Winter 2012 updates now live

We have just released another round of updates and upgrades.  Below is a summary of the major changes.  If you need help learning more about how to use any of these new (or old) features of CIS, view our training page to see your options! 

Information

Occupations

With the minimum wage change in Oregon to $8.80 per hour, CIS analysts review and update wage data in the occupations and in other components of CIS.

Also, the federal government released O*NET 16.0 in the middle of 2011, and our occupations are now updated with these changes.  Because O*NET added some new occupations, we were also able to create full descriptions for 5 CIS Occupations that previously had limited data.  These five are:

• Environmental Engineering Technicians
• Genetic Counselors
• Geothermal Production Managers
• Geothermal Technicians
• School Psychologists

Oregon CIS now has 608 titles in the Occupations component.  572 of these are full descriptions, and 36 are partial descriptions.  

Miscellaneous Components

The Glossary and Resources for Latinos are reviewed and updated for our winter release each year. We are also updating Oregon Schools and Financial Aid files as we receive information changes from our school contacts during the year.

In December, the Oregon Student Assistance Commission changed its name to the Oregon Student Access Commission.  Its acronym, OSAC, did not change.  We corrected all of the CIS content where the name appears.

Assessments and Sorts

The 5 new full occupations have been incorporated into the assessments and sorts.

School Sort

School Sort was entirely revamped for our fall release.  The winter update includes improvements in how graduate and undergraduate results are restored and how Oregon and U.S. schools are saved.

Administration Tools

Checklists

Group reports for checklists can now be exported to an Excel file. (Remember, checklists are not automatically available for your site. You must request that one or more pre-developed checklists be activated for you. Contact User Services to learn more.)

Course Planner

The course import now appends rather than replaces course lists already entered. 

Coming soon to...

Site Resources

Discovery & Passage

The CIS curriculum has been completely updated. Staff are fine tuning it before its release later in January.  Watch for an e-mail announcing its publication and explaining the changes.

• New sorting criteria help you find what you need.
• The overview, instructions, and steps for each unit are online.
• Worksheets and handouts are in PDF format .
• Each unit has a PowerPoint to use in delivering the unit.

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Reminder of Fall 2011 enhancements

CIS development never ends! Each fall we introduce many enhancements and new features in addition to the complete update of our information.  Below is a summary of the major enhancements.  The trainings on What's New are now finished for the 2011-12 year.  However, view our training page sign-up to learn how to use the new enhancements! 

Information

Occupations

The greening of our occupational information continues. 

• Green tasks have been incorporated into the Specific Work Activities topic of 71 of our occupations.
• A filter feature has been added.  It allows you to find occupations in a whole new way - by wage category, education level, and “green”.
• 6 videos about the greening of the world of work have been added to the Green Careers section of More Resources.

Industries

• A new Greening of the Industry topic has been added to each industry.

Job Search

• The Job Search information has new navigation and format that is like Paying for School and About the Military.
• Relevant job search topics link to My Education and Work History in the CIS portfolio, providing guidance as users enter their own information.

Self-Employment

• Users can “Save” the Entrepreneurship Quiz in their portfolios.

Assessments and Sorts

School Sort

• School Sort is all new. Changes include additional sorting criteria, improved navigation, and list management features.

Interest Profiler and Work Importance Locator

• Users can organize their results by level of education, wages, and "green", simplifying their lists into manageable subsets.

Portfolio

My Checklists

Checklists organize required and optional activities in CIS and track their completion.

• If a site has implemented a checklist (see below under Administration Tools), users access the checklist in My Career Planning Portfolio to:
  • view the list of required and optional activities;
  • link to the component of CIS to be completed for each required activity;
  • read brief instructions about what must be completed; and
  • review the status of their work.

My Plan

My Plan (high school sites only) is reorganized to improve navigation and streamline use.

• Three tabs divide My Plan into the three developmental stages - Getting Started, Looking Deeper, and Preparing for Next Steps.
• Each stage includes 5 steps around essential career planning questions: Who am I?; Where am I going?; How do I get there?; What are my next steps?; and Where am I now?
• Many of the activities required to complete My Plan are imbedded into it, reducing navigation issues.
• Questions guide each reflection.
• The printed My Plan report reformats entries into an education plan document.

My Visitors

• Users can invite guests to view specified sections of their portfolios.  (Not available in some site types where interface with outside people must be restricted.)

My Messages

• Users can now send messages back to CIS Site Coordinators and site staff who send them messages through CIS.
• If they have set up a Visitor Account, they can send and receive messages from their visitors.
• If the school has set up a Parent Account, they can send and receive messages from their parents and see when the parent last viewed their portfolio. 

My Learning Express

Learning Express Library provides an array of resources to help people succeed in school, work, and life. Now, CIS portfolio users can choose from hundreds of practice tests, courses, and eBooks. They can prepare for tests like the SAT and ACT, build academic skills, and access tutorials on a wide variety of topics.

Access to Learning Express Library is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Library Services and Technology Act, administered by the Oregon State Library.

Administration Tools

Parent Accounts

• Schools can set up accounts for parents and invite them to view student portfolios.
• Parents with Parent Accounts can send and receive messages from their students and view the CIS portfolio for their students.

Customization

• Site administrators can elect to use one or more checklists designed by Oregon CIS for their site type (e.g. high school, adult users.)  (Activation of the checklists must be requested by the CIS Site Coordinator or district or agency coordinator for groups of sites.)
• Teachers, counselors, and administrators get reports by individual or group for activities completed.
• Fall 2013 release will allow sites to customize checklists for the site.

Reports

• If checklists have been activated for a site, a checklist report shows how the users (students, clients, customers) are doing on the activities in the checklist.
• District Administrators (people overseeing multiple sites, for example, for a school district or a state agency with many branches) can run reports on all sites or a subset, look up individual portfolios, and complete data maintenance for sites in the district.