RESULTS SPREADSHEET SOFTWARE (RSS)

RESULTS SPREADSHEET SOFTWARE (RSS)
…An Offline Backend Results Processing Solution!
The Results Spreadsheet Software (RSS), developed by Professor Aloysius Chijioke Onyeka, is best described as an offline backend results processing system built on Microsoft Excel.

Professor Onyeka, a Professor of Statistical Computing at the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), Imo State, Nigeria, has held several key academic and administrative positions, including Director, ICT Centre, FUTO; Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Kingsley Ozumba Mbadiwe University (KOMU), Ideato, Imo State; and Acting Vice-Chancellor, Alvan Ikoku Federal University of Education (AIFUE), Owerri, Imo State.

Many universities in Nigeria continue to face persistent challenges in implementing online processing of students’ semester results and transcripts, a problem that has lasted for decades. Consequently, some institutions operate without either a functional online processing system or an efficient offline alternative.

Although online results processing offers significant promise, its success depends on overcoming challenges such as:
• Weak ICT infrastructure and inadequate funding
• Data inaccuracy and security vulnerabilities
• Low technical capacity and resistance to change
• Poor governance and policy gaps
• Flawed implementation and weak sustainability frameworks

Typically, online results processing involves three key stages:
1. Input of raw scores/grades,
2. Backend results computation, and
3. Frontend display/output of results.

To mitigate the immediate challenges of online results processing in Nigerian universities and bridge the gap between manual and digital systems, the RSS was designed as an offline backend solution that automates the generation of semester composite/spreadsheet results and students’ academic transcripts from raw grade inputs.

This presentation demonstrates how the RSS template is used to produce semester results and transcripts, organized into four sections:
• Section A: Transferring/Uploading Grades into the RSS
• Section B: Generating Composite/Spreadsheet Results
• Section C: Generating Students’ Transcripts

Section A: Transferring/Uploading Grades into the RSS
To upload students’ grades into the RSS, the Official Grade Report (OGR) template, also developed in Microsoft Excel, is used. The OGR captures students’ raw scores, automatically computes grades, and generates printable hardcopy reports while also supporting direct upload into the RSS.
The grade transfer/upload process involves three key steps:
1. Open the RSS and input the class list, course list and students’ biodata on the REGISTER, RESULTS and BIODATA worksheets, respectively.
2. Open all softcopy OGRs for the courses offered by a given class or set of students during the semester.
3. For each course, copy from the UPLOAD worksheet of the OGR the course code, units, matriculation numbers, and grades, then paste values into the RESULTS worksheet of the RSS as appropriate.
Once the grades have been uploaded from the OGRs into the RSS, the system automatically generates both the composite/spreadsheet results and the corresponding individual student transcripts, serving effectively as an offline backend processor.

Section B: Generating Composite/Spreadsheet Results from the RSS
1. Open the completed RSS template.
2. Open the appropriate RSS-FORMAT Excel template that matches the number of courses offered in the semester.
3. Enter the necessary class and semester details, then print the class composite/spreadsheet results in both PDF and hardcopy formats.

Section C: Generating Students’ Transcripts from the RSS
1. Open the completed RSS template.
2. Open the Academic Transcripts Software (ATS) template in Microsoft Excel.
3. Print each student’s semester transcript accordingly.