Summer Recap 2019: Data Import

Derek Nichols

I know I mentioned that we were done with the Summer Recaps, but we have a bonus edition of the blog series for you today. In addition to our other products, Data Import has received many updates that expand and improve the feature. So, here's a recap of everything you may have missed over the summer up and including the changes that were made as recently as the September 18 release.


When you view the details of a data import file, you’ll see a link for either Processed file or Validated file, based on the status of the job. Previously, hyperlinks for both files appeared regardless of the job status, which was potentially confusing.

Data Imports for Admissions and Candidates

We’ve added new imports for:

• Candidate Interests
• Candidate Test Score  
  • Find this in the Admissions category for schools with Admissions installed and in the Student category for schools with Academics installed.
  • Use either the host_id or user_id field as the user's unique identifier.  
  • Do not enter anything in the student_id column.
• Admissions (for Candidate decisions)

From the Admissions category, you can also import previous/sending school data and checklist steps.


Plus, for Candidate Role assignments, you can import:

• how_hear_text
• referral_type
• financial_aid requested

Data Imports for Academics, Students, and Past Students

You can now use data imports to change a student’s enroll date and/or depart date. You can also update block types and blocks. When you import past students, you can include past_role_description. The Grading category includes Assessment Skills. The Students category includes Test Scores, Official Note, Course Request, and Awards. We added a new import for Academic section update.  


When you use the Academic Groups - Academic Enrollment import type with the “differential update” Import process option selected, you can assign head teachers to a section by providing  

• firstname & lastname,
• user_id,
• or host_id.

Additionally, when you use the Academic Enrollment import type and choose insert where not exists for the import process, you’ll notice that this_duration is renamed to term_name. 


We also simplified the Academic Course-Insert and Advisory Advisories import types. We removed rarely used layout schemes and made the record_attendance and total_credits columns optional fields in the remaining layout schemes.

Data Imports for Alums

You can use the Alumni data import to assign honorary alum and class agent roles.

Data Imports for Employees

You can also update Professional Bios for employees in bulk.  

Data Imports for General Users, Emergency Contacts

You can now:

• add School program to the General User import.
• update Firstname and Lastname in the General User import.
• delete emergency contact information for related users.
• import non-related emergency contacts (from the User Management category).  
• import Languages Spoken at Home (from the User Management category)
  • To view a list of valid languages, go to Core, Settings, General Settings, Table Values, then Language. If the language does not exist in the list, select Edit and then add the missing language.

Data Imports for Building and Rooms

We also added the new imports for:

• School buildings
• Building/room import

View Job History for Data Refresh  

The option to add a new data refresh job no longer appears. However, data managers can still view the history of past jobs from Core, System Tools, and Data Refresh.   


Use the data import process instead of a data refresh. Data managers will import records directly into the database using a self-managed process. You can even upload data outside of business hours. Find it in Core, System Tools, then Data Import.

Learn More

For information and instructions about the data imports, please review the online help about:  

• Data import process
• Import file layout
• Data scrubbing 

If you need additional assistance, customer support is standing by to assist you.

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And that, my friends, means we've reached the true end to the 2019 Blackbaud Education Management summer recap blog series. However, I know I promised some details on PushPage, so I'm going to make that happen this coming Thursday. So as always, click that Like button below, don't forget to Comment, and make sure to Subscribe to get all the latest.


Thanks for reading everyone and I'll see you right back here on Thursday!