December 2019 Release

Major Enhancements

Victorian VET Student Statistical Collection Guidelines 2020

In late July 2019 the Victorian VET Student Statistical Collection Guidelines 2020 together with the Summary of Changes were published both on SVTS and on the Departments website (https://www.education.vic.gov.au/training/providers/rto/Pages/datacollection.aspx).

The Meshed Platform functionality has been reviewed and enhanced as required to support these changes to ensure successful submission of data in the new collection year.

November 2019 Release

New Features

Education Services for Overseas Students Regulations 2019 - English Language

The Education Services for Overseas Students Regulations 2019 (ESOS Regulations) commence on 1 October 2019. They replace the current 2001 regulations.

Read more about the Education Services for Overseas Student (ESOS) Regulations 2019 overview

The Meshed Platform functionality has been enhancement to support the English Language testing and exemption requirements for the ESOS Regulations 2019.

For more information on managing English Language Testing for Applicants see English Test.

For more information on managing English Language Testing for Students see English Test.

Online Assessment Submission (Optional Module)

The Meshed Platform optional module for Online Assessment Submission has been enhanced to provide Students multiple Assessment Submissions.

Functional Overview:

• Students has multiple attempts of Assessment Submission 
• Teacher records marks and uploads Marking Guide for each Assessment Submission
• All Assessment Submission marks visible in Student Portal 
• Permission control to allow Teacher to flag re-submission of Assessment Submissions

Minor Enhancements

Agent Contact List Report

The Meshed Platform now has a specific report, which can be generated from the reports menu, that displays all of the data fields for Agent Contacts.

Enrolment Fees

The Meshed Platform Setup Enrolment Fee Information feature has been enhanced to now define different value enrolment fees based on the Student origin - Overseas Student (Offshore), Overseas Student in Australia (Onshore), Resident Student (Domestic).

For more information see Enrolment Fee Setup.

Password Reset with Random Password

Password strength is a measure of the effectiveness of a password against guessing or brute-force attacks. The strength of a password is a function of length, complexity, and unpredictability. Using strong passwords lowers overall risk of a security breach, but strong passwords do not replace the need for other effective security controls.

The Meshed Platform has been enhanced with new functionality to optionally have the System generate a Random Password when Resetting User Accounts Passwords for:

• Users
• Agents
• Students

October 2019 Release

New Features

Education Services for Overseas Students Regulations 2019

The Education Services for Overseas Students Regulations 2019 (ESOS Regulations) commence on 1 October 2019. They replace the current 2001 regulations.

Read more about the Education Services for Overseas Student (ESOS) Regulations 2019 overview

As part of our ongoing commitment to our Clients, the Meshed Team have reviewed Meshed Platform functionality to identify and implement enhancements and new features required to ensure that Providers can meet ESOS Regulations in October 2019.

The key areas of the Meshed Platform reviewed for the latest ESOS Regulations were:

• PRISMS Enhancements 
• Other ESOS Amendments (minor)
• Education Agents and Students 

See Agent Setup for more information.

See Agent Portal for more information.

• Tracking of Student Course Status 

See Student Course Status for more information.

The key areas of the Meshed Platform currently being reviewed for the latest ESOS Regulations are:

• Student English Language Proficiency

An update Release for any enhancements and new features required as an outcome of this review will be made soon.

Minor Enhancements

Offer Document Checklist Setup Log

The Meshed Platform View Database Modification Log has been enhanced to provide tracking of changes made to the Offer Document Checklist:

• When a document is added to the Checklist.
• Which a document in the Checklist is modified.
• When a document is deleted from the Checklist.

The log records the name of the user, date and time of these actions.

September 2019 Release

New Features

Class Capacity Report

The Meshed Platform has been enhanced with functionality to report on Class Capacity information for Users in a similar way to the View Timetable feature.

Functional Overview:

• Weekly View of Class Capacity 
• Daily View of Class Capacity
• Subject View of Class Capacity
• Room View of Class Capacity

ELICOS Bulk Change Class (Optional)

New optional functionality related to Student Class Changes for ELICOS Courses has been included in the Meshed Platform.

Functional Overview:

• Search and View a list of Students enrolled in a specific ELICOS Class (Course, Year, Semester, Term, Subject).
• The list of Students contains an Action Icon for each Student to Change the Batch (Class).
• The Change Batch (Class) window allows for selection of New Batch and the adjustment of Dates (Start and Finish) as required.

Minor Enhancements

Attachments for Communication Log/Diary Notes

The Meshed Platform Communication Log/Diary Notes feature has been enhanced with the ability to upload attachments.  This enhancement applies to the following Meshed Platform areas:

• Students
• Applicant Offer Management
• Staff
• Teachers
• Agents

Online Class Enrolment (Optional Module) - Type of enrolment 

The Meshed Platform optional module for Online Class Enrolment has been enhanced to display information in the Student Profile about the type of enrolment.

Information overview:

• Online Student Enrolment - if the Student Portal was used for the Online Class Enrolment
• Online Staff Enrolment - if the Staff Portal was used for the Online Class Enrolment
• Group Enrolment - if the Group Management feature was used for the Class Enrolment
• Individual Enrolment - if the Student Subject Enrolment Page (set-up Study Plan) page was used for the Class Enrolment

Bulk Enrolment by Group - Final Outcome

Based on feedback we received from Meshed Clients, the Meshed Bulk Enrolment by Group function has been enhanced to select a Final Outcome for Students being enrolled into a Class.

To understand more, check out Group Enrolment

Custom Fields - Order 

The Meshed Platform Custom Fields feature has been enhanced to allow Users to define the display order of the fields (when filtering view as 'Field used for').

August 2019 Release

Major Enhancements

Random Password Generation

Password strength is a measure of the effectiveness of a password against guessing or brute-force attacks. The strength of a password is a function of length, complexity, and unpredictability. Using strong passwords lowers overall risk of a security breach, but strong passwords do not replace the need for other effective security controls.

The Meshed Platform has been enhanced with new functionality to optionally have the System generate a Random Password when creating User Accounts for:

• Staff
• Teachers
• Agents
• Students

Minor Enhancements

Intervention Register - Student

The Meshed Platform Student Intervention Register feature has been enhanced with the addition of a Student Status column.  This column is included in the excel file that is exported as well. For an Intervention there is now an additional status of Case Unresolved - cancelled available for use.

Course Subject Stage

Based on feedback we received from Meshed Clients, the maximum number of Stages that can be assigned when Adding and Editing a Course Subject has been increased from 10 to 20.  Course Subject Stages are used when enrolling a Student into timetabled Classes.

Meshed PIR Predefined Report (Higher-Ed Specific)

The Meshed Platform now has a specific report, which can be generated from the reports menu, that displays all of the data fields shown in the Student PIR information section of their Student profile.

User Guide

USI Integration Setup

The Meshed RTOManager CRICOS Online User Guide has been updated to now include detailed information on the steps to setup the Meshed Platform USI Integration. 

The Meshed Platform USI Integration allows for a two-way integration with the USI Registry System, in real time, using a web services connection. The integration supports USI Verification and USI Creation functions.

Find out more about the Meshed Platform USI functions here.

The Meshed RTOManager CRICOS Online User Guide is available across all Meshed RTOManager CRICOS platforms and can be accessed via the Help Icon located on the top right hand corner of the homepage.  Check out RTOManager CRICOS Online User Guide.

July 2019 Release

New Features

Change Batch/Class Name (Optional)

The Meshed Platform has been enhanced with functionality to allow users to change the name of existing timetabled Batches (Classes).   This is an optional feature in the Meshed Platform.

Functional Overview:

• Available in Timetable > Manage Class Timetable list of timetabled classes
• Renaming of Batches (Classes) with enrolled Students, Attendance records etc. will be permitted
• Students can be enrolled, Attendance can be recorded etc. for renamed Batches (Classes)

Major Enhancements

Send Email to Employer

The Meshed Platform Manage Employer feature has been enhanced with the addition of email sending functionality. This allows emails to be sent directly to Employers from within the Meshed Platform. 

Employers are Companies who provide funding for their employees, typically to study job related Courses, for example a Trainee-ship or Apprenticeship. The Meshed Platform enables the assignment of Employers to Students, the generation of Employer Invoices etc. 

To understand more, check out Manage Employer

Agent Option to Send Applicant Notification

The Meshed Platform has been enhanced with an option for Agents making an Application using the Agent Portal to be able to control if the Applicant will receive an email notification. This option appears at Step 1 of the Application process and by default the email notification is not sent.

The email notification to the Applicant uses a Predefined Email Template (AgentOnlineApplication1stStepNotification) which can be customised in the Meshed Platform.

To understand more, check out Agent Portal

Minor Enhancements

Teacher Communication Log (Diary)

The Meshed Platform has been enhanced with new functionality which enables the editing and deleting of entries in a Teacher Communication Log/Diary.

To understand more, check out Teacher Management

Bulk Create Student User Account

As part of our continuous Usability Improvements for Meshed Platforms, the Selection Criteria for the Bulk Create Student User Account on the Users Menu (Users >Bulk Create Student User Account ) has been improved.  The Course field now contains and All option.

To understand more, check out Bulk Create Student User Account

Results Grade Log

The Meshed Platform View Database Modification Log has been enhanced to provide tracking of Results Grade Setup changes made from Admin > Configuration and Setup > Result Grade. 

The log records the name of the user, date and time of these actions.

June 2019 Release

New Features

Course Log

The Meshed Platform has been enhanced with a new feature that logs Course comment changes during the Application and Offer processes.  This is useful for recording and tracking of important information, notes, etc. For example a change of Agent during the Offer process.

When the Applicant is converted to a Student the Course Log remains available from the Student Profile.

ELICOS Bulk Academic Progress Result Entry

The Meshed Platform has been enhanced with a new feature for Assessment Task Results Entry for ELICOS Courses.

Functional Overview:

• Search and View a list of Students enrolled in a specific ELICOS Class (Year, Semester, Term, Subject).
• The list of Students will contain all of the Assessment Tasks due for the selected week.
• Student Results for all of the Assessment Tasks can be recorded in the list and updated (Bulk).
• Student Results for all of the Assessment Tasks can be recorded and updated (Bulk) from the Teacher Portal (Optional Module).

To understand more, check out the ELICOS functionality information.

Major Enhancements

NSW Smart and Skilled Training Plan Template

The Meshed Platform has been enhanced with new functionality which provides an option to select a NSW Smart and Skilled Training Plan Template where this is relevant.  

Because the Smart and Skilled Training Plan is only required for NSW, the system only provides this option when a Student Course/Subject has a venue that is located in NSW.

Password Strength Management (Optional)

Password strength is a measure of the effectiveness of a password against guessing or brute-force attacks. The strength of a password is a function of length, complexity, and unpredictability. Using strong passwords lowers overall risk of a security breach, but strong passwords do not replace the need for other effective security controls.

The Meshed Platform has been enhanced with new optional functionality to manage Password Strength with selection of one of three strength options:

• Weak Password
• Medium Password
• Strong Password
  

The Password Strength option selected applies to:

• Create Password functions for Add New Staff, Add New Teacher, Create Agent Account, and Create Student Account.
• Change Password functions for Users (i.e. Reset Password Icon), Staff Portal, Student Portal, Agent Portal, and Teacher Portal.

This is an Optional Feature that Clients will need to request via the Meshed Support Team

More information on this feature can be found here

Minor Enhancements

Course Template Log

The Meshed Platform View Database Modification Log has been enhanced to provide tracking of Course Template changes for Students:

• When a Course Template was assigned to a Student.
• Which Course Template was assigned to a Student.
• When a Course Template assigned to a Student is changed
• Which Course Template was assigned to a Student when changed

The log records the name of the user, date and time of these actions.

Student Mailing List

The Meshed Platform has been enhanced so that the Student Mailing List in both the Teacher Portal and the Staff Portal now include classes created using Manage Assessment Group when searching for Students using the Student Class List criteria.

To understand more about Student Mail, check out Communication Tools

User Guide

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Module

The Meshed RTOManager CRICOS Online User Guide has been updated to now include detailed information on the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Module (Optional Module). 

Find out more about the Meshed Platform CRM here Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Module

The Meshed RTOManager CRICOS Online User Guide is available across all Meshed RTOManager CRICOS platforms and can be accessed via the Help Icon located on the top right hand corner of the homepage.  Check out RTOManager CRICOS Online User Guide.

May 2019 Release

New Features

View Timetable

Based on feedback we received during the Meshed Client Forums, the View Timetable feature has undergone a significant re-design and re-development to better present this key information to Users.

Functional Overview:

• Weekly View of the timetable for Classrooms 
• Daily View of the timetable for a Classroom, Venue & Campus
• View of the timetable shows Classes and availability for a Venue & Campus
• Filter the view of the timetable by All or individual Teachers
• Navigation options for Next Day, Previous Day, Next Week and Previous Week

To understand more, check out Timetable Management

Generate Random Student ID

The Meshed Platform has been enhanced with new functionality to give the option to generate a Random Student ID or a Sequential Student ID.  This option will be applied for the following:

• Generating a Reserved Student ID in the Offer section.
• Generating a New Student ID when converting from an Offer to a Student.

Work Placement Management Feature (Optional)

The Meshed Platform has been enhanced with new functionality to fully manage Student Work Placements. 

Many Education Providers deliver Courses which require work placement. Work placement is component for a Subject, or Subjects, depending on the Provider requirements. Providers can have agreements or arrangements with various employers with whom they can place Students to fulfil the work placement requirements.

In the Meshed Platform, the work placement feature allows the user to:

• Identify Courses which require work placement
• Identify Subjects which require work placement
• Enrol Students into Courses and Subjects which require work placement
• Link Student work placements with an Employer
• Record and view work placement activity for Students
• Recorded work placement attendance for Students

To understand more about the Work Placement Management Feature, check out Student Work Placement

Major Enhancements

Edit Student Education Qualification and Employment History

The Meshed Platform has been enhanced to provide an edit function for Student Education and Student Employment History.

Minor Enhancements

Course Information

As part of our continuous Usability Improvements for Meshed Platforms, the layout of Course Information on the Public Portal and Course Menu (Courses > Course) has been improved.

User Guide

Webinar - ELICOS Management with Meshed Platforms

We understand that it's not always easy to take time out of the business during office hours. So for your convenience, a recording of our latest webinar on ELICOS Management with Meshed Platforms is now available in the Meshed RTOManager CRICOS Online User Guide - ELICOS Management with Meshed Platforms Webinar

The Meshed RTOManager CRICOS Online User Guide is available across all Meshed RTOManager CRICOS platforms and can be accessed via the Help Icon located on the top right hand corner of the homepage.  Check out RTOManager CRICOS Online User Guide.

April 2019 Release

New Features

Manage Teacher Availability

The Meshed Platform has been enhanced with a new feature that will support situations where Teaching Staff are not full-time and may only be available for specific days and times.

The Manage Teacher Availability feature allows for the recording of a Teachers day and time availability for each semester. e.g. Monday 3PM-5PM, Tuesday 9AM-2PM

This information is integrated into the Meshed Platform timetabling functionality to check Teacher availability.

Minor Enhancements

Student Mailing and SMS List

As part of our continuous Usability Improvements for Meshed Platforms, a new Order By option for the Student List for the Student Mailing List and Student SMS Send features has been implemented.  

To understand more about Student Mail and SMS, check out Communication Tools

Staff Mailing and SMS List

As part of our continuous Usability Improvements for Meshed Platforms, a new Order By option for the Staff List for the Staff Mailing List and Staff SMS Send features has been implemented.  

To understand more about Staff Mail and SMS, check out Communication Tools

Student Communication Log (Bulk)

As part of our continuous Usability Improvements for Meshed Platforms, a new Order By option for the Student List in the Communication Log/Diary - Bulk feature has been implemented.  

To understand more about the Student Communication Log, check out Communication Tools

Offer Mailing and SMS List

As part of our continuous Usability Improvements for Meshed Platforms, a new Order By option for the Applicant List for the Offer Mailing List and Offer SMS List features has been implemented.  

User Guide

ELICOS Functional Overview

The Meshed RTOManager CRICOS Online User Guide has been updated to now include a useful overview of the ELICOS functionality in the System.

To understand more, check out the ELICOS functionality information.

March 2019 Release

Major Enhancements

Applicant and Student Duplicate Check

The duplicate check functionality which applies to the Application Entry processes has been enhanced to now also apply to:

• Modification of an Application during the Offer Management processes
• Modification of a Student profile during Student Management processes.

This System will alert the User when a potential Duplicate is detected. This will assist with preventing duplication of Students and Applicants in the System.

Duplicate check is performed using the following criteria:

• First Name
• Last Name
• DOB
• Email
• Nationality and Passport combination

SMS Management and Generating Letters 

The generating and sending of Letters to Students has been enhanced to also allow the sending of SMS to Students.  The SMS can use the defined SMS Templates.

Minor Enhancements

Bulk Enrolment by Subject

As part of our continuous Usability Improvements for Meshed Platforms, a new filter for 'Status' for the Bulk Enrolment feature has been implemented.  The 'Status' filter is displayed when the Search Type is 'By Subject' and the Student Type is 'New Student'.

Student Enrolment Action

The Student Enrolment Action has been enhanced to enable the entry of a Final Outcome for the Course Stage Enrolment Type (this previously was only enabled for Subject Enrolment Type) for VET Courses.

This enhancement allows for the setting of the Final Outcome to CT or RPL etc. at the time of enrolment.

To understand more about Student Enrolment, check out Enrolment Action 

Manage Orientation

As part of our continuous Usability Improvements for Meshed Platforms, a new Order By option for the Student List in the Manage Orientation feature has been implemented.  

To understand more about Student Orientation, check out the Orientation Process Guide 

Student Portal Documents

As part of our continuous Usability Improvements for Meshed Platforms, the Student Portal (Optional Module) Document functionality has been improved:

• Directories can be used to improve organisation of Documents
• Show the file size in KB, MB

To understand more about the Student Portal Module (Optional), check out Student Portal Module

User Guide

User Role Menu and Feature access information

The Meshed RTOManager CRICOS Online User Guide has been updated to now include a useful list of the default Menu and Feature access for each of the predefined roles that can be assigned to Users in the System.  The list contains the User Roles, Menu Access, Details, and Feature Access.  

To understand more, check out User Role - Menu and Feature Access

Permissions

The Meshed RTOManager CRICOS Online User Guide has been updated to now include a useful list of permissions that can be managed in the System.  The list contains the Names and Descriptions of permissions (access and feature) that Super Administrators can modify for users. 

To understand more about permissions that can be managed, check out Setup Permission

The Meshed RTOManager CRICOS Online User Guide is available across all Meshed RTOManager CRICOS platforms and can be accessed via the Help Icon located on the top right hand corner of the homepage.  Check out RTOManager CRICOS Online User Guide.  

February 2019 Release

New Features

Upload Staff Picture

The Staff Profile has a new feature to allow the upload of a Staff picture.  This picture can be used, in addition to the other profile details, to identify the Staff member.

To understand more about our Staff Profile feature, check out Staff Management

Major Enhancements

Improvement Register

The Improvement Register has been enhanced to Upload and Manage files that are related to information being recorded in the register, and with the addition of a new field to record the actual Lodged Date as well as the Case created date. These enhancements enable a more comprehensive record of information to be maintained in the Register.

Upload of files is available when Adding a new Case and when Updating an existing Case.

Attachments can be viewed/downloaded or deleted for existing Cases using the Action Icon and Link in the File Attachment column.

To understand how this feature works, check out Improvement Register

USI Web Service

To ensure the continued functionality of USI features in the Meshed Platform, it has been enhanced so that our USI Integration is now compatible with the USI Web Service TSC (Technical Service Contract) Version 3.0 which was published November 2018.

To understand more about this integration, check out USI Integration

January 2019 Release

New Features

Power BI Integration

The Meshed Platform can now be integrated with Power BI – a popular business analytics tool from Microsoft. Create and view your own custom Dashboards in Power BI, using data from your Meshed Platform Reports, for interactive analysis, visualisations, and insights which are key to driving your organisation.  Power BI provides interactive visualisations with self-service business intelligence capabilities, where end users can create dashboards by themselves, without having to depend on information technology staff or database administrators.

To understand more about this integration, check out Power BI Integration

Major Enhancements

Meshed Mobility – Alert notifications on the Lock or Home screen

The Meshed Mobility smartphone app now conveniently pops up notifications on the Lock/Home Screen directly on the Student's smartphone when:

• Any email communication is sent to the Student.

• Grades are updated for the student.

• The Student is enrolled in a Course or Subject

• Payment has been received from the Student (both Tuition and Miscellaneous Fees)

To understand more about Meshed Mobility, check out Meshed Mobility

Minor Enhancements

Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC)

The Configuration and Setup for the Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) has been improved:

• The available maximum selection for 'OSHC duration' has been increased from 60 Months to 86 months.
• As part of our continuous Usability Improvements for Meshed Platforms, a new filter for 'Provider' for the OSHC list has been implemented.
• Under 'Setup Active Provider' the checkbox(s) indicate Provider(s) that are currently set as active.

To understand how this feature works, check out Administration and Set Up