ARBA MINCH UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES

COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS
DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT
Course title: INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR MANAGERS

ASSIGNMENT ON STUDENT MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM (SMIS)

Name ID No.

1. Mahedre Zenebe PRBE/047/11

2. Iyasu Samuel PRBE/042/11
3. Kore Dubale PRBE/046/11
4. Mengistu Markos PRBE/056/11
5. Mesfin Sakato PRBE/061/11
6. Negash Fantahun PRBE/066/11
7. Samuel Bekele PRBE/070/11
8. Tenkir Gizacchew PRBE/084/11

Submitted to: Dr. Gemechu Nemera (PhD)

February 4, 2019
Acronym
SMIS Student Management Information System
ICT Information Communication Technology
SSL Secure Socket Layer
ACL Access Control List
AVD Academic Vice Dean
PLC Private Limited Company
MoE Ministry of Education
GPA Grade Point Average
SGPA Semester Grade Point Average
CGPA Cumulative Grade Point Average
CSS Course Scheduling System
Abstract
With the increasing number of higher education institutions in Ethiopia, universities are competing to
attract more students. To achieve this goal, the universities are competing to provide the students
with all possible satisfaction means through providing efficient e-services. This paper detail
information of the student management information system at Arba Minch University, Ethiopia, with
the quality of the services. It mainly concentrates on the students’ management information with the
in-house developed Student Management Information System (SMIS). The data collected and analyze.
The results of the data showed that the students and the, registrar AL and department were apply the
SMIS has a positive impact on the students management. The research also provides the university
with some suggestions to improve the SMIS and, therefore, meet the demand of the students.

Contents
Acronym..............................................................................................................................................................ii
Abstract...............................................................................................................................................................iii
Introduction.........................................................................................................................................................1
Rationale for the paper.........................................................................................................................................4
Objectives of the Study........................................................................................................................................4
General objective.................................................................................................................................................4
Specific objectives...............................................................................................................................................4
Methodology........................................................................................................................................................4
Population............................................................................................................................................................5
Sample size..........................................................................................................................................................5
Sampling technique..............................................................................................................................................5
Method of data collection....................................................................................................................................5
Method of analysis...............................................................................................................................................5
Significance of the study......................................................................................................................................5
Scope of the study................................................................................................................................................6
Literature Review................................................................................................................................................7
Student Satisfaction and Service Quality.............................................................................................................7
Use of SIS in Higher Education Institutes............................................................................................................9
Information System Satisfaction........................................................................................................................10
Some significant advantages of the Student Management Information System.................................................11
Data presentation...............................................................................................................................................12
Student Academic Record Management Subsystem:.........................................................................................12
Schedule Management Subsystem:....................................................................................................................13
Student Services management Subsystem:.........................................................................................................13
Data analysis and findings.................................................................................................................................13
Student Academic Information Management.....................................................................................................13
Schedule Management Subsystem:....................................................................................................................16
Student Services management Subsystem:.........................................................................................................17
Conclusion and Future research direction..........................................................................................................22
Recommendation...............................................................................................................................................23
Implications of the study....................................................................................................................................23
Reference...........................................................................................................................................................24
 Introduction
Arba Minch University nestled at the foot of Gamo Gofa Mountain ranges facing huge Abaya and
Chamo Lakes in an idyllic surroundings forms the part of East African Rift Valley; its historical
foundation dates back to late 1980s. Initially to address water-related issues, Arba Minch Water
Technology Institute (AWTI) came into being in September 1986. Then, AWTI used to offer short
and long-term trainings; conducting research and rendering consultancy services in water sector.
Until 1993, AWTI was under Water Resource Commission and then was transferred to the Ministry
of Education in order to produce qualified manpower. AWTI began functional in September 1986 by
enrolling 181 students in two degree, two-advanced diploma and two diploma programs with a
purpose to produce skilled manpower. In 1988, the first 45 batches of students were graduated from
AWTI in diploma courses and in 1989 the first batch of 47 in advanced diploma were also graduated.
In September 1997, AWTI was restructured as Arba Minch Technology Institute (AMiT) and three
new departments i.e. Civil, Electrical and Mechanical Engineering were formed. In 2001,
Meteorology Department was established to provide diploma and PG degrees. Subsequently,
Computer Science and Information Technology & Architecture were also added. In 2002, AMiT had
launched PG programs in Hydraulics & Hydropower and Irrigation Engineering. In 2002-3, School of
Graduate Studies came into being, which introduced MSc in Electrical Power, Geotechnical
Engineering and Water Supply and Environmental Engineering. Hydrology & Water Resource and
Meteorology were added in 2004-5.

Finally, AWTI further got scaled up to the level of university as Arba Minch University in 2004 and
presently university runs 71 undergraduate and 89 graduate programs including 12 PhDs. AMU is
consisted of an institute and six colleges situated across university’s sprawling six campuses i.e. Main
Campus, Abaya, Chamo, Kulfo, Nech Sar and Sawla. College of Business & Economics and College
of Social Science & Humanities came into being in 2004 and 2009 respectively are situated at Chamo
Campus. College of Natural Sciences at Abaya Campus was set up in 2009. College of Agricultural
Sciences at Kulfo Campus was established in 2007 while College of Medicine & Health Sciences
came into being in 2009 is situated at Nech Sar Campus; Sawla Campus has been inaugurated in
November 5, 2016.

Vision

Arba Minch University aspires to be a leading University by producing intellectuals who will boost
growth and development of the nation and become competitive in Africa and the world by 2025 GC
Mission

Arba Minch University has a mission of offering relevant and quality education and training,
conducting multi-disciplinary problem-solving research, adapting and transferring skills and
technologies that lead to socio-economic development facilitating accessible community services

Values

 Pursuit of truth and freedom of expression of truth

 Institutional reputability based on successful execution of mission

 Competitive in academics and cooperative in relationship with others  Institutional autonomy

with accountability

 Participatory governance and rule of law

 Justice and fairness

 A culture of fighting corruption

 Quality and speedy service deliver

 Economical use of resources and effective maintenance of assets

 Recognition of merit

 Democracy and multiculturalism

 Innovation and quality enhancement

In higher education industry, you have probably heard for years about the revolution the
computerization of systems would bring to work process in managing students’ files. As with so
many promises of revolution, the changes haven't been materialized in your University context yet.
However, a new suite of tools, called Arba Minch University Student Information Management
System, can be used to enhance your manual student information system by taking advantage of the
computerization of systems with complete replacement of your labor-intensive system.
Arba Minch University Student Information Management System (AMU-SMIS) is web application,
meaning it runs on a server and is accessed by using a web browser. The server which hosts AMU-
SMIS is located in the main campus of the University, but it can be anywhere in one of the three
campuses, Ababya, Chamo or Nech Sar. You and your students can access the system from anywhere
with a local area net work connection in the campuses.

At its most basic, (AMU-SMIS) gives the registrar tools to place students to their respective
departments and generate students Id number and generally automate the admission process of
students into the University system. Aside from admission control, (AMU-SMIS) offers a wide
variety of tools that can make your students file record system more effective. It provides an easy way
to manage curriculum, course offering, students’ registration, attendance, grade and transcript record,
class and exam schedule, dormitory, meal and heath service, cost sharing and billing, withdrawal,
readmission and transfer processes. Let's take a quick look at each of these features and how they
might be used.

When you first visit your AMU-SMIS site, you'll see the main screen which presents you with the
login screen, as shown in Figure 1-1 Your username and password will dependon how your system
administrator set up your role in the system for you.
 Figure 1-1 AMU-SMIS main screen

Take a moment and familiarize yourself with the interface. AMU-SMIS uses a number of interface
conventions throughout the system. The login screen is presented in the middle of the screen. Just
above the login screen you'll see the University logo with name of the system.

Rationale for the paper

This paper is organized in different sections. The first section incorporates the introduction
(preliminary) parts of the study: the background of the study, the statement of the problem, objectives,
significance, scope and limitation of the study. The second section is Literature review. The third
section gives detailed account of the study area and institution; the research design including the
selection of sample; the data that will be collected and analyzed. The fourth section discusses the
presentation, analysis and findings. Finally, section five presents general summary of the findings,
conclusion as well as recommendation, Implications of the study and future research direction.

Objectives of the Study

General objective
The general objective of the study is to see Arba minch university are using student management
information system in order to assist the students with information relevant to operational activities.
And the extent or degree of such use.

Specific objectives
Specifically, the study aims:

 To find out the using status of Student management information system(SMIS);

 To evaluate the SMIS as to importance of use and problems, if any, they face in using the
techniques; and
 To highlight suggestive measures to the users of student management information system
for its extensive use.

Methodology
For smooth and accurate study every one have to follow some rules & regulation. The study impute
were collected from two input
Primary sources
Face to face conversation with the officer
Direct observations

Secondary sources
Various publications of companies,
Website

Population

Sample size
The samples in this study were enroll bachelor degree masters students as well as registrar office at
Arba Minch University.

Sampling technique
The technique used approximately in Arba Minch University user of the system and
administer.

Method of data collection

Primarily direct investigation have collected relevant data for this study.
Data sources: The information and data for this report have been collected from primary sources.
The secondary sources of information are article reports, websites and different manuals. journals,
newspapers etc. have bee consulted in order to build up the framework of the study.

Data processing: Data collected from secondary sources have been processed manually and
qualitative approach in general and quantitative approach in some cases has been used throughout the
study.

Method of analysis
Qualitative approach has been adopted for data analysis and interpretation taking the processed data
as the base.
Significance of the study
The significant of study attempted to understand the SMIS of the university on different segments
such as Academic Information Management, Scheduling, and Student Services Management.

Scope of the study

The scope of this study was strictly confined to the annual report & personal contact with Arba Minch
University.

Investigative study method is used in writing this report. This study method was significant for us
because before this study we have not enough understanding to proceed with such type of project also
on this topic.

The study involves structured questionnaire, large sample and probability sampling plans. Under the
study once a new idea or insight is discovered, they may shift their exploration in that direction.
Observation method is used to complete this qualitative research.

Finally the purpose of this study is to determine whether student management information system is
used by Arba Minch University.
 Literature Review
Nowadays, universities are becoming more aware of the importance of student satisfaction, because
of an increasingly competitive and dynamic educational environment, as well as numerous
challenges. (Altbach, 1998; Arambewela and Hall, 2009).This attention to student satisfaction helps
universities adapt and fulfill student needs, and to develop a system which can monitor this process
effectively. (O'Neill, 2003).

Today, as Kotler et al. (2001) mentioned, any business that is looking for success must be customer-
centered and offer superior value to its customers. So, for many universities, student satisfaction is
going to be more important, through which competitive advantage can be gained (Kevin and
Dooyoung, 2002).

Student Satisfaction and Service Quality

Service quality in higher education has been a topic of interest for many researches (Alves&Raposo,
2010; Arambewela& Hall, 2009; Elliott & Shin, 2002; Mulalic, 2012; Oldfield & Baron, 2000;
Usman, 2010). The service quality is called the better and standardized output delivered by a service.
In the educational sector, service quality is considered the fundamental aspect of educational
excellence. (Dyson et al., 1996)

Zammuto et al. (1996) defines the perceived quality as the ones’ justification about the excellence of a
product or service. So, when students experience the service quality of their institution and
standardized learning environment facilitated with appropriate facilities of learning and infrastructure,
their interest in their organization will be retained. (Alridge and Rowley, 2001)

Petruzzellis et al. (2006) defined customer satisfaction as a result of students’ assessment of a service
based on comparison of the perception of service delivery with their prior expectations. While, Oliver
(1997) understands it as the perception that a product or service provides a pleasurable fulfillment of a
service.

During the review of the literature, there were identified different determinants of customer
satisfaction. Some of these determinants are: the easiness in obtaining information (Oliva, Richard,
&Ian, 1992), prior experience (Bolton & Drew, 1991), attributes level performance (Oliva et al.,
1992), and search time in choosing the service (Andersen & Sullivan, 1993). Parasuraman et al.
(1986) says that the satisfaction level is determined by the difference between service performance as
perceived by the customer and what the customer expects.

One of the most known models on Information System success is the model of DeLone and McLean
(1992), which is used by many researchers as a base to measure the success of different information
systems. The first model of 1992, examines the relationship between information quality, system
quality and user satisfaction, and later on, the model is extended by using the perceived ease of use,
perceived usefulness and information quality as determinants of user satisfaction to investigate
Information System usage and success. (DeLone& McLean, 2002, 2003)

The full model of DeLone and McLean’s (1992), known as “The DeLone and McLean Model of
Information SystemsSuccess” proposes six major dimensions of IS success: (1) system quality, (2)
information quality, (3) use, (4) user satisfaction, (5) individual impacts, and (6) organizational
impacts.

Information system success has long been the concern of IS researchers. In its simplest definition,
information system success is simply the dependent or output variable (Delone and Mclean, 1992).
With this regard, many measures define the success. For instance, the information system success
model measures the aspects of MIS success as information quality, system quality, service quality,
use, satisfaction and net benefits (Delone and McLean, 2003). They further add the net benefits can be
measured as work group impacts, interorganizational and industry impacts, consumer impacts and
societal impacts.

On the other hand, Smith and Hirschheim (1999) describe the output variables as the consequences of
the introduction of a new information system, and these consequences can affect the aspects of
economics, organizations, social and management at the levels of macro, sector, firm, application and
stakeholder. Although Delone and McLean (2003) suggest many dimensions of information system
success, the ones that are essential are the usage and the performance impacts. The interest and
importance of the information system success has led to the antecedents investigations. Of particular
interest to the researchers are the appropriation fit, individual characteristics and trusting beliefs.

While past studies have evaluated and uncovered the fit as predictor to system usage (Norzaidi et al,
2007 ; Goodhue at al, 2000 ; Staples and Seddon, 2004, Dennis et al, 2001), the fit dimensions are not
standard. Yet, most follow the work of Goodhue and Thompson (1995) with quality, locatability,
authorization, compatibility, systems reliability and ease of use become the common measurement.
From the individual characteristics, Strong et al (2006) have found computer self-efficacy has an
effect to technology utilization, moderated by characteristics of the technology being evaluated. In
another study, Goodhue et al (2000) apply user evaluation concept as a surrogate to task-technology
fit, and using the individual characteristics as computer literate, the characteristics are manipulated to
fit with technology. In an effort to measure user evaluations of information technology in health care
industry, Pendhakar et al (2001) have adopted Goodhue’s model (1995). However, instead of
applying computer literacy as the individual characteristics, a very limited meaning of individual
characteristic items has been used. There are only one item that measures prior information
technology education and another item that measure the job orientation requirement. On the other
hand, individual characteristics define as experience, prior knowledge and intellectual capabilities
(Sun and Zhang, 2006) have been found to have a significant impact to usage.

Use of SIS in Higher Education Institutes

The effectiveness of organizational decision-making and daily tasks is critical for every organization
(Begam, 2015). Likewise, decision-making and productivity in HEIs is important, not only for their
present position, but also for their future development. For this reason, universities should consider
the use of technology for decision-making. In universities, SIS plays an important role as a system
because it is used to store information that is used to generate reports for decision-making about
students, lecturers, departments, faculties and curriculum (Bayangan-Cosidon, 2016). There are many
factors(i.e. quality of information system, information presentation, etc.) that affect the use and
dissemination of such systems in organizations. According to Wang & Strong (1996) poor data
quality can have significant social and economic impacts. While companies improve data quality with
practical approaches and tools; efforts to improve focus are tightly intensive on accuracy. They also
talk about the fact that data consumers have a greater concept of data quality that IS professionals
recognize. Entries in the organization’s information system can contain hundreds of data items. As the
use of organizational information systems increases; the cost, complexity and quality of the data on
which decisions are based on become critical (Huang et al., 1998; Laudon, 1986). Price and Shanks
(2004) stated that quality information and its management within an organization is compulsory for
adequate transactions and decision-making. According to the same study, decision makers can be kept
very far from original data sources or information about data conditions or associations. Having the
necessary rigorous and generic skills to understand the quality of data will be essential to understand
how the data collection decision affects the decision-making process and to create strategies that are
used to improve the quality of data (Price & Shanks, 2004). Data collection and quality of knowledge
are important for organizations, as strategic and tactical decision-making depends on the quality of the
data used in decision-making. Increasing use of data warehouses in order to collect and join various
sources of data to improve decision-making to its highest level points out the vulnerability of an
organization regarding the poor data quality (Bharati & Chaudhury, 2004). The information system
quality and success have been recently studied with different methodologies. However, the studies
like Bayangan-Cosidon (2016) and Alzahrani et.al. (2017) consider students’ evaluations of SIS.
Bayangan & Cosidon (2016) aims to improve the efficiency of the existing SIS of Kalinga State
University Rizal Campus. To obtain this objective, an evaluation of the current system was done
through investigation and interview methods from the perspective of acting registrar, faculty
members, campus secretary and students. The survey questionnaire was developed based on the
characteristics and sub-characteristics of ISO Software Quality Model 9126. The results show that the
current SIS met the five requirements: security, reusability, usefulness, maintainability, and
functionality. The information system quality and success model has been studied on a digital library
system by Alzahrani (2017) and it has been found that “behavioural intentions are greatly influenced
by system quality, information quality and service quality”.

Information System Satisfaction

Gelderman (1998) explore the effectiveness of two frequently used measures for the success of
information systems: usage and user satisfaction. The results indicate that user satisfaction is
significantly related to performance. In the study mentioned, the information system satisfaction is
cognitive evolution of gratified level of end-users who directly interact with the IS. The end-users are
non-technical users. Au et al. (2002) defines the information system satisfaction of end users as “the
IS end-user’s overall affective and cognitive evaluation of the pleasurable level of consumption-
related fulfilment experienced with the IS. IS end users refer to non-technical personnel who use or
interact with the system directly, as opposed to technical personnel who design the IS”. DeLone and
McLean (1992) describe the success model as an IS influence at the organizational and individual
level. As a result, six basic dimensions of IS success model have been revealed; system quality,
information quality, usage, user satisfaction, individual impact and organizational impact (DeLone &
McLean, 1992). The model has been updated with the new variables in 2003 as: Information Quality,
System Quality, Service Quality, Intention to Use, Use, User Satisfaction, and Net Benefits after ten
years (Delone & McLean, 2003). Abubakar et al. (2017, p.4) opined that “to increase the success of
knowledge management projects and applications, investing in information technology is
unavoidable”. Rezaei et al. (2016) studied effect of cloud computing systems on the service quality of
knowledge management systems. The uploading result of a knowledge management system using the
cloud computing technology is also investigated aiming to answer the main question “whether this
new knowledge management system can cause a proper result on the quality of services or not?”
According to their findings the users observed significant differences after the implementation of the
service. Alzahrani (2017) evaluated the success of a digital library system based on DeLone &
McLean’s IS Success Model and it has been reported that digital library systems have a strong
influence on the quality factors, satisfaction, behavioral intent and deviation of actual use. Padayache
et al. (2010) used ISO 9126 model to analyze the external systems quality characteristics, sub-
characteristics and domain specific criteria for evaluating e-Learning systems. “Educators,
educational administrators, and higher education institutions adopting Course Management Systems
(CMS) to implement e-learning have a vested interest in evaluating ‘quality in use’ as they inform the
decisionmaking process with regards to the choice of CMS” (Padayachee et al., 2010). Moreover, Mir
and Mehmood (2016) examined the success factor of online student support system of Allama Iqbal
Open University by using the DeLone and McLean IS Success Model with the sampling of 173
students. According to their findings, most of the students were satisfied with this online support
system in terms of technical standards and functionality. However, they were not satisfied with the
information or responses. Another case study from Epoka University by Sherifi (2015) investigated
the impact of information systems in satisfying students of the university. The dimensions of the
student satisfaction were assurance, responsiveness, tangibility (the physical evidence of the service),
empathy and reliability. According to the same study, students are satisfied by the Student Affairs
Information System services. The Bharati and Chaudhury (2004) model (Figure 1) was established on
the basis of structure along with information quality and their impact on user satisfaction, since it was
in a way a part of the IS success model. According to their study, independent variables, System
Quality, Information Quality and Information Presentation are affected. A successful model is given
in Table I, “decision-making”. “Deciding on a system’s problem solving and decision-making skills
indicate that these variables are in position to determine if the system helps the individual in
identifying problematic areas, structuring system problems and making decisions regarding the aim of
managing a business cycle” (Bharati & Chaudhury, 2004). This model uses decision-making
confidence and decision-making effectiveness for the decision-making structure.

Many studies in literature have evaluated the satisfaction and success of information systems at
universities from students’ perspective with different methodologies like ISO 9126, Serwqual, and
DeLone & McLean IS Success Model.
Some significant advantages of the Student Management Information System
Smart management of student’s data:-Students fees, examination, transports, library facility can be
accessed directly using a unique identification number per student.

Avid student performance:-Every students can now focus on their education, rather than running
over to the management/administration to access their records. This gives them ample time to work
on their weaker areas, achieving more than ever before. Padayache et al. (2010)

Streamline and simplify everyday tasks:- It gives a unified view collecting all the useful data on a
single screen, making sure everything important is highlighted. This results in a better productivity
and growth with minimum effort. Padayache et al. (2010)

Universal access with ease:-It is not only available for students, but also for teachers and other
institution employees. Where teachers can manage their classes and other tasks. This gives them
better control to not only keep their tasks organized, but also reminds them who needs more attention.
(Alridge and Rowley, 2001)

All the functionalities expected from the system with detailed description of how they are performed

by the system with proposed interaction patterns with intended users are include

Therefore, the report was conduct to the Arba minch university student management information

system in order to assist the students with information relevant to operational activities.

Data presentation
This document describes the external behavior of the application and its identified sub systems. It
also describes nonfunctional requirements, and other factors necessary to provide a complete and
comprehensive description of the requirements for the system.

This system is targeted to automate the academic activities of the university. This activity
begins with the admission process of students and continues with a semester/term work
flow of the academic process until graduation. The main sub systems of this system are
Student Academic Record Management, Schedule Management, and Student Services
Management. Each of these subsystems have their own components; some unique to each subsystem
and some common.
Student Academic Record Management Subsystem:
This is the main target of the whole project which includes a number of specific and sequential
activities such as placement, admission, curriculum management, semester registration, add and
drop, exemption, transfer and substitution management, and finally grade report, senate list and
transcript generation.

Schedule Management Subsystem:

This sub system is targeted to automate the course and exam schedule generation and distribution
activities of the university. It focuses on instructor/invigilator assignment, constraints
management, schedule generation and maintenance, and outputs management for
distribution to different recipients.

Student Services management Subsystem:

This subsystem is intended to manage services provided to students during their stay in the
university’s campuses. These services include Student Accommodation, Meal Services, Cost
sharing & Billing Services, and Clinical Services. However, these services are not
comprehensive and the automation will address them only partially.

Data analysis and findings

This section provides the list and descriptions of functional requirements. Functional
requirements describe the possible effects of the SMIS and what the system must accomplish to
the intended users with high level description.The functional requirements are classified
according to three priority classes – low, medium and high. The details of these functional
requirements are provided in the next section using use cases.

Student Academic Information Management

Table 1A below contains the functional requirements of the Academic Information Management
Subsystem along with their description:

Functionality Description Priorit

y
Basic Academic This functionality is responsible to maintain the basic framework of High
Data the academic such as University, Colleges, Departments, Programs
Management Program Types
 The system provides a facility for maintaining and making
appropriately available the curriculum and course
break High
down. All programs and program types in all colleges will use this.
Curriculum The results of the functionality are used in the other
Management subsystems especially in semester course offering/publishing, in
senate list preparation, and scheduling sub system.
This functionality will take the final course
Instructors offering/publishing list and the instructors’ data to facilitate the
instructor assignment activity. At each step of the assignment High
Assignment
it will show the courses assigned to a specific instructor and the
to Courses
summary of the total load. To assist departments in assigning
courses to instructors it will provide a list of candidate
instructors who could be assigned for the course based on their
past course load history.
This functionality is used to receive students that are accepted
Admission into different colleges to each program and program types. High
Information about each student used in the admission
Management
process is thoroughly recorded.
This functionality will provide automated placement process. It
Placement will provide a highly efficient way of selection and High
allocation management with flexible placement.
Management

This will provide the functionality for the

semester/term with repeated registration activity. Departments,
the Registrar, students as well as instructors will get the list High
of courses offered in a given semester with details of
Registration
prerequisites. Slip generation and also the course registration
Management will be automatic for students who are promoted and
satisfy prerequisite requirements of all the current courses.
 This functionality will provide a flexible grade entry for
instructors organized by section, and course. The calculation
Grade
of the grade points will be made automatically. As a result, High
Record and based on the status rules, the academic status of the
Management students will be computed at the end of a proper academic
period. Report generation for semester grade report,
student course history and transcript is also automatically
performed by this functionality.

Table 1A. Academic Information Management Subsystem

A student is assigned to Arba Minch University by MoE or by the university.The registrar will import
the list of students, received in particular academic year, into the system and generate student
identification number for selected students. The students will fill admission, and cost sharing (for
Undergraduate regular students) form submits to department or college/institute for approval, and
finally to registrar to maintain student profile. Then registrar checks the availability of his/her name in
the new student list of the university. If it exists, the registrar fills the admission form online and the
system checks the validity of the data. It then saves, generate student identification number, if not
assigned, and system makes it available to the respective college and department which the student is
assigned. After this, the student is expected to get account from their college/institute to fill in their
department preference into the system. The placement team feed the system department quota,
placement quota (gender, region, and disability) and placement rule (based on student result or
SGPA). The systems automatically assigns students based on the placement team placement policy
and make it available to departments for their approval, departments either will approve or disapprove
the students’ placement and they will attach the approved students to the curriculum.

An instructor who wants to submit grade for students of particular section will be prompted to enter
the section of the students and departments. Then the system will retrieve the list of students who
attended the courses and allow the instructor to enter marks of each student, and then the system will
calculate the grade of the students based on the scale defined by college or department. When the
instructors submit the grade via the system, it will be visible to the department to approve the
submission of the grade; after the grade is approved by the department it will be visible to the
registrar for their confirmation of the grade submission. When a student wants to have a semester
grade report, they can view it online, but they can get the official grade report from the department. At
the end of their study, they can get their transcript from the registrar; the system will check the
validity of the student and informs the registrar the details activity of the student whether s/he is
eligible to get transcript and/or diploma.

Schedule Management Subsystem:

This section provides the list and descriptions of functional requirements describing the
possible effects of the Scheduling subsystem and what this particular subsystem must
accomplish to the intended users.
Table 2A below contains the functional requirements of the system along with their description:

Functionality Description Priority

This functionality is responsible to maintain the basic
Basic Schedule Medium
framework of the schedule such as Campus, Building,
Data Management and Room. It will also have an appropriate
functionality to use the common data for all
subsystems of the Student Management Information
System such as College, Department, Sections and
Course.

This functionality is targeted to handle the

Medium
schedule generation and maintenance activities. This
Schedule functionality will make the schedule available to each
Management of the departments. It will also handle schedule
change requests. The output of this functionality will
be used by the classroom request management
functionality.

Classroom Request This functionality by referring to the classroom Medium

Management schedule data, shows available rooms for a given date
and time.

This functionality is responsible for generating

Schedule Medium
outputs of different formats from the generated
Output
schedule to be delivered to Departments,
Management
 Instructors, The Registrar, Students (to be posted), and
College/Institute.

Table 2A. Scheduling subsystem

At the beginning of a new semester, the scheduling team will get the published/offering courses list
from the system organized by department in a college. The system displays the selected department
instructor constraints filled by departments. Then the team will fill all requirements for the new
schedule such as room information, constraints (for each room, section, course, or instructor). Then
the new schedule will be generated. A few schedule adjustments may be required to be done manually
which will be managed by the scheduling team. The team then will notify departments to check the
schedule from the system. Each department can verify the schedule for the instructors and sections
and forwards any change requirements to be made manually. Then the changing stage will be closed
by the scheduling team. Now, each department can print the schedule for all sections of students post
the schedule on the notice board or available on students account. The schedule can also be printed
and distributed for each instructor and/or available on their account . In addition every university
community can check the schedule of any course in any college from the system directly without
going to the college.

Student Services management Subsystem:

Functionality Description Priority
This functionality manages the assignment of
students to the available dormitory. In doing so,
available dormitories and their capacities are
Dormitory recorded first by their sex. When students come to the Low
university in the beginning of the academic year, they are
Management
provided with accommodation services. For first year
students, the list obtained from the MoE, and then entered
and available in the system. For other year level students,
the system uses the already existing data. Finally, the
system categorizes the students based on their year level,
colleges and department and then assign to
dormitories according to their sex and name order.
The system will enable eligible students (based on their
 Meal Service academic status, cost sharing choice or meal service fee)
to get meal services. The section’s meal clerk is expected
Management
to select a date to record the usage of the service by students Low
in a specific period of time (breakfast, lunch or dinner) and
keep track.

Student Health Low

This functionality enable to record medical profile or history
Records Management
of students who have taken treatment in the university’s
clinic.
Student Billing and This functionality will enable the university to record all student
Cost Sharing payable payments, maintains all service fee made by the student
Low
Management and report payments on due. It also handles cost sharing
payable and payment data with reporting functionality.
Table 3A. Student Service subsystem
When students are assigned to the university, their names being registered in the system will be used
to assign dormitories according to their year level, college, and department, by ordering alphabetically
while considering those with special needs like disabilities. The student can view his/her dormitory
assignment from his/her account. In case of unable to view their dormitory online due to power off,
the student will go to the accommodation service and the accommodation service personnel inform
where s/he is assigned.

A student who is eligible for meal services from the university, s/he will be assigned to the meal
service hall in a specific campus. Their daily meal usage for each meal type will be registered to avoid
double service and for statistics purpose. The system also checks for the academic status of the
student whether s/he is eligible to get the service.

A student who is eligible for health service will get medical services from the campus clinic and their
medical history will be kept in the system for future reference. To keep student privacy, student
medical history will kept to be accessible only by the authorized clinic nurse and medical doctors.

Students’ cost sharing information will be kept in the system to determine the eligibility of the student
to get different service from registrar, meal service, clinic and accommodation. The system will also
keep all payment data for each student to follow their payments and service eligibility.
 Access Control List for Reports of Placement and Admission Module

Main Account Access Type Comments

Report Needed
Type
• Newly department assigned
Registrar
students Read
• Government assigned
students to college/institute
• Admission
• Student Profile Read Access is available to
• Newly department assigned
students only
• Government assigned college/institute
students to college/institute
Placement students.
• Placement Preference
• Placement
• Admission
• Student Profile

College/Institute
• Newly department assigned Read Access is availabl
students
Health • Admission
Student Profile
Services, Newly department assigned Read
Accommodati students
on Government assigned
students to college/institute
Services, Admission
Meal Read
Newly department assigned
Service students
Admission
Student Profile

Continuing &
Newly department assigned Read
Distance
students
Education Government assigned
Program
students to college/institute
Admission
System Student Profile
Administrator
 Placement

Since the current academic information management process is fully manual, there
are a number of drawbacks observed.

Academic Information Management

• Since the information is paper based and distributed over the departments and the registrar,
getting summarized information about many aspects of each student is very difficult.

• All activities are time taking and very difficult to perform correctly. For example, the
placement process is very tedious and often imperfect due to the lengthy process of copying
the student choices from the forms and filling on to excel sheets and performing random and
subjective filtering mechanisms.

• The registration and the record management processes are again very cumber some to manage
for registrar clerks as well as the departments.

• Grade entry is made at least three times, first by the instructor on paper, then by the
department, and also by the registrar. Moreover, both the registrar and the department repeat
the same effort in keeping the academic record of all students.

• Producing statistical information that may be required at the end of every academic period
which is essential to analyze the status of students is time taking. Hence, reports can’t be
generated give summarized information from different point of views such as: male/female
ratio in many fields, progressive dropout rates, admission to graduation ratio, and so on.

Scheduling

While performing the above activities manually the University has faced so many problems.
Some of these problems can be stated as follows:

Instructors Assignment Related

• Assigning instructors for courses has been very difficult since it was not easy to get the course
history of instructors
• Lengthy time to assign instructors for courses and unbalanced load distribution
• Generating assignment slip for instructors had been a very difficult task.
Schedule Related
• Schedule clashing
• Extended time for preparing the schedule
• Difficulty to entertain changes
• Huge amount of human labor is involved
• Very limited consideration of constraints
• Considering resources like lecture room size, lab room size, and etc is not easy
• Very difficult to handle changes, which is due to sections merging, problems with new entry
anticipations, leaving instructors or any other resource changes
• Uneven distribution of classes throughout the week – for sections
• Uneven load distribution on instructors throughout the day and the week
• Students may not be able to take a course due to course schedule problems
• Development of the schedule early, without having enough information regarding sections,
instructors, etc and causing frequent changes later after classes are started.
• Schedules are not distributed to course instructors due to the lengthy process of manually filtering
the respective courses of each instructor.
• Inefficient use of the class rooms because of constraints. Some departments may have extra while
others may be short of classrooms for both class and exam schedules.
• It has been very difficult to determine room status at any time for the sake of temporary classes.
• Difficulties in processing various requests of students Student Services
• Inability to easily identify the academic status of a specific student in order to provide the services
• Not being able to manage student’s data properly.
• Meal service unit not able to know the exact number of students who are attenuated a class and
eligible for meal service.
• Students are using the meal service while they are taking cash for the meal service; in actual
circumstance, they are not eligible.
• Losing of students medical history files.
• Dormitory assignment process is very tedious and often imperfect due to the lengthy process, and
unable to identify available rooms in real time.
• It is difficult to get their receiving and payable account

Students
the analysis from students made above, the following problems faced by the current system in
operation include:
1. There is a lot of delay in currency and consistency in the system.
2. There is noticeable hours spent on building and release of student results.
3. The student find it very difficult in completing their course registration form due to
inefficient operation.
4. There are always clashes in the scheduling and release of the academic calendar,
examination and lecture time table.

Conclusion and Future research direction

This requirements analysis document which is used to describe all the tasks that goes into the scoping
and definition of the new information system. It contains requirements collected from the student
services directorate. This study, after being discussed by specially the university’s stake holders and
students, will be used as a basis for the rest of the project mainly the design and the implementation of
the system.

We strongly require your involvement in the review of this requirement study document and
specification of the current system as it contains details of expected functionalities and services of the
new student management information system.

The study has measured in order to assist the students with information relevant to operational
activities at Arbaminch University. The system help to reduce the high rate of labor using to its high
level of automation and independency. Furthermore, the results of this study open to started effort to
measure and compare students’ satisfaction regarding SMIS services among Ethiopian universities.
Recommendation
Advanced information systems are needed to ensure the rapid, accurate exchange of vital information
related to navigation safety. To provide a safe operating environment in Ethiopia.

A number of higher education to carry out their missions is already using information systems that
promote navigation safety. These systems also contribute to the national goals of education. The
University also the federal government has a responsibility to take the lead in the development and
implementation of these systems to promote navigation safety for others.

Implications of the study

The study opens the door to conduct similar studies across public and private universities and
compare the results with this study. Student Management Information System positive Implications in
University. The concept of the Student Management Information System (SMIS) has evolved over a
period of time comprising many different facets of the organizational functions day to day it grow and
modernize. SMIS is the key factor to facilitate and attain efficient decision making in an
organization.so this study order to assist the students with information relevant to operational
activities. it open an idea to the researchers to investigate this area.
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Arba Minch University Student Management Information System Requirement Analysis Document
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