Vol. 1 March 2010 ONLINE ISSN: 2094-9626 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.7828/aitr.v1i1.

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Online Enrollment System of Liceo de Cagayan University

ABSTRACT The Online Enrollment System was proposed for the enhancement of the current enrollment system of Liceo de Cagayan University. The study aimed at creating a system that would provide another option for enrolling and that would compensate for the schools lack of manpower and time-consuming system. The database of the system is the dbEnrollment. It contains many tables and stores information such as students academic records, secretarys files and records, class schedules, pre-requisites, subjects, curricula and other essential data needed in the system. The proposed system caters to old, freshmen, transferees and shiftees with the following services: subject evaluation, posting of grades, viewing of curriculum, add and update profile. The system lessens the enrollment time, speeds up file management, and minimizes inaccuracies and errors. KEYWORDS Enrollment, Evaluation, Interface, Online, Academic load

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INTRODUCTION Advancements in modern technology are at their highest peak. Along these advancements, the Internet has emerged as a powerful tool in dealing with information management. Nowadays, Web-based applications are widely used due to their ubiquity. The Internet is neither an extraordinary communications tool nor revolutionary. It simply represents the current stage in the development of human capabilities through written language, which itself derived from the spoken form (Holmes, 2006). Given its current and potential growth, the Internet has become an avenue for e-commerce, offering transaction convenience and service efficiency. According to Forman (2007) in his article New Research Perspectives on Mobility, Organizations, Systems and Technologies, continuing innovation in technologies can lead to organizational changes that range from improvement of day-to-day operation and for easy access it provides for the end users. Many schools today have adapted this innovation in the offering of their services. Among the Web-based services are Online Class Scheduling and Online Course System offered by the Western Mindanao State University (http://www.wmsu. edu.ph/) and Online Enrollment System of Cavite Maritime Institute and of Far Eastern University (http://online.feu.edu.ph/FEU_OESF/). Inspired by these online services, the researchers came up with an online enrollment system for the Liceo de Cagayan University. The study considered the prevailing process of the school and how this process can be modified for a more efficient and effective enrollment system. One of the factors considered in designing the proposed system is the lack of manpower to accommodate all enrollees. Also considered are the tedious task of filling out the application form and the inaccuracies of information provided by the students. These factors cause enrollment delay, which is disadvantageous to the enrolment personnel and the enrollees. Since the study involves proper records handling, tracing the constraints and evaluation of the manual system is essential. Thus, the researchers gathered data necessary in the enrollment system, which is designed to benefit the employees because they can access and manage information directly and conveniently.

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FRAMEWORK This study describes the design and development of the system as an initial step toward building a comprehensive and integrated system. The researchers used the Pattern Recognition Approach and the Negotiation Approach. Pattern recognition is becoming increasingly important in the age of automation and information handling and retrieval. The Pattern Recognition Approach is the act of taking in raw data and taking an action based on the category of the pattern. The design of a pattern recognition system essentially involves the following three aspects: data acquisition and pre-processing, data representation, and decision making (Jain, 2006). The researchers applied the structural pattern recognition, which is intuitively appealing, because this approach provides a description of how the given pattern is constructed from the primitives. This paradigm has been used in situations where the patterns have a definite structure, which can be captured in terms of a set of rules. Negotiation approach focuses on the interests of the parties and emphasizes conflict management and conflict resolution. Analysis of qualitative differences between integrative and distributive negotiation types provided a basis for further descriptive studies of negotiation processes. It eventually led to the formulation of a number of prescriptions regarding strategies and tactics in distributive and integrative negotiations, their informational requirements, and even possible solutions.

Figure 1. Context Diagram of Online Enrollment System

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Figure 1 illustrates the context diagram of the developed Online Enrollment System. It shows the relation of the students, secretary, and administrator in the flow of the system. The system automatically generates arranged schedules for the subjects to be enrolled by the student. If the student approves the recommended schedule, then patterned recognition approach is applied in the system. On the other hand, if the student declines the recommended schedule, then he can choose another schedule for every subject. In this way, negotiation approach is applied between the system and the student. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY General Objectives The study aimed at creating a system that would provide another option for enrolling and that would compensate for the schools lack of manpower and time-consuming system. Specific Objectives The study sought to develop an Online Enrollment System that would enable the students, faculty, and administrators of the institution to gain access to the proposed system via client computer and to synthesize the different functions and solutions needed for the current enrollment system with the proposed system by constantly evaluating and revising the prototype to meet the requirements of the institution. Scope and Limitation of the Study The online enrollment system is a portal type that covers the major processes in the enrollment system, namely registration of the new students, enrollment of old and new students, files maintenance such as list of enrolled students in a specific department, and generation of reports. The proposed system caters to old, freshmen, transferees, and shiftees with the following services: subject evaluation, posting of grades, viewing of curriculum, adding and updating profile. The designed system covers selected colleges for enrollment procedure and is accessible only by users with their own account at different access level. Students with no back accounts can only enroll, and this system cannot
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generate assessment of fees since this is an independent system that is not connected to the accounting department and other departments. Students can view the evaluated subjects that can be enrolled and choose their respective schedules. Administrators have total access to the system, which include viewing of student grades, adding curriculum, department, enrollment officers, subjects and schedules, and setting enrollment deadline. Enrollment Officers of respective departments can modify and add student grades, activate new student account and set their curriculum, deactivate student accounts with back accounts in the cashier department, add faculty for scheduling purposes, and shift student account into a new curriculum or course. The developed system can only accommodate one main prerequisite per subject. The designed system is intended for the no-down-payment enrollment promo of the university; therefore, online payments are not acceptable. The system does not cover the computation of students grades, class scheduling, and assessment of fees. Output The output of the study is the Online Enrollment System of Liceo de Cagayan University. The developed software will be installed in the Web server and will be uploaded on the Web. The developed software will store all the data that are inputted in the user interface digitally into the database and will generate reports for the end users such as the unofficial enrollment form for the enrollees and a ready-to- print reports for the administrator. The developed software includes a complete Program Structure, Database Specifications and Design, and System User Manual. A complete documentation of all program source codes is also compiled along with the complete documentation of the study. MATERIALS AND METHODS Developing an online system requires a series of tests and revision to ensure that the system effectively works. To illustrate the development of the system, a simplified version of the spiral life-cycle model was used. The spiral model combines the iterative nature of rapid prototyping in which the researchers established an understanding of the system and its objectives as well as its functionality, ability to accommodate change, constraints, and other alternatives in achieving those objectives. In the specification phase,
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the researchers defined the system requirements, conducted cost analysis, and defined some theories and concepts such as the Patterned Recognition Approach and Negotiation Approach. Following the specification phase was the design phase in which the researchers made a blueprint of the system to make the implementation phase much easier. The implementation phase is the actual development of the system. After implementing the system, the post delivery maintenance phase followed. The researchers distributed a copy of the system to the enrollment officers for them to test the functionality of the system. For any changed requirements, the specification phase up to the post delivery maintenance phase was repeated. When all requirements were fully satisfied, the researchers proceeded to the retirement phase.

Figure 2. A Simplified Version of the Spiral Life Cycle Model In the study, the researchers used the Data Flow Diagram, which is a diagrammatic representation of the information flows within a system showing how information enters the system and leaves the system, what changes the information and where information is stored. Data Flow Diagrams show the passage of data through the system by using 5 basic constructs: Data Flows, Processes, Data Stores, External Entities, and Physical Resources, [Kendall, 2005]. The diagram would easily show the processes that would be done by the system and the other elements or entities that are involved.

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7.1 The Current System Context Diagram

Figure 3. Context Diagram of the Current System Old and new students need to fill up application forms like pre-enrollment form, EPIF and will input validated ID and registration forms to the department enrollment officers. The current enrollment system needs those information to process the enrollment of the students. Then, the system will generate validated ID number and registration forms and will also generate the official enrollment form to the enrollees. On the administrator side, the current system will generate student master list of a specific schedule to the faculty assigned. The Proposed System

Figure 4. Context Diagram of the Proposed System

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New students need to sign up by filling out the personal information page with their unique ID number to be activated by the secretary. The system recognizes the valid user ID. The secretary can add grades of the students. Thus, the students can view their grades online. The proposed system evaluates the subjects previously taken by the students and generates a list of subjects that the students can enroll. After the students have selected the subjects to be enrolled, the proposed system shows the different schedules of each subject. Finally, the system generates the enrollment form that contains the financial statement and schedules of subject. The administrator can add curriculum, subjects, and schedules. He can also view the students profile and the list of students enrolled in every subject and in every department. Project Design Description, Requirement, and Specifications Database Functional Description Basic functions apply to all database tables. Add Process Narrative The add function allows the administrator to enter a new record into the system. The administrator can add subjects, curriculum, department, enrollment officer per department, and subject schedules. The enrollment officer can add new entry of a student into the system, add student grades, and add faculty in the department. The inputted information is saved directly in the database. In special cases, key fields are automatically generated by the system (e.g. offer no.). MYSQL commands will handle the insertion of the details in their corresponding tables in the database. Restriction/Limitation The system rejects inputted records that do not match the correct formats. There are different formats for every entry. Formats can be alphabets, numeric, or alphanumeric. Performance Requirements The ADD function saves record in the database. When the administrator enters data already stored in the database, the system will indicate that the
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data inputted exist or duplication of data occurs. The administrator can then modify the existing data. Design Constraints All inputs can be in lower or upper cases. The system will not re-use any offer_no, even if the record has been deleted. The system generates the dept_id and will randomly assign it to the newly added department. Edit/Update Process Narrative The function allows the administrator to modify records such as the allocated number per offer_no. The administrator searches the record to be edited on a table, clicks on the linked text, then enters the desired correction or updates. Restriction/Limitation The restriction of the ADD function applies also to the UPDATE function. In addition to that, while updating a subject schedule, the offer_no field must be protected since it is a non-editable field and a primary key. Performance Requirements The function provides an option that would cancel all the details being modified before saving them. To update the allocation being set on a particular subject schedule, the administrator must locate the file on the list of schedules and then simply click on the subject code to modify the allocation data. Pressing the subject code hyperlink will automatically display the form and the information, which will be enabled and become editable especially on the allocation textbox. After finishing the modifications, the administrator clicks the UPDATE button to save the modifications. Search Process Narrative The SEARCH function allows the administrator to search in the database information of a student, faculty, enrollment officer, and curriculum. The administrator can search for details of the subject schedule.
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Restrictions/Limitations The administrator can use this function. The string is the students name while the ID number is set into integer form. Performance Requirements The SEARCH function locates the correctly entered file name when matched. Design Constraints Any other type of research requested after the implementation will demand a modification of the implemented system. Delete Process Narrative This function allows the administrator to delete a record from the database permanently. When the DELETE button is clicked, the system asks for a confirmation. When the administrator confirms the deletion, the data will be deleted from the database. Performance Requirements Only the administrator can use this function. The administrator can delete list of records or information from the database. Design Constraints Deleting a record does not affect the students idno field of the remaining records since student account cannot be deleted from the system. Deletion of subject schedules is also not included in the system for archiving purposes. Print Process Narrative The system is capable of generating unofficial enrollment form containing all the subject schedules enrolled. The system can also generate a student curriculum, list of students enrolled, and list of schedules. Restriction/ Limitation The administrator can only print the schedules and list of students enrolled in a specific offer number from a form that is predefined by the system
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developers. Somehow, the student or the enrollee is capable of printing his own unofficial enrollment form and his curriculum. Performance Requirements This function should be able to print particular data such as generated unofficial enrollment form, list of schedules, and list of students enrolled in a specific schedule. Design Features and User Interfaces

Figure 5. System Login Page

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Figure 6. Administrators Main Page

Figure 7. Administrators Add Department and Enrollment Officer

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Figure 8. Administrators Add and View Curriculum

Figure 9. View Schedule Page

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Figure 10. Add Schedule Page

Figure 11. Search Faculty Load

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Figure 12. Student Archive Curriculum

Figure 13. Student Button

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Figure 14. View Student Profile

Figure 15. Enrollment Officer Page

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Figure 16. Student View Grades

Figure 17. Add Student

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Figure 18. Student Button Page

Figure 19. Student Page

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Figure 20. Student View Profile

Figure 21. Student View Curriculum

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Figure 22. Student Academic Records Evaluation

Figure 23. Step-1 Enrollment Procedure

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Figure 24. Step-2 Enrollment Procedure

Figure 25. Step-3 Enrollment Procedure

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Figure 26. Enrollment Procedure with Conflict

Figure 27. Ready to print Unofficial Enrollment Form

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Special Considerations To ensure that the Online Enrollment System works efficiently, the researchers added the following special considerations: 1. Non-editable fields for offer_no and subject_code and personal student number 2. Confirmation or cancel option for update and delete function 3. A facility for the enrollee to go back to the previous step upon finishing the student or to the main menu screen to access directly the choices given with links Audit Trail and Transaction Facility In developing a complex system, database security and data integrity must be properly considered. Such considerations are addressed by using access code like username and password with different user type levels. All the interaction of data is saved in the database and can be retrieved anytime by authorized persons. Run-Time, Testing, Debugging The following are the findings obtained during the initial testing of the Online Enrollment System: 1. The system generates a list of evaluated subjects that are not arranged. 2. Run-time error occurred sometimes. 3. On the enrollment process, the system did not filter those evaluated subjects that dont have schedules being offered during the enrollment phase. However, after the initial findings, the system was debugged to address the problems that occurred. Consequently, the system worked as designed and recommended. The following were observed and done: 1. Using order by ( ) function in Mv SQL Query helped categorized the evaluated subjects according to subject type. 2. The subjects were filtered according to the subject code as foreign key on the subject schedules table. 3. Work productivity in terms of serving and delivering the system was increased.
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CONCLUSION The Online Enrollment System works as designed and proposed. The system provides for fast and easy way of enrolling students, a convenient way of accessing the student academic records, and a quick way of generating reports such as list of enrolled students in a specific subject schedule. For safety measures, the main server in which this system will be uploaded must have a proxy server. RECOMMENDATIONS Based on the findings and conclusions of the study, these are the following recommendations for the future researchers: 1. The design of the developed system must be enhanced and modified. 2. The developed system must be added with some features such as class scheduling and generation of fees to be more complex and functional. 3. The resolution of the interface must be flexible. 4. The system must be put online. LITERATURE CITED Benamati, J. & Lederer, A. 2008 Decision Support Systems unfrastructure : The root problems of the management of changing IT, 45, 833-844. Retrieved from http://portal. acm.org Deokar,A. & Madhusudan,T. 2005 Developing Group Decision Support Systems for Deception Detection, 03-06, 24c 26c. Retrieved from http://portal.acm.org Forman, C., 2007 New Research Perspectives on Mobility, Organizations, Systems and Technologies, 8 , p83-85. Retrieved from http://portal.acm.org Holmes, W. N., 2006 The Evitability of Software Patents, Computer, 33, 30.34 Retrieved from http://media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/

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Kabir, M. 2005 Secure PHP Development : Building 50 Practical Applications (Paperback). Wiley Publishing Inc. Maagad,A., Mujeres,G., Flores,J., Ramos,J. & Radaza,L., 2009 Web - based Student Academic Evaluation System of the College of Information Technology of LDCU Powers, D. 2006 PHP Solutions Dynamics Web Design Made Easy. Springer-Verlag Inc. Ullman, L. (2006). MySql Second Edition.PeachPit Press. Vaswani, V. 2005 How to do Everything with PHP and MySql.McGraw-Hill Companies. Welling. L., 2008 Thomson, L. PHP and MySqL Web Development. Pearson Education. Inc. Internet Sources Decision Support Systems Journals. Retrieved January 2010 from http://www. sciencedirect.com/science/journal Far Eastern University Online Enrollment for Freshmen Website. Retrieved March 2010 from http://online.feu.edu.ph/FEU_OESF/MainSteps_ View.asp Jain, A., Collection, enumeration: Loops, iterators, & nested functions. Retrieved 2006 March 2010 from http://www.howtocreate.co.uk/tutorials/javascript Kendall, J.E., Systems Analysis and Design. Retrieved January 2010 from 2005 http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/courses/Webcourse-contents.htm Negotiation Approach Definition. Retrieved January 2010 from http://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Trust_negotiation Patterned Recognition Approach . Retrieved January 2010 from http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pattern_recognition
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Wright, Y., (2005).M Series Benefits Enrollment System. Retrieved January 2010 from http://www.infor.com/content/brochures.html Western Mindanao State University Website. Retrieved March 2010 from http:// www.wmsu.edu.ph/

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