• Software Version - This displays what version of the Software you are currently running.

• Active Applicant Types - This details the type of applicant your system is configured to accept.

• Active Program Types - This lists the program types you have enabled for your site.

• Secure Campus Login - This identifies whether or not you have an SCL integration in place on your site.

This article covers the following topics related to System Features:

• Applicants/User Tab
• Programs Tab
• Process Options Tab
• Features Tab
• Administrative Tab
• Directory Tab

Applicants/User Tab

The Applicants tab (or User tab for ISSS clients) contains the settings related specifically to your applicants:

• You can select the types of applicants/users who can apply to your programs (Internal or External) and if it's possible to participate in an exchange.
• You can decide if new external applicants/users must provide their gender, date of birth and/or home institution upon creating an application.
• Applicant/User Data Options:
  • You can decide whether or not to require certain information (mandatory-entry applicant parameters) in order for the applicant/user to proceed with the application process. If enabled, this information will be required from every applicant/user creating an application on your site, unless your site is configured to allow internal applicants/users to login using their secure campus login or if the program does not require the applicant information. This setting can be defined at the program level.
  • You can select the option for external and incoming applicants/users to register their gender as 'other' - otherwise they will have to choose 'Male' or 'Female'.
  • You can enable applicants/users to upload their photograph to their profile and also provide instructions that will appear to the applicants/users in the profile for uploading the photograph.
  • You can also enable applicants/users to provide an e-mail address to be CCed and an SMS address in their profile. Refer to the articles "Functionality of the applicant CC email address" and "Functionality of the Applicant SMS Address" for more information about these features.
  • You can refresh the Student Information System (SIS) Data source using SIS parameters for a specific number of months after the return date of a program. Refer to the KB article "SIS Refresh" for more information about "active" applicants in the SIS refresh.

Programs Tab

The Programs tab contains the settings related specifically to your programs.

• You can select whether or not applicants will be able to select their locations from the Terra Dotta Location Web Service.  
• For exchange programs, you can set the unit of calculation for exchange balances (semester, year, etc).
• Study Abroad Directory:
  • You can enable the Using the Study Abroad Directory and Directory programs.
  • You can enable Study Aboard Directory publishing, allowing you to share your programs with other institutions.
  • If you will be publishing programs to the Directory, you should specify your office's name as the sponsor name in the text box provided.
    • See the "Directory Tab" information below for information related to mapping to the Directory.
• Program Listings:
  • You can select the program listing options that are available to the applicants. You can direct them to program searches, the full program listing (List All), featured programs list, course search, map search, and Program Discovery.
    • An option is also provided to include the other searches in the Program Discovery functionality.
  • You can then choose which of those pages which will be the default display on the program listing.
  • You can also select the number of columns on your Advanced Search page.
  • You can enable the alternate sponsored / recommended program results search page for your public program listing.
• Brochure Pages:
  • You can choose to display program dates and specify if you want them on the top or bottom of the brochure page.  
  • You can select how long to display application cycles after the deadline.  
  • You can also align the parameters displayed on the brochure.
  • You can enable budget sheets on your program brochures.
  • You can limit the number of programs an applicant can save to their profile using the "Save This" button on a program brochure. Enabling/disabling the "Save This" button altogether is done at the program level.
  • You can also enable/disable the sharing of saved programs on various social networks. This is a global setting which can be overridden at the program-level.
• Ratings and Reviews:
  • You can enable/disable Program Ratings and Reviews by identifying the questionnaire that will be your ratings questionnaire.
  • You can then set the number of ratings required to display, the number of stars to be used for ratings questions, and the number of reviews to display.
• Map Search Configuration:
  • You can select the various colors to be used in your map search, including the region and country colors, the region hover color, the active country color, the background colors of the map and label, and the pin colors.

Process Options Tab

The Process Options tab contains the settings related specifically to your application process.

• Application Limits:
  • You can limit the number of applications an applicant can submit during each application cycle. This prevents applicants from creating multiple applications in the same year and for the same term. 
  • If you want to allow multiple applications, but limit the number of commitments from the applicant, this is also where you limit the number of commitments.
  • You can enable applicants to have multiple applications for the same program in the same application cycle by selecting the appropriate check box (used primarily for Risk Management and Incident Report programs).
  • Refer to our KB article on Adjusting Application Limits for more information about these settings.
• Process Options:
  • You can enable the 'Complete' flag. If this box is checked you will see the word 'Complete' next to the applicant's name when running a search.
    • Refer to the article Functionality of the complete flag for more information.
  • You can enable applicants to create advising applications and specify a default e-mail address which receives a notification when an advising application is created. If you are integrated with your SIS, you can enable the SIS refresh to include Advising Applications for a specific number of months after the creation of an advising application.
  • You can enable the identity verification for signature documents. If you have a check in this box, the applicant's identity must be verified to go through the application process. This is done automatically by secure campus login if your site is integrated. If your site is not integrated, students will be required to submit a 'Signature Verification Form' as part of the application process. This involves printing and signing a form and providing a copy of valid ID. They will not be permitted to sign signature documents until this form is received. If you leave this box empty, the applicants will be able to sign in and complete their applications without their identity being verified. Disabling the "Require verification for signature docs" means signature documents can be signed by anyone at any time. This setting disables all identity verification for signature documents. This includes both the check for the signature verification form for external users and the 18+ age check.
  • You can enable principal access to linked profiles and applications, allowing users with dependent profiles or applications to edit their dependents' information and process elements on their behalf.
• Applicant File Upload
  • You can enable uploading of files, set a maximum size for uploaded files, and determine what document types are available in the "Document Upload" panel of an application.

Features Tab

The Features tab contains the settings related to 'optional' features you may wish to enable on your site.

• You can apply a Google Maps API key by entering the key into the text field.  To obtain a Google Maps API key, visit the Google documentation, Obtaining an API Key: https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/javascript/tutorial#api_key  Note: It is not required that you implement a Google Maps API key on your site.  It is only necessary to use the latitude/longitude look up for applicant addresses and the map search results functionality.
• You can enable or disable learning content and assessments.
• You can enable or disable the ability for admin-generated emails to be formatted using a WYSIWYG editor.
• You can enable or disable search engine blocking to prevent your site from being indexed and searchable by most search engines.
  • Refer to our article on Hiding Your TDS Site in Search Engine Results for more information on this setting.
• Journal:
  • You can enable the applicant blogs or journals by default for applications and also select a phase during which the journals are available for viewing. This setting can be overridden on the program and applicant level.
• Information Request System:
  • You can enable information requests on search screens and/or brochure pages. You can also add the info request form to the initial login form so that a first-time user can create an account and ask a question at the same time, without having to log back into the site to ask their question (Dual login/info request form-Request Address).
  • You can enable vCal Attachments for Appointment Requests which allows appointments to be generated as events in calendar software such as Outlook and decide whether or not vCal attachments should be UTC formatted.
• Course Database and Credit Equivalency Requests:
  • You can enable your course database and credit equivalency forms.
  • You can make a credit equivalency form mandatory for an application process and set various parameters for the same. By making the form mandatory, the Credit Equivalency panel appears on the applicant application page on the time frame selected in the parameters.
  • You can enable applicant entry of home courses for CER and applicant entry of grades, unstandardized courses, and course credit for home and foreign courses.
  • You can specify when CER forms should first be made available to applicants and when they are due.
  • You can specify two custom course fields to use in your course database.
    • Refer to our articles on Course Equivalency Requests by searching "CER" in the knowledgebase for more information.
• Decision Letters:
  • You can enable the display of the decision letters or choose to only notify the applicants of a status change without a decision letter being displayed when they log in. You can also enable notification emails being sent to people who are moved directly into committed status, without being accepted first (email notifications are only sent to applicants in the Accepted status or an alias of it, unless this switch is turned on).
• Alumni:
  • You can enable the alumni status and set the criteria for considering an applicant as alumni. The default setting is 14 days after they return from their program.
    • Refer to the article "Implementing the alumni feature" for more information.
• Application Labels:
  • You can display application ID labels and custom ID labels on program applications.
    • Refer to the articles "Functionality of Application ID# labels" and "Functionality of Custom ID labels" for more information about these features.
• Applicant Profiles:
  • You can enable applicant parameters configured as required for profiles to display to applicants upon login, making them required in order to complete a site profile.
  • You can enable users to login and create a profile without having to create an application or info request first (Site Registration Option).
  • You can set an email address to be notified when new profiles are created.
• Staff Pages:
  • You can enable or disable staff pages and the staff e-mail and appointment system. You can also configure the duration for the cancellation window for these appointments.
    • Refer to the article Appointment System for more information.
• Announcements:
  • You can enable or disable the announcements scroller.
  • You can set site-wide announcements to appear in the program announcements scroller. If this is not enabled, site-wide announcements will only appear on the public announcement scroller.
• Letter Head:
  • You can upload an image for the letter head. It overwrites the existing image, if any.
  • You can determine the alignment of your site's letter head.
• Program Types included in the 'Application without Itineraries or Locations' Warning on Dashboard:
  • You can select which program types will appear in the "Application without Itineraries or Locations" warnings on the Admin Home by checking or unchecking the listed checkboxes.
• Locale Setting (CF):
  • This dropdown menu allows you to select your account's locale from the list of supported ColdFusion locales.
  • This will automatically change any coded currency symbols in your site to match your selected locale (most notably in budget sheets and budget parameters).

Administrative Tab

The Administrative tab contains the settings related to administrative users and processes on your site.

• Additional Administrative User Types:
  • You can enable or disable other user types (such as reviewers and recommenders) by selecting or clearing the appropriate check boxes. For Recommenders, you may select methods to add these user types into the system.
• Additional recommender config options:
  • You can choose to include your office's mailing address on printed versions of recommendation questionnaires, if printed versions are enabled below.
  • You can restrict the number of recommendations allowed per applicant to only the number required for their program.
  • You can choose to include a printable version of a recommendation in emailed, electronic recommendation requests requests.
  • You can enable the Quick Recommendation interface, allowing recommenders to complete a recommendation without logging in.
  • You can choose to allow applicants to view non-waived recommendation responses through their application pages. If this box is empty, the applicant will have to go through the office in order to see a recommendation. If it is checked, they will be able to link to the recommendation from their application page.
  • You can add default recommendation request email instructions.
  • You can select the default number of type of recommendation that is required for a program (this number can always change for individual programs), whether or not the applicants are allowed to copy the rec type, and whether or not the recommender is notified.
• Password Management:
  • You can configure the required strength of passwords to be used by people on your site, including setting a minimum character limit and requiring special characters in the password.  
  • You can determine how many days temporary and permanent passwords are valid.
  • You can indicate how many times a user can fail in their login attempts within a given period before the system blocks them from further attempts. You can also configure the length of the block in minutes.
  • You can enable password resets by users without security questions and lock an account when security questions are answered incorrectly. You may also unlock accounts that have been previously locked out.
• Task / Workflow Configuration:
  • You can select which permission groups are able to be assigned tasks/workflows.
  • You can configure and edit the two "User Defined" custom fields for tasks.

Directory Tab

The directory tab provides links that allow you to establish and edit your Study Abroad Directory Value Mappings.



Clicking "View Current Mappings" will display a full list of all Directory mappings for your site.

Clicking the edit pencil for a mapping category will allow you to edit your mappings for that corresponding category.

Reference Mapping to the Study Abroad Directory and Using the Study Abroad Directory for more information.