Applying for Leave of Absence, and other news…

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In 2016, the Office of the University Registrar launched Project Atlas, a multi-year framework for modernizing the delivery of services to support student success. With over 15 enrollment service functions identified for consideration, Project Atlas aims to enhance each function with an eye towards reducing the administrative burden and the cost of transactional processing, simplifying access to the needed service by current and former students, and maintaining the integrity of student records.

The Office of the University Registrar (O.U.R.) is pleased to announce the launch of the first enhanced service as part of Project Atlas: Leave of Absence.

Leave of Absence

Currently enrolled degree-seeking undergraduate and graduate students can take advantage of the new Leave of Absence application in TUportal. The web-based application is intuitive, informative, and efficient. The Leave of Absence portal application extensively leverages data to deliver a highly individualized experience.

  • Intuitive: The application is policy driven to ensure proper usage and coding.  The user interface is simple, clean, and easy to navigate with clear instructions to provide a full end-to-end self-service.
  • Informative: The application displays individualized implications specific to the student (Fly in 4, international students, housing, etc.). Upon confirmation, a student will receive an email that includes instructions for returning to the University. Additionally, students can track their leave terms via the new Enrollment Services dashboard.
  • Efficient: The advisors will no longer collect and submit signed paper applications to the Office of the University Registrar. Once submitted, the student’s record updates real-time. However, international students will require an additional level of review for S.E.V.I.S. compliance.

Students can access the Leave of Absence application in TUportal by following the steps below.

  1. Sign into TUportal
  2. Under the TUapplications heading, click Enrollment Services.
  3. In Enrollment Services, click Services.
  4. In the Services menu, select Leave of Absence.

With the launch of the Leave of Absence portal application, the Office of the University Registrar will no longer accept the paper Leave of Absence forms.

We have compiled responses to questions others asked us during the design and development of the application.

  1. Who can and cannot use the online Leave of Absence application in TUportal?  All students can access the application; however, the ability to apply via TUportal varies based on individual student record.  Ineligible students will receive an appropriate message explaining why they cannot use the online application.
  2. What are the deadlines for applying for a Leave of Absence? The deadlines differ for Main Campus and Temple Japan (TUJ) students.  The application informs the students of the deadline under the heading DATES TO APPLY BY.  The application strictly adheres to the deadline dates.
  3. How will the system work for students whose registration remains for the semester in which they are planning to take a Leave of Absence? In this case, the student will not be able to request a Leave of Absence unless all courses are dropped for the leave term. Once the student drops all of their courses, they will then be able to request a Leave of Absence. If a student is on a Leave of Absence and registers for the same term, the Leave of Absence for that and future terms will be cancelled automatically and the student will be notified by email.
  4. Is there something different for students who must take a leave of absence for military deployment? Students can apply online and select Military as a reason for the leave, and provide the deployment dates.  If the deployment dates extend the permitted leave period, Office of the University Registrar will send the students a follow-up email with instructions on how-to submit the deployment papers to support the extended leave.
  5. How long will it take to approve a Leave of Absence? Approval is near real-time; however, international students will require an additional level of review for S.E.V.I.S. compliance.
  6. Where can students check the status of their Leave of Absence? The status for Leave of Absence can be found in the Enrollment Services Dashboard:

A) Sign into TUportal
B) Under the TUapplications heading, click Enrollment Services.
C) In Enrollment Services, click Dashboard.

Students in the O.U.R.’s Sandbox program designed and developed the Leave of Absence portal application.  The Sandbox program offers students who have an interest in making, breaking, and tinkering with technology an opportunity to work in the Office of the University Registrar and engage in research to production level projects.

And in other news…

Registration Management

The registration setup process has many components such as building the term and part-of-term dates, calculating the enrollment dates, and building time-status rules.  The O.U.R. publishes term level enrollment dates that apply to term level operation, such as financial aid, enrollment reporting, term closing, and various institutional level policies.  However, with the availability of scheduling courses in non-standard part-of-terms, knowing the expected enrollments dates at the part-of-term level can get a bit confusing.   We understand that having the enrollment dates (add/drop, withdrawal, mid-term progress rating, final grade reporting, etc.) available as early as possible can aid the academic departments and other units in proactively planning for the upcoming semester.  To help the schools and colleges with enrollment planning and course offering, the Office of the University is pleased to announce the release of the Part of Term Management System.  The new web-based system replaces the paper form that schedulers provided the O.U.R. for building the enrollment dates for non-standard part-of-terms.  The Part of Term Management System offers several noteworthy benefits:

  • Schedulers can request new non-standard part-of-terms.
  • Track the status of newly requested non-standard part-of-terms.
  • See real-time expected enrollment dates (add, drop, withdrawal, mid-term rating, final grade, etc.).
  • Simulate expected enrollment dates for a hypothetical part-of-term.

The Office of the University Registrar will grant access to the Part-of-Term Management System to individuals responsible for scheduling functions within each school and college.

Students in the IST capstone course designed and developed the Part of Term Management System.  Students spent one year on the project, which consisted of regular meetings with the O.U.R. management and technical team, agile development, and rigorous testing.  Word on the street has it that the students embedded Easter eggs within the application.  If you discover an Easter egg, feel free to share in the comment section.  We may reward you with a yet to-be-determined fabulous prize.

Duplicate Diploma Ordering for Temple Alumni

To make the process of obtaining an authentic duplicate diploma easier, we launched Duplicate Diploma ordering via Parchment.  Ordering a duplicate diploma via Parchment is available to all Temple graduates, and offers two major benefits.  First, the Duplicate Diploma will be delivered 7-10 days faster when compared to our previous paper form process.  Second, a Temple graduate who is overseas now can order a Duplicate Diploma and have it shipped to any desired location.  Since going live with the new Duplicate Diploma ordering option in February, the Office of the University Registrar has fulfilled over 350 orders shipped to domestic and international destinations.