Program Progress Form Updater for Biological Engineering Major

How to run the PPF Auto-Updater

Directory Setup

In order to make sure the program will run properly, ensure the following files are located in the primary directory (ppfproj or ppfproj-master)

• masterfile.py - this is the main file that runs the PPF updater
• blankPPF.xlsx - the updater will fill in a copy of this for each student, so make sure it is formatted as desired
• Transcript - this folder, which will be empty on github for confidentiality, is where you will put the transcript file, called transcript.xlsx, as a spreadsheet (see formatting instructions below)
• Students - this folder, also empty on github, will be where the student PPFs as well as the summary file summary.txt appear
• support_files - this folder will contain several support files that help the program run... most are code, but the following are important:
  • advanced_bio.xlsx - a list of courses that satisfy upper-level biology, in no particular order
  • engri_courses.xlsx - a list of courses that satisfy the ENGRI (intro engineering) requirement
  • other_yes.xlsx - a list of courses not on the engineering website but that have been approved to satisfy liberal arts requirements for the College of Engineering
  • research_ta_etc.xlsx - a list of courses like research and TA credit from which you can get up to 4 credits of focus area credits, and from there

What's in the files?

• transcript.xlsx should have the following columns, with column names written exactly as shown below in bold. The program can handle multiple sheets of transcripts in a single excel file, or all transcripts on a single sheet, it doesn't matter. Column names:
  • Effdt Preferred Name (student name in the format last,first middle ie Popp,Joshua Michael)
  • Netid (student net ID)
  • Employee Id (student ID)
  • Expected Grad Term Ldescr (expected graduation, can also use Sdescr)
  • Academic Term Ldescr (term in which the course was taken, can also use Sdescr)
  • Class Descr (course description, in words, ie Intro to Economics)
  • Subject (department under which the course is listed, ie BEE)
  • Catalog Nbr (course number, ie 3600)
  • Official Grade (letter grade received for the course)
  • Unt Taken (number of credits the course was taken for)
  • Advisor (advisor name, again in the format last,first m)
  • AP Test Component Ldescr (name of the AP course, from a specific list)
  • AP Test Sdescr (if the course was an AP course, will say 'AP', else empty cell)
  • Score (score received on AP exam for AP course)
  • TR School Descr
  • TR School Subject
  • TR School Crse Nbr

How to run

Download this directory from Github with help from the bright green Clone or Download button in the upper right.

Once the directory is set up as above, all you need to do is run masterfile.py and you should find the Students folder populated with a summary file summary.txt, as well as students PPFs sorted into folders by graduation date.

For more detailed instructions on how to run, go to this link.

What does it do?

1. The first thing

What doesn't it do?

• Foreign language requirements
• Transfer requirements
• Fix existing problems in PPFs

Other Implementation Details

AP Course Descriptions

List of acceptable course descriptions for AP Courses (if the course is not listed with one of these exact descriptors, credit will not be given by the program):

• Biology
• Chemistry
• Computer Science A
• Mathematics: Calculus BC
• Physics C - Mechanics
• English Language &Composition
• English Literature &Compostn
• Spanish Language
• Spanish Literature
• French Language
• French Literature
• German Language & Culture
• Italian Language & Culture
• Economics: Macroeconomics
• Economics: Microeconomics
• Psychology