Step ten: enter historic academic records

If your previous system did not store your school's information in a database format, then it couldn't be imported into Populi during implementation. If you'd like to store your historic records in Populi, you'll need to enter them by hand. This tutorial walks you through the best approach to that process.

Keep in mind that this can be a lengthy process, so it is best to first set up your current terms so your school can get the most out of Populi from the get-go.

Why you should enter historic data

Historic academic data has several uses, and though your old system may not have made it possible to bulk-import it into Populi, it's worth your while to enter it manually. Among other things...

• Keeping all of your data in Populi will let you jettison outdated software.
• It will help you clean up errors and omissions from your previous system.
• Past students might need a transcript from you.
• It's included in the price your school pays for Populi!

What you should enter and what you shouldn't

When entering historic records, you are, in essence, building historic student transcripts. Accordingly, the process involved in entering historic data follows similar steps to those you take when you're setting up current or future academic terms. Here are the items you'll be focusing on:

1. Setting up past academic years and terms.
2. Adding the courses you offered in those terms(if necessary, you may need to first add retired courses to your course catalog).
3. Recording student enrollments and audits in those courses.

• Your historic students will need to have the student role temporarily activated in order to enroll them.
• Make sure you have programs and degrees listed for your students to make sure their courses show up on their transcripts.
• Ask a Financial Admin user to set the Start Generating Automatic Charges setting to the term in which your school started using Populi. If that setting isn't used, then Populi will start generating tuition charges for historic students as you enter historic enrollment data.