Latest Fixes and Features (April 2018)

Here is a brief list of a number of the features and fixes we have recently added into Guru. As always, thanks for all the suggestions and reports that help us to improve our products.

New Features (April 2018)

1. A new notifications/tasks system has been added across all Guru modules and services. (More Details)
2. Improvements in the way that examination paper archives are generated. (More Details)
3. Opened up document recovery facilities to school office staff (Recovered documents contain original encryption passwords!)
4. ‘My Modules’ listing is now alphabetically sorted against module codes.
5. Improved the facility for external examiners to view papers and solutions for modules that they had already reviewed. Previously this required a ‘New Review’. Buttons have now been added to the previous screen for ease of use.
6. Added new ‘Encryption at Rest’ features for all data stored in Guru. This provides two layers of encryption on all sensitive data.
7. Exam date/time injection has been improved to take account of the front cover paper size. Previously this was hard-coded to A4 and this could cause positioning issues where an academic changed the format to ‘Letter’ or other alternatives.
8. Added in a new batch upload facility for loading external examiners into the system. This would typically be used in the first year for an institution who already had a database of external examiners.
9. Added the facility to recover a document password even if the document had never been uploaded into Guru (Previously the lecturer had needed to upload the document to enable the facility).

Bug Fixes/System Updates (March/April 2018)

1. Removed a scenario where an academic could delete an examination paper after it had already been reviewed by an external examiner. Lecturers can only replace documents in this scenario in future.
2. Fixed an issue where modules were not correctly assigned if multiple programmes were selected for assignment to external examiners.
3. Fixed an issue where filtering by semester (Examinations View) was not always working for scenarios where there were more than 3 default semesters.
4. Fixed the date and time format in the email log viewer to account for daylight saving time.
5. Widened the range of characters that can be used by users when selecting passwords.
6. Catered for an issue where two parts of term could be shown but only one paper was expected (e.g. where the data shows two part of terms that take place at the same time).

DCU Specific

1. Improved the facility to change years on module and programme views (DCU). Changed to a ‘Select’ facility to allow quicker switching between years.
2. Phone extension information has been added back into the templates generated for DCU
3. Excel/XML/CSV exporting facility added for ‘My Tutees’
4. Changed the DCU timetable link to be a configurable variable (as it keeps moving!)

As always, keep the issues and suggestions coming and thanks for all your help with designing our products.