Tips for using Centre Net for Faculty

From ITS Wiki

Contents 1 Where is it? 2 Password 3 Confidentiality 4 Features 5 CX - Faculty Main Portlet 5.1 Biographical Data 5.2 Department Lists 5.3 Faculty Schedule 5.4 Grade Entry 5.5 Class Lists 5.6 Schedule of Classes 5.7 Closed Classes 5.8 Classroom Schedule 5.9 Benefits Info 5.10 Vehicle Registration 5.11 Centre Links 6 CX - Faculty Advisor Portlet

Where is it?

Go to the Centre College Centre Net portal https://centrenet.centre.edu/ics. Bookmark this location to expedite future access. Login using your regular network User Name and Password. Once you are logged in, select the Faculty tab.

Password

Centre Net uses the same user name and password that gives you access to the college network. In order for this universal authentication to work properly, password changes must be made using the network’s password change procedure. Good passwords contain a combination of numbers and letters and the use of upper-case and lower-case. Do not use familiar words or personal numbers (phone numbers, address, social security number, etc.). Memorize your password; do not write it down and leave it on or in your desk. Do not give your password to anyone else.

Confidentiality

You have access to confidential information about your students in class and your advisees. This information cannot be shared with any third party without the written consent of the student. If the program is open, do not leave your PC unattended. You should log out of the portal and close the web browser as soon as you complete your active work. For additional security, logins to Centre Net will automatically be terminated after 10 minutes of inactivity.

Features

Features of this product are represented by the links that appear inside the portlets on the Faculty tab page. Most features are “term” and “year” sensitive so make sure you have the proper settings for the specific term you are working with. Following is a brief description and some navigation hints for each portlet/feature:

CX - Faculty Main Portlet

Biographical Data

This page displays only biographical data about you stored in the administrative database. If any of the displayed information is incorrect or out-of-date, please contact the Human Resources Office or the Dean's Office.

Department Lists

Allows you to call up lists of faculty, majors, and minors in the departments that you are associated with. There is an option to “email all” on each list.

Faculty Schedule

Lists your teaching schedule for the term selected. Selecting a course will bring up that class list. (This may be the easiest way to call up a class list; see CLASS LISTS below.)

Grade Entry

Each term, the Registrar’s Office will announce the dates for on-line grading. Faculty may enter or change grades anytime during the on-line grading period. The program is very easy to use. After hitting "grade entry," you will get a screen listing all of your courses for the term selected. After selecting a course, you will get your roster with two pull down menus for each student. When selected, one menu will list valid grades that you can assign and the other is for reporting absences. After entering grades and absences, hit the submit button to complete the process. Each time you "submit" grades, you will receive an email message confirming that your grades were sent and listing the grades assigned. If you wish, print the message for your records. Because this is confidential information, we suggest that you delete the message soon after you receive it and also delete it permanently from your Deleted Items folder. (NOTE: This email message is sent through an internal server and is encrypted.) You can change any grade up until the deadline. Each time you change a roster you will receive another email confirmation. On-line grading adds another dimension to the cyber-security issue. Please be vigilant in guarding the confidential information of your students. When logged into the network, don't leave you computer unattended. Do regularly discard email messages with confidential information. Change you passwords periodically! In the near future, we will implement password aging which will require that you modify your password every ninety days.

Class Lists

Allows you to call up a class list for the term selected. You have access only to classes you are teaching. Enter the course number and section. There are four check boxes on the right. You should always keep "include registered" and "include withdrawn" checked (these are the defaults). Students who drop prior to grading will not be listed with these options. This is your best "viewable" option as it includes links to a student's schedule (linked to their name), an email link to their advisor(s), and an email link to the student. Check the third box "no links" and keep the first and second boxes checked for the best printable roster.

The fourth box allows you to download a roster to an Excel spreadsheet (provided you have access to the appropriate software).

At the top of the roster is a "Send Email to Class" link. To ensure that this feature works properly, please make sure your email options are configured accordingly: adjust you Microsoft Outlook setup by doing the following:

Click on Tools on the Outlook menu bar
Then click on Options
Then on E-mail Options under the preferences tab
Then on Advanced E-mail Options
Then check the Allow Comma as Separator box and click OK.

(Outlook separates addresses with a semi-colon; the student information system uses commas---thus the need for this setup adjustment.) MAC users should not have to do anything to their Entourage setup for the Send Email to Class feature to work.

Schedule of Classes

Allows you to check the enrollment status of any course offered during the selected term. You must first select the department, then the course.

Closed Classes

Lists any course offered during the selected term which has no vacant seats available. This is a comprehensive list in alphabetical order.

Classroom Schedule

Allows you to check when a particular classroom is being used, and by what classes. Warning: the wildcard feature of this application is not reliable.

Benefits Info

This link provides a view of one’s current insurance and benefits information maintained by the Human Resources Office.

Vehicle Registration

Allows you to register a vehicle and apply for a parking sticker on line.

Centre Links

Links to other applications, including on-line voting for various faculty elections and surveys.

CX - Faculty Advisor Portlet

Provides access to information about your advisees. You need to “Select Advisee” and set the session and year before proceeding with other available links. The easiest way to access student information is to enter a student's ID number. It is suggested that the first time you use this process, hit the "Select from Advisee List" and print out the list of your advisees. You will then have a paper copy of your advisees along with their ID numbers. There is also an option to email all your advisees from this list.

Additional options allow you to access different kinds of information about an advisee:

• Academic Record (beginning with term selected and going back to first term enrolled as well as credits earned at

entrance)

• Biographical
• Degree Audit (defaults declared majors and minors, but new majors and minors may be entered for experimental purposes)
• GPA Projection (insert predicted grades for term selected and the program will calculate a term and cumulative GPA)
• Grades (for the term selected)
• Student Schedule (the selected student’s registration for the term selected)