Terra Dotta is pleased to announce that an update to Terra Dotta ISSS software was released to client production sites on May 6, 2022. This release includes new and improved functionality to ISSS Student.
Highlights of this update include:
- Introduction of the Custom Question and Document Manager
- Expanded Permission controls
- Improvements to Comments functionality
- Updated Financial Information Display
Terra Dotta appreciates all of the input we receive from our user-community to help us continually improve our software. Your feedback helps us to understand client needs and greatly impacts how we prioritize new development. Please send us your feedback about this release!
The Exploring the Terra Dotta April 2022 ISSS Release webinar took place on Wednesday, April 13 in advance of the release itself. A recording of the webinar is available here for your convenience.
New Functionality
Custom Question and Document Manager
This release introduces the Question and Document Manager to the Configuration Wizard in ISSS Student. This feature allows ISSS offices to create and manage custom questions and document upload types to use across multiple stage configurations for all visa types. Using these pre-configured items will prevent ISSS Admins from having to duplicate questions and document uploads in each stage configuration, as well as reduce time needed to edit questions and documents as editing either item in the Configuration page will automatically update the item in each stage where it is present. Configuring the same questions and document types in multiple stages will also move the responses provided for these items to automatically carry forward from stage-to-stage, reducing the burden on students to resubmit information.
Please note that ISSS Admins can still create stand-alone questions and document uploads in individual stages if preferred. Please read the Custom Question and Document Management knowledgebase article for best practices on using this feature.
New Permissions Control Based on Conditions
The existing SEVIS Assistant Privileges page is now called SEVIS Permissions, and along with the new name comes the ability to grant or limit user access to specific cohorts of students based on certain conditions: Campus Site, Education Level/EV Category, Stage, Visa Type, and CIP Code. ISSS Student users with conditions-based permissions will only be able to view and access information for students and campus sites that fall within the established conditions. Additionally, the SEVIS Permissions page can be used to designate users as Officers (DSOs/AROs) or Assistants, provide the SEVIS credentials for Officers, and manage Assistant actions.
It is important to note that no existing ISSS Student users will have their current permissions changed by these updates. It is also important to remember that any new ISSS Student Officers or Assistants must first be added to the Facilitators group via the SEVIS Admin homepage before they can be granted Officer or Assistant privileges or have any conditions applied for them. For more information, please refer to the SEVIS Permissions knowledgebase article.
Improvements
Updates to Comments Functionality
A new Comments icon can now be found in the upper right hand corner of the Student Profile header, which takes ISSS Admins directly to the Comments history upon clicking. Within the Comments section itself, lengthy comments will now display just a few lines with the option to expand the entire comment via a “more” button if desired.
This release also introduces Comment Title Configuration, which will allow ISSS offices to create standardized comment titles that can be easily used by all ISSS Admins when adding comments to student profiles. These titles can be created and edited via a new Comment Title page within Site Settings and can also be added directly within the Comment modal while typing a brand new title. Configured titles will automatically appear as options when ISSS Admins type keywords into the Comment Title field and can be easily selected for use. For more information, please read the Comment Title Configuration knowledgebase article.
Updated Financial Information Display
We are pleased to announce, based on submitted client feedback, that we have updated how student financial information is displayed in ISSS Student. ISSS Admins will now find that Expenses and Funding information is separated into two separate columns within student profiles, making for a cleaner, easier-to-read display as well as aligning with how financial information displays in SEVIS.
In addition, this release contains fixes to numerous issues and enhancements in other areas.
Additional Resources
Looking for best practices among other ISSS professionals within the Terra Dotta client community? Have a great use case scenario to share to support an idea for a feature improvement? Then the Support Portal’s Community section is where you’ll want to go.
Check out the two ISSS forums (Discussion and Product Feedback) to share tips, ideas, and questions. Be sure to click “Follow” in these forums to receive notifications of activity.
Don’t forget to bookmark the Terra Dotta ISSS Table of Contents, updated regularly to include the latest Knowledgebase articles for our ISSS clients.