a scheduled appointment.
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SARS·GRID Benefits
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Increases scheduling efficiency. |
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Maximizes staff resources. |
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Prevents scheduling conflicts. |
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Reduces no-show rate. |
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Minimizes unnecessary paperwork. |
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Captures valuable income-enhancing data for maximized reimbursement to the college. |
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Improves service to students.
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The SARS·GRID Screen
The SARS·GRID Scheduling and Reporting System offers a flexible on-screen grid display for making, modifying, and
canceling appointments. SARS·GRID uses a row and column format, where rows display time slots and columns display switchable data views
(either by date or by advisor names). Look at the
Basic SARS·GRID Screen to see a sample representation of information in the rows and columns.
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SARS·GRID System Requirements
SARS·GRID is installed on a server and accessed by client computers.
For the Text Messaging option, colleges must have text messaging hardware and a text plan that we support. Contact us for more information.
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Software:
SARS·GRID is written in Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 and uses ADO/ODBC to access its database. SARS·GRID has been tested and deployed with Microsoft
SQL Server. Several different third party OCXs are used to enhance the capability of Visual Basic. Microsoft SQL Server is supplied by the
college.
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Client Workstation (Minimum System Requirements):
|
| Operating System: |
Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7 |
| Computer: |
Pentium IV 600 MHz or higher |
| Memory: |
At least 1 GB of main system memory |
Disk Space:
|
At least 80 MB of hard disk storage
|
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File/Database Server (Minimum System Requirements):
|
SARS·GRID works with any Windows-compatible network. It has been successfully tested on Novell, Windows 2000 - 2008 Server operating
systems with Microsoft SQL Server. The system has an initial requirement of 80 megabytes of disk space per application, but requires additional disk space
as the data stored in the system grows. The system does not require a dedicated server.
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Web Client Computer (Minimum System Requirements):
|
Any device that is capable of accessing the college's web site, such as a personal computer (PC or Macintosh), a school-based kiosk, or other web-access
devices.
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Web Server (Minimum System Requirements):
|
| • |
A server at the college must be running Windows 2000 - 2008 Server and IIS. |
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The server must support ASP (Active Server Page) and ActiveX. |
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The server must have access to the SARS·GRID database. |
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An SSL certificate will enhance security and is highly recommended.
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The SARS·GRID Package
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One SARS·GRID site license usable by an unlimited number of departments,
and even branch campuses, of a single college/university |
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One copy of SARS·GRID software |
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One copy of SARS·GRID documentation |
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On screen help integrated within SARS·GRID |
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One full year of SARS·GRID upgrades |
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One full year of support via phone, fax, e-mail or internet |
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SARS·GRID is an easy-to-use appointment scheduling software package for student service offices. It has a colorful, intuitive row and column structure for easy
viewing and updating. It also has a walk-in component to register and track unscheduled visits and is web-enabled for students to manage their own appointments and for
advisors to work with their own schedules off-site. Users include advisors, counselors, schedulers, students and administrators. Perfect for multiple users in both
centralized locations and multiple de-centralized locations and departments. Each department can create its own unique scheduling criteria.