Simplifying MMS and Timetabling Integration for School Administrators

Victoria Davidson-Mayhew

Monday 22 July 2024

Introduction

Starting from the 2021/2022 academic year, the MMS and the timetabling system Scientia S+ have been integrated. This integration allows MMS to pass student group data to the timetabling system, ensuring students have more complete personal timetables.

Although this process has been in place for a few years now, we thought as the start of term approaches we would higlight the integration again. This blog post will guide school administrators through the workflow and key processes involved in managing this integration.

Timetabling Workflow

The timetabling process begins in early May when the Timetabling team releases the new Academic timetable database, pre-populated with curriculum data and planned module sizes. Schools then provide the Timetabling team with data on scheduled activities and requirements. By mid-August, the Central Timetable is released, allowing administrators to import group types and groups from the timetabling system into MMS. When term starts and students are added to groups, this data will be passed from MMS to the Timetabling system, updating students’ personal timetables.

Understanding Group Types and Groups

Group types in MMS help organize students into various groups for different activities like tutorials, seminars, or lab sessions. Each module can have multiple group types, but a student can only belong to one group within each group type. For instance, a student can be part of one Tutorial group and one Seminar group within a single module.

Viewing and Importing Groups

Administrators can view and import group types in MMS by following these steps:

1. Select the module title from the MMS Modules page or the Academic activities workspace in MySaint.
2. Go to the Students tab.
3. Scroll down to the Group Types section.
4. Group types listed in the timetabling system will have an Import Groups button.

Adding Students to Groups

Students can be added to groups in three ways: individually, by CSV upload, or through a Student Sign-up tool. Once added to a group, MMS will pass the data back to S+ and students will be able to view their groups in the timetabling system.

To add students individually:

1. Select the module title from the MMS Modules page or the Academic activities workspace in MySaint.
2. Go to the appropriate group type tab.
3. Scroll down to the Assign students section.
4. Locate the student in the table.
5. Check the box corresponding to the required group for the student.
6. Click Save Students’ Groups.

To upload students via CSV:

1. Prepare a CSV file with two columns: Student ID (username or matric number) and Group name (the group names must match and are case-sensitive).
2. In the module, go to the group type tab.
3. Scroll down to the Import Students’ Groups From Spreadsheet section.
4. Click Browse to locate and select the file.
5. Click Import Groups from CSV.
6. Review the proposed changes on the next page.
7. Click Submit.

Further resources

More information can be found on the following guides:

• Attendance tool staff guide
• Frequently asked questions
• Groups and Group types staff guide

For further assistance, contact [email protected].