Custom parameters

The key to any good database is consistency.  If your data is maintained in an orderly manner with all the proper formatting and typecasting, there is no end to how it can be used.  However, building a database like this can be a long and difficult thought process.  It is especially tough when you need to tailor it to an office with very specific guidelines for the information.  StudioAbroad is a way for you to skip this mind-numbing task and jump right into doing what you should be doing - building your site.  All the work of sorting out how student records need to be organized and how to link programs with calendar dates and flagging submissions across different student types is already worked out in the software and kept under-the-hood.  The end result is a system of parameters that your office can define for itself.  The structure of your database is solid, and all you need to provide the details.  StudioAbroad will make sure these details will be applied properly for the functions they are designed to handle.

Program parameters

You can create any parameters for your programs and then build the option lists for when they get used.  These parameters can be informative, but they can also be search criteria for both staff and student.

Your account can have as many custom defined student parameters as you need.  Students can enter these, or you can configure these to be changed by (and visible to) staff members only.  They are useful as search criteria for finding applications, but they are also useful for generating reports about specific demographics.

Nothing can eat up time like having to raise a processing fee five dollars.  You used to need to change it everywhere it was ever printed.  Not anymore.  Your processing fee is a budget parameter that is dynamic, and if you change the parameter, you've just corrected it on every subsequent budget sheet that gets displayed.  Your budget parameters can be built as flat values, but they can also contain different values depending on the applicant type.  They can also be created with their own drop-down menus so that you can control the values that can be used on budget sheets.