INTRODUCTION:
CORE DATA ENTRY STANDARDS
The Colleague information system is composed of the Core, Financial, Human Resources and Student System applications. Each application has numerous modules and processes associated with it. The Core system contains information central to the database and the College – the system contains information and processes that can be used across multiple applications and modules, such as Name, Address, Facilities, Appointments, and Communications. Individuals performing distinctly different activities (e.g., creating purchase orders, processing registrations or printing payroll checks) will need to access and understand the data maintained in Core.
The Core System supports the Student, Financial, and Human Resources Systems by allowing them to share common information about people and organizations and to accomplish common tasks, such as keeping track of communication with students or job applicants. This integration can provide the following benefits to Brookdale:
Sharing of information across the institution with minimal effort
Streamlining administrative processes
Eliminating redundant data entry
Increasing productivity
Reporting of up-to-date, consistent data
Because the information in the Core System is critical to most, if not all, administrative functions, it is important that all individual who create “Person” or “Organization” records adhere to the data entry standards for all Core variables. Minor variations in data entry procedures by different offices can lead to duplicate records in the database. For example, if someone from Business and Community Development enters a new student as “Mrs. John Smith” but Credit Registration staff enter the same person as “Mrs. Eleanor Smith,” the system will not automatically identify the records as duplicates. Once duplicate records are created and associated with certain processes (such as course registration), there is no way to “merge” the data from the two records and eliminate the duplicate record. For this reason, great care needs to be taken to: (1) Make sure the person or organization is not already in the database prior to entering a new record, (2) Enter at least the four minimum required data elements, and (3) Adhere to common data entry standards for name and address. This document identifies the core data entry standards pertaining to name and address.
NOTE:
It should be noted that the way data is entered and/or how it appears on various screens does not necessarily limit how the same information is printed out on mailing labels, etc. For example, the United States Post Office has numerous preferred name and label conventions (e.g., all caps, no punctuation) that can be accommodated via programming of output layout.
NAME AND ADDRESS
DATA ENTRY STANDARDS
A. CHECK TO MAKE SURE THE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION IS NOT ALREADY IN THE DATABASE.
ALTHOUGH IT MAY BE TIME-CONSUMING TO CHECK THROUGH ALL OF THE NAMES ON THE RESOLUTION SCREEN, DUPLICATE RECORDS ARE A BIG PROBLEM. PLEASE BE THOROUGH AND TAKE THE TIME TO CAREFULLY SEARCH FOR EXISTING RECORDS!
Step (1) Social Security Number or Business ID
- The most efficient way to identify a potential duplicate record is to enter the person’s social security number or the organization’s Business ID number. The Colleague system will check for an exact match, and if found, the system will inform you that the record already exists. Note that if a person was first entered into the system without a social security number and you are now attempting to determine if (s)he is already in the system by using a social security number, you will not get a “hit.” You should always check the social security number first and, if there are no “hits” try looking up the person by name (Step 2).
Step (2) Name
- If a SSN or a Business ID number cannot be obtained, enter the person’s name or the organization’s name. The default look-up process in Colleague is called “PARTIAL INDEXING.” Partial Indexing enables you to access a person’s record by entering parts of the person’s name. If you are entering the name of a company and you think the company should already be in Colleague, make sure you try different abbreviations (e.g., try “Company” and “Co”).
- It is also possible to look up a name based on how the name sounds. This might be useful if someone leaves a name, for example, on an answering machine and the spelling of the name is not known. The SOUNDEX indexing method identifies all names that sound similar to the one just typed in. To switch to SOUNDEX indexing, enter a slash (/) as the first character of the name of the person or organization you are entering into Colleague. For that look-up only, the system uses the nondefault indexing type.
B. ENTER FOUR REQUIRED DATA ELEMENTS
After checking to make sure that the person or organization is not ALREADY in Colleague, you can add a new person, vendor, or organization to the shared database. There are four required elements:
(1) Proper Name
- Make every effort to obtain the individual’s full, proper/legal name. Do not use spouse names (e.g., “Mrs. Dwight Stone”). If an individual wants mail to be sent in a particular format (e.g., “Mrs. Dwight Stone”), there are additional fields to include this information (i.e., you can change the Preferred Name or the Mail Name).
- Section C contains guidelines and abbreviations to be used when entering proper names.
(2) Mailing Address
- Address data should be abbreviated using all standard post office abbreviations. In many cases, the Colleague system will automatically abbreviate or substitute name and address elements so that they are in compliance with United States Postal Service (USPS) requirements. There may be occasional situations, however, where it may be necessary to override the automatic abbreviations and/or substitutions produced by Colleague.
For example, if a person lives at “41 North Avenue,” the system will automatically substitute “41 N AVE.” Since this is undesirable (because the name of the Avenue is “North”), the data entry person can obtain an accurate, non-abbreviated address by typing an equal sign (=) at the beginning of the field. (Just type the equal sign. Do not type parentheses or quotes around the equal sign.)
NOTE: When the “=” sign is used at the beginning of a data field, everything in the field will then be saved EXACTLY as it is typed, so it is important to double-check the entry for mistakes and to ensure that the USPS abbreviations are used where they should be. Do NOT override the system to make it conform to your personal preference. If you make an error, use the “field delete” function and re-enter the correct data.
- Section C contains guidelines and abbreviations to be used when entering mailing addresses.
(3) Phone Number
- If you are adding a new credit or non-credit student to the system, attempt to obtain Day and Evening phone numbers. Make sure you get and/or confirm the student’s area code and remember to enter the phone type (e.g., D for Day; E for Evening).
- If you are adding a new organization, vendor, or employee to the system, attempt to obtain Home and Work phone numbers. Make sure you get and/or confirm the area code and remember to enter the phone type (e.g., W for Work).
(4) SSN or Employer ID
- Make every effort to obtain a SSN or Employer ID number. This unique identifier is the best way to identify duplicate records.
NOTE: Special characters that should not be used: @ # $ % * " ; :
Special characters that can be used: & - ' . ( )
VERY IMPORTANT: Whenever you create a new person or organization record, it is CRITICAL that you carefully review the data you have entered prior to UPDATING or FINISHING! Several of the fields (e.g., last name) will allow you to enter almost anything. Therefore, if your hands are on the wrong keys and you type ‘*^##@1bb’ as the last name, the system will take it. The complications arising from minor data entry errors are potentially huge – grades will be sent to that person, transcripts can be created for that person, duplicate records will be created, the National Student Loan Clearinghouse will use that name for reporting and tracking, etc. Therefore, it is imperative that you correct your errors as you enter the data. It takes significantly more time and effort to find and fix errors than the few extra seconds you will invest in checking and double-checking your work.
C. ADHERE TO COMMON DATA ENTRY STANDARDS FOR NAME AND ADDRESS
In order to avoid the entry of duplicate records and to eliminate errors in data entry, it is very important that every individual who creates Person or Organization records in Colleague adheres to the Name and Address Data Entry Standards that follow.
(1) NAME OF PERSON
The name of a person can have the following components: prefix, first, middle, last and suffix. A person can have any combination of these components but must, at a minimum, have a first and last name. How data is entered subsequently dictates how it can be found and retrieved.
NOTE: NO PERIODS are used when entering name elements (prefix, first, middle, last, or suffix). The software will automatically provide the appropriate capitalization and abbreviations for many of the elements. Do NOT override to enter periods!
a. Prefixes
IMPORTANT NOTE: In May of 1999, the Office for Civil Rights, United States Department of Education, cited Brookdale (Case #02-99-2085) for including prefixes (Ms, Miss, Mrs) on registration forms, etc. Consequently, prefixes should be entered ONLY IF received from a person (e.g., do not enter "Ms" if you do not know the prefix -- leave the field blank).
There are currently 16 Standard or Default Prefixes in Colleague. There are no substitution rules in effect. That means that you must type in the prefix exactly as it appears in the left column. If there is a prefix that is missing, you can enter it by typing the equal sign before the prefix. When you use the equal sign, the data will appear exactly as you type it, so take extra caution to use the appropriate upper and lower case letters.
Standard Prefixes
You Must Enter This:It Means This:
BRBrother (religious order)
DEACONDeacon
DRDentist, Doctor, Physician, Professor, Veterinarian
FRFather
HONThe Honorable
MISSSingle Woman
MOST REV
MRMan
MRSMarried Woman
MSWoman
MSGMonsignor
RABBI
REV Clergyman or Priest
RIGHT REV
SENSenator
SRSister (religious order)
Military Prefixes
As with any nonstandard prefixes in Colleague, you must enter the = sign prior to the prefix. For military prefixes, use the abbreviation in the left column.
You Must Enter ThisIt Means This
=ADMAdmiral
=AMNAirman
=BGENBrigadier General
=CAPTCaptain (Navy)
=CPTCaptain (Army)
=CDRCommander
=COLColonel
=COMMODORECommodore
=CPLCorporal
=CPOChief Petty Officer
=ENSEnsign
=GENGeneral
=LCDRLieutenant Commander
=LTLieutenant
=MAJMajor
=MIDNMidshipman
=MGENMajor General
=MSGTMaster Sergeant
=PVTPrivate
=SGTSergeant
=SSGTStaff Sergeant
=1LTFirst Lieutenant
=2LTSecond Lieutenant
b. First, Middle and Last Name
The name fields will be used for the formal name of an individual. First name is a 15-character free-text field; middle name is a 14-character free-text field; and last name is a 25-character free-text field. Nicknames should not be used in the name field.
Data should be entered as received from the person - recognizing that the person should be asked for their official name and not a nickname - following the standards provided below for initials, punctuation, etc.
FirstMiddleLastGuideline
JosephSmithColleague will automatically capitalize the first letter of each word.
FirstMiddleLastGuideline
Bobby JoeSmithFirst names that are two words should be entered in the first name field using spaces to separate the words. Note that anyone giving "Bobby Joe" or a similar name as a first name should be asked if that is his/her legal name or nickname.
B JosephSmithSingle character first names should be entered without a period, followed by a space then the middle name.
JosephMSmithOnly use the full middle name if requested by the person; otherwise use the initial.
JaneLongReedA person may request that her (or his?) pre-marital (maiden) name be retained as a middle name. In this case use the middle name field to enter the pre-marital name.
JaneALong-ReedIf the last name is hyphenated, enter it without spaces.
Jane-EllenMillerIf the first name is hyphenated, enter it without spaces.
JaneAO'LearyIf the last name uses an apostrophe (regardless of the letter before the apostrophe, such as D’), enter it without spaces.
JaneAMcDougallIf the last name starts with Mc or Mac, enter it without spaces.
JamesVan BurenEnter the name as you receive it from the constituent (e.g., if the person used a space between words, enter a space)
NOTE1: Regardless of what you type for a person’s Middle Name, the defaults for the Preferred Name and Mail Name will only include an initial (e.g., in the Jane Long Reed example above, the Preferred Name defaults to Jane L. Reed). You can modify the Preferred Name by using the equal sign (=) and entering the name exactly as you want it.
NOTE2: When you are entering a person whose name starts with ‘Van,’ it is very important that you take extra time and care to determine if the person is already in the system. In some cases, the person’s name may have been entered with a space (e.g., Van Buren) and in others, it may have been entered without the space (e.g., VanBuren).
c. Suffixes
Like prefixes, there are only a limited number of default suffixes in Colleague. These are indicated below and must be typed exactly as they appear. There are no substitution rules (e.g., “Junior” does not automatically become “Jr”) in effect for this element. Honorifics (e.g., Esq., Ph.D.) will not be included. You can use the equal sign to add a suffix that is not a Colleague default.
You Must Enter This / It Means ThisJR / Junior
SR / Senior
I / First
II / Second
III / Third
IV / Fourth
V / Fifth
(2) NAME OF A NON-PERSON (Organization, Corporation, Foundation, Vendor or Agency)
a.Abbreviations
All non-person records will follow the same abbreviation standards – Abbreviate the words listed below unless you have a full organization name from letterhead, etc.. Please note that punctuation is used only to appropriately separate words or identify initials that are part of an organization’s name.
Use ThisIn Place of This
ASSNAssociation
ASSOCAssociate
ASSOCSAssociates
COCompany
CORPCorporation
*DEPTDepartment (Colleague Default)
INTLInternational
INCIncorporated
LTDLimited
SOCSociety
STSaint
UNIVUniversity
b.Full Organization Names
A non-person may be a corporation, foundation, vendor or agency -- any type of organization. Organization names should be entered according to the listings found in corporate or correspondence from the organization (i.e., letterhead, checks, etc.). The exceptions however, are outlined below.
Enter ThisGuidelines
Air Reduction Company IncCommas should not be used between corporate identifiers (Inc, Co, Corp) and periods should not be used when abbreviating corporate identifiers.
Hogan, Strunk and BurnsCommas should be used between names.
F.G. Woods FoundationWhen the organization name is the name of a person it should be entered with periods after the initials and no space between the double initials.
David & Gloria Stahl FoundationEnter names with spaces between words and special characters.
CBSAcronyms and universally accepted
NYC Department of Energyabbreviations should not use periods.
Travelers CorporationDo not use "The" as the first word in the name (because of sorting).
Baird & WarnerThe use of "and" or "&" should be the
C. Brewer and Company Ltdsame as that used by the organization itself (see letterhead or corporate directory).
White-King CorpSpaces should not be entered on either
Citicorp/Citibankside of hyphens or slashes.
University of DaytonUniversity and College names should
Miami University of Ohiobe entered as received/preferred by the
institution.
(3) STREET ADDRESSES
NOTE: NO PERIODS OR SYMBOLS (E.G., ‘#’) are used when entering any of the address elements (street, city, state, zip). The software will automatically provide the appropriate capitalization and abbreviations for many of the elements. The use of periods can impact the default substitution rules. For example, if you type in ‘east brunswick,’ the system will automatically abbreviate and capitalize the entry and will make the following substitution: E Brunswick. If you type ‘E. brunswick’ with a period, the system will not make the substitution and the city name will be entered and stored incorrectly. Do not enter periods, even though you are accustomed to using them. Override the defaults only to conform to the following:
a.Street Address Examples
DoDon'tRule
W 33rd StWest 33rd StreetAbbreviate indicators such as St without periods.
SW 98th StSouthwest 98th St
31 North St31 N StIf a directional is the street name it should never be abbreviated. Note that due to the automatic abbreviation rules (see next section), it will be necessary to enter an equal sign (=) prior to typing “31 North St”
10 Bay Dr NE10 Bay Dr, NEPeriods and commas should not be used in directionals.
Apt 33 BApartment #33 BDo not use special characters like the "#" sign.
Apt 33 BApartment 33-BInsert a space between an apartment number and alphabetic character -- do not use a hyphen.
RR1 Box 68 AR.R. #1, Box 68AEnter Rural Route as RR even if Rural Delivery (RD) is specified. Enter with no space between RR and number. Omit the comma and "#" sign. Insert a space between a box number and alphabetic character.
PO Box 1234P.O. Box 1234Enter Post Office Box as PO Box without periods.
b.Standard Address Line Abbreviations
When entering addresses, use the standards identified on the next two pages. In order to ensure consistency with USPS recommendations, those words indicated with an “*” will automatically change to the recommended abbreviation. For example, if you type in “41 Northwest Lakeside Drive,” it will automatically be changed to “41 NW Lakeside Dr”.