Cadet Promotions Online

[jimmydeanno]

I know that many of you have been wanting a system that tracks all the cadets promotions online so that when people transfer they don't have to worry about losing records, etc.

NHQ is currently in development of an online promotion utility to be incorporated into CAPWATCH so that we can do just that.

Currently the only information released is this:
http://www.cap.gov/documents/Cadet_Records_Online.pdf

which can be found at cap.gov>members>cadet programs>proving grounds.  It is the process flow chart of how the programming will handle inputs.

Thoughts?

[jeders]

Saw that awhile ago. I think it's a good thing, it'll hopefully help out with tracking things. I'll wait 'til they actually have it programmed and released before I make any sort of real judgment on it other than I'm waiting to see.

[Eclipse]

It'll be good on at least two points:

Anything that eliminates more paper is a good thing.

Cadets will actually wind up with a real record at NHQ of their promotions.

[jimmydeanno]

Saw that awhile ago. I think it's a good thing, it'll hopefully help out with tracking things. I'll wait 'til they actually have it programmed and released before I make any sort of real judgment on it other than I'm waiting to see.

It works pretty slick - it's intuitive and common sensical - you can't screw it up.  It is programmed for the most part, they've already done some BETA testing of it.

For all of you SIMS people, with all these updates from NHQ do you see the need for SIMS falling to the wayside?

[Eclipse]

Saw that awhile ago. I think it's a good thing, it'll hopefully help out with tracking things. I'll wait 'til they actually have it programmed and released before I make any sort of real judgment on it other than I'm waiting to see.

It works pretty slick - it's intuitive and common sensical - you can't screw it up.  It is programmed for the most part, they've already done some BETA testing of it.

For all of you SIMS people, with all these updates from NHQ do you see the need for SIMS falling to the wayside?

I would love for SIMs to become irrelevant, if for no other reason than right now it is a stone PITA for more than one person to use it at a time, however it tracks a LOT of things eServices hasn't even considered yet, so for now its still critical.

[mikeylikey]

The only thing is they are making it so the SQD CC is the approval officer.  It needs to be the SQD Deputy CC for CDTS.  He or she is supposed to be running the Cadet Program in the SQD right?  Why would the DCC even take the time to input everything if they can't be their own approval.  Makes no sense to me. 

I can see if you delegate to the testing Officer to input info, but still make the Deputy for Cadets one of the approval individuals. 

[Eclipse]

The only thing is they are making it so the SQD CC is the approval officer.  It needs to be the SQD Deputy CC for CDTS.  He or she is supposed to be running the Cadet Program in the SQD right? 

No, as a matter of regulation, the unit CC is the approving authority - many units do delegate, but the responsibility still rests with the CC.

I would imagine there will be a WSA-delegation or rights ability as there is with most other functions in eServices.

[IceNine]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and agree with Eclipse. 

Input will most likely fall as a duty position application for the DCC or Testing officer.  But will wait in the queue for CC Approval.

Much like the current app's for Specialty Tracks, which by the way can have the approval function assigned by the wsa

[BlackKnight]

The only thing is they are making it so the SQD CC is the approval officer.  It needs to be the SQD Deputy CC for CDTS.  He or she is supposed to be running the Cadet Program in the SQD right? 

No, as a matter of regulation, the unit CC is the approving authority - many units do delegate, but the responsibility still rests with the CC.

(Shakes head...) Folks, the regs are available online for all to read.  There's no need to guess or rely on memory.

CAPR 52-16 [Oct 06]

2-4. Cadet Promotions.
a. Earning Grade. As cadets complete each achievement and their squadron commander (or deputy commander for cadets) signs their CAPF 52 series form, they earn a new grade (except for achievements 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 15 or 16, which confer no promotion in grade). By signing the cadet's CAPF 52, the commander is attesting to the cadet's ability to assume the next grade and accept increased responsibilities.

In a typical composite squadron, chaos will result if NHQ forces the unit commander to be the "approving authority" for everything cadet-related.  The unit commander typically already has enough to do as it is trying to manage the senior side of the house.  In large composite squadrons, the seniors and cadets often meet on different nights. The unit commander may never even see the cadets except at special activities or at milestone award ceremonies.  Of course, the unit commander is (by definition) responsible for everything that happens in the unit, but why make his/her life ridiculously complicated for no reason?  No one will ever want the job. 

[BlackKnight]

I can see if you delegate to the testing Officer to input info, but still make the Deputy for Cadets one of the approval individuals. 

One of the TCO's in my squadron is dyslexic.  I don't want them anywhere near a data entry screen!! 

"Congrats Cadet! You passed your Wright Brothers with a 48! ... oops, er, 84!" 

[RiverAux]

Definetely needs to be approved by DCC, especially if they start putting a bunch of cadet stuff in their. 

[arajca]

No. Providing an option for the commander to allow the deputy to approve it is needed. Not every squadron has a deputy commander, but every squadron has a commander.

[Tim Medeiros]

the Approvals module is able to be delegated by the unit commander, along with all the other modules with the exception of the Assigning Designee portion of the Administration module.  This application has entered the final testing stages as of yesterday.

For those interested, I can see about posting screenshots.

[jeders]

^ Please do.

[Eclipse]

No. Providing an option for the commander to allow the deputy to approve it is needed. Not every squadron has a deputy commander, but every squadron has a commander.

And not every CC will want to delegate....

[Tubacap]

This excites me!  It's annoying to have to have everything done on one computer only and then swap back ends, although SIMS is great for so many other things which I really appreciate.  Plus it's a great backup for when eServices is down.

[jimmydeanno]

^ Please do.

Here you go.

[jeders]

looks good. I can't wait for it to be available to the rest of us.

[jimmydeanno]

The guy in charge of development for this says we are in the final test stages.  There have been some modifications to the programming over the last few months.  This is SUPER SIMPLE to operate and intuitive.  They're even working on having this talk to the ES application so the Curry's are automatically updated for 101 cards...NICE!

[BlackKnight]

Here you go.

Interesting.  In the current version of SIMS on a CPFT night I can enter all the P/T test results for each cadet on one single screen.  We can do the same thing on a Leadership/AE testing night. All the scores can be entered on one screen. Takes about 10 minutes for 30 cadets. No muss, no fuss. 

In the new e-services module it appears that we will need to call up each cadet individually and enter the date that the test was passed.  If this application works similarly to the other e-services personnel or ES applications, just about every time we enter data in a field we will have to wait for the entire screen to update and reload.  We're going to be at the mercy of our local internet speed and the e-services server at Maxwell.  I won't be  finished uploading scores until about 2300 hrs on meeting nights... 

If we're going to be forced into doing this, what we need as an option is an application screen that allows us to enter the data for our cadets all at once- in a member spreadsheet type format similar to what SIMS already uses in its "Cadet Promotion Requirements Update" module.

I do see at least one very significant advantage to using the online cadet promotions scheme.  I hope it will make it more difficult for commanders to cut corners on time-in-grade requirements between cadet achievements. Knowing that the info they're entering is being recorded online at NHQ for their chain of command to review may give them pause the next time they consider pencil-whipping a promotion.

[jimmydeanno]

Knowing that the info they're entering is being recorded online at NHQ for their chain of command to review may give them pause the next time they consider pencil-whipping a promotion.

The software automatically checks the dates, so if you try to 'pencil-whip' it stops you.