Higher Education Information Management System (HEIMS)

1. Higher Education InformationManagement System (HEIMS) Louise Hanlon, Business Director 26 November - AICTEC

2. HEIMS is a four year, $20 million project. Major deliverables include: allocation of a unique student number; monitoring student entitlements including loans, Student Learning Entitlement (SLE), and Commonwealth Scholarships; information services for students through the Going to Uni website, and development of internal finance and programme management systems. Overview

3. A unique number assigned to eligible students seeking Commonwealth assistance. Allocated through Tertiary Admission Centres(TACs) and Higher Education Providers (HEPs). A set of personal data is sent to HEIMS for CHESSN allocation or validation. Applicants must provide informed consent for personal data to be provided to the Commonwealth (ie via Commonwealth Assistance Form for continuing students or through TAC/HEP application forms for commencing students). Commonwealth Higher Education Student Support Number (CHESSN)

4. All eligible continuing and commencing students receiving Commonwealth assistance from 1 January 2005 must have a CHEESN. International students and domestic students paying full fees are not required to be allocated a CHESSN. DEST commenced allocation of CHESSNs to TACs/HEPs using a web enabled system to system interface in September 2004. A web browser facility is also available for HEPs to seek CHESSNs for individual applicants. CHESSN (cont)

5. The first release of the website provides general information for prospective and continuing students on all aspects of higher education, particularly in respect of the reforms and changes for students in 2005. In September 2005, comprehensive course information will be incorporated into the web site including course costs and minimum entrance requirements for every course in the country. It is proposed that HEPs will provide this information via the data collection processes already in place. In November 2005, students will be able to use their CHESSN to logon to the website and access details of entitlements including SLE, scholarship and loan information and to change their personal information. www.goingtouni.gov.au

7. Business requirements (endorsed by the Minister) for the allocation of CHESSNs were released to the sector in February ‘04. Data requirements for CHESSN allocation were specified using XML standards. The technical specifications distributed to the sector also included additional validation and business rules enforcing mandatory data items. Associated business processes such as treatment of identified duplicates have been prepared and distributed to the sector. CHESSN – Specifications

8. Data Matching algorithms have been developed in ‘SSA- Name 3’ based on business ratings of data collected. Data matching fields have been specified for both continuing and commencing students. DEST has secured the authority of ACACA to use the Year 12 Board of Studies number as a matching field that will ensure a high degree of validation of Year 12 applicants. Analysis tools have been developed to identify potential duplicates within HEIMS. Other safety nets are in place to capture duplicates, including notification from HEPs and ATO processing of CHESSN/TFNs. Data Matching

9. Mandatory for continuing students Family Name, Date of Birth, HEP student ID number, Gender Mandatory for commencing students Family Name, Date of Birth, Gender, Citizenship, Address Conditional for commencing students Year 12 Student ID, Year 12 State, Year 12 Attended Year, Year 12 School Name Previous HEP Code, Previous HEP Name, Previous HEP student number, Year last enrolled at last HEP Data Matching - Data Elements

10. HEPs and TACs have the option of identifying potential duplicate CHESSNs and notifying DEST prior to CHESSNs becoming active. Approved officers of HEPs and TACs submit electronic forms for DEST to link identified duplicates “behind the scenes”. The ATO will match active CHESSNs against TFNs and will advise DEST of duplicates. The DEST database will include processes for identifying potential duplicates for those students not required to submit their TFNs. CHESSN duplicate management

11. Duplicate checking – 12 month cycle Universities CHESSN HEIMSAllocation match ATO - TFN Potential duplicates Student could apply to two HEPs/TACs. Match of details should return one CHESSN HEIMSAllocation TACs

12. External testing is required by all TACs and HEPs before acquiring production credentials. Credentials have been allocated to 5 TACs and 12 HEPs to date. Over 200,000 CHESSNs have been allocated – 30% + of allocations expected by March 2005 Performance targets exceeded ie Batch transactions processed within 24 hours. Real time transactions returned within 5 seconds. Browser transactions returned within 5 seconds CHESSN Production

13. It is expected that large HEPs will allocate CHESSNs through web services batch uploads and smaller HEPs will use the browser facility for allocating CHESSNs. Three major vendors have released new versions of their product including CHESSN allocation functionality. 25 new private providers have been approved as HEPs with a further 11 applications for HEP status currently under consideration. Web services vs browser

14. CHESSN browser interface screen

15. Thank youAny questions?