Cadet Promotion Reports and Data Entry discussion.

Started by Майор Хаткевич, December 03, 2014, 04:22:53 PM

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Майор Хаткевич

Anyone who's been around Cadet Programs for 5+ years, probably remembers when everything was done more or less by hand. With the reports available on E-Services, administrating the cadet program has become a lot easier, with quite a few good reports and resources. I do find however some "un-intuitive" systems where I run into problems.


First, the reports:



QuotePromotions in Past (30/60) Days - Shows Cadets in the selected Organization that have had a promotion in the past 30 or 60 days.


Cadet Phase Report - Shows all Cadets in the selected Organization and the dates that they completed the Phases in the Cadet Program.


Cadet Encampment Report - Shows all Cadets in the selected Organization and whether or not they have completed an Encampment.


Cadet Tracking Report - Shows all Cadets in the selected Organization and which achievement they have completed as well as what they have left on incomplete achievements. In the Aerospace column you will now see an X-# where the number is the Module or Test they have completed.


Cadet Tracking Report (with Scores) - Shows all Cadets in the selected Organization and which achievement they have completed as well as what they have left on incomplete achievements. This report also shows Dates and Scores for completed items.


No Promotions in Past 120 Days - Shows Cadets in the selected Organization that have not had a promotion in 120 days.


Aerospace Education Report - Shows all Cadets in the selected Organization and when they completed the six Modules and Tests in the Aerospace Education portion of the Cadet Program.


Cadets Lapse 90 Days - Shows all cadets whose membership will lapse in 90 days or less.


Milestone Awards by Date - Shows the milestone awards grouped by Wing-Unit, with totals at the bottom.


Leadership and Aerospace Eligibility - Shows whether or not a Cadet is eligible to take the next Leadership or Aerospace education tests.


Cadet Achievements by Date - Shows the achievements grouped by Wing-Unit, with totals at the bottom.


Current Achievements per Unit - Shows all Cadets in the selected Organization and their current achievement.


Cadet Testing Report by Date - Shows the tests for a date range that have been passed for a selected organization.


Cadet Physical Fitness Training Data Input Worksheet - Shows all Cadets in the selected Organization and the minimum required tasks to complete their Physical Fitness Training.


However I did notice that there's some minor "issues" if you will.


Promotions in Past (30/60) Days - Shows Grade (calls it Rank...sigh) promotions, but not achievements. In other words, I had clicked out two cadet officers, and they don't show up, because they did the PAO and AEO achievements, which don't confer new grade. I can see the reasoning behind this, but if it's a report for tracking progress of the cadets, it would be great to see all of the cadets who are passing achievements, as opposed to simply gaining grade.


Cadet Phase Report - A good report to see the "birds eye view" of how the cadet is progressing through the phases. Don't really have much use for it, but it is good to have.

Cadet Encampment Report - This one is a big one, especially for anyone involved with encampments. My only "beef" with it, is lack of "# completed" and "# have not". It currently only generates the list based on the roster but without that info. The other "issue" is that the report automatically updates every cadet to their latest encampment. I'd love to see two reports - one for first time encampment needed/not needed, and one with either a list of all dates a cadet has been to encampment, or even just a number of encampments.

Cadet Tracking Report and w/Scores - This is the report I use for our promotion nights. I've made the "chart" of visual data like in the olde days for this, but this is what I use to fill that chart in/make sure no cadets have slipped through the cracks. The issue I'm finding is that a cadet may "slip through the cracks" when they have all requirements done, and especially if one of the last ones is an online test. Their boxes are now "checked", but I have to go in and mark off "active participant", "cadet oath", and things such as "Mentor/Instruct" for cadet officers. I know they were added, to remind SMs that these are not "optional", but maybe this is something that can be added as an alert in E-Services, when a cadet completes all the boxes, but only needs those specific items checked off.

No Promotions in Past 120 Days - This is another big one. I've said many times that I'm not a believer of minimum time promotions, but typically, if a cadet is taking more than 4 months per achievement, it may be a sign of issues with either their interest, or ability to progress. Anyone on this list should ideally be contacted and this should be addressed. The only people on this list should really be cadets who are "away", such as those gone to college.

Aerospace Education Report - Personally don't have much use for it, but I can see this being useful to an AE officer, or to see which subjects would be a better fit for planning activities/lessons.

Cadets Lapse 90 Days - This is another big one. If this one is run monthly, then it should be no surprise when someone drops off the rolls, and can make it easy to figure out who did. Now if only E-Services actually notified commanders/deputies when a member doesn't renew. Maybe a new section under membership reports. As it stands now, a person goes *poof*, no notice, and all their records are gone as well.

Milestone Awards by Date - If anyone tries to track their own QCUA, this is a good one. Also a good way to see how many cadets in a given time frame have passed a phase.

Leadership and Aerospace Eligibility - To be honest, I'm not sure why this one exists. I would think a cadet knows if they need to take an AE or Leadership test, and if someone doesn't I can check it much faster by opening their file as opposed to running the report.

Cadet Achievements by Date - This one actually shows me what I want to see in the Cadet Promotions report. It also lists awards, so this is a "complete" report as to actual advancement of all cadets in the unit.

Current Achievements per Unit -  This is another good one. It can be used to see how the cadets are grouped. The only issue I have with it includes the way it lists things. Cadets under Curry are not Airmen, they are C/ABs working on the curry. Once you get past that, it gets cleared. I do however see that some of the dates are wrong. Just glanced at it, and noticed that it showed our AFA cadet as completing his most recent achievement in October, but it was done in June.

Cadet Testing Report by Date - A good indicator to see who is actively testing, and score results all in one place. Shows passed and failed tests as well, so problems can be addressed if someone is consistently failing.

Cadet Physical Fitness Training Data Input Worksheet - If someone isn't using this, I would ask them why not. It automatically pulls the age of the cadet, their phase, and their specific requirements for PT. This saves a lot of time, and is a nice finalized product from the previous decade of excel spreadsheets and phase-specific charts. It also lists which cadets actually need the PT for their next achievement.

Multi-Entry Module.

This is another nice feature for Intro to CAP Safety,  Character Development, and PT. I wish I could also enter PT specifics for each cadet, based on their results right into this module. An advanced version could clear all the info listed (such as achievement, status, prior approval date), show input boxes for all of the PT events, and compute a pass or fail based on the inputs. The system already pulls this info for the PT report, so it has to be a process already, at least partially in there. Once you click submit, generate all of the passes and fails, and let you double check the inputs based on the new info on the screen.

That leads me into the Data Entry Module.


It's great to be able to go and see past results on achievements/milestones. it's awesome to have to enter all of the data on one page. But it's not perfect.

To start with, I've noticed that when I'm entering PT results individually (so that I can input their scores for the events, which is optional, but nice to have), sometimes after clicking submit, the data is NOT entered. I'd come back to a report a week later, to find that someone of the cadets (not all!) didn't get it recorded. Following up again, it typically will not accept the input. I have to go to multi entry, and enter those cadets info there, which will then accept the report, but will loose those scores that I've tried to input on their data entry page.

We're now well past the sundown on the L2K/L21C materials. None of my new cadets can work off the old curriculum. So why does the page still list the two options, especially when they are able to take online tests? The "Cadet is in the Leadership in the 21st Century Curriculum" and AE "Closed Book Testing" check boxes should be long gone.

The JROTC Waiver check box is at the very bottom of the page. I'd like to see it closer to the top, or something that can be switched on/off once in the beginning of the cadet's career. I would also like it to work as a check on the time in JROTC vs the point where the cadet can advance based on the years. Doesn't seem to work that way now.

Overall look - Right now the page looks like the ops quals pages...it's quite terrible.
First thing on the list is PT, Leadership lab/Drill tests, Active participant / Cadet Oath.
Next line is: Blank, Character Development, Blank
Next is Check boxes for AE for open/closed book.
Next line is AE date passed, score, module number.

Overall it's a mess. With a little bit of code, it could look slightly better than this:



Basically,

I love what the staff has done with it over the years I was in college. But there's some room for improvement, especially in layout and appearance + some glitches.


jeders

Quote from: Capt Hatkevich on December 03, 2014, 04:22:53 PM
Cadet Physical Fitness Training Data Input Worksheet

I actually had just made an excel spreadsheet and calculated all of the required scores that cadets needed. When I went in to enter PT scores last month I discovered this report which was almost identical to the excel sheet I made. I'm very happy that it's there and I don't remember it being there the last time I worked directly with CP roughly 4 years ago.

Quote
Overall look...it's quite terrible.

The look isn't great, I'll agree with you there. But compared to doing everything by hand, I'll take it with it's clunky appearance.

Quote
We're now well past the sundown on the L2K/L21C materials. None of my new cadets can work off the old curriculum. So why does the page still list the two options, especially when they are able to take online tests? The "Cadet is in the Leadership in the 21st Century Curriculum" and AE "Closed Book Testing" check boxes should be long gone.

Couldn't agree more. Have you submitted a help desk ticket on it?

Quote
The JROTC Waiver check box is at the very bottom of the page. I'd like to see it closer to the top, or something that can be switched on/off once in the beginning of the cadet's career. I would also like it to work as a check on the time in JROTC vs the point where the cadet can advance based on the years. Doesn't seem to work that way now.

I think what I'd like to see with that would be a JROTC start date field in the cadet's record and a checkbox showing that the cadet is still enrolled in JROTC. The checkbox would have to be re-verified each year to make sure that the cadet is still enrolled. Then let the system handle everything. As it is, it's possible that some well-meaning but ill-informed senior member can check that box every achievement simply because a cadet is enrolled in JROTC without having actually met the time requirements for the waiver.

Quote
I love what the staff has done with it over the years I was in college. But there's some room for improvement, especially in layout and appearance + some glitches.

Agree 100%. That's why I'll be submitting a help desk ticket with ideas on improving that module shortly.
If you are confident in you abilities and experience, whether someone else is impressed is irrelevant. - Eclipse

Майор Хаткевич

Quote from: jeders on December 03, 2014, 05:13:28 PM
Couldn't agree more. Have you submitted a help desk ticket on it?

I think what I'd like to see with that would be a JROTC start date field in the cadet's record and a checkbox showing that the cadet is still enrolled in JROTC. The checkbox would have to be re-verified each year to make sure that the cadet is still enrolled. Then let the system handle everything. As it is, it's possible that some well-meaning but ill-informed senior member can check that box every achievement simply because a cadet is enrolled in JROTC without having actually met the time requirements for the waiver.

I figured that after we do some discussion here, then tickets can be generated with ideas.

Since JROTC doesn't kick in until the 2 year mark, and only through the Mitchell, I would have a second "checkpoint" for Mitchel - Earhart to confirm the rest of the years.

jeders

Quote from: Capt Hatkevich on December 03, 2014, 05:35:32 PM
I figured that after we do some discussion here, then tickets can be generated with ideas.

Fair enough.

Quote from: Capt Hatkevich on December 03, 2014, 05:35:32 PM
Since JROTC doesn't kick in until the 2 year mark, and only through the Mitchell, I would have a second "checkpoint" for Mitchel - Earhart to confirm the rest of the years.

That's the beauty of adding a start date and currently enrolled field into the database and letting the system handle it. If the cadet is in phase 1 or 2 and they have been in JROTC less than 2 years, no waiver; if it's more than two years, waiver. Once they move into phase 3, it looks for 3 years; phase 4, 4 years. If the enrolled checkbox goes false, it freezes the time. Less chance for human error or misuse.
If you are confident in you abilities and experience, whether someone else is impressed is irrelevant. - Eclipse

Майор Хаткевич

I'd be down with that. Seems like a more automated process.

jeders

Just got a reply back on my ticket. The L2L/L21C checkbox is on the to do list to be removed. The JROTC automation has been passed on to the CP folks for review.
If you are confident in you abilities and experience, whether someone else is impressed is irrelevant. - Eclipse

kwe1009

Great descriptions.  We use SIMS and the reports from it are much easier to follow than what eServices has to offer.  It makes managing cadets and seniors much easier.

Майор Хаткевич

I know our unit tried to go on Sims back on 2006/2007. Not sure how that worked out when I left in 08, but we obviously don't use it any more.

lordmonar

the only problem with SIMs is the double data entry.

I too liked a lot about SIMs...wish it was incorporated into Eservices....but there you go. 
PATRICK M. HARRIS, SMSgt, CAP

Eclipse

I was a big proponent BITD, but as eServices and other services have evolved I found it increasingly less useful.

"That Others May Zoom"

Майор Хаткевич

Quote from: Eclipse on December 04, 2014, 05:38:53 AM
I was a big proponent BITD, but as eServices and other services have evolved I found it increasingly less useful.


Seems to be the trend.


I'm all for "in-house",so that everyone is using the same thing, but just really wish it had some improvements as listed above.


Appearances and olde program stuff aside, I'd really like some notifications when I have a cadet needing to check "Active Participant" and "Cadet Oath".

Eclipse

It had the most appeal to me personally before connectivity was ubiquitous - you may recall we didn't
have internet at our location which made some functions a challenge, so having all that info available
offline in a coherent form was nice.

By the time I moved up to group, everyone had internet on at least their cell phone, with many having
hotspots or other connectivity at their locations, so much less hassle.

Sharing the file was always a pain, with a lot of chicken-and-egg risk.

"That Others May Zoom"

Майор Хаткевич

Quote from: Eclipse on December 04, 2014, 07:14:43 PM
It had the most appeal to me personally before connectivity was ubiquitous - you may recall we didn't
have internet at our location which made some functions a challenge, so having all that info available
offline in a coherent form was nice.

By the time I moved up to group, everyone had internet on at least their cell phone, with many having
hotspots or other connectivity at their locations, so much less hassle.

Sharing the file was always a pain, with a lot of chicken-and-egg risk.


Yep, duplication of data or overwrites limit how many "copies" can be circulating.

MSG Mac

#13
 

Cadet Promotion Reports and Data Entry discussion. 
« on: Yesterday at 12:22:53 PM » Reply with quote 


Anyone who's been around Cadet Programs for 5+ years, probably remembers when everything was done more or less by hand. With the reports available on E-Services, administrating the cadet program has become a lot easier, with quite a few good reports and resources. I do find however some "un-intuitive" systems where I run into problems.


First, the reports:





Quote

Promotions in Past (30/60) Days - Shows Cadets in the selected Organization that have had a promotion in the past 30 or 60 days.


Cadet Phase Report - Shows all Cadets in the selected Organization and the dates that they completed the Phases in the Cadet Program.


Cadet Encampment Report - Shows all Cadets in the selected Organization and whether or not they have completed an Encampment.


Cadet Tracking Report - Shows all Cadets in the selected Organization and which achievement they have completed as well as what they have left on incomplete achievements. In the Aerospace column you will now see an X-# where the number is the Module or Test they have completed.


Cadet Tracking Report (with Scores) - Shows all Cadets in the selected Organization and which achievement they have completed as well as what they have left on incomplete achievements. This report also shows Dates and Scores for completed items.


No Promotions in Past 120 Days - Shows Cadets in the selected Organization that have not had a promotion in 120 days.


Aerospace Education Report - Shows all Cadets in the selected Organization and when they completed the six Modules and Tests in the Aerospace Education portion of the Cadet Program.


Cadets Lapse 90 Days - Shows all cadets whose membership will lapse in 90 days or less.


Milestone Awards by Date - Shows the milestone awards grouped by Wing-Unit, with totals at the bottom.


Leadership and Aerospace Eligibility - Shows whether or not a Cadet is eligible to take the next Leadership or Aerospace education tests.


Cadet Achievements by Date - Shows the achievements grouped by Wing-Unit, with totals at the bottom.


Current Achievements per Unit - Shows all Cadets in the selected Organization and their current achievement.


Cadet Testing Report by Date - Shows the tests for a date range that have been passed for a selected organization.


Cadet Physical Fitness Training Data Input Worksheet - Shows all Cadets in the selected Organization and the minimum required tasks to complete their Physical Fitness Training.





However I did notice that there's some minor "issues" if you will.


Promotions in Past (30/60) Days - Shows Grade (calls it Rank...sigh) promotions, but not achievements. In other words, I had clicked out two cadet officers, and they don't show up, because they did the PAO and AEO achievements, which don't confer new grade. I can see the reasoning behind this, but if it's a report for tracking progress of the cadets, it would be great to see all of the cadets who are passing achievements, as opposed to simply gaining grade.

Which is the purpose of the report, they haven't completed been promoted. The information about the SDA's is in the Cadet Tracking Report


Cadet Phase Report - A good report to see the "birds eye view" of how the cadet is progressing through the phases. Don't really have much use for it, but it is good to have.

Cadet Encampment Report - This one is a big one, especially for anyone involved with encampments. My only "beef" with it, is lack of "# completed" and "# have not". It currently only generates the list based on the roster but without that info. The other "issue" is that the report automatically updates every cadet to their latest encampment. I'd love to see two reports - one for first time encampment needed/not needed, and one with either a list of all dates a cadet has been to encampment, or even just a number of encampments.

The Encampment is only required once. Any additional attendances should be tracked at the unit level.  But the information is available in member lookup under training.

Cadet Tracking Report and w/Scores - This is the report I use for our promotion nights. I've made the "chart" of visual data like in the olde days for this, but this is what I use to fill that chart in/make sure no cadets have slipped through the cracks. The issue I'm finding is that a cadet may "slip through the cracks" when they have all requirements done, and especially if one of the last ones is an online test. Their boxes are now "checked", but I have to go in and mark off "active participant", "cadet oath", and things such as "Mentor/Instruct" for cadet officers. I know they were added, to remind SMs that these are not "optional", but maybe this is something that can be added as an alert in E-Services, when a cadet completes all the boxes, but only needs those specific items checked off.

These should be done at the Promotion Review Board or upon promotion if PRB's aren't used. Cadet Oath is required upon each promotion. The Promoting Authority determines active status.

No Promotions in Past 120 Days - This is another big one. I've said many times that I'm not a believer of minimum time promotions, but typically, if a cadet is taking more than 4 months per achievement, it may be a sign of issues with either their interest, or ability to progress. Anyone on this list should ideally be contacted and this should be addressed. The only people on this list should really be cadets who are "away", such as those gone to college.

Aerospace Education Report - Personally don't have much use for it, but I can see this being useful to an AE officer, or to see which subjects would be a better fit for planning activities/lessons.

Cadets Lapse 90 Days - This is another big one. If this one is run monthly, then it should be no surprise when someone drops off the rolls, and can make it easy to figure out who did. Now if only E-Services actually notified commanders/deputies when a member doesn't renew. Maybe a new section under membership reports. As it stands now, a person goes *poof*, no notice, and all their records are gone as well.

The Membership Report actually lists who is in the renewal period next to their names. There is also another report Cadets Membership Lapse within 90 days. If National is letting you know already who is in the renewal period, they shouldn't have to let you know when they leave. It is the squadron's responsibility to follow up with the tools given. 

Milestone Awards by Date - If anyone tries to track their own QCUA, this is a good one. Also a good way to see how many cadets in a given time frame have passed a phase.

Leadership and Aerospace Eligibility - To be honest, I'm not sure why this one exists. I would think a cadet knows if they need to take an AE or Leadership test, and if someone doesn't I can check it much faster by opening their file as opposed to running the report.

Cadet Achievements by Date - This one actually shows me what I want to see in the Cadet Promotions report. It also lists awards, so this is a "complete" report as to actual advancement of all cadets in the unit.

Current Achievements per Unit -  This is another good one. It can be used to see how the cadets are grouped. The only issue I have with it includes the way it lists things. Cadets under Curry are not Airmen, they are C/ABs working on the curry. Once you get past that, it gets cleared. I do however see that some of the dates are wrong. Just glanced at it, and noticed that it showed our AFA cadet as completing his most recent achievement in October, but it was done in June.

Cadet Testing Report by Date - A good indicator to see who is actively testing, and score results all in one place. Shows passed and failed tests as well, so problems can be addressed if someone is consistently failing.

Cadet Physical Fitness Training Data Input Worksheet - If someone isn't using this, I would ask them why not. It automatically pulls the age of the cadet, their phase, and their specific requirements for PT. This saves a lot of time, and is a nice finalized product from the previous decade of excel spreadsheets and phase-specific charts. It also lists which cadets actually need the PT for their next achievement.

Multi-Entry Module.

This is another nice feature for Intro to CAP Safety,  Character Development, and PT. I wish I could also enter PT specifics for each cadet, based on their results right into this module. An advanced version could clear all the info listed (such as achievement, status, prior approval date), show input boxes for all of the PT events, and compute a pass or fail based on the inputs. The system already pulls this info for the PT report, so it has to be a process already, at least partially in there. Once you click submit, generate all of the passes and fails, and let you double check the inputs based on the new info on the screen.

Multiple entry would only be bogged down by entering each individual PT score.

That leads me into the Data Entry Module.

It's great to be able to go and see past results on achievements/milestones. it's awesome to have to enter all of the data on one page. But it's not perfect.

To start with, I've noticed that when I'm entering PT results individually (so that I can input their scores for the events, which is optional, but nice to have), sometimes after clicking submit, the data is NOT entered. I'd come back to a report a week later, to find that someone of the cadets (not all!) didn't get it recorded. Following up again, it typically will not accept the input. I have to go to multi entry, and enter those cadets info there, which will then accept the report, but will loose those scores that I've tried to input on their data entry page.

The Data Entry Mode will not update  an event if that event is already shown as completed for that achievement.

We're now well past the sundown on the L2K/L21C materials. None of my new cadets can work off the old curriculum. So why does the page still list the two options, especially when they are able to take online tests? The "Cadet is in the Leadership in the 21st Century Curriculum" and AE "Closed Book Testing" check boxes should be long gone.

The JROTC Waiver check box is at the very bottom of the page. I'd like to see it closer to the top, or something that can be switched on/off once in the beginning of the cadet's career. I would also like it to work as a check on the time in JROTC vs the point where the cadet can advance based on the years. Doesn't seem to work that way now.

If as you suggest the JROTC box was permanent, If a Cadet drops out after completing the 2nd year, he would be locked in. He/she must be still in JROTC when taking advantage of the TIG exemption

Michael P. McEleney
Lt Col CAP
MSG USA (Retired)
50 Year Member

kwe1009

Quote from: lordmonar on December 04, 2014, 05:35:50 AM
the only problem with SIMs is the double data entry.

I too liked a lot about SIMs...wish it was incorporated into Eservices....but there you go.

Not sure about the double entry part.  We enter everything in eServices and however often just download the CAPWATCH files to update SIMS.  The only real downside is the lack of being able to network it effectively but that really isn't an issue for my squadron since there are only 2 seniors that use it.

SarDragon

QuoteCadet Encampment Report - This one is a big one, especially for anyone involved with encampments. My only "beef" with it, is lack of "# completed" and "# have not". It currently only generates the list based on the roster but without that info. The other "issue" is that the report automatically updates every cadet to their latest encampment. I'd love to see two reports - one for first time encampment needed/not needed, and one with either a list of all dates a cadet has been to encampment, or even just a number of encampments.

Regarding encampment reporting, are senior members documented differently then cadets? There are two SMs in my unit with multiple encampments, both former cadets. The first one has one encampment as a cadet, and two as a SM. The second has two as a cadet. They all show up with dates and locations, in the individual member records.
Dave Bowles
Maj, CAP
AT1, USN Retired
50 Year Member
Mitchell Award (unnumbered)
C/WO, CAP, Ret

Eclipse

Seniors and cadets are reported and documented the same way.

"That Others May Zoom"