Sams Help v2

Student Attendance Monitoring System (SAMS)
User Guide
PTK October 2012 Version 2.11
Contents
1 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................... 4 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 2 IMPORTANT NOTE REGARDING OVERNIGHT PROCESSING .............................................................................. 4 CHANGES FOR THE 2013 ACADEMIC YEAR .......................................................................................................... 4 CHANGES FOR THE 2012 ACADEMIC YEAR .......................................................................................................... 5 CHANGES FOR THE 2011 ACADEMIC YEAR .......................................................................................................... 5 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ........................................................................................................................................... 5
ACCESS AND SETUP ............................................................................................................ 6 2.1 ASTRA MODULE PREPARATION ............................................................................................................................ 6 2.1.1 AStRA permissions. ....................................................................................................................................... 6 2.1.2 AStRA Module Configuration ..................................................................................................................... 6 2.2 REGISTERING FOR ACCESS TO THE SAMS WEBSITE ........................................................................................... 8 2.2.1 Existing AStRA users ..................................................................................................................................... 8 2.2.2 Registering for access .................................................................................................................................... 8 2.2.3 Accessing the website ................................................................................................................................... 8 2.3 CUSTOMISING THE SAMS WEBSITE........................................................................................................................ 9 2.3.1 User Preferences............................................................................................................................................ 9 2.3.2 How to Enable and Disable attendance recording for activities....................................................... 10
3 4
SAMS HEADER BAR AND MENU ...................................................................................... 11 SAMS HOME PAGE ............................................................................................................. 13 4.1 4.2 STUDENT REGISTER ................................................................................................................................................ 14 SEMINAR REGISTER ................................................................................................................................................. 15
STUDENTS MENU............................................................................................................... 16 5.1 ABSENCES PENDING DECISIONS .......................................................................................................................... 16 5.1.1 Absences for a student ............................................................................................................................... 17 5.1.2 Absences for an Activity............................................................................................................................. 18 5.2 ACCEPTED ABSENCES ............................................................................................................................................ 19 5.3 ENTER ABSENCE FOR STUDENT ........................................................................................................................... 21
MODULES MENU ................................................................................................................ 22 6.1 PENDING ATTENDANCE RECORDS ..................................................................................................................... 22 6.1.1 Update Attendance for Lectures and Practicals ................................................................................... 23 6.1.2 Update Attendance for Seminars ............................................................................................................. 25 6.2 COMPLETED ATTENDANCE RECORDS ................................................................................................................ 27
TIMETABLE MENU.............................................................................................................. 28 7.1 WEEKLY TIMETABLE ............................................................................................................................................... 28 7.1.1 Adding a new timetable activity ................................................................................................................ 30 7.1.2 Moving a timetable activity......................................................................................................................... 31 7.1.3 Cancelling a timetable activity ................................................................................................................... 32 7.2 ADMIN LIST ............................................................................................................................................................. 33 7.2.1 Admin List Results ....................................................................................................................................... 35
7.2.1.1 7.2.1.2 7.2.1.3 Viewing the Student Register. ...........................................................................................................36 Setting Attendance Recording. .........................................................................................................36 Adding, Moving and Cancelling activities...........................................................................................36
REPORTS MENU .................................................................................................................. 37 8.1 ATTENDANCE REPORTS ........................................................................................................................................ 37 8.1.1 Department List Report ............................................................................................................................. 38
8.1.1.1 Department List Result Screen .........................................................................................................39
Student Attendance Monitoring System User Guide
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8.1.1.2 8.1.1.3
Student List Report ..........................................................................................................................41 Student List Result Screen ...............................................................................................................42
8.1.2
Module List Report ...................................................................................................................................... 44
8.2 8.2.1 Absence Timeline Report Result Screen................................................................................................ 48 8.3 ATTENDANCE GRID REPORT ............................................................................................................................... 50 8.3.1 Attendance Grid Report Result Screen.................................................................................................. 51 8.4 TUTEE REPORT........................................................................................................................................................ 52 8.5 UKBA REPORT ....................................................................................................................................................... 54 8.5.1 UKBA Report Results Screen ................................................................................................................... 55 8.5.2 Exporting results from the UKBA Report ............................................................................................. 56 9 9.1 9.2 FAQS........................................................................................................................................................................ 57 HINTS, TIPS AND TRICKS....................................................................................................................................... 59
8.1.2.1 Module List Result Screen ................................................................................................................45 ABSENCE TIMELINE REPORT.................................................................................................................................. 47
FAQS, HINTS, TIPS, TRICKS AND TROUBLESHOOTING ............................................. 57
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1 Introduction
The Aberystwyth Student Attendance Monitoring System (SAMS) is a facility to aid departments in the monitoring of students attendance. This document provides an introduction to the SAMS user interface, information about setting up modules, and descriptions of how to use each SAMS screen. Any queries or problems can be sent to bisstaff@aber.ac.uk.
1.1 Important Note Regarding Overnight Processing

The SAMS system draws in data from many parts of the student record database (which is also used by AStRA). Due to the volumes of data involved certain processes take place overnight when the system is being used by few people. These updates cover such things as repopulating the student web timetable with new data, updating staff lists from AStRA to SAMS (i.e. who has access to which module), processing staffcreated absences and so on. Actions which relate purely to the SAMS database take place instantly so authorising an absence, recording attendance, and updating the admin list take place in real time. If you have any questions or problems regarding the speed of processing within SAMS, please contact bisstaff@aber.ac.uk.
1.2 Changes for the 2013 academic year

A new UKBA report has been added, to allow easier reporting of attendance for students who require visas on a per-department basis. CSV export of this report has also been added as a trial and could be expanded to other reports if there is demand for it. The timetabling system is being overhauled, so there may be occasional disruptions or unplanned modifications to SAMS during this year. However all data that have been entered will be retained. Timetable updates are being made more frequently during 2013, but at the time of writing the SAMS updates still take place overnight.
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Some simple graphing has been added to some of the attendance reports. This is an experiment to see if anyone finds this useful. Please provide any feedback via bisstaff@aber.ac.uk. A new tutee report allows a staff member to easily find data on their tutees. Add, move and delete functionality has been added back to SAMS to allow you to manipulate lecture details changes you make will be reflected on the students timetables.

There have been a number of recent changes to SAMS: A new academic year chooser at the top of the screen. This allows you to view/edit data for the current year, and for every previous year for which attendance data has been recorded. A new User Preferences screen which allows individual users to choose whether they wish to see certain information when they log into SAMS. This is useful, for example if you are involved with a module but are not responsible for recording attendance for it. Pagination of results. Previously large amounts of data were displayed as a long list which could generate large pages. Now we have moved to a paged system for most information. Pages can be scrolled through using the controls under the data which are similar to many other websites. Cancel and movement of activities has been disabled until further notice Module setup in AStRA has been improved with the addition of new checkboxes to control attendance recording. Some screen text changes have been made to clarify certain functions of the system. Contextual help links have been added to each SAMS page allowing a quick way to see how to use any screen. Numerous other user interface improvements have also been made.
1.5 System Requirements

SAMS is accessed via the web, and ideally your browser should allow cookies and JavaScript for the best user experience. The site will always work with Internet Explorer, but should also work with most modern browsers. Please report any issues that you find to bisstaff@aber.ac.uk
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2 Access and Setup

In order to enable attendance recording for modules, appropriate users must be given the necessary AStRA or SAMS access, and roles on the desired modules. The type of attendance to be recorded for each module must also be specified (by default recording for all activities will be enabled).
2.1 AStRA Module Preparation

2.1.1 AStRA permissions.
In order to prepare modules, you must have access to AStRA with the following roles: ASTRA_MODS 2.1.2 AStRA Module Configuration
To configure modules in AStRA, you use screen SMF010, accessed from the Modules -> Modules menu:
Any users that are required to record or view attendance via SAMS must have a role on the module. Each of the following three roles allows a user to view all attendance data for the module, authorise absences and record attendance information. It doesnt matter which one you choose as far as SAMS is concerned, as long as one of these is assigned to an appropriate user. Roles are normally assigned by departmental administration staff. 01 02 08 Lecturer Tutor Attendance Dept Admin
The module coordinator can also access the attendance data for a module. They do not have to have an additional role on the module (but often do).
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Once these roles have been saved against the module, click on the Additional Information tab. The following screen is displayed.
By default each activity will be selected for attendance recording, you can untick any that you dont require and save the form again if needed. Note that any changes made to this form wont appear in SAMS until the following day.
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2.2 Registering for Access to the SAMS Website

2.2.1 Existing AStRA users
If you already use AStRA, and have ASTRA_STUDENTS access, you will be able to use SAMS without any further registration. This has been introduced to make it easier for staff that already have access to student data to view and amend attendance monitoring data also. Please note: If you are NOT a module coordinator, or DONT have any of the three roles required for SAMS access on any module, you will NOT be able to log into SAMS. 2.2.2 Registering for access
If you do NOT have the AStRA access mentioned above, you must register for access using the link on the BIS homepage before you can log into SAMS: http://www.aber.ac.uk/en/is/bis/ Click on Registering for Access and choose attendance monitoring for the form type. 2.2.3 Accessing the website
The SAMS website is located at: https://sams.aber.ac.uk/ It is accessible to any user, and does NOT require any VPN connections either from inside or outside of the university network. Use your normal university credentials to log in to the site. You do not need to specify any domains.
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2.3 Customising the SAMS website

2.3.1 User Preferences
At the top of the screen on every SAMS page is the Preferences link. Clicking on this displays the user preferences page:
This page allows the user to refine the information that theyre shown on their SAMS homepage and throughout other pages of the system. To indicate whether you wish to see timetable, attendance and absence data for a particular module, just click the appropriate yes or no buttons then click on submit to save your preferences. Information about the specified activities will then be hidden from you. At any time you can return to this page and enable items again as required. By default all activities for all modules for which you have a role will be selected as yes.
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2.3.2
How to Enable and Disable attendance recording for activities.
Any user can select Timetable -> Admin List to view information about all the activities for all the modules for which they have a role. The page will be described more fully in its own section but the important thing to know here is that you can use it to enable or disable attendance recording on an activity by activity basis.
You can also override AStRA settings here. So if for example a module has not been configured to record attendance for lectures, you can specify that it does, using this page. Note that this will affect all people who can see this module within SAMS (i.e. it is not a setting that is private to your username).
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3 SAMS Header Bar and Menu

The SAMS header bar appears at the top of all pages on the SAMS website, and can be used as a quick way to navigate between all of the available functions that the site offers.
At the very top of the page are shown the following links: User Guide This link will take you to the appropriate section of this document relating to the page on which it was clicked. The (PDF Version) link will download the full user guide in a PDF file. Academic Year Use this drop-down list to specify the academic year that you want to work with. By default it will be the current academic year and normally this is what youd require. However it is possible to change to previous academic years in order to inspect the data there if required. Preferences This link takes you to the User Preferences page where you can specify whether you want to view certain information against your modules. The main use is to hide information for modules that youre not interested in (if, for example someone else has to record attendance for them). Cymraeg (English) Clicking this link swaps the system language between Welsh and English. Logout (Login) If youre logged in this link logs you out from the system.
The blue menu bar contains the main menu items for the system. The first item has only one option Home. Clicking it will always take you back to the main SAMS homepage. The other menus all pop up a list of options when they are clicked. In summary, these are: Students: Absences Pending Decisions This displays a page where you can see all the outstanding reasons for absence (whether entered by the student or a staff member), where this has not yet been accepted or rejected. Accepted Absences This displays a page where you can see all the absences that have been either accepted or rejected Page 11 of 59
Enter Absence for Student This displays a page where you can enter a reason for an absence on a students behalf, and also accept or reject it.
Modules: Pending Attendance Records This displays a page listing all activities for which attendance must be recorded, but has not yet been done so. Completed Attendance Records This displays a page listing all activities for which attendance has been recorded.
Timetable: Weekly Timetable This displays a view of a timetable containing all the activities for the modules that you can view through SAMS Admin List This displays a page which enables you to modify whether attendance is recorded for specific activities.
Reports: Attendance Reports This displays a page from which you can run various reports to view statistics about attendance across all modules in your department (if required). Absence Timeline Report This displays a timeline report for a given student. Enter the student reference number or email, and receive a list of all the reported absences for that student, whether authorised or not. The students reason for absence (if provided) is also shown. Attendance Grid Report This is a report of a students attendance across a range of modules, presented in a grid format. Hover the mouse cursor over any attendance value to see who recorded attendance for that activity in SAMS. Start date and End Date are optional and if specified, must be in the format: "DD-MMYYYY". Tutee Report This is a report containing any students who are recorded on SAMS who are also tutees of the logged in user. It displays the same information as the department report. UKBA Report This is a report containing students who require visas on a per-department basis. There is a requirement to report attendance for such students. Results from this report can be exported to CSV/Excel format.
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4 SAMS Home Page
The SAMS homepage is split into three main sections. It is intended to be a summary of relevant data. Full data can be found by using the menu options which will be described later. On this summary page, each section operates in a paged mode in that only a few items from the whole list are displayed at any one time, but all items can be seen by clicking on the different page numbers under each list. Shortcuts are provided to jump to the start and the end of the list also. The Timetable section displays a list of all the activities that are taking place from today onwards. These are the activities for all modules that the user is linked to via AStRA and their SAMS preferences. It will contain all activities up to the end of the current academic year. The register for each activity can be seen by clicking on the View Register link for that activity. If the activity is a seminar, then the seminar group is also shown. Clicking on the seminar group name will display a register for just that group. Clicking on register for a seminar shows all students in all groups of that seminar. The Attendance & Absence Records section shows all activities that have now passed, and for which attendance has not yet been recorded. Attendance can be viewed or recorded by clicking on the Update Attendance link for a given activity. Activities will remain on this list until attendance has been recorded for each student. There is also a Cancel link which allows you to cancel attendance recording for this activity (it does not cancel the activity from the timetable!) The Absences Pending Decisions section contains a list of all student absences which have not yet been either accepted or rejected. Once an absence has been decided upon and the decision recorded, it will be removed from this list. All pending absences for a student can be viewed by clicking on the View Student link for that student. All pending absences for an activity can be viewed by clicking on the View Activity link for that activity. Student Attendance Monitoring System User Guide Page 13 of 59
4.1 Student Register

When you click the View Register link against an activity on the home page (or on the admin list page) a screen similar to the following is displayed.
The main use for this screen is to allow a lecturer to print it out and use it for recording attendance during Lectures. For Seminars, it contains every student in every seminar group.
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4.2 Seminar Register

When you click a seminar group name in the timetable section, a screen similar to the following is displayed.
This screen displays a register for only the students in the selected seminar group.
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5 Students Menu
This menu contains options relating to students taking activities such as lectures, seminars and practicals.
5.1 Absences Pending Decisions

This menu option displays the following screen:
This is a list of all absences that have either been entered by a student via their online student record, or by a staff member through the Enter Absence For Student menu option (see below). If the list is long, it is split into pages, which can be accessed using the numbered links underneath. There are also shortcuts to the start and the end of the list if required. The list is currently sorted in ascending date order. The list can be filtered to show only a given student by entering their email address in the text box and clicking on Filter By Email. The list can also be filtered to show only students on a specified module and clicking Filter by Module Code. To display all students once more, click on Clear Filters
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5.1.1
Absences for a student
To view all absences that have been recorded by a student or by a staff member for that student, click on the View Student link for that student. This displays the following page:
You can choose whether to accept or reject any absences that are shown on the screen. To save your choices press the submit button. If you need to contact a student, you can click on their email ID, which will cause your email software to create a new blank email to that student (depending on system configuration. Standard Windows PCs with Microsoft Outlook will work). Your decision on the absence will be reflected on the attendance reports run from SAMS (see below). Also, the student will be able to view a mini attendance report on their own online student record. Two links are also included under the submit button. Back to Summary Page takes you back to the SAMS Home page, and Back to Absences Pending Decisions takes you to the main absences list.
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5.1.2
Absences for an Activity
To view all absences recorded for a particular activity, click on the View Activity link for that activity. This displays the following page:
You can choose whether to accept or reject any absences that are shown on the screen. To save your choices press the submit button. If you need to contact a student, you can click on their email ID, which will cause your email software to create a new blank email to that student (depending on system configuration. Standard Windows PCs with Microsoft Outlook will work). Your decision on the absence will be reflected on the attendance reports run from SAMS (see below). Also, the student will be able to view a mini attendance report on their own online student record. Two links are also included under the submit button. Back to Summary Page takes you back to the SAMS Home page, and Back to Absences Pending Decisions takes you to the main absences list.
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5.2 Accepted Absences

It contains a list of all absences that have been accepted or rejected for the modules with which you have been associated with SAMS. If the list is long, it is split into pages, which can be accessed using the numbered links underneath. There are also shortcuts to the start and the end of the list if required. The list is currently sorted in descending date order. The list can be filtered to show only a given student by entering their email address in the text box and clicking on Filter By Email. Similarly it can also be filtered to specific module codes. To display all students once more, click on Clear Filters
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To view information about a particular absence, click on the View link next to the appropriate activity or student. This will display the following screen:
This screen simply shows all absences for that student/activity and the user id of the person who accepted or rejected it. A link is provided to display an attendance report for the student if required. Note that this screen will also include absences that were allowed by a user via the attendance recording screens. If the user has not recorded any notes against that absence, then the reason field will be blank. Note also that this screen will only contain absences for modules that you can personally view via SAMS. Attendance reports will include modules from other departments or maintained by other tutors, but you can only view details for modules with which you are associated.
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5.3 Enter Absence for Student

This screen allows you to enter a reason for absence on behalf of a student if they are unable to do it for themselves. You must specify the students email address, the start and end date (and optionally, time) of the period of absence, and a reason. Additional notes can be added if required. Press the submit button to save your changes. A new entry [or entries if a period of absence has been entered] will appear in the absences pending decisions list after overnight processing has taken place.
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6 Modules Menu
This menu contains options relating to modules, namely pending and completed attendance records.
6.1 Pending Attendance Records

It displays information about activities which have occurred, but have not yet had attendance recorded from them. Activities will remain in this list until attendance has been set for every student on that particular activity. Seminars are shown with the first date of the first meeting of that seminar that week. If the list is long, it is split into pages, which can be accessed using the numbered links underneath. There are also shortcuts to the start and the end of the list if required. The list can also be filtered by module, by entering the module code into the text box and clicking on Filter by module code. To clear the filter and display all modules, click on the Clear Filter button. To update or view attendance information for a specific activity, click on the Update Attendance link next to that activity. This will display one of two screens, depending on whether the activity was a Lecture or Practical, or a Seminar. To cancel attendance recording for an activity click on the cancel link, and click ok on the confirmation dialog. Note that this only cancels attendance recording, it doesnt cancel the activity from the timetable itself! Student Attendance Monitoring System User Guide Page 22 of 59
6.1.1
Update Attendance for Lectures and Practicals
When you click on Update Attendance for a Lecture or a Practical, the following screen is displayed:
This screen lists all students who should have attended the lecture or practical, their email Ids, and a set of radio buttons and links that can be used to record attendance as follows: Attended Click this radio button to mark a student as having attended the activity. Set All Attended Click this link to mark all students as having attended the activity (only for students that havent previously had attendance saved via this screen). Did Not Attend Click this radio button to mark a student as having missed the activity. Set All Absent Click this link to mark all students as having missed the activity (only for students that havent previously had attendance saved via this screen). Excused Click this radio button to mark a student has having been excused from the activity. Page 23 of 59
Set All Authorised Click this link to mark all students as having been excused from the activity (only for students that havent previously had attendance saved via this screen). Notes Use this field to record any notes that you wish to make against a particular student on this activity. These notes are shown when you view completed attendance records. Deselect All Clicking this link will de-select all radio buttons and reset the screen so that no attendance has been marked for any students (only for students that havent previously had attendance saved via this screen).
Once you have made all your attendance selections, press the Submit button. This will store your decisions. Note that you dont HAVE to record attendance for all students straight away. The activity will stay on the Pending Attendance List until all students have had attendance recorded. So you can go back and finish recording at a later time if you wish.
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6.1.2
Update Attendance for Seminars
When you click on Update Attendance for a Seminar, the following screen is displayed:
This screen is almost identical to the one used for Lectures and Practicals, and by default lists all students who should have attended every group in the seminar. It contains their names, email Ids, the seminar group that they should have attended, and a set of radio buttons and links that can be used to record attendance as follows:
Seminar Group This contains a list of all seminar groups that relate to this seminar activity. By default it will show the seminar group that the student should have attended. However, if for some reason they attended a different group it can be selected here. Attended Click this radio button to mark a student as having attended the activity. Set All Attended Click this link to mark all students as having attended the activity (only for students that havent previously had attendance saved via this screen). Page 25 of 59
Did Not Attend Click this radio button to mark a student as having missed the activity. Set All Absent Click this link to mark all students as having missed the activity (only for students that havent previously had attendance saved via this screen). Excused Click this radio button to mark a student has having been excused from the activity. Set All Authorised Click this link to mark all students as having been excused from the activity (only for students that havent previously had attendance saved via this screen). Did Not Run Click this radio button to mark this instance of a seminar activity as not having run (eg if a particular seminar group was cancelled for some reason). All Did Not Run Click this link to mark all seminar groups for this instance of a seminar as not running. Using did not run will prevent this as appearing as a missed attendance against the relevant students in attendance reports. Notes Use this field to record any notes that you wish to make against a particular student on this activity. These notes are shown when you view completed attendance records. Deselect All Clicking this link will de-select all radio buttons and reset the screen so that no attendance has been marked for any students (only for students that havent previously had attendance saved via this screen).
The screen also contains a filtering option. By selecting a seminar group from the top drop down list (above the sort by seminar group link, then pressing the Filter By Seminar Group button the screen can be set to display only students in the chosen seminar group. This makes it easier to update attendance for individual groups. If you wish to see all students again, simply select All then press Filter By Seminar Group once more. A total at the bottom of the screen indicates how many students out of all the groups are currently displayed. Two links are provided Sort by Student Name and Sort by Seminar Group which, when clicked, will resort the list appropriately. Once you have made all your attendance selections, press the Submit button. This will store your decisions. Note that you dont HAVE to record attendance for all students straight away. The activity will stay on the Pending Attendance List until all students have had attendance recorded. So you can go back and finish recording at a later time if you wish.
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6.2 Completed Attendance Records

It displays information about activities which have occurred, and have had attendance recorded for them. Activities will appear in this list once attendance has been set for every student on that particular activity. Seminars will show attendance for all groups in the week indicated by the date shown. If the list is long, it is split into pages, which can be accessed using the numbered links underneath. There are also shortcuts to the start and the end of the list if required. It is sorted in descending date order. The list can also be filtered by module, by entering the module code into the text box and clicking on Filter by module code. To clear the filter and display all modules, click on the Clear Filter button. To update or view attendance information for a specific activity, click on the View Attendance link next to that activity. This will display the same screens that are used for updating attendance (see sections above). Although the function here is to view attendance, you can actually update it as well if you need to go back and correct a previous mistake.
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7 Timetable Menu
The timetable menu contains options relating to timetabling and attendance.
7.1 Weekly Timetable

Selecting this menu option displays the following screen:
This screen displays an overview of the timetable, containing all the activities for the modules for which youre associated with in the SAMS system. Using this screen you can add, cancel and move activities.
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To navigate the timetable use the small calendar display to the right of the main timetable view
When you click on an arrow or a day, the main calendar screen will update to reflect your choice.
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7.1.1
Adding a new timetable activity
Just underneath the menu control on the right hand side of the screen, there is the + Add button, When you click on this, the following screen is displayed:
To add an activity, carefully fill out all the details using the guide below: Module Code The module code for the activity. Note that this value is not checked against AStRA. If it matches a valid current module code, then this activity will appear on the timetable of all students registered against that module. Activity This is some short text to identify the activity, e.g. Lecture. Activity Date, Start Time, End Time These are the details of when the activity runs, and must be in the same format as for every other time and date field in SAMS. Location This is some short text to identify the location of the activity. Record Attendance Click on Yes to make the activity appear in the Pending Attendance Records of SAMS to allow attendance recording.
Click the Submit button to create the new activity. If successful, a confirmation message is shown and the submit button becomes disabled. Student Attendance Monitoring System User Guide Page 30 of 59
7.1.2
Moving a timetable activity
Only Lecture activities can be moved, seminars have to be managed via AStRA. To move an activity, click the blue >> arrows next to that activity on the timetable. This will display the following screen:
Change any of the details as required, and then click the Submit button to move the activity. If successful, a confirmation message is shown and the submit button becomes disabled.
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7.1.3
Cancelling a timetable activity
Only Lecture activities can be cancelled, seminars have to be managed via AStRA. To cancel an activity, click the red X next to that activity on the timetable. This will display the following screen:
Click on the Yes radio button, then click Submit to cancel the activity. If successful, a confirmation message is shown and the submit button becomes disabled.
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7.2 Admin List

When you first select this menu option it displays the following screen:
This allows you to specify any criteria that you might want to use to narrow down the list of results that will appear when you press the Search button. By default all activities are selected. When you next visit the screen within the same SAMS session, the screen will display the last set of results below the search filters. You can specify the following filter criteria (or none at all to return all activities):
Module Code: This will only display results for the specified module. Activity: This will only display results for the selected activity. Possible selections are: All, Lecture, Seminar, and Practical. Semester: If you enter a valid semester number, results will only contain data for activities occurring within that semester. Activity Date: If you specify a valid date in the format DD-MM-YYYY (where DD is the day of month as two digits, MM is the month as two digits and YYYY is the year as four digits e.g.: 12-09-2010), then only the activities on that date will be included in the results. Start Time: If you specify a valid time in the format HH:MM (e.g. 11:00), then only the activities that start at that time will be included in the results. Page 33 of 59
End Time: If you specify a valid time in the format HH:MM (e.g. 11:00), then only the activities that end at that time will be included in the results. Location: If you leave this field blank, then all locations will be included in the search results. However, if you specify something, you should be careful as by default this will perform an EXACT match. So if the seminar location has been recorded elsewhere as Hugh Owen C4 and you only enter C4 here, a match will not be made. If you wanted to see those results you need to use the wildcard character which is %. So, to match the text C4 anywhere in the location of the activity, you would enter %C4% in the location box. Record Attendance?: You have three options available here. Clicking the Yes radio button will only return activities which have been set to record attendance. Clicking the No radio button will only return activities which have not been set to record attendance. Clicking the any radio button will return all activities regardless of whether they are currently set to record attendance.
To display a list of activities, press the Search button once youve selected your search criteria.
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7.2.1
Admin List Results
Once the Search button has been clicked, the screen will then update to show the results. In the example below the results have been filtered for module IP30220, in location ED%:
You can do several things with the list of results: View the student register Select whether you wish to record attendance for some, none or all of them. Add a timetable activity. Cancel a lecture activity. Move a lecture activity.
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7.2.1.1 Viewing the Student Register. To view the student register, click on the Student List link in the Student List column of the results. This will display a list of students who should be attending that activity, in a register style format. This can be printed out if required.
7.2.1.2 Setting Attendance Recording. To change whether attendance is recorded for a specific activity (or group of activities e.g. a whole module), search for that activity to display a list of results as above. To To To To mark an activity to have attendance recorded, click the yes radio button next to it. mark an activity to not have attendance recorded, click the no radio button next to it. mark all activities to have attendance recorded, click the all yes link. mark all activities to not have attendance recorded, click the all no link.
Once you have marked activities to your satisfaction, press the Submit button at the bottom of the list to save your changes.
7.2.1.3 Adding, Moving and Cancelling activities. To add an activity click on the green +Add link on the page. Please see section 7.1.1 Adding a new Timetable Activity for more information. To move an activity, click on the blue >> arrows next to that activity in the results. Please see section 7.1.2 Moving a timetable activity for more information. To cancel an activity, click on the red X next to that activity in the results. Please see section 7.1.3 Cancelling a timetable activity for more information.
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8 Reports Menu
The reports menu groups together all the reporting functionality of SAMS. As new reports are added they will be included here.
8.1 Attendance Reports

This menu option links to the original set of attendance reports, and displays the following screen:
This allows you to view attendance data for any module in your department which is linked into the SAMS database. The following three reports are available to run: Department List This report lists all students in the department. Optionally you can filter the report by study scheme code, study scheme year, start and end dates, programme type, and type of attendance. Student List This report lists attendance information for a specific student. Optionally you can filter the report by a start and end date. Module List This report lists attendance information for all students on a specific module in your department. Optionally you can filter the report by start and end dates, and attendance type.
These reports are explained more fully on the following pages. Student Attendance Monitoring System User Guide Page 37 of 59
8.1.1
Department List Report
The department list report has the following filtering options:
SS Code: If you specify a valid study scheme code, then only students following that study scheme will be included in the results. Prog Type: If you specify a valid Prog Type, then only students with that programme type will be included in the results. Home/Overseas (H/O) Here you can specify the residence category, and only students with that category will be returned in the results. Start Date: If you specify a valid date in the format DD-MM-YYYY (where DD is the day of month as two digits, MM is the month as two digits and YYYY is the year as four digits e.g.: 12-09-2010), then only the attendance data from activities on or after the start date will be included in the results. End Date: If you specify a valid date in the format DD-MM-YYYY (where DD is the day of month as two digits, MM is the month as two digits and YYYY is the year as four digits e.g.: 12-09-2010), then only the attendance data from activities before or on the end date will be included in the results. SS Year: If you specify a valid study scheme year then only students on that year will be included in the results. Attendance: If you use this filter then firstly you must select whether you want to apply it for values greater than or equal to ( >= ), less than or equal to ( <= ), or exactly equal to ( = ) a value that you specify. That value can either be a percentage (choose (%)), or a number of missed activities (choose (Missed Activities)). So, you can use this filter to find all students who have attended less than 90% of activities, or who have missed more than 10 activities and so on.
To run the report, press the submit button when youve chosen your filter criteria. If you choose no criteria then the report will run without filters and include data for all students and dates.
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8.1.1.1 Department List Result Screen When the department list report has finished, a screen similar to the following will be displayed:
The results are contained in the following columns: Name The students names, in surname, forenames format. If you wish to see specific data for a single student, you can click on that students name which will run a Student List Report for that student and then display the results on the screen. (see Student List Report for further details) Email The students email addresses. If the account is locked or inactive it will be indicated here also. If you wish to quickly contact a student, clicking on their email address will open a new blank email to that student (depending on your system configuration) SS Code The students study scheme code. If more than one scheme is current, all will be shown here.
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Attended The number of activities that the student has attended (bounded by any specified date filter conditions) Absent The number of activities for which the student does NOT have an authorised absence. Authorised The number of activities for which the student DOES have an authorised absence. Tutor ID The user id of any tutor assigned to that student. If more than one tutor is current, all will be shown here. Total An indication of the number of activities attended against the total number of activities, and an expression of this as a percentage.
The report can be sorted by any column, by clicking on the appropriate column heading. Clicking on the same heading again will reverse the sort order from ascending to descending.
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8.1.1.2 Student List Report The Student List Report has the following filtering options:
Student Email / Stud Ref: This MUST be specified for the report to run. You can specify either a student reference number or an email user ID. Start Date: If you specify a valid date in the format DD-MM-YYYY (where DD is the day of month as two digits, MM is the month as two digits and YYYY is the year as four digits e.g.: 12-09-2010), then only the attendance data from activities on or after the start date will be included in the results. End Date: If you specify a valid date in the format DD-MM-YYYY (where DD is the day of month as two digits, MM is the month as two digits and YYYY is the year as four digits e.g.: 12-09-2010), then only the attendance data from activities before or on the end date will be included in the results.
To run the report, press the submit button when youve chosen your filter criteria.
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8.1.1.3 Student List Result Screen When the student list report has finished, a screen similar to the following will be displayed:
The results are contained in the following columns: Module Code The module for which the current row of results is valid. Semester The semester in which the activity took place. Attended The number of activities that the student has attended on that module (bounded by any specified date filter conditions) Absent The number of activities for which the student does NOT have an authorised absence on that module.
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Authorised The number of activities for which the student DOES have an authorised absence on that module. Total An indication of the number of activities attended on that module against the total number of activities, and an expression of this as a percentage.
Three summary totals are displayed underneath the report. Year Attendance is the total percentage attendance for the whole year. Semester 1 Attendance is the total percentage attendance for semester 1. Semester 2 Attendance is the total percentage attendance for semester 1.
If you wish to see specific data for a module, you can click on that modules name which will run a Module List Report for that module, and then display the results on the screen. (see Module List Report for further details). If you wish to see authorised or unauthorised absences for the student, two links are provided under the results to take you to the appropriate SAMS pages. Note that if absences are for a module which you dont have permission to see (e.g. outside the department or youre not a staff member for that module) then you wont be able to view details of any absences for that module.
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8.1.2
Module List Report
The Module List Report has the following filtering options:
Module Code: This MUST be specified for the report to run. Start Date: If you specify a valid date in the format DD-MM-YYYY (where DD is the day of month as two digits, MM is the month as two digits and YYYY is the year as four digits e.g.: 12-09-2010), then only the attendance data from activities on or after the start date will be included in the results. End Date: If you specify a valid date in the format DD-MM-YYYY (where DD is the day of month as two digits, MM is the month as two digits and YYYY is the year as four digits e.g.: 12-09-2010), then only the attendance data from activities before or on the end date will be included in the results. Attendance: If you use this filter then firstly you must select whether you want to apply it for values greater than or equal to ( >= ), less than or equal to ( <= ), or exactly equal to ( = ) a value that you specify. That value can either be a percentage (choose (%)), or a number of missed activities (choose (Missed Activities)). So, you can use this filter to find all students who have attended less than 90% of activities, or who have missed more than 10 activities and so on.
To run the report, press the submit button when youve chosen your filter criteria. . If you choose no criteria then the report will run without filters and include data for all students, activities and dates on the module.
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8.1.2.1 Module List Result Screen When the module list report has finished, a screen similar to the following will be displayed:
The results are contained in the following columns: Name The students names, in surname, forenames format. If you wish to see specific data for a single student, you can click on that students name which will run a Student List Report for that student and then display the results on the screen. (see Student List Report for further details). Email The students email address. If the account is locked or inactive it will be indicated here. If you wish to contact that student, clicking on the email address will open a new blank email to that student (depending on your system configuration) Page 45 of 59
Attended The number of activities that the student has attended (bounded by any specified date filter conditions) Absent The number of activities for which the student does NOT have an authorised absence. Authorised The number of activities for which the student DOES have an authorised absence. Total An indication of the number of activities attended against the total number of activities, and an expression of this as a percentage.
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8.2 Absence Timeline Report

The absence timeline report gives an overview of all the [recorded] missed attendances for a student. When the menu option is initially selected, it displays the following page:
To generate the report, enter the student reference number or email of the student that youre interested in, and click on search. You can optionally enter a start and/or end date too, to restrict the results to this date range. Dates must be in the usual format: DD-MM-YYYY (where DD is the day of month as two digits, MM is the month as two digits and YYYY is the year as four digits e.g.: 12-09-2010)
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8.2.1
Absence Timeline Report Result Screen
When the absence timeline report has finished running, a screen similar to the following will be displayed [assuming that there are some recorded missed attendances for the specified student]:
The results are contained in the following columns: Date The date of the activity from which the student was absent. Day The day of the week for that activity. Start Time The time for which the activity was timetabled to begin. Activity The activity that was missed (e.g. lecture, seminar, practical etc) Page 48 of 59
Module Code The module code for the activity Attendance The recorded attendance for the activity. For example Did not attend if they were recorded absent with no excuse; Approved Absence if they were excused (the user ID of the person that excused them is shown in brackets); Unapproved Absence if their reason for being absent was not accepted (again the user ID of the staff member is shown in brackets). Reason The reason for absence (if any) as provided by the student. This is entered through their online student record. It will also include any notes added by the person recording attendance for the activity via SAMS.
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8.3 Attendance Grid Report

The attendance grid report gives an overview of module codes and a date range, with an attendance flag for each (where data have been recorded via SAMS). The attendance flags are laid out in a grid format which is an alternative way to look for patterns of attendance for a student.. When the Attendance Grid Report menu option is initially selected, it displays the following page:
To generate the report, enter the student reference number or email of the student that youre interested in, and click on search. You can optionally enter a start and/or end date too, to restrict the results to this date range. Dates must be in the usual format: DD-MM-YYYY (where DD is the day of month as two digits, MM is the month as two digits and YYYY is the year as four digits e.g.: 12-09-2010)
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8.3.1
Attendance Grid Report Result Screen
When the report has finished running, a screen similar to the following will be displayed [assuming that there are some recorded missed attendances for the specified student]:
The left hand columns are a sorted list of dates and times of activities. The column headers are the module codes for this student (where theyve been configured to have attendance recorded in SAMS). If an attendance (or missed attendance) has been recorded then one of the following markers will be shown: A (an authorised absence was recorded) Y (an attendance was recorded) U (an unauthorised absence was recorded) N (they were recorded as missing attendance for that activity). You can see WHO recorded attendance for each activity by hovering the mouse over the attendance marker and waiting for a tooltip to appear. Student Attendance Monitoring System User Guide Page 51 of 59
8.4 Tutee Report

The tutee report displays the same information as seen on the department report, but the list of students is limited to those who have the logged in user recorded as a tutor on AStRA. This report allows staff to quickly see an overview of the attendance of their tutees. The report is run by selecting it from the Reports menu, and when finished will display a screen similar to the following:
The results are contained in the following columns: Name The students names, in surname, forenames format. If you wish to see specific data for a single student, you can click on that students name which will run a Student List Report for that student and then display the results on the screen. (see Student List Report for further details) Email The students email addresses. If the account is locked or inactive it will be indicated here also. If you wish to quickly contact a student, clicking on their email address will open a new blank email to that student (depending on your system configuration) Page 52 of 59
SS Code The students study scheme code. Attended The number of activities that the student has attended (bounded by any specified date filter conditions) Absent The number of activities for which the student does NOT have an authorised absence. Authorised The number of activities for which the student DOES have an authorised absence. Total An indication of the number of activities attended against the total number of activities, and an expression of this as a percentage.
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8.5 UKBA Report

The UKBA Report gives a list of students who require visas, filtered by department code. The UKBA require that these students MUST have attendance monitored, and this attendance MUST be reported to them as required. Note that the report will ONLY contain students who have appeared on activities which have their attendance recorded in SAMS. If a department doesnt use SAMS for activities involving a student, they will not appear here. Therefore do NOT assume that this report will necessarily list all international students in your department.
To generate the report, enter a single-digit department code where indicated, and click on the search button.
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8.5.1
UKBA Report Results Screen
When the report has finished running, a screen similar to the following will be displayed (if there are any students in that department):
The results are contained in the following columns. Student Number Student reference number Name: Surname and forenames. Email: Email ID. Type Of Course: UG or PG.
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Attended The number of activities that the student has attended (bounded by any specified date filter conditions) Absent The number of activities for which the student does NOT have an authorised absence. Authorised The number of activities for which the student DOES have an authorised absence. Total An indication of the number of activities attended against the total number of activities, and an expression of this as a percentage.
8.5.2
Exporting results from the UKBA Report
Starting with the UKBA report, the results shown on the screen can be exported to a CSV /. Excel format file. To do this, click on the Export Results link that is displayed underneath the total heading at the bottom of the report. If your web browser is configured to correctly handle CSV files, you will then be offered the chance to open or save the file. If this dialog box does not appear you will have to check with whoever administers your computer to ensure that it is configured correctly and is not blocking popup windows etc.
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9 FAQs, Hints, Tips, Tricks and Troubleshooting

This section contains information that may be useful to you whilst using the SAMS website.
9.1 FAQs
I cant log into SAMS, it says that I dont have any roles. You need to get your department to add you to some modules in AStRA with one of the three roles mentioned at the start of this document. Then, the next morning you will be able to log into SAMS and see the attendance data for those modules.
I cant see the module that Im supposed to be monitoring/recording attendance for. Check with your departmental administrator that your roles have been set up correctly on AStRA. Check your user preferences to see whether youve inadvertently selected not to view activities for that module. Use the Admin List search to see whether someone else as switched off attendance recording for that modules activities. Check on AStRA that attendance recording hasnt been switched off for lectures, seminars or practicals for the module in question.
How do I compare a students attendance against a previous academic year? Run a student report to get the results for the current academic year, then change the academic year (using the drop-down list at the top of the screen) and the report will refresh to show the different years results (if available). Dont forget to switch back to the current academic year before making any updates!
I cant view all of the apparent absences for a student on a department or student report. Sometimes, if youre looking at a student or department report, and you then try to view absences for one of those students, you may not see all or any of those absences. This is usually because of one of the following cases: 1) Youre not recorded in the staff list on that module with a role for SAMS. If this is the case you can see the attendance statistics, but you cant see the details of absences. 2) Youve changed your user preferences to hide absences for that module. Change the view absences option to a Y and save your preferences and youll now be able to see them.
I need to permanently change a centrally timetabled room for a lecture. You must contact the central timetabling office - SAMS only shows data provided from them and cannot update the central timetable itself.
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I need to add a room to a centrally timetabled session that does not have one specified. You can do this using SAMS as follows: 1) Display the admin list page in SAMS for the module that youre interested in OR navigate to the session on the weekly timetable page 2) Click on the move icon ( ) next to the session.
3) On the Timetable Alteration page that is displayed, change ONLY the location to specify the new location, and click the submit button. 4) Once the page has confirmed the changed, view the weekly timetable to make sure that the new location is shown. 5) Student online timetables will be updated overnight and will display the change the next morning.
My lecture or other session has stopped running or I no longer wish to record attendance for sessions If a lecture is no longer running and you want to remove the pending attendance records, search for any instances of that lecture using the admin list and update them to not record attendance. Note, DO NOT simply record every student as excused as this will affect attendance reports by showing students as having missed lectures or seminars.
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9.2 Hints, Tips and Tricks

Be aware that your login session on the website will timeout after 20 minutes of inactivity. If you come back to the system after a break, and are taken straight to the login page when you try to do something, this is probably the reason why. The timeout is there for security purposes in the event that a computer is left unattended and unlocked whilst connected to SAMS.
When opening the class register, clicking on student or module names in results and so on, it can be useful to right-click and select open in new tab (for Internet Explorer). This will keep the original page untouched so you can use both screens together if required. Note, however, that with Internet Explorer at least you must wait for the new tab to finish loading before trying to open a new one.
If only a few people didnt attend an activity, the quickest way to record attendance is to click on Set All Attended on the Attendance List, then just click Did Not Attend for those students that were missing. This is especially useful on large modules.
If looks like SAMS is not responding after you click on something, and youre using internet explorer, check the green bar at the bottom of the screen. If it is only partially green but moving then it indicates that the page is loading/busy. Wait until the page has completed loading. Some reports may take a while to run, especially if the system is busy. Other browsers may have different indicators such as changing the mouse cursor.
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Student Attendance Monitoring System (SAMS)

PTK October 2012 Version 2.11

Student Attendance Monitoring System User Guide

Student List Report ..........................................................................................................................41 Student List Result Screen ...............................................................................................................42

Module List Report ...................................................................................................................................... 44

FAQS, HINTS, TIPS, TRICKS AND TROUBLESHOOTING ............................................. 57

Student Attendance Monitoring System User Guide

1.1 Important Note Regarding Overnight Processing

1.2 Changes for the 2013 academic year

Student Attendance Monitoring System User Guide

1.3 Changes for the 2012 academic year

1.4 Changes for the 2011 academic year

1.5 System Requirements

Student Attendance Monitoring System User Guide

2 Access and Setup

2.1 AStRA Module Preparation

Student Attendance Monitoring System User Guide

Student Attendance Monitoring System User Guide

2.2 Registering for Access to the SAMS Website

Student Attendance Monitoring System User Guide

2.3 Customising the SAMS website

Student Attendance Monitoring System User Guide

How to Enable and Disable attendance recording for activities.

Student Attendance Monitoring System User Guide

3 SAMS Header Bar and Menu

Student Attendance Monitoring System User Guide

Student Attendance Monitoring System User Guide

4 SAMS Home Page

4.1 Student Register

Student Attendance Monitoring System User Guide

4.2 Seminar Register

Student Attendance Monitoring System User Guide

5.1 Absences Pending Decisions

Student Attendance Monitoring System User Guide

Absences for a student

Student Attendance Monitoring System User Guide

Absences for an Activity

Student Attendance Monitoring System User Guide

5.2 Accepted Absences

Student Attendance Monitoring System User Guide

Student Attendance Monitoring System User Guide

5.3 Enter Absence for Student

Student Attendance Monitoring System User Guide

6.1 Pending Attendance Records

Update Attendance for Lectures and Practicals

Student Attendance Monitoring System User Guide

Student Attendance Monitoring System User Guide

Update Attendance for Seminars

Student Attendance Monitoring System User Guide

Student Attendance Monitoring System User Guide

6.2 Completed Attendance Records

Student Attendance Monitoring System User Guide

7.1 Weekly Timetable

Student Attendance Monitoring System User Guide

Student Attendance Monitoring System User Guide

Adding a new timetable activity

Moving a timetable activity

Student Attendance Monitoring System User Guide

Cancelling a timetable activity

Student Attendance Monitoring System User Guide

7.2 Admin List

Student Attendance Monitoring System User Guide

Student Attendance Monitoring System User Guide

Admin List Results