Important Notes:
- This article discusses classic functionality. For information on the modern applicant experience, refer to the Applicant Experience Knowledgebase article.
- Check out the Application Finder, a feature of the The Admin Console, currently available in client production sites.
Using the Advanced Application/Record Search
The Advanced Application/Record Search works on the same principle as the regular search. When you choose to run an Advanced Application/Record Search with the criteria for searching, it filters the records of all applications according to your specified criteria.
Note: Depending on your usage case of Terra Dotta, this functionality refers to searching for "applications" and "applicants" or "users" and "records". These terms are synonymous in that regard. The software will display the one relevant to your use case.
This page is accessible only to staff members with the Applicant/User Admin permissions. To access the 'Advanced Search' tool, click Advanced Search located under the Applicants/Users link on the top navigation menu of the Admin home page.
Searching for an Application/Record
In the Advanced Search page, a list of options with a checkbox to the left of each one is displayed. If you wish to use one of these options as a filter for your search, select the checkbox next to it. You can search using any of the following options:
- Application/Record Parameters
- Program Parameters
- Applicant/User Parameters
- Complete/Incomplete Submissions
- Questionnaires
You can select multiple options. After selecting filter types, click Next. The next page that appears contains list boxes that you can use to select your criteria for the search.
If there is a list box with an option that you wish to search for, select the list box to search with that option. You can make multiple selections in a list box by holding down the Command/Control key when you click the additional options. If you do not change the option in a list box and leave the default selection of 'any', it is not used as a search filter.
At any point during the search, you can cancel the search by clicking Cancel. This takes you back to the Admin home page.
You can also reset the search criteria by clicking Reset.
You can restart your search and select new parameters by clicking Back. This takes you to the Advanced Search home page.
Parameters Available
The options are grouped under various parameter titles. The available groups are:
Show Parameters
These options enable you to view applicants/user belonging to a particular group. The options are the following:
- User Classification
- Your Institution Name Only - Select this if you want to list all internal applicants/users.
- Non-Your Institution Name Only - Select this if you want to list all external applicants/users.
- All - Select this if you want to list all the applicants/users irrespective of their type (Internal/external).
- Exchange type - Select exchange, non-exchange, or all applicants/users as it pertains to your search.
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Programs - Select filters from this list if you want to list applicants/users who are applying to a particular program type.
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All - Select this if you want to list all applicants/users, irrespective of their program types.
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Institution - Select this if you want to list all applicants/users belonging to an institution; provide the name of the institution in the adjacent text box.
Application/Record Parameters
These options enable you to list the applicants/users based on the details of their application/record and the program they have selected. The options available are the following:
- Application Cycles - Select the application cycle to which the applicant/user belongs.
- Application/Record Phase - Select the phase in which the application is currently present. For example advising, pre-decision, and so on.
- Application/Record Status - Select the appropriate status of application.
- Application/Record Tags - Select the appropriate application tag and whether or not you're looking for applications/records with it assigned or not assigned.
- Note: Choosing multiple tags and using the "is not assigned" option will generate a list of results using "OR" logic.
- Application/Record Term - Select the appropriate application/record term.
- Application/Record Years - Select the year in which the application/record was processed.
- Application/Record Activity - Provide the dates of various activities regarding the application/record. Filter on applications marked as "Ready for Review".
- Program - Select the name of the program to which the applicant/user belongs.
- Program Groups - Select the name of the group to which the program belongs.
- City - Select the city in which the program is provided.
- Country - Select the country in which the above selected city is located.
- Region - Select the region in which the country lies.
Program Parameters
These options enable you to provide details of the program. For example Eligibility, Instruction Language, Minimum GPA and so on.
Applicant/User Parameters
These options enable you to search applications/records based on applicant/users parameter values.
- Applicant/user parameter list boxes will initially only display the option values that have been manually created for the applicant/user parameter. List of picklist options seen when editing a param is what you see when on advanced search. If you had a picklist value, that you have since removed, you will have to click the 'show stored applicant/user data values' link to search on that.
If you wish to have this listbox display a list of options to search from by default without having to click on the link to load the list, going to Settings > Applicant/User Params and clicking to edit the parameters in question will allow you to build the list that appears when this form is initially presented.
Complete/Incomplete Submissions
These options enable you to search for applications/records depending on complete or incomplete submissions of signature documents, questionnaires, and so on.
- The Complete/Incomplete Submissions search criteria use "AND" logic within and between the drop down boxes for the various process elements. This means that the query will pull only those applicants/users who have complete/incomplete status for EVERYTHING you select, not ANY of the options you select.
This makes it especially difficult to use as a reporting mechanism for incomplete applications/record. You can easily pull those applications/records that have a particular item incomplete, for example, anyone who hasn't paid their application fee. But you can't pull all applications/records that have ANY piece of their application incomplete, without running multiple queries (one for each process element) and then combining the results.
It is recommended that you use the Progress Audit report as an alternative for identifying incomplete applications/records for a given group of applicants/users.
Note: The complete/incomplete submission criteria options in the advanced application/record search find applications/records that either have the selected process elements marked as received or not received. These criteria do not consider whether or not the process element is a requirement of the application/record.
Example:
If I search for all applications/records that have not completed a risk management program signature document, I will get all my outgoing program applications/record s- even though those applications/records don't actually require that risk management signature document. Since those applications/records don't have that signature document marked as complete, they are included in the search results.
Additional criteria can be used to ensure that the results are for applications/records in which the application/record process element is a requirement - usually the 'Program', 'Program Group', and/or 'Application Cycle' options can be used to narrow the application/record pool to applications/records in which specific process elements are deployed.
This behavior can sometimes be confusing, but the application/record search mechanisms perform the searches in this manner due to the database processing overhead that would be required for searches that find incomplete AND applicable as query criteria.
Questionnaires
These options enable you to search for applications/records based on the responses submitted by applicants/users to the question items in application/record questionnaires. The criteria options that are displayed may be different for every site as each site has its own applicant/user and program parameters as well as unique submissions and questionnaires.
Troubleshooting Application/Record Searches
Below are common issues/questions that arise when using the Advanced Application/Record Search and their resolutions:
Description
Sometimes, when conducting an application/record search using the Applicants/Records > Advanced Search tool, some applications/records that exist in the account are not being included in the search results.
Cause
There are multiple reasons for this behavior. Refer to the resolution below to find the cause of this behavior.
Resolution
There are three potential causes for student applications/records not being included in the search results:
1.) The student's user record is not identifying them as either an internal or external student type.
1.) The student's user record is not identifying them as either an internal or external student type.
- A user can be classified as a "non-student" if they are entered into the system as either a recommender, reviewer, or staff member prior to their application/record to a program. If a user is a "non-student" then the student search will only locate their record if the 'All' radio button is selected in the 'Show' criteria of the search query.
- This can be resolved by going into Maintenance > Edit User, finding the student's user record, and editing it so that they are an 'Outgoing' or 'Incoming' student.
2.) The applicant's/users application/record is withdrawn.
- If an applicant/user withdraws their application/record, it will no longer appear in application/record search results unless the withdrawn status applications/records are included in the application/record searches.
3.) The applicant's/users application/record is Risk Management or Scholarship.
- Applications/records that are Risk Management or Scholarship will not be included in default advanced search results unless that type of program is selected in the search criteria.
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Description
When doing an Advanced Search to see which students selected a specific answer to questions in a questionnaire, some of the response choices are not appearing in the Advanced Search's list of option values for search criteria.
Cause
The question item search criteria options will only display values that have actually been submitted by applicants/users as responses in a questionnaire. If no applicant/user has submitted one of the option values for a question item, it is not displayed as a search criteria in the interface since it would not result in any applications/records in the results.
Resolution
The missing response choices will appear as search criteria options in subsequent Advanced Searches if, and only if, an applicant/user selects that particular value as an answer to the question.