COLLEGE INFORMATION SYSTEM: CIS

UNIVERSITY OF JUBA

A Thesis Submitted to the College of Computer Science and Information

Technology, University of Juba, in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirement
Leading to the Award of the Degree of Bachelor of Science with Honors in
Information Technology

By:
MANZU GERALD SIMON
2010 – CCS – 086

Supervised by:
Dr. YAK DENG ATER
B.Sc. & M.Sc. Informatics (Sofia, Bulgaria),
Ph.D. in Information Systems,
MBCS CITP

September 2017
Table of Contents
Lists of Tables and Figures ........................................................................................................................ 3
Abstract........................................................................................................................................................ 5
Acknowledgment ......................................................................................................................................... 6
Dedication .................................................................................................................................................... 7
Declaration & Approval ............................................................................................................................. 8
CHAPTER 1: PROJECT BACKGROUND ............................................................................................. 9
Chapter Over View .................................................................................................................................... 9
Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 9
Background of the Study......................................................................................................................... 10
Problem Statement ................................................................................................................................. 11
Purpose of the Study............................................................................................................................... 12
Significance of the Study ......................................................................................................................... 12
Project Boundary and Limitation ............................................................................................................ 13
Research Questions ................................................................................................................................ 13
Chapter Summary ................................................................................................................................... 14
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................ 15
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 15
Defining an Information System ............................................................................................................. 15
The Need of Information Systems .......................................................................................................... 15
Relevant Literatures on Information Systems ........................................................................................ 16
Other Systems in Use today .................................................................................................................... 18
Chapter Summary ................................................................................................................................... 19
CHAPTER 3: SYSTEM ANALYSIS AND DESIGN ........................................................................... 20
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 20
Methodology........................................................................................................................................... 20
Data Collection ................................................................................................................................... 20
Investigating the Current System ........................................................................................................ 22
Discussion of findings......................................................................................................................... 25
Functionalities of the Existing System................................................................................................ 27
Limitations of the Existing System ..................................................................................................... 29
Comparison between the current system and the proposed system .................................................... 30

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 Feasibility of the College Information System ................................................................................... 30
Requirements Analysis ............................................................................................................................ 31
System Requirements.......................................................................................................................... 31
User Requirements .............................................................................................................................. 32
System Functionalities: System Modules ............................................................................................... 34
System Design ......................................................................................................................................... 35
Data Flow Diagrams ........................................................................................................................... 35
Entity Modeling .................................................................................................................................. 38
Entity Relationship Diagram ............................................................................................................... 42
System Development .............................................................................................................................. 44
Front End Development ...................................................................................................................... 45
Back End development ....................................................................................................................... 46
Chapter Summary ................................................................................................................................... 49
CHAPTER 4: REPORTS ......................................................................................................................... 50
System Reports ....................................................................................................................................... 50
Students Reports ................................................................................................................................. 50
Staff Reports ....................................................................................................................................... 50
Course Reports .................................................................................................................................... 51
System Generated Statistics ................................................................................................................... 53
Summary ................................................................................................................................................. 55
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ........................................................... 56
Summary ................................................................................................................................................. 56
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................... 56
Recommendation.................................................................................................................................... 57
LIST OF REFRENCES ............................................................................................................................ 58
APPENDICES ................................................................................................................................................ 59
A. Abbreviations Used ......................................................................................................................... 59
B. Forms Used ..................................................................................................................................... 59
C. Research Questionnaires ................................................................................................................ 60
D. USER INTERFACES and Reports ....................................................................................................... 63
E. The Researcher ............................................................................................................................... 71

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Lists of Tables and Figures
Figure 1: Functionality of the Current System…………………………………………………....23

Figure 2: Efficiency of the Current system……………………………………………………….24

Figure 3: Dependability of the Current system…………………………………………………...25

Figure 4: Information flow in the College…………………………………………......………….26

Figure 5: Context Diagram of Proposed System…………………………………………….........36

Figure 6: Level “0” Data Flow Diagram for the Proposed System………………………….……37

Figure 7: Level “1” Diagram for the Proposed System…………………………………………...38

Figure 8: Programs Entity……………………………………………………...............................38

Figure 9: Departments Entity…………………………………………………….........................39

Figure 10: Students Entity…………………………………………………….........................….39

Figure 11: Courses Entity…………………………………………………….........................….40

Figure 12: Grades Entity…………………………………………………….............................…40

Figure 13: Results Entity……………………………………………………............................…41

Figure 14: Transcripts Entity…………………………………………………….....................….41

Figure 15: Staff entity…………………………………………………….....................................42

Figure 16: Users entity……………………………………………………...................................42

Figure 17: Entity Relationship Diagram.………………………………………………...……….44

Figure 18: Sample front end interface……………………………………………………...…......45

Figure 19: Schema of the database…………………………………………………………….….46

Figure 20: Students Reports……………………………………………………………….….….50

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Figure 21: Staff Reports………………………………………………………………….............50

Figure 22: Course Reports…………………………………………………………………...…...51

Figure 23: Transcript Report………………………………………………………...…………...51

Figure 24: Students ID…………………………………………………………………….…...…52

Figure 25: Staff ID…………………………………………………………………………......…53

Figure 26: Students Statistics……………………………………………………...…...……...…54

Figure 27: Course Statistics……………………………………………………………………....54

Figure 28: Staff Statistics………………………………………………………………………...55

Table 1: Hardware Requirements…………...……………………………………………………31

Table 2: Software Requirements…………………………………………………………………32

Table 3: Tables and views in the database….….…………………………………………………46

Table 4: Programs Table structure………………………….….…………………………………47

Table 5: Departments Table Structure……………………………………………………………47

Table 6: Instructors Table structure. …………………………….……………………………….47

Table 7: Courses Table Structure. ………………………….…………………………………….47

Table 8: Users Table Structure. ……………………………………………………………….….47

Table 9: Students Table structure……………………...…………………………………………48

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Abstract
The rapid growth of Information in today’s world call for technology to be used in handling the
ever increasing Information. Universities and Colleges keep tons of information about their
students, academic staff, research and etcetera.
Through studying the current existing system, it was easier to design and develop a functional,
scalable and efficient Information System for the College of Computer Science and Information
Technology. In-line with today’s technology, the College Information System eliminates most of
the paper work within the college. Information concerning students, Courses and lecturers can well
be managed using the system as opposed to paper work, which is associated with; time wastage,
loss of information, inefficiency in updating records, and inaccuracy.
The use of an Information System in a College not only eliminates the paper work for efficiency,
but also aids the College administration in the decision making process, since reports and other
management information can be generated from the system.

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Acknowledgment
Through the twists and turns along the bumpy road towards this crowning achievement, I would
not hesitate to express my sincere gratitude to all those who made it a dream come true.
This thesis owes more to the tireless guidance, suggestions, recommendations and unfailing
support of my supervisor, Dr. Yak Deng Ater, throughout its time frame. At the same time, I really
enjoyed his Information Systems expertise while in the lecture halls as well as during individual
consultations that at the end, yielded this project.
With meagre resources at their disposal, I also want to register a vote of thanks to the Teaching
staff of the University of Juba, College of Computer Science and Information Technology in
particular, for standing firm in supporting students: Dr. Yak Deng Ater, Mr. Charles Amoli Taban,
Mr. David Lukudu Aggrey, Mr. David Pitia Mogga, Mr. Steve Jerry Thompson, Mrs. Eva Yayi,
Ms. Yine Yenki Nyika and the College Dean, Dr. Othow Onak Giel as well as the former dean,
Dr. Lado Wani Kenyi and others.
Credit also goes to the offices of the Registrar and the Examinations Officer with lots of
appreciation to the Registrar, Mr. Droko Clement Leju, the Secretary, Mrs. Fatuma Hassan Tombe
and the Examinations Officer, Mr. David Pitia Mogga.
I am very grateful to the unending love, care and support of my mother Christine Kiko and
Siblings, Duku Ronald Kenyi, Judith Kiden Kenyi, Consulate Kiden Kenyi and Agnes Lubo
Kenyi. While for my studies, I missed the usual beautiful family jokes and jollity as distance
parted. I am also grateful to Grace Kojo Beyson, for her moral and emotional support, influence
and care throughout my study period.
I am much appreciative of my Relatives’ care, hospitality and support. Many thanks to Eliakima
Kenyi Nyombe and his entire family, as well as aunt Rose Woro and her family, aunt Saidia Rose
Gune and David Rume. I am sure I couldn’t have made it without your enormous support. You
really made me going.
Mr. Thon Malek Garang, thanks for the interactions and being a partner for knowledge sharing. I
remember, Mr. Thon always emphasized on team work and collaboration as a way forward to
building professional computer programs. I am optimistic we still have a long way to go.
I also reserve a round of applause to all those who are not mentioned here, otherwise many thanks
to everyone who took part in this crowning achievement.
Thanks for all your encouragements and support!

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Dedication
Duties Belong to us but Respect and Results belong to the Almighty God.
To my life inspirer, mentor, encouraging and always enthusiast late father Simon Kenyi Ladu:
You’ve always wanted me to be a high-flier at school, no matter what. I owe this crowning
achievement all up to you.

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Declaration & Approval
I declare that this proposal is my original work and has not been presented in any other university
or Institution for consideration of any certification. This thesis has been complimented by
referenced sources duly acknowledged. Where text, data (including spoken words), pictures or
tables have been borrowed from other sources, including the internet, these are specifically
accredited and references sited using current APA system and in accordance with anti-plagiarism
regulations.

Declaration Signature

Approval by Supervisor

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CHAPTER 1: PROJECT BACKGROUND

Chapter Over View

This chapter is about the general project idea. It starts by introducing information as the core
elements of the world that we live in. The chapter also introduces the background, purpose and
significance of the study. It proceeds by outlining the underlying Research Questions and closes
with a chapter summary

Introduction

We are at the center of Technology. In fact, it is worth saying that there is no sphere of life that is
not affected by technology.

The world we live in is full of information. From our online purchases to inventory, from our E-
mails to details on our social media profiles, from the data stored by Hospitals to the information
stored by Schools, Colleges and Universities. There is a lot of information around us. So how fast
is the information growing?

My supervisor, Dr. Yak Deng Ater (Ph.D. in information Systems), once put it in one of the
lectures that the growth of Information is equivalent to our daily demand of bread. Every day,
many millions of bytes of data are created, hence The amount of data stored is growing at a
tremendous rate every day. Then at this rapid growth, how do we keep these information? How do
we ensure that the information is accessible anytime and anywhere by those who are supposed to
access it?

All this information needs to be collected, stored, categorized, analyzed, searched and sorted. This
massive increase in information is managed by the help of Information systems that helps to create,
control, store, find and access the information.

This paper is concerned with how information is being collected, manipulated, stored and
disseminated in the college of computer science and Information Technology as a sample college
out of the twelve colleges of the University.

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Background of the Study

Universities and Colleges, just like any other field that is affected by computing, rely on
information systems to teach and manage their students, employees and research.

The University of Juba is South Sudan’s largest yet most famous institution of higher education
established through a presidential decree in 1975 in response to the popular demand from the
Southern Sudanese.

Shortly after the start of its operation in 1989, the University was transferred to Khartoum when it
was becoming increasingly difficult to undertake serious studies in the face of impending
insecurity in Juba and in the then Southern Sudan as a whole because of the civil war.

After signing the comprehensive peace agreement in 2005, relative peace was established in the
then Southern Sudan and the University of Juba was formally transferred to its original site in Juba
(2010), after 20 years of displacement in Khartoum.

Faced with the troubles of relocation here and there, the University faced problems ranging from
lecture halls to lack of teaching staff who decided to remain in the North, inadequate books in the
library, to lack of chemicals in the labs.

With the large information that the University keeps and generates, there was need of how this
could be integrated into modern technologies, so that the information can be collected, stored,
processed and retrieved with much ease.

The University of Juba is of course one of the real world entities where information systems are in
use. From the huge number of students admitted to those graduated every academic year and from
the classified to the unclassified staff of the University, the University should be a practitioner of
modern information systems.

This study was carried out to investigate, design and develop, if need be, an Information System
for handling students related information in the colleges of the University, with the college of
computer science and information technology as the case study. The study also took into account
the need to store basic information of the teaching staff.

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Problem Statement

Despite the relocation of the University to the South coupled with the country’s independence, the
University of Juba still faced many problems ranging from one college to the other.

In July 1996, in accordance with the resolution of the Senate and the authorization of the University
of Juba Council (statute number 15), the Computer Studies Centre (CSC) was established, with
the aim of meeting the practical requirement for short and intermediate computer skills training
courses for government and private institutions as well as individual applicants. Following the
increase in the demand for computer graduates, the Centre was upgraded in April 2009 to a full
College of Computer Science and Information Technology offering two Bachelor of Science
degree programs (5 years) in either computer science or information technology.

Just like the rest of the colleges, it still uses an ordinary file based system to manage all the aspects
of its students. The only existing information system within the College is an oracle (6g) based
system that is used in the management of the students’ results. Operated by the Examinations
officer, it is a stand-alone system that does not communicate with any other system.
Basically, when a student is admitted to the College, a students’ file is kept by the college Registrar,
awaiting registration. In every academic year, the student has to manually pick a registration form,
pay money into a bank account and return the copy of receipts to the College Registrar, who then
keeps a hard coy in the file based system of storage. Then the student is presented with an ID card
form for an ID to be processed, immediately after registration. After registration, a student is
eligible to attend lectures and sit for exams. Lecturers submit course marks to the Registrar, who
then transfers them to the examinations secretary who inputs the data into the Results system. The
results are then printed and taken for discussion to the college board which latter on submits to the
Senate of the University.
The above needs to be a single system that serves both the College registrar and the Examinations
Secretary at a go. Information about a student can be accessed by the stakeholders without the use
of hard copies. This means that the manual file based system of storing student information will
be eliminated because the data will be stored in a database and accessed through a role basis. The
information can be generated, stored, queried and searched to produce what is needed, through a
web based user interface.

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Purpose of the Study

Without an Information System in the College, managing and maintaining the details of students
is a difficult, tedious and cumbersome job. This project takes the College of Computer Science
and Information Technology as a case study, subject to implementation in the various Colleges of
the University (scalability).
The project serves to design and develop a functional, scalable and efficient centralized
Information System for the College of Computer Science and Information Technology through;
1. Identifying and analyzing the characteristics and performance of the current existing
system(s) as assessed by the respondents along the following characteristics in terms of:
Usability, maintainability, Dependability (Reliability, availability, safety and security) and
Efficiency.
2. Testing and validating the developed prototype to come up with a stable, functional and
usable system.

Significance of the Study

Increasing the Competitive Ability of the College.

For the College of Computer Science and Information Technology to be compared with other
Colleges within or outside the University, the presence of an Information Systems is very vital.
For internal and external evaluations, these information systems play a major role in rating not
only Colleges, but also Universities by providing reliable and accurate information.
Aiding the Decision Making Processes of the College Administrators.
Colleges these days deal with a lot of information. About its students, academic teaching staffs,
non-teaching staffs, students’ results, publications, and research projects. All these information
need to be well managed. Without a centralized Information System, managing such information
seems difficult and cumbersome. Therefore, with an Information System at its disposal, the
College of Computer Science and Information Technology can efficiently and reliably manage
such information. The Information System produces managerial reports that makes decision
making an easier aspect.
Eliminating Manual Processes.

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An Information System, in the College of Computer Science and Information Technology can
improve the day to day processes. For example, the cumbersome job of retrieving information
from a manual file. Instead, such information can be retrieved via a simple click! At the end of the
day, it not only eliminates manual processes, but also reduces the error rate concerning the
information kept.

Project Boundary and Limitation

The College Information System shall be utilized within the Colleges in the University, though for
development purposes, the College of Computer Science and Information Technology shall be the
first beneficiary of such Information System.
A College Information System might sound as one that deals with all the information pertaining
to a given College. With a student being the central object for the operation of a College, this
project will;
Manage students’ academic record. Every students’ academic results shall be stored against the
students’ admission information, and registration information. However, the system shall not be
used either as an admission system nor as an online registration system.
Only store the basic information about the instructors, such as their full names, areas of
professionalism and courses taught. Information such as salaries, allowances and so on shall be
out of the scope of this project.

Research Questions

1. How does Information flow in the College of Computer Science and Information
Technology?
2. Who are the major stakeholders in the flow of Information in the College of Computer
Science and Information Technology?
3. What are the functions that are performed by each of the stakeholders in the current mode
of flow of Information in the College of Computer and Information Technology?
4. What are the defects of the Current Information System in the College of Computer Science
and Information Technology?
5. What are the solutions to the above defects?

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Chapter Summary

We are living in a world where information grows every now and then. Such Information need to
be managed well so that we can get the best out of it. Many institutions still store such information
as piles of manual files, often in shelves, making management a tedious and cumbersome job.
Todays’ technologies support the automation of such information so that management becomes as
easy as the falling of a log. With this in mind, this chapter detailed the urge of such automations
by digging deep into the roots of the College of Compute Science and Information Technology.

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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

Introduction

Several sources have tried to elaborate more on Information Systems used in institutions of
learning, with the Universities and Colleges being part of them. This chapter summaries the most
relevant literatures concerning Information Systems and more particularly, those used in learning
institutions.

Defining an Information System

The term Information Systems is very broad. In fact, it’s diverseness has resulted into huge
differences in its definitions. Sauer (1993) argued that some people will see information Systems
as an expense, others as a solution, a control mechanism, a threat to the quality of working life or
even as a technical problem.
Laudon & Laudon (2002) defined it technically as a set of interrelated components that collect (or
retrieve), process, store, and distribute information to support decision making, coordination, and
control in an organization whereas Martin (1992) sees Information Systems as a strategic resource
within the organization, that is, they have an important impact on key operations which determine
the livelihood of the organization.
Information Systems exist in all schools, colleges, universities and all learning institutions with
the only difference that they vary from one to the other. Some of these institutions operate manual
paper based Information Systems whereas others use computers in dealing with Information
related to students, though this varies from one to the other. Others run word processing,
spreadsheets and some sort of locally run databases like Microsoft Access, while other institutions
manage information concerning their students through centralized online systems.

The Need of Information Systems

Laudon & Laudon (2002) stress that the job of management has been transformed by information
systems, and arguably, it would be impossible to manage business firms today without the
extensive use of information systems, even very small firms. Another source, Martin (1992) says
that it is probably true that many of today’ s businesses simply could not function effectively

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without automated information processing systems of some form or another, of course including
Colleges.
Universities and colleges need Information Systems in collecting, storing, retrieving, manipulating
and processing information regarding not only students but also the teaching staff. So it would be
inefficient not to use computerized Information Systems to manage this increasing information.
Therefore, most Colleges and Institutions of higher learning have either purchased or developed
their own information systems to automate most of their processes.
Colleges need Information Systems to;
i. To eliminate the paper work concerning students’ and staff information
ii. To help in generating reports concerning students, courses and the teaching staff
iii. Secure the information stored as opposed to paper work

Relevant Literatures on Information Systems

Marrero (2009) in his study entitled “Student Information System for the University of the
Cordilleras” stressed that the concept of Information Systems (IS) emerged in the early 1960s.
More often, when Information System is defined, the field Information Science is always
associated, ‘IS’ is an academic field that deals with the generation, collection, organization,
storage, retrieval, and dissemination of recorded knowledge. Furthermore, it is a collection of
related components designed to support operations, management, and decision making in an
organization. Generally, IS is supposed to inform people. Information System supports people or
users in making intelligent decisions based upon the information derived from reliable data.
Richard (2012) emphasized that information about students is vital, but time-consuming to manage
and it is essential that the most effective tools be used to aid both staff and students about their
work and studies. The Cambridge Students Information System (CAMSIS) replaced various
students’ records systems used by the colleges, departments and Universities. CAMSIS provides
comprehensive and accurate information about student body and also improves data quality,
reduces the administrative burden dramatically and provides better services to both academic staff
sand students.
According to Evangelista (2011), the University’s Student Information System (SIS) of Nueva
Vizcaya State University is a secure, web accessible interactive computer system that allows user
access to grade reports, transcripts, schedule of classes, and remaining balance for the semester

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and register for classes online. Through the system, students would be assigned a unique
identification number. All data to and from the University would use that unique identifier. The
use of individual student records would;
i. Increase the admissions capacity to follow a student’s progress over time,
ii. Provide better quality data to drive more enlightened policy decisions resulting in enhanced
educational opportunities for all students;
iii. Reduce data collection burden through a web enabled SIS;
iv. As a tool for parents in monitoring the academic performance of their children,
http://student.mit.edu/cgi-docs/govwbinl.html
MIT (2009) gave emphasis that Student Information System (SIS) provides students with access
to their academic and biographic records as well as the ability to update their address information
and pre-register for classes; it provides instructors and departmental administrators with class list
information; and provides advisors and departments with access to the individual academic records
of their students. Therefore, SIS is an integrated approach in acquiring, storing, analyzing and
controlling the flow of student data throughout the institution. Highly developed SIS can be useful
in nearly all institutional departments’ functions and can greatly increase efficiency and response
times of traditional labor and time-intensive processing of student data.
Swartz (2007) gave emphasis that almost all institutions depend on data. Consequently, we are
witnessing a profound change in the way in which institutions perceive, understand, and manage
their information. There is now a clear recognition of the value of information, the creation of new
information, the retrieval of existing information, the storage of important information, and the
disposal of redundant information. There is also greater awareness of the cost of acquiring bad,
incomplete, or inaccurate information.
According to Desousa (2008), web based applications have four core benefits. These are the
following:
i. Compatibility. Web based applications are far more compatible across platforms than
traditional installed software.
ii. Efficiency. Everyone hates to deal with piles of paper unless they do not have any other
alternatives. The benefit of web based solution makes services and information available
from any web-facilitated Personal Computer (PC).

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 iii. Security of live data. Normally in more complex systems data is moved about separate
systems and data sources. In web-based systems, these systems and processes can often be
merged by reducing the need to move the data around. Web-based applications also provide
an additional security by removing the need for the user to have access to the data and back
end servers.
iv. Cost effective. Web-based applications can considerably lower the costs because of
reduced support and maintenance, lower requirements on the end user system and
simplified plans.

Other Systems in Use today

AISIS

AISIS Online (2006) posted a precise definition of Ateneo Integrated Student Information System
(AISIS) that it serves as the portal for Ateneo students, faculty and staff. Through the AISIS online
officially enrolled Ateneo students may view pertinent school information including their
individual program of study (IPS), grades, class schedules and the like. Students may also
eventually enlist using AISIS online. Ateneo faculty and staff with access to AISIS, on the other
hand, may submit grades and access their class schedules from outside the campus.
College SAAS

According to CollegeSAAS.com, College Management Software flexible cloud based ERP

solution for colleges can satisfy different requirements by different institutions very easily. They
come with modules like Student Admission Management, Timetable Management, Library
Management, Attendance Management, Employee HR Payroll Salary Management, College Exam
Mark sheets and Results Management, Fees & Accounts Management, Assignment Management
as well as advanced modules like Online Examination, E-Library, and Stock/Store Tuck-shop
Management. It provides separate Login facility by giving online Student Login, Employee Staff
Login, parents Login & College Administrator Login.

Why College SAAS?

Cost Effective: CollegeSAAS.com is easy to procure and cost effective.

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Flexible Payments: CollegeSAAS.com provides its users with the facility to pay as they use. Users’
payment can be made into monthly, quarterly or half yearly cycles so that they enjoy the automated
solution without much burden of payments.

Robust Support: Availability of skilled and experienced support team to support users in every
need of hour.

Auto Upgrades: Users of the ERP receive regular updates based on industry feedback and statuary
amendments without any additional investment.

Hi- Tech Integrations: CollegeSAAS.com offers single window integration facility for users’ Bio-
metric machines, RFID machines, payment gateway and other IT hardware, network & software
services.

Customized Solution: CollegeSAAS.com is a flexible cloud based ERP solution for colleges which
can satisfy different requirements by different institutions very easily.

Chapter Summary

There are many systems that have been developed by different sources and are currently being
deployed by many others.

To ensure that the standard Information Systems are developed and deployed for use by an
institution, comparison of various standard systems used elsewhere had to come in. In this process
relevant literatures and reviews of existing systems had to be benchmarked to give an idea of how
things needed to be.

Therefore, as a component of a standard, function and reliable system, the development phase has
to include reviews of relevant literatures and systems to ensure that standards are met and
maintained.

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CHAPTER 3: SYSTEM ANALYSIS AND DESIGN

Introduction

This chapter details the techniques and methods used in the analysis, design and development of
the proposed system and the discussion of findings on the current system.

The purpose of this chapter is to;

1. Investigate and study the current system,

2. Collect, analyze and evaluate data on the current system,
3. Design, an improved system based on the findings of the current system

Methodology

The Methodology chosen for this project was the Traditional Systems Development Life Cycle
(SDLC) according to Kendall & Kendall terminology, which divides the methodology into seven
phases, namely;
(1) Investigation (Identifying problems and opportunities)
(2) Requirement Determination
(3) Analysis
(4) Design
(5) Develop software
(6) System Test
(7) Implement and evaluate

The software process model used with this methodology is the Waterfall model; which is an
example of a plan-driven process—in principle, you must plan and schedule all of the process
activities before starting work on them.

Data Collection
Research Design: The study aimed to examine and investigate the current Information System and
to assess the extent of its usability, functionality and reliability. Thus, the study used the
Descriptive-Evaluation research design.

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This method involves the collection of data through survey questionnaire and observations in order
to test assumptions or to answer questions concerning current status of the subject of study. The
descriptive-evaluation design was deemed suitable for the study because it involved a
comprehensive analysis of the system’s inputs, processes and output components.

Respondents of the Study

The College Registrar, who deals with lots of information pertaining the College, the Examinations
Secretary and 15 students answered survey questionnaire and interviews.
Instrumentation
The instruments used to gather the data pertinent to this study were documentary analysis, direct
observation and ocular inspection, survey questionnaires, and interview guides.
The Documentary Analysis was based on college records such as enrollment forms and Student
Identification forms.

Direct Observation and Ocular inspection involved the researcher in directly observing and
inspecting the day-to-day duties of the two main stakeholders of the current system being used,
the College Registrar and the Examinations Secretary. The technique was chosen because it;

(1) Permits correction of any misconceptions or erroneous impressions made before.

(2) Permits verification of statements made in interviews as well as determine if procedures
operate as specified in the system documentation.
(3) Permits the researcher to be acquainted with the operating personnel who will be
implementing the new or changed system.

The survey questionnaires were developed based on the major characteristics of software,
Functionality, Dependability, Usability, Reliability and Efficiency.

Data Gathering Procedures:

After obtaining permission for the conduct of the study, the researcher administered a survey
questionnaire to obtain the respondents’ assessment of the existing student information system.
The activities included,
1. An interview and ocular observation were conducted to assess the performance of the
existing system with regards to keeping of students’ records including grading results.

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 2. Questionnaires were administered to 15 students in the College of Computer science and
information technology, based on their rating of the current system.
3. Respondents assessed usability, maintainability, security, usefulness and functionality of
the current system.
Data Analysis

The following were used in order to come up with valid analyses:

The Frequency and Percentage were used to get clear description of the respondents’
representation in every class. These were represented using a pie graph.
T-test of dependent samples was used to test the significant difference between the existing system
and the developed system in terms of six characteristics of quality system, namely: Data
Reusability, Data Maintainability, security, usefulness and functionality, and evaluation on the
system appeal.

Method of Data Analysis

The data collected was analyzed using a pie chart indicating responses in percentages. A thorough
and initial analysis was done at the end of each presentation. The forming of percentage is

% = N/f x 100/1

Where

N = the number of occurrence

f = the total number of occurrence

Investigating the Current System

Functionality of the Current System:

Functionality of the current system is measured on the operations it can perform. Much as the
current system is a combination of both manual (used by the Registrar) and a computer based
system (used by the Examinations secretary), Functionality here depends on the outcomes of the
operations leading to the production of the needed data, for instance a list of students who are in
their final class or the transcript of a particular student.

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The responses of the Respondents indicate that;
73% of the respondents rated the functionality of the system as high. This resulted from mostly
the outputs of the operations performed by both the College Registrar and the Examinations
Secretary.
27% of the respondents rated the system’s functionality as medium, indicating inefficiencies in the
functions of the Registrar and the Examinations.

None of the respondents rated the functionality of the system as low.

These are illustrated in the figure below

Functionality of the Current System

LOW
0% MEDIUM
27%
FUNCTIONALITY

HIGH
RATING RESPONDENTS 73%

LOW 0
MEDIUM 4
HIGH 11

Figure 1: Functionality of the Current System

Efficiency of the Current System

In this research, Efficiency is concerned with collecting, storing, processing and manipulating
information in relation to time and the quality of the reports generated from the system. It involves
the interactions of different system modules.

The responses of the Respondents indicate that;

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80% of the respondents rated the efficiency of the system as low, resulting from mostly the manual
duties of the College Registrar in as much as the collection, storage and use of mainly student
information is concerned.
20% of the respondents rated the efficiency of the current system as medium, indicating a moderate
efficiency level, resulting mainly from the operation of the desktop computer system being used
by the College Registrar.
None of the Respondents (0%) gave the current system a rating of high
These are illustrated in the figure below

Efficiency of the Current System

EFFICIENCY

HIGH
MEDIUM 0%
RATING RESPONDENTS 20%
LOW 12
MEDIUM 3
HIGH 0 LOW
80%

Figure 2: Efficiency of the Current system

Dependability of the Current System:

Dependability can be referred to as a measure of how “trustworthy” a system is. In most cases, it
is seen as a combined measure of the safety, reliability, availability and security of a system. In
reference to the current state of affairs in as far as an information system in the College of
Computer Science and Information Technology is concerned, the responses were based on the
current manual mode of operation of the College Registrar’s office and that of the system being
used by the Examinations Secretary. Reliability focused much on the Examinations System.

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The responses of the Respondents indicate that;
60 % of the respondents agreed that the current system in the College has a low dependability;
meaning that the current system is less reliable and untrustworthy.
27% of the respondents agreed that the current system in the College has a medium dependability,
meaning that the system is slightly reliable and somehow trusted.
Whereas 13% of the respondents rated the current system to be highly reliable, hence trustworthy
in terms of reliability, security of data and information and the availability of the system
These are illustrated in the figure below

Reliability, Security & Availability

of the Current System

RELIABILITY & SECURITY HIGH

13%

MEDIUM
RATING RESPONDENTS LOW
27%
60%
LOW 9
MEDIUM 4
HIGH 2

Figure 3: Dependability of the Current system

Discussion of findings
The current system used by the Registrar consists of a manual manipulation of data, kept in shelves,
hence piles of hard copies of papers in files, making it a really cumbersome job for the registrar.

The Examinations secretary uses a parallel, desktop, standalone system for manipulating and
storing student examinations information. The system is only used by the examinations officer.

This resulted in the respondents agreeing that;

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 (1) The efficiency of the current system is medium, while others rated it low due to the
response time that the registrar takes to get a process done.
(2) The Reliability of the current system was low due to unprotected access to data and
redundancies of data.

Therefore, there is data redundancy everywhere The Registrar and the Examinations officer need
to use a system that can intercommunicate, instead of using parallel, stand-alone systems.

Hence the current system did not meet most of the needed requirements of a system; functionality,
maintainability, dependability, usefulness and reusability, as assessed by the respondents and
henceforth calling for a proposed system.

Hierarchy of Information Flow in the College

Students are the base of the College operations. The College Registrar is the central person who
interacts with students in most cases. Students pick registration forms and returns bank receipts to
the registrar, for every registration done. The registrar provides students with information relating
to their classes and assignments between the teaching staff (Academic staff) and the courses.

The Registrar is the intermediary between the students, the Academic staff and the Dean’s Office,
though students can as well interact directly with the teaching staff.

Dean

Registrar
Academic Staff
Examinationns Officer

Students

Figure 4: Information flow in the College

Stakeholders of the Current System

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Students

The college stores information regarding students and as such, they are core stakeholders of the
information system being used in the college. Within the current system, students are indirect users
of the current system. They do not directly interact with the system, but provide the needed
information to the college registrar.

Academic (teaching) staff:

The teaching staff of the college grade students based on course performances and as such, they
give needed information to the examinations officer pertaining students’ grades. Hence they are
indirect stakeholders on the existing system.

The Dean

The Dean of the College gets reports from both the registrar and the examinations officer
pertaining student information. Though the registrar does manual data storage, he uses word
processing to draft reports to be presented to the management, in this case to the Dean of the
College. The examinations secretary produces examinations result and submits a copy to the
College Dean, subject to the College Board meeting.

The Registrar

The role of the registrar makes him deal with a lot of information pertaining students; Actually the
registrar stores most of the information concerning students in the college.

The Examinations Secretary

The examination officer interacts with the examinations system to produce students’ results and
transcripts. The examinations officer uses data provided by the registrar to build on students’
results.

Functionalities of the Existing System

The Registrar’s Manual, Paper based Information System
The College Registrar, in his day-to-day work, uses a manual paper based file system to store
records about students. Each student has a paper file where information about the student is kept.

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The Registrar uses a desktop computer to draft official documents, not storing information
regarding students.
Narrative of the Routine Work of the Registrar
The Registrar of the college is the nearest contact person for the students. His office is always busy
with students, visitors and other college staff popping in here and there.
Upon admission to the College, a paper file for the respective student is kept in a shelf. This
contains the student’s full names, National number, Department and Index number.

Students’ financial obligations are documented within the student’s respective file. This includes
bank slips and receipts. Payments are made to the bank and receipts submitted to the registrar.

After a student is registered, the student then fills an Identification issuance form and attaches the
registration receipt for verification, together with a passport size photo. This activity is repeated
every single academic year.

Before a student graduates from the college, the registrar manually cross checks all the required
information including pay slips and receipts, in the face of ensuring that the student does not
graduate while owing the College or the University any monies.

As the researcher observed the routine work of the registrar, it was evident that the paper based
system was more time consuming, yet cumbersome more especially while retrieving student
information as well as making managerial reports. This makes it very difficult to make managerial
decisions as time becomes a factor.
The Examination Secretary’s Desktop Examinations System
The College Examinations Secretary, in his office uses a desktop computer with a students’ results
system running an earlier version of Oracle (6g). He is the only validated user of the system.
Narrative;
The College issues semester exams at the end of every semester. Course Lecturers mark students’
performances (attendance, Quizzes, midterm exams, assignment & semester examinations) and
present the results to the Examinations officer of the College. They do not directly interact with
the computer system being used by the Examinations officer.
Each course has a given credit hour, and of course a grade (for instance A) equivalent to a number.
These are computed by the system and examinations results are produced.

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The system keeps track of students’ examinations records till when they graduate so that they can
be given transcripts.
The system’s results can be used to produce students’ transcripts, but the system on its self cannot
generate the transcripts and other reports needed by management. Often the examinations secretary
uses a desktop application for generating a transcript for a respective student.
The examinations secretary therefore uses a desktop system to collect, manipulate, process and
store students’ results, every semester. At the same time, hard copies are kept both in the College
and in the main University Administration Block as backups.

Therefore, much as the Examinations officer uses a computer based solution for carrying out his
duties, generating of reports, as observed by the researcher was not possible with the system.

Limitations of the Existing System

From the requirement analysis made above, several problems were associated with the current
system among which were the following;

Manual Operation: The existing system is mostly manual based. The only computer based process
is the examinations results system, which is operated as a standalone desktop system operated by
the examinations officer. No other subsystems can interact with the examinations system.
Although the examinations system is computer based, it does not produce needed reports for the
college management, for example transcripts are manually generated rather than automatically
being generated.

Accuracy of student information: The current system, more especially the manual operations of
the college registrar makes it easier for information to be mismanaged.

Redundancy of data: Information about a particular student can easily be found here and there.
Unorganized record keeping is attributed to inconsistencies, unsecured, and redundant student
records in different offices.

Report Generation: The current system faces slow generation of reports due to manual data
processing, for instance the system cannot generate the students’ transcripts and hence they have
to be manually done.

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Decision making: Since the efficiency of the current system is low (as rated by the respondents),
decision making is usually prolonged.

Time Consuming: Getting out puts out of the system is time consuming. For instance, the
examinations secretary does everything in relation to working on students’ examinations results,
hence it takes long for such results to be released.

Comparison between the current system and the proposed system

Roles of stake holders: As opposed to the current existing system, the proposed system distributes
different roles to different stakeholders, and increases the users of the system as well. Students,
academic staff, administration staff, the examinations officer and the registrar will all interact with
the system and have a role to play.

Features of the system: Provision of different roles to different user groups means that several
features are being introduced to the proposed system, unlike the current existing system.

Data Redundancy: The proposed system makes use of data in a very consistent manner. Several
stake holders (users) can work on the same data set without interfering the roles of each other. The
data is system based unlike the current existing system where data is mostly paper based.

Data Security: Information can easily be backed up routinely, thereby making it more secure than
the current system. Users will undergo verifications to meet their roles.

Feasibility of the College Information System

Technical Feasibility

Development skills: With the continued improvement as far as software development is concerned,
latest frameworks and tools present the researcher with modern techniques of development. Such
include Bootstrap, which is a totally front end design tool designed by twitter, whereas BlueWhale
Admin makes it easier to work on a more comfortable user interface while the use of Object
Oriented Programming in PHP makes the programming much easier.

Skilled users: The Registrar and the Examinations officer, who are the two main users of the
system are somehow already exposed to working with systems, with the latter already using a

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desktop system to manage students’ examinations results. The simple graphical interface will make
it easier for users to access and use the system.

Economic Feasibility

The cost of operating the proposed system is economically manageable, given the fact that the
College already has resources like computers at its’ disposal.

Requirements Analysis

System Requirements
The system requirements are divided into hardware and software requirements. The hardware
requirements and software requirements that are needed for the system to run are described herein
below;

Hardware Requirements

The system will be installed on an online server so as it is accessed by its users. Therefore, the
following hardware requirements pertain to those of the server on which it is to be installed. For a
maximum operation of the system, the following minimum requirements are to be considered;

Item Description
Processor Core
Memory (RAM) 4 GB R
Memory (Storage Space on server) 200 GB
Display Screen size on users’ computers min-width: 480px
Table 1: Hardware Requirements

Software Requirements

For a maximum operation of the system, the following minimum software requirements are to be
considered, for the smooth operation of the system;

For the Run time environment, the system shall be multi-browser based, though some of the
components of the system might not be well presented in lower releases and versions of the
browsers. This refers to the browsers that the users will be using for accessing the system. Users

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will be cautioned to always use browsers with the latest updates for the smooth operation of the
system.

For testing the system, an offline version of a server was used: WAMP server which stands for;
Windows, Apache, MySql and PHP which was installed on a Laptop computer with a 4 GB RAM,
500 GB Disk Space and a 14-inch screen.

Item Description
Run time environment for Modern Web browsers:
Users to Access Internet Explorer 8 +, Firefox update 40+, Google Chrome, Opera
Database MYSQL on a Windows environment
Application Server Apache
DBMS PhpMyAdmin, and Adminer
Operating System Windows Operating System

Table 2: Software Requirements

User Requirements
User Requirements, just like the system requirements, are divided into two, namely; Functional
and Non-Functional Requirements.

Functional Requirements

Data Entry, Editing and Storage: The system with different user interfaces shall accept insertion
of records from different users based on the privileges given to them. Since the system will be used
for storing data related to students, lecturers and other college staff, CIS will be used to insert, edit
and store information not limited to:

1. Student information including; student registration information, students’ records such as

students results and course carry overs.
2. Lecturers’ information including, Lecturer vs Course tables and lecturer detail
3. Other college related information including; Detailed information of other staff and non-
staff of the college, operational calendars, lecture timetables and college updates.

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Data Manipulation: Every system takes in inputs, processes the inputs and produces output. CIS
shall manipulate data as fast as possible based on the information provided by the users, for
example,

CIS will use a unique grading scale that is provided by the College Board, and that has been in use
in the current system set up.

Generation of Reports: The System shall be used to generate reports for and by;
At the end of every examination, the examinations officer shall use the system to generate
examinations results for the students’.
The College Dean and the Deputy can also generate such information when it is considered
complete by the Examinations officer.
The system will also produce student summary reports anytime when need be provided there is at
least some data stored in the database. For this case, the College Registrar, and the top management
of the College shall use the system to generate reports such as: how many students are in a certain
Department, at a given academic year and academic semester.

Non Functional Requirements

Interface requirements: The system will be web based, requiring functionality of at least a browser
to load the user interface on users’ device screens.

With different users with different screen sizes, the system will be compatible on different screen
sizes ranging from desktop computer screens, laptops, to hand held devices like i-pads, smart and
mobile phones.

Performance requirements: System response will greatly depend on the bandwidth and speed of
internet of the user. With a faster internet connection, the system can respond faster as well to its
clients. The system is coded with light, yet standard and responsive development frameworks that
allow faster performance on browsers.

Unauthorized Users: Different privileges shall be accorded to different users of the system. Users
will be authenticated with password management controls to ensure that unwanted intrusion is
prohibited.

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Security over the Internet: For an improved security over the internet, it is highly recommended to
use HTTPS (secured hyper-text transfer protocol) over HTTP. Unlike HTTP, HTTPS is reliable
over the internet

Operation and Maintenance Requirements: The system shall be managed and maintained by an
administrator so that it runs as expected

Environmental requirement: The system will operate under environments of different operating
systems provided the operating system has functionality for the accessibility of a browser. This is
because the user interface of the system will be displayed ONLY on browsers.

Technology: The System consists of different modules such as Student module, Administrative
module, Staff module etc. For front-end the system uses HTML5, JavaScript, CSS and Bootstrap
whereas in the backend, the system shall be developed using MySQL and PHP

System Functionalities: System Modules

The proposed system shall have the following functionalities as opposed to the current/ existing
system.

Admin Module
The Admin Module will be used by the system administrator to manage the users of the system.
Within this module, the administrator can;
i. Add users,
ii. Delete users,
iii. Give rights to or remove rights from users.
Admission and Registration Module
This module shall not be used for online admission. Since admission to the University is through
the government system, this module shall be used to store information of all the students who are
admitted to the college for the entire period till they graduate.
Student Module
Students’ rights will be provided in the students’ module. The students shall not have any write
rights. They will only be allowed to view college updates, their profiles and grades. The students
shall have a username and a password and a right to only change passwords.

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Staff Module
This module deals mainly with staff profiles and other details of the teaching staff.
Course Module
All the courses for all the classes shall be stored in the course module
Results Module
Examinations results shall be managed through the results module. The examinations officer shall
implement operations within this module to produce results.
Transcripts Module
For the easy generation of transcripts, the transcripts module shall be used to generate student
transcripts.
ID Cards Module
Automatic ID cards shall be generated by the system for both students and the College Staff

System Design

The overall objective of system design is to provide a modular design that describes the
functionalities of the system as well as the interrelation of the components of the system. It
comprises of Data Flow Diagrams, Entity Relationship Diagrams as well as Database Design, as
described below.

Data Flow Diagrams

Within this, the researcher attempts to graphically represent how the data will flow in the proposed
system. According to (Kendal & Kendal 2006), “When systems analysts attempt to understand the
information requirements of users, they must be able to conceptualize how data move through the
organization, the processes or transformation that the data undergo, and what the outputs are.”
Therefore, the researcher, given the steps undertaken from understanding the operationalization of
the current system to its weaknesses that led to a proposed system, the researcher attempts to
conceptualize how the data gets transformed in the form of a graphical representation, normally
for easy understanding and hence leading to a clear Logical design.
Context Diagram

The Context Diagram shows the boundaries, as well as the scope of the system. It shows the system
in state of rest with its external users.

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The ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology passes a list of students admitted to
the College of Computer Science and Information Technology, in every academic year. The list
contains a unique admission number given to each student, as well as the department and program
they are admitted for. Records about the students and the programs they are admitted in are stored
in the students table. Registered students then attend lectures and sit for examinations.
The system will generate reports about the students as well as examinations reports. These include;
students’ statistics, transcripts, and semester or full academic year examinations reports. These
reports are latter used by the College Administration in decision making.
The System also keeps basic information about lecturers.

Figure 5: Context Diagram of Proposed System

Level 0 Data Flow Diagram

In the Level “O” Diagram, the Data stores or places where the data are stored are illustrated.

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Figure 6: Level “0” Data Flow Diagram for the Proposed System

Level 1 Data Flow Diagram

The Management Reports process is broken down to sub processes which are indicated as;

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Figure 7: Level “1” Diagram for the Proposed System

Entity Modeling
The ER model describes data as entities, attributes and relationships.

Programs Entity

The College offers two programs. Bachelors and Diploma. The programs entity consists of the
program ID and the program name, as illustrated below.

Figure 8: Programs Entity

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Departments Entity

The College is structured into departments, with a department ID, name and head of the
department.

Figure 9: Departments Entity

Students Entity

The entity students, is comprised of several attributes, among which the primary key is the national
number, which is unique to every student. The rest of the attributes are illustrated below

Figure 10: Students Entity

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Courses

The Course ID as an attribute is a unique attribute that defines the courses entity. The rest of the
attributes are show below

Figure 11: Courses Entity

Grades

Every course taught in the College is examined and students are awarded marks. The grades entity
keeps all the information pertaining the marks obtained by students in an examination. The grades
entity is described by the following attributes

Figure 12: Grades Entity

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Results

Every semester has academic results for students. This is described by the following attributes

Figure 13: Results Entity

Transcripts

After a student completes the required duration in the College, a Transcript containing all the
courses accomplished is presented to the student. The Transcript is rated according to the class of
degree that the student has got, based on the final CGPA.

Figure 14: Transcripts Entity

Staff

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The system keeps basic information about the teaching staff of the college, represented by the staff
entity with the following attributes as shown below.

Figure 15: Staff entity

Users

The system shall be accessed by a number of users, whose information need to be recorded. The
attributes of the users’ entity are represented by the illustration below.

Figure 16: Users entity

Entity Relationship Diagram

An Entity refers to a person, a place, an object, an event or a concept in the user environment about
which data is maintained (Valacich, George & Hoffer 2012 pg 97).

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An Entity Relationship Diagram is a graphical representation of the entities, associations and data
for an organization or business area; it is a model of the entities, the associations among those
entities, and the attributes of both the entities and their associations (Valacich et al).

Narrative

Students register for an academic year and attend courses. One student attends usually many
courses, which are taught by one or many lecturers.

One lecturer, teaches one or more courses in the college. Courses have examinations at the end of
every semester, which are graded by the lecturers. Students, on their part, sit for examinations
when teaching of the courses is already done. One student sits for one or many examinations.

Students register for an academic year and attend courses. One student attends usually many
courses, which are taught by one or many lecturers and wait for their results.

Lecturers then mark the examinations papers of the students and award them with marks. One
lecturer can mark one to many examinations papers.

A College Staff (Examinations officer) generates examination results for a particular semester after
all the course marks have been submitted.

The above is demonstrated by the diagram below

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Figure 17: Entity Relationship Diagram

System Development

This section deals with the transformation of the designs into a prototype through coding and
programming. It covers both front end development and back end development of the system as
explained below.

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Front End Development
This focuses on the interfaces that the user will interact with to realize the goals of the system. The
system uses web forms that submit data to a MySQL database. These forms are categorized
according to the needs and privileges of the users as described below;

Figure 18: Sample front end interface

The Administrator

The administrator creates user accounts in the system with users differentiated according to user
types. Users access their privileges through a login authentication page, including the
administrator.

The Registrar

The Registrar performs most of the activities in the college; Adding students to the system, Adding
courses, and College staff. Therefore, the Registrar uses at least four forms under his privileges.

The Examinations Officer

The Examinations Officer is concerned with awarding marks to students, as well as generating
their Transcripts.

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Students, College Staff and other users.

Students do not interact with forms to input data to the database. They are given reading privileges
to only view Reports generated from the system.

Back End development

Back end development transforms the tables in the system design into real database tables, which
can store information from front end forms. The Screen shots below show the schema of the
database as well as the structure of the individual tables

Table 3: Tables and views in the database

Database Schema: The database is described by the below schema

Figure 19: Schema of the database

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TABLES SCHEMA

The following describe tables describe the structure of the individual tables of the database schema

Table 4: Programs Table structure Table 5: Departments Table Structure

Table 6: Instructors Table structure Table 7: Courses Table Structure

Table 8: Users Table Structure

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Table 9: Students Table structure

SYSTEM TESTING

The operational prototype was presented and tested by the two main users of the, the Registrar and
the Examinations Officer. Components of the system were tested individually (Unit Testing)
whereas the overall operation of the system was measured by its power to generate reports which
are a result of one or more component interacting with another, leading to an integrated testing.

System Evaluation

The system was evaluated by two direct users (the Registrar and Examinations Officer) and 12
computing students in the College of Computer Science and information Technology. To evaluate
the system, a questionnaire checklist was designed to rate it in terms of functionality, user
friendliness, security, robustness and usability.

Results and Discussion of the Evaluation

The Likert table below was used to interpret the computed values.

Interpretation Code Scale

Excellent E 5

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 Very Satisfactory VS 4
Good G 3
Satisfactory S 2
Unsatisfactory U 1

The table below shows the summary of the results of the assessment on CIS

Interpretation U S G VS E Interpretation
Functionality 1 2 3 4 2 Very Satisfactory
Usability 2 3 2 5 0 Very Satisfactory
User Friendliness 0 2 2 3 5 Very Satisfactory
Security 3 0 2 7 0 Very Satisfactory
Robustness 2 2 8 1 0 Good
The results indicate that the system was rated very satisfactory in regards to Functionality,
Usability and Security whereas User Friendliness was given an excellent rating. The results also
show that Robustness was rated Good, implying that the software robustness can still be improved
to achieve a higher rating.

Chapter Summary

This Chapter is the core of the thesis. It starts by studying the existing system, as it is. It investigates
the current system and draws the its strength, weaknesses, threats and opportunities yielding the
proposed system. It uses the System Analysis and Design Methodology.

The proposed system is described systematically, following the chronology of System Analysis
and Design.

The chapter closes by system testing and validation, where uses were sampled and results for the
system obtained, thereby summarizing the functional theory of this thesis.

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CHAPTER 4: REPORTS

System Reports

The system generates reports on students, courses, Academic staff, identity cards and transcripts
generation. These are elaborated as below

Exporting and Copying Data

The system provides capabilities of exporting information in two formats: Microsoft Access and
PDF, which are accessible on a data Table together with a search box as well as copying to clip
board.

Students Reports

Figure 20: Students Reports

Staff Reports

Figure 21: Staff Reports

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Course Reports

Figure 22: Course Reports

Generating Transcripts

The system keeps records of all the grades of a particular student and makes it easier to generate a
transcript for the individual student.

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Figure 23: Transcript Report

ID Cards

Auto generation of Identification Cards is one of the functionalities of the CIS. It generates Identity
cards for both students and teaching staff.

Student ID Cards

The system provides a search which is used for searching individual students, together with an ID
Card column that directs to the Auto generation page.

Figure 24: Students ID

Staff ID card generation

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Figure 25: Staff ID

System Generated Statistics

The system generates automatic statistics on the number of students, courses and Academic Staff.
These statistics automatically increase or decrease if insertions or deletions are made to records in
the database.

The statistical reports are demonstrated as;

Student Statistics

The system generates the number of students stored in the database. To make it more
understandable, the system categorizes the statistics of the system based on the programs being
offered, as well as in accordance to classes.

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 Figure 26: Students Statistics
Course Statistics

The system generates statistics about the number of courses offered by the College, which can be
categorized according to the program in question: Degree or Diploma. At the same time, the system
can generate course statistics based on the classes to which they are being taught. These are
illustrated by the figures below.

Figure 27: Course Statistics

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Teaching Staff Statistics

The system retrieves basic information about the Teaching staff of the College and categorizes
them according to departments as well as the type of the staff (Full time or Part time).

Figure 28: Staff Statistics

Summary

A system is evaluated by what it does. Whether what it does meets and conforms to design
specifications, system and stakeholder requirements or not. It is in the results section that the thesis
tries to contain its objectives.

This chapter summarized the capabilities of the system in terms of the functionalities that it can
give.

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CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Summary

The world we live in is full of information. From our online purchases to inventory, from our E-
mails to details on our social media profiles, from the data stored by Hospitals to the information
stored by Schools, Colleges and Universities. There is a lot of information around us. Without
Information Systems, it would be very cumbersome to deal with the tons of information that
surrounds us, growing at a rate that is equivalent to the human demand of bread.

Conclusion

Information Systems not only automate processes, but also helps administrators in making
managerial decisions smoothly. This has been one of the goals of this project.

From the Results section of this thesis, this study shows the importance of having an Information
System capable of giving College Administrators more informed and timely decisions and plans.
Colleges within the University of Juba, can all benefit from this system enormously, with the
College of Computer Science and Information Technology as the first.

Personally, I am much happier for having successfully transformed the class room knowledge I
obtained into a practical aspect that involves not only the skills of coding, programming and
reasoning, but also on deploying the aspects of System Analysis and Design together with its
methodologies. At some point, this project had been a brain teaser but I enjoyed solving it, though
there were some impediments during the research.

Therefore, along the road to the final version of the CIS, there were several impediments to the
final working version of the system. Though the system was averagely rated very satisfactory, the
results also show that Robustness was rated Good, implying that the software robustness can still
be improved to achieve a higher rating. Improvements on software is a gradual process, since
requirements as well are not stable.

To run the Colleges within the University effectively, there is need to adopt to the use of
Information Systems, starting with the CIS.

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Recommendation

i. The Semester Module for producing semester examinations results was not developed, due
to time constraints. Therefore, for an effective and complete functionality, this has to be
taken into full consideration.
ii. The University of Juba and most of its Colleges including the College of Computer Science
and information Technology have shortages in power and connectivity to internet. To
achieve its objectives, there needs to be a stable power supply as well as connectivity the
internet, because the system shall be hosted on the cloud.
iii. Image capturing for the ID card modules needs an integration of imaging system feature
so that images can be captured directly.
iv. More other modules including student support should be included.

With the above, the CIS will evolve and become better than its initial version.

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LIST OF REFRENCES
References

1. Ralph, S., Frank, M., Rohan, G., George, R., 2008, Principles of information systems
2. Paul, E., Ceruzzi, 1998, A history of modern computing, 2nd edn.(GOT FROM THE
AMERICAN CORNER LIBRARY)

3. Williams Sawyer, Using information technology, a practical introduction to computers and

communication, 9th edition 2008. www.mhhe.com/uit9e
4. Laudon, K. C. and Laudon, J. P. (2002) “Management Information System: managing
the digital firm”, 7th Edition, Prentice Hall.
5. Laudon, K. C. and Laudon, J. P. (2013) “Management Information System: managing
the digital firm”, 13th Edition, Prentice Hall.
6. Lucas, H (1995) “Information System Concepts for Management” 3rd Edition, Macmillan
Publishing, New York.
7. Sauer, C (1993) “Why Information Systems Fail: A Case Study Approach” Alfred Waller
Ltd, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire.
8. Simon Bennett, John Skelton, Ken Lunn.(2002) “Schaum’s outline of UML”. UK.
9. Martin, C. & Powell, P., 1992 “Information System: a management perspective”, McGraw-
Hill, New York.
10. www.CollegeSAAS.com
11. Pressman, R. S., 2001 “Software Engineering: A practitioner’s Approach”, McGraw-Hill.
New York
12. Valacich, J. S, George, J. F, Hoffer, J. A, 2012 “Essentials of System Analysis and Design”,
Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, N.J

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 APPENDICES

A. Abbreviations Used

CH: Credit Hours

GP: Grade Point

CPA: Grade Point Average

CIS: College Information System

CCSIT: College of Computer Science and Information Technology

UoJ: University of Juba

B. Forms Used

Student Registration and ID Form

Photograph

UNIVERSITY OF JUBA
Deanship of Students
Student's ID Card Form

Student's batch details:

Name : ---------------- - National number :

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College :----- Specialization :

Nationality :-- ---- Sex: male / female

Religion
State :--------- County:

Payam:---------

Type of school certificate: - Telephone number: ----------

Date: ---/---/2011
T.B: Attached copy of Receipt
Signature: -

C. Research Questionnaires

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COLLEGE OF COMPUTER SCIENCE AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

FINAL YEAR GRADUATION PROJECT

Date: 5th April 2017

RE: Research Questionnaires

Dear Respondent,

I am a fifth year student in the College of Computer Science and Information Technology,
University of Juba, pursing a Bachelor of Science Degree in Information Technology.

As a requirement to fulfill the award of a Bachelor Degree in Information Technology with Honors,
I am carrying out a research about College Information System, with the case study of the College
of Computer Science and Information Technology.

At this juncture, I am requesting for your kind cooperation by accurately filling this form with the
required information, with the guarantee that your information shall only be used for the purpose
of this project.

Dear Respondent, in case of handing over this questionnaire or any other query, do not hesitate to
contact me via: +211 924 063 445 or manzugerad@gmail.com

Thank you for your positivity. I count on you.

Yours Faithfully,

Manzu Gerald Simon

+211924063445

D. Research Questionnaires

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How is students’ Information managed?

Through manual storage of individual files in shelves

Using Computer Applications like Excel and Access

Using computerized Information System

How is a student’s record updated?

Manually searching for the student’s file in the shelf

Using a protected web interface

How do students get information and updates including their semester results from the College?

Manually, from the notice board

From an online web interface

Both Manual and Web interface

How often do students complain about inaccuracies regarding information about them?

More often

Often

Less often

How are reports about students generated?

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Manually

Through a computerized system

D. USER INTERFACES and Reports

The Login Page

The Main Page

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Statistics Page

Students Registration Form

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Courses Addition Form

Staff Form

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Student ID Card Form

Student ID Sample

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Staff ID Card Form

Staff ID Card Sample

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Students Transcript Page

Transcript Sample

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Grades Page

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The Registrar’s Office

Shelf for students Information Manual Students Files

The Registrar, Mr. Droko Clement Leju

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E. The Researcher

Group Photo for the Grad Class of 2017

For any queries and availability of the Codes, do not hesitate to contact the
Researcher: +211 924 063 445 or manzugerald@gmail.com

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