TSS Process Group 2: The Journey Continues

The Triton Student System (TSS) Project’s Process Design Workshops (PDW) are in full swing and moving at full (light)speed ahead. From July to October 2024, Process Group 2 continued the TSS system design journey, building upon the previous process group and paving the way for two more process groups to come. Below is a summary of the work and outcomes of Process Group 2. 

For a detailed overview of the PDW, view our previous article, “Let’s Get Down to Business: Process Design Workshops.” To learn more about Process Group 1, read “That’s a Wrap on Process Group 1.”

Context Setting

We know there is a lot going on for the TSS Project, so we want to orient you before we get started. The PDW are made up of four distinct process groups, and here we will be reviewing Process Group 2 in detail. You can view the detailed schedule of the PDW on the TSS Project webpage.

Process Areas & Participants

The areas covered in Process Group 2 include:

• Admissions & Program Registration
• Grading
• Course Event Scheduling
• Course Registration
• Student Billing
  • Feel Calculation, Financial Holds & Statues
  • Financial Aid Configuration for Integration
  • Invoicing and Payment Plans

A wide range of subject matter experts (SMEs) participated in the design activities for Process Group 2, from the initial workshops to final approval. Key units involved include: 

• Accounting
• Division of Extended Studies (DES)
• Division of Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs (GEPA)
• Enrollment Management (Registrar)
• Financial Aid
• School of Medicine (SOM)
• Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (SSPPS)
• Student Financial Solutions (SFS)

Outstanding Decisions

Several key topics requiring additional discussion and decision-making surfaced during Process Group 2 for both general campus and DES. We have shared detailed information below regarding each of the topics pending final decisions.

General Campus

• Grading: Currently, general campus instructors utilize the eGrades system to submit grades for students; however the continued use of eGrades presents an ongoing challenge for technical and information security teams. Discussions are underway for determining the future grading experience, and the Academic Senate will be consulted to inform a final recommendation.
• WebReg: The team is reviewing options for the possible replacement of the WebReg, which is currently cumbersome and outdated. Keeping the student experience at the forefront of this decision is key to ensuring students have the essential tools available for their academic planning needs
• Subject & Course Numbering Convention: The formatting of subject and course numbering has a high impact and dependency on other systems, such as CourseLeaf and uAchieve. Key considerations for this decision include: length of numbers/subject codes, leading zeros and sorting, as well as the conversion of historical codes from ISIS to TSS. The Academic Senate will be consulted to inform a final recommendation. 

Division of Extended Studies

• System Deprecation: DES has many homegrown, division-specific systems and applications that are used for invoicing, grading, student applications and instructor payments. The team is making recommendations on which DES systems will be deprecated (go offline) with the launch of TSS and which will need to be integrated with TSS (see number 5 below). DES is being consulted to inform a final recommendation.
• Integrations: The applications, systems and platforms in use at DES are being reviewed for integration with TSS. The team is also identifying other options, such as deprecation, as applicable for the related system or application (see number 4 above). DES is being consulted to inform a final recommendation.

Tell Us What You Think

The primary deliverable of the workshops is the creation of process design documents (PDDs), which we explained in detail in our previous article, "Let’s Get Down to Business: Process Design Workshops."

Community participation is encouraged! The PDDs are available for review and feedback. If you have any questions or feedback, please contact us at esr-student@ucsd.edu.

• Process Group 2A PDDs
• Process Group 2B PDDs

To review more detailed information, key insights and additional resources on Process Group 2, please visit Process Design Workshops: Process Group 2 (Fact Sheet).

Two Down, Two To Go

Since our student-related processes are all linked together, we know there will be a few things that will carry over and get wrapped up in later process groups. We’re also excited to keep tweaking, refining and improving the work we’ve done as we move forward—it's all part of the process!