Help/Frequently Asked Questions

Where can I find current enrollment?
There are two kinds of enrollment figures available: WSCH (Weekly Student Contact Hours) and FTES (Full Time Equivalent Student). You can find WSCH and FTES, both of which are figures used by CCSF to receive state funding, under “Enrollment Productivity.”

Additionally, you can find unduplicated headcount figures under “Headcount and Characteristics.” Unduplicated headcount figures are numbers of individual students and the demographic information they provided on their application for admission.

Official enrollment figures are not available until approximately three months after the beginning of the term, and in general, we do not post figures until that time.

Preliminary enrollment figures change throughout the term as credit and noncredit students add and drop classes. In addition, the noncredit division requires additional time to enter all student attendance records into their student database.

In general, current term enrollment will be similar to its previous like term (that is, fall looks like the previous fall—spring looks like the previous spring), especially for headcount figures; prior term data should answer most enrollment questions.

Where can I find the most recent transfer figures?
Transfer figures are available on a limited basis due to federal privacy legislation (FERPA) that constrains our ability to follow all students. For those students who we are able to follow, there is a lag time. We must wait until they enroll at a four-year institution and then get information from their transfer institution.

Transfer figures are not available through the DSS at this time. Basic transfer figures can be found on the Research, Planning and Grants home page. The most recent figures we provide can be found under our “Student Success” section.

What is the difference between campus, department, and credit/noncredit sections?
Figures are “unduplicated” based on these categories. Students may be enrolled in more than one department at more than one campus. In the credit/noncredit section students are included only once in credit and/or once in noncredit. In the campus section, students are included only once for each campus they attend regardless of how many courses they take at a given campus. In the department section students are included for each department they attend.

Do I have to make a selection for each box?
No! If you don’t make any changes and simply submit the defaulted selections, you will still get information. Only change those items when you want to know specific information. This may be confusing at first. Try submitting the default, then make one or two changes and resubmit your query. You’ll quickly get the hang of it.

Do I have to re-select each of the items every time I do a query?
No! If you’re submitting multiple queries within a module, you can use the BACK button within your browser rather than the NEW QUERY button. This will preserve your selections.

I want to go to a particular item in the list (e.g., a particular department under the department box).
You can “jump” to an item within a list by going to that box and typing the first letter of the item (e.g., “P” for “Physics”).

What is this item?
Go to the glossary located under the first Decision Support System menu. Most items are defined there. If you still have questions, contact the Office of Research, Planning and Grants using the following email: pmery@ccsf.org

What does “All Years Combined” or “All Semesters Combined” mean?
Generally, it means that the information you are getting will be duplicated. We don’t recommend using this selection unless you have a particular use in mind. Use “All – By Each” or select specific years and terms instead.

These figures don’t look quite right.
Send email to pmery@ccsf.org and we will look into it as soon as we can. If you have an idea of what the figures should be, please let us know.

I can’t see all the output.
Scroll across the page using the arrows at the bottom of your browser.

When I print, some output gets cut off.
Set your printer to print in landscape mode. If this still doesn’t work, consider altering your query to cut down on the amount of output, printing on legal size paper, or downloading to Microsoft Excel or any spreadsheet or word processing software and print from there.

There are lots of pages I want to print—do I have to print them page by page?
You can print multiple pages from Microsoft Excel or any spreadsheet or word processing software. Use the download options available at the bottom of the output page.

I tried to download information from a query but it didn’t work.
See above. Different downloads work better with different browsers. At least one of the three download options should work.

I have questions about how to use this data within MS Excel.
Our office provides user support for our query system, but we ask you to direct Excel and other software questions to the Technology Learning Center. They offer excellent staff development courses throughout the semester and they also have a help desk. Find information about their resources at: http://www.ccsf.cc.ca.us/Services/Technology_Learning_Center