This articles names the most common issues found on ISSS Student, Scholar, and ISSS Classic sites and provides steps to address them. 

Index

ISSS Student/Scholar/Classic

• My students are experiencing issues when they attempt to log in. 
• How may I update an external/non-integrated student profile to be an integrated student profile?
• How do I set my desired landing page?
• Why is another student’s data populating in SEVIS RTI when I complete a download for a different student?
• How do I change the PDSO/RO on my site?

 

 

ISSS Student

• How do I add a new officer or assistant to my ISSS Student site?
• I want to add a new officer or assistant, but their name does not appear in the  Add User dropdown.
• An admin is unable to change request statuses.
• Why is the student’s OPT information not updating?
• The admin cannot find an admitted student in the Newly Admitted Students list.
• Requests are not being auto-assigned to admins.
• Can a student be removed/scrubbed from the Newly Admitted Student list?
• Why is the STEM-OPT Request not showing for my student?

  

ISSS Scholar

• How should we process returning scholars?
• Why does the status in SEVIS differ from what is listed in my Terra Dotta Site?

 

ISSS Classic

• Why am I receiving an AOP error?
• How do I add a SEVIS ID to a Classic profile?
• How do I merge user profiles?

 

Common Batch Errors

• S0001
• S0003
• S0013
• T0000

 

ISSS Student/Scholar/Classic

My students are experiencing issues when they attempt to log in. 

Integrated Users: 
If the student is an integrated student, they should log in using the SSO portal with their credentials provided by the university:  

If the student is unable to sign in with their credentials, please ensure the information listed on the core profile, (found by navigating to Maintenance > Edit User), matches their university login information, specifically the user name. The user name in Terra Dotta must match what is in the Student Information System file (SIS) for integrated students listed as the UUUID:

 

If the username listed on the core profile found in Maintenance>Edit User does not match what is listed in the SIS, you may update the username in this area to match the SIS. The user should attempt to log in again at this point. 

If this does not resolve the issue, or if the user name is already correct, navigate to Maintenance > Login Attempts and search a keyword (i.e.. Student’s User Name) along with the associated date to gather more information regarding the student’s login attempt. 

Open a case with Terra Dotta Support to share this information. 

 

Non-integrated Users: 

If the student is a non-integrated student, they should be signing in through the external portal using the email address associated with their core profile and the unique password created for the account:

 

 

If the student is unable to sign in using the email address and password they have entered, please ensure the email address they use matches what is listed in the system. You may verify the email address listed by navigating to Maintenance> Edit User:

 

If the student is unable to log into the system because they have forgotten their password, there is a “Forgot your password” option available on the login page. Alternatively, the admin can select the option to “Send Reset Email” to assist the student with resetting their password. The student will be sent temporary login credentials. They should attempt to log in ASAP as the temporary credentials will expire shortly. 

If the student continues to be unable to login, navigate to Maintenance > Login Attempts and search a keyword (i.e. Student’s User Name) along with the associated date to gather more information regarding the student’s login attempt.

Open a case with Terra Dotta Support to share this information. 

 

How may I update an external/non-integrated student profile to be an integrated student profile?

Situation:
I need to convert a student from non-integrated to integrated so they can log in with their campus credentials.

Solution:
1. Navigate to Maintenance>Edit User.
2. Enter the student's first or last name in the search field and click the Search button.
3. Click Next.
4. Update the username to reflect the student's SIS username (this may be a string of numbers or alphanumeric).
5. Click the Internal radio button.
6. Click the Yes radio button that indicates the user is an integrated user.
7. If needed, update the student's email address so that it reflects the campus email.
8. Click Update.

 

 

How can I change my landing page to ensure I see the desired page upon logging into my Terra Dotta site?

Step 1. Select "Admin Settings" found on the Administrative Homepage (Admin Home):

 

 

Why is another student’s data populating in SEVIS RTI when I complete a download for a different student?

This may happen when a Terra Dotta admin has more than one window/session open to SEVIS RTI during a single session. A TD admin should only have one window/session open to SEVIS RTI at a time (an RTI list download counts as a window/session in RTI even if processing in the background). SEVIS is unable to handle multiple windows/threads per individual - this is a SEVIS limitation. Hence, trying to make edits in RTIC in a different browser window while a list is downloading under the same user in the background may write data to the wrong SEVIS record, display the wrong student, etc.

 

How do I change the PDSO/RO on my site?

Before updating the PDSO/RO, they will need to be added to the Facilitators group. To verify their permissions, go to Staff Admin > New Staff Member, and add them as an Admin under the Facilitators group. After this step is complete, you can add them as an ​RO or PDSO.

After ensuring they have an account and in the Facilitators group, you can update the PDSO/RO by going to Configuration > SEVIS Settings. Click the Edit button to the left of the campus that you would like to update the PDSO/RO for. A new modal window will appear where in the middle, you have the option to select staff and provide SEVIS Credentials for PDSO/RO: 

Select the new PDSO/RO from the Available Staff Members dropdown menu. After selecting, enter their SEVIS ID into the Primary SEVIS Admin field and then click Update. Repeat for any additional campuses.

 

 

 

ISSS Student

How do I add a new officer/official or assistant to my ISSS Student site?

To add a new officer or assistant to your ISSS Student site, take the following steps: 

Step 1. In the classic interface, navigate to Staff > Staff Permissions, and add the user as an admin to the Facilitators group.

Step 2. In ISSS Student, navigate to SEVIS Admin > ISSS Student > Configuration > SEVIS Permissions.

Step 3. Click the "+" icon at the bottom right of the page. 

Step 4.  Enter the user's name in the search bar, select the staff member from the provided results, and proceed to the next step. 

Step 5. For each campus, click the edit pencil to indicate the user's role: 

 

Step 6. Select the user's role and click the "Apply" button:

If the new staff member has a SEVIS ID, learn more about the SEVIS Permissions page in the following article: ISSS Student: SEVIS Permissions

 

 

I want to add a new officer or assistant, but their name does not appear in the Add User dropdown.

If you are attempting to add a new officer or assistant to your site under ISSS Student > Configuration > SEVIS Settings, but their name does not populate when you search for the user in the "Add User" search bar, that user may not be added to the Facilitators group. 

Navigate to the Terra Dotta classic administrative home page and select Staff > Staff Permissions to be directed to the User Management interface: 

From the User Management page, on the Users tab, search for the user you are trying to add. If the user does not appear, you will need to add them by clicking the + icon and the bottom right of the page: 

 

Search for the user's name in the Directory Look up field, and click their name from the populated results: 

If the user's name does not populate after searching for them, they will need to be created manually as an external user. Enter their name and details into the provided fields (click the external radio button for external users who do not populate using the directory lookup) and click Save:

 

 

An admin is unable to change request statuses. 

If an admin in your Terra Dotta site is unable to process or make edits to request statuses, please ensure first that the admin is configured to be an Official or an Assistant. This can be determined by navigating to Configuration > SEVIS Settings. Only Officers (Officials) have the ability to change request statuses. If the user is configured to be an assistant, they do not have access to add requests, approve/deny/request clarifications or update a request status.

In Configuration > SEVIS Settings, the campuses are divided into separate sections. If the admin is an officer on only one campus, then they may only process the request statuses of students for that campus. If they are an Assistant and need to be an Officer, select the Options button to the right of their name and then click Apply. 

 

 

Why is the student’s OPT information not updating?

In ISSS Classic, a download performed by way of SEVIS RTIC, or an RTIC download list will update the data on the student profile including OPT information; however, the same logic does not apply to ISSS Student. To ensure the OPT information will populate back to ISSS Student, a download of a partial or full OPT list will need to be performed, and an import completed from that list.

 

 

Admin cannot find an admitted student in the Newly Admitted Students list.

In a student does not appear in the Newly Admitted Students List, they may not be meeting all of the requirements. 

1. The student will need to be in the institution's SIS data file
2. The student will need the following data points populated in the SIS data file:
   1. UUUID
   2. First Name
   3. Last Name
   4. Email
   5. Date of Birth
   6. Sex
   7. Visa Type*
3. The student does not already have a profile in ISSS Student, including the Archived stage.

*The following are the accepted values for visa type:

• • • 01 (F-1)
    • 03 (J-1)
    • Empty (None Note: Visa Type can be sent as empty, but cannot be sent as null {N})
    • One of the custom visa types configured under Site Settings (e.g. A-1 will be sent as A-1; TN will be sent as TN)
    • **Note: Visa Type may be sent as an empty cell but cannot be sent as null {N}.

 

 

Requests are not being auto-assigned to admins.

If a request is not auto-assigned, the ISSS admin will want to check that the request meets the criteria of the workflow listed in the Student Request Assignment. It is possible the request assignment has multiple conditions and the request did not meet all of them.

If the request does match with the request assignment, please ensure that it does not match with multiple request assignments. The request should not be able to match multiple request assignment conditions. When two or more request assignments match a condition, priority is given to the request assignment appearing first on the list. This ensures that a single request is not assigned to multiple users. This should be considered, especially if the ISSS Admin is building assignments based on multiple custom parameters.

Note: If the request had been sent back for a request clarification when it is re-submitted by the student, the request would not be auto-assigned a second time.

 

 

Can a student be removed/scrubbed from the Newly Admitted Student list (NASL)?

The NASL list is a live return of a query for individuals in the SIS data who meet certain requirements with no existing ISSS student profile. If a student meets the requirements, they will appear on the NASL. If you need a student to be excluded from the list, they will need to be removed from the Student Information System (SIS) file or their data will need to be adjusted so they no longer meet the requirements. The following Knowledgebase article addresses the requirements in detail: ISSS Student: Requirements for Students to Appear in the Newly Admitted Student List

 

 

Why is the STEM OPT Request not showing for my student?

If the student is unable to initiate a STEM OPT request because it does not appear as an option in the student's profile, the student may not meet the requirements for STEM OPT.

1. The student must have an approved OPT request.
2. The date must be within 100 days of the student's OPT end date.
3. The student must have a STEM-eligible major.

If the student meets the above requirements and still is unable to initiate a STEM OPT request, please ensure that the request has been added to their Control Center in the Post-Completion Stage Configuration. This may be done by going to Configuration > Stage Configuration and selecting the Stage Status that the student is in.  Navigate to the Control Center (or the tab to the far right if it has been renamed) to ensure the STEM OPT Request is checked off.

 

 

ISSS Scholar

How should we process returning scholars?

In most instances, a returning scholar will already have a scholar card under the Inactive tab. When creating a new sponsorship request for the scholar, the same email that is in the inactive card should be used to prevent the creation of duplicate profiles. If the email address in the inactive scholar needs to be updated, this should be done under Maintenance > Edit User in ISSS Classic. When creating the new sponsorship request, the admin should enter the correct email address, which should allow them to select the existing user.

Step-by-Step:
1. When creating a New Sponsorship Request, check to see if the scholar already has a card under the Inactive tab.
2. Check the email address in the inactive scholar card.
3. If the email is correct, enter that email into a New Sponsorship Request. If the email is not correct, make the necessary corrections under Maintenance > Edit User and then enter the correct email in the New Sponsorship Request.
4. When the email is entered, you should be able to select the existing user and continue processing as normal. 

Why does the status in SEVIS differ from what is listed in TD?

A status discrepancy can occur due to various factors, with one of the primary causes being the synchronization of processing between TD and SEVIS. When this occurs, here are some troubleshooting steps you can take:

• Go into the ISSS Classic profile for the affected scholar, enter the SEVIS ID in the Information tab, and select “Update.”
• While in the Classic profile, go to the Records tab and check the Academic Objective record to see what status it is in.
• If the status does not match what is in SEVIS (ex. Draft), go to the Status tab and update the status of the AO record to the appropriate status (Initial or Active).
• Return to the Scholar card and confirm that the SEVIS ID is now showing in the header (you may need to refresh the page).
• If the SEVIS ID appears in the Scholar card header, you should then be able to do a successful RTI Connect download/import (oftentimes referred to as a "scrape").
• Ensure the start date and SEVIS ID in ISSS Classic match the start date in the ISSS Scholar profile.  This is a common discrepancy for J-1 scholars who have transferred.  The ISSS Scholar profile should match the dates of their DS-2019.
• If the SEVIS ID does not appear in the Scholar card header, please inform Support. Support may need to take additional steps in the database to help facilitate the process.

Note: When troubleshooting this issue, please ensure you only work in RTI Connect in one tab or window at a time, including during downloads.

 

 

 

ISSS Classic

 Why am I receiving an AOP error?

Situation:
You have received the following AOP error: Error You must create an Academic Objective Application (AOP) for this user before accessing their SEVIS Profile.

Reasons why this error would appear (Solution):

1. User doesn’t have an Academic Objective (AO) record.

2. If the user has an AO record, please ensure it is not in Terminated, Deactivated, Completed, or an equivalent status

3. The AO record does not contain start and end dates that match what is in SEVIS.

4. The AO record does not match the Visa Type listed in the user's profile.

5. Ensure the value being sent in the data file for the student matches the visa type. For example, 01 refers to the F-1 visa type.

Examples:

The visa type is currently listed as F-1, but the student is J-1. Since the AO record is for a J-1, the system does not recognize it. Once the user has an AO (F) record, admins should then be able to access their SEVIS profile. | https://terradotta.zendesk.com/agent/tickets/57723

 

How do I add a SEVIS ID to a Classic Profile?

Occasionally, a SEVIS ID must be added to a user's profile in the ISSS Classic interface. This may be because the user was created in SEVIS RTI without using Terra Dotta, or if you are working with a transfer-in. To add a SEVIS ID to an ISSS Classic profile, the ISSS Admin will navigate to Profile > Profile Search. 

The ISSS Admin may search by Profile/Core Parameters, Program Parameters, or User Parameters. Select Profile/Core Parameters and click Next. The first field will be By Name, and the ISSS Admin may enter the name of the user into this field. Once entered, select Search.

In the Search Results, click on the name of the user to open their Classic Profile. In their Profile, the ISSS Admin will see multiple buttons for Profile, Information, Address Info, Records, Comments, and History Log. To update the SEVIS ID, please select "Information": 

On this page, there will be various fields that can be found in the user's Profile, such as First Name, Last Name, and Email Address. Scroll down until you locate the SEVIS ID field. Enter the SEVIS ID and then scroll to the bottom of the page and click Update. After clicking Update, the SEVIS ID is now saved to the ISSS Classic profile. 

 

How do I merge user profiles?

Situation:

A user has two user profiles. Which profile do we keep, and how do we merge them?

Solution:

Things to consider when merging profiles:

• Which profile houses the most up-to-date SEVIS information?
• Which profile houses the correct SEVIS ID?
• Is the kept profile integrated or non-integrated?

When merging profiles in Terra Dotta, it is recommended that the profile be kept up to date with the most up-to-date SEVIS information. The most up-to-date profile can be determined by looking at the profile information (e.g., SEVIS ID) as well as any records associated with the profile (e.g., Academic Objective record). 

To merge the profiles, please take the following steps:

1. Navigate to Maintenance > Merge User.
2. Enter the user's first or last name into both of the search fields and click Search.
3. Under Search Results #1, select the radio button next to the profile you wish to retain.
4. Under Search Results #2, select the radio button next to the profile you wish to merge.
5. Click Next.
6. Click Next again.
7. Enter the indicated code in the verification field and click Merge.

Once the profiles have been merged, check the kept profile to determine whether it is configured to be integrated or non-integrated. If the kept profile is non-integrated and you wish the student to log in with their campus credentials, please take the following steps to convert the user's account. 

1. Navigate to Maintenance > Edit User.
2. Enter the user's first or last name and click Search.
3. Click Next.
4. Update the username to reflect the user's SIS username (this may be a string of numbers or alphanumeric).
5. Click the Internal radio button.
6. Click the Yes radio button that indicates the user is an integrated user.
7. If needed, update the user's email address to reflect the campus email.
8. Click Update.

Once the user's account has been updated, please let the user know that they should log in using their campus credentials. 

   

Common Batch Errors

S0001

This error is generally caused by batch issues on the receiving end for SEVIS (for example a batch server is down, etc.). The general solution would be to attempt uploading the batch again and if the error remains, to wait 10-15 min and try again. If the error code persists, then SEVIS would need to be contacted at SEVIS.Batch@ice.dhs.gov. 

 

S0003

This error from SEVIS means that there is a SEVIS User ID in the batch that SEVIS is not recognizing. The most common reason is a PDSO/RO change. If there has been a PDSO change, please complete the steps indicated in the following KB: How should we update our PDSO/RO on our site?

 

S0013

When SEVIS returns an S0013 error, this means that there is some data condition in the batch that SEVIS is not accepting for one of a number of reasons:

• • Something is present that should not be present
  • Something is not present that should be present
  • Something that is present is in an incorrect format.

SEVIS lets us know that there is a data condition that they will not accept but doesn't specify which data condition this is. To find this, you could go through the data - either the actions and records themselves or the XML file that is generated - and compare this against the batching API that SEVIS makes available. We know that this can be tricky and, in some cases, very time-consuming, depending on the number of actions in the batch, so Support is available to assist with this.

If you would like to try reviewing the actions in the batch to determine what is causing the issue you may, but Terra Dotta support is happy to help with this. Open a Support ticket that includes the school code(s) and the batch number(s) of any batch affected, and that the error received was S0013.

 

T0000