adm calbar project summary diagonal-final (2)...overview two major areas are included under...

Project Summary

State Bar of California Office of Admissions

Prepared by

The Diagonal Group

9 Eagle Court Randolph, NJ 07869

www.theDIAGONALgroup.com 973.361.1341

State Bar of California Project Summary

The Diagonal Group

Table of Contents Project Scope Summary ................................................................................................... 3 Project Overview .............................................................................................................. 4 How This Document is Structured ................................................................................... 5 Observations and Recommendations .............................................................................. 7

Examinations .................................................................................................................... 7 Moral Character ................................................................................................................ 8 Registration ...................................................................................................................... 9 Examination Application .................................................................................................. 10 Test Development ........................................................................................................... 10

Validated and Prioritized Requirements ........................................................................ 12 General Requirements ..................................................................................................... 12 Examination Development ............................................................................................... 48 Educational Standards ..................................................................................................... 54 Registration .................................................................................................................... 61 Moral Character .............................................................................................................. 73 Exam Application ............................................................................................................ 99 Testing Accommodations ................................................................................................ 110 Exam Administration ...................................................................................................... 129 Grading ......................................................................................................................... 135 Wall Certificates ............................................................................................................. 144

Technical Architecture .................................................................................................. 152 Current State ................................................................................................................. 152 Transitional State ........................................................................................................... 153 Desired State................................................................................................................. 154

Project Plan ................................................................................................................... 155 Project Resource and Cost Estimates ........................................................................... 157 Project Methodology Documentation ........................................................................... 159 Risk Assessment ............................................................................................................ 166 Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................... 184 Appendices .................................................................................................................... 175 Project Charter .............................................................................................................. 177 Scope and Objectives Statement .................................................................................. 178 Communications Plan .................................................................................................... 179 Project Status Report .................................................................................................... 180 Software Test Problem Report ..................................................................................... 182 Process Flowcharts ....................................................................................................... 183 Glossary .............................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.


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Project Scope Summary The State Bar of California Office of Admissions partnered with The Diagonal Group to investigate the replacement of its current systems with an integrated system that combines improved processes with newer, industry-standard technology. The State Bar divided the overall project into two sub-projects. Project 1 consisted of in-depth analysis of the business and functional requirements of the new system through a series of interviews, job shadowing, and reviews of existing systems and documents. Existing processes were mapped to help identify where changes in processes and systems would result in meaningful improvements in the processes used by the Office of Admissions. After validating the value and feasibility of the new processes, the system design requirements were identified. The new system’s technical architecture was identified and a high-level project plan was completed to serve as the guide for building and implementing the new system. The deliverables for Project 1 can be used for Project 2, which is the actual system design and construction.


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Project Overview The State Bar of California is seeking to replace the systems that currently support its Office of Admissions. These systems make use of older technology and are inconsistent with the State Bar’s strategic technology plan. Additionally, the current systems are insufficiently integrated, difficult to navigate, and do not support workflow to aid in automating certain processes (tracking accommodations petitions, moral character determinations, and communicating with applicants, institutions, and others involved in the admissions process). Finally, the business rules underpinning the existing systems were developed over ten years ago and need to be reassessed in the light of current requirements. The State Bar procured the services of The Diagonal Group, LLC (TDG), to assist in the assessment of what is required to replace the existing Office of Admissions systems with a single system. This initiative is divided into two projects. Project 1 involved analysis of the business and functional requirements of the new system; documentation of the requirements for system design purposes; design of the new system’s technical architecture;, and development of a high-level project plan for completing system development. This document represents TDG’s final deliverable for completion of Project 1. Project 2, which has not yet started, will involve the actual system design and construction, based on the results of Project 1. Project 1 Approach Project 1 consisted of three parts:

Part 1: Acquire current system familiarity Part 2: Define functional requirements Part 3: Develop functional requirements and the project plan.

Part 1: Acquiring current system familiarity The following combination of methods was used to gain familiarity with the current systems:

One-on-one interviews with system users and stakeholders “Shadowing” and general observation of system use and processes The review of any existing system documentation and reporting Preparation of flowcharts showing the processes associated with system use Validation of our observations and flowcharts with system users and stakeholders.

Part 2: Define functional requirements The information gained from Part 1 helped us identify both enablers and limitations for the new system, which fed into the definition of functional requirements. We conducted additional one-on-one interviews and facilitated group/team meetings with Office of Admissions personnel and other State Bar stakeholders to collect more information about business and functional requirements, in order to ensure that the stakeholders are informed, heard, and engaged throughout this process. We also met several times with stakeholders to clarify and/or validate our observations and recommendations. This information was used in our development of the new system’s requirements and technical architecture and influenced our recommendations for what modules and functionality should be included in the initial phase of development. Part 3: Develop functional requirements and the project plan As we developed the functional requirements, we validated the requirements for internal consistency and completeness to ensure they are complete, easily understood, and that they clearly define the functions the system is to perform.


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How This Document is Structured The first section of this document contains our general observations and recommendations, which we have placed in one of five categories, based upon the primary functions performed within the Office of Admissions: Examinations, Moral Character, Registration, Exam Application, and Test Development. This part of the document is intended to provide a high-level summary. Within each of these categories, we will provide an Overview of the functions and processes that are included. This is followed with any key Observations that we believe are worth noting, based upon our experience and knowledge of best practices. We will then provide high-level Recommendations with appropriate supporting statements. The last section of information within each category contains our assessment of the Organizational Impact. Organizations frequently underestimate the relationship of changes to systems and processes and the people who are expected to successfully use those new systems and processes. The success of any change is directly related to how well an organization focuses on its stakeholders—in this case, the employees who will be using the new system. This includes attention to internal communications, potential resistance of the end users, preparation of the end users for success through training and documentation, etc. The next section of this document focuses on the major deliverable for this first project: Validated and prioritized requirements. This includes the functional requirements for the following areas:

General requirements Examination Development Educational Standards Pre-registration Registration Moral Character Exam Application Testing Accommodations Exam Administration Grading Wall Certificates

The Technical Architectural Documentation is an outline of the existing and potential technical architecture for both the in-place and proposed to-be systems. This includes the application and server platforms, operating systems, interconnection of systems, generalized interfaces, possible software to be used, and possible databases used for storage, retrieval, and update. The Project Plan is intended to serve as the essential planning document for the design, development, construction, testing, and implementation of Project 2. This plan includes major tasks, the recommended schedule with milestones and dependencies, and major project management tasks. The Project Resources and Cost Estimate provides the estimate of human resources, including project manager, programmers/developers, testing/quality assurance personnel, and user acceptance team members. Other resource estimates include software, tools, and hardware required as well as cost estimates.


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The Project Methodology Documentation is a summary of the policies and procedures used to complete this project. The Risk Assessment assesses potential internal and external disruptions that can either degrade or interrupt performance of business functions, operation of the department, or affect the quality of projects and services, and includes a risk management plan that suggests possible methods of mitigating those identified risks. The Acknowledgements section recognizes those individuals within the Admissions Office who played significant roles in the success of this project. The Appendix contains reference information (Glossary, Process Maps, Templates). In addition, we have included organizational impact recommendations and observations, based upon our experience, expertise, and knowledge of best practices, that we believe can impact the success of this system as well as the longer term strategic direction for the Office of Admissions.


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Observations and Recommendations

Examinations Overview Two major areas are included under Examinations: the actual administration of the exam and the grading process. Both of these processes occur twice a year, are labor-intensive, and require significant attention to security, timeliness, and detail. Observations The individuals responsible for this area are to be commended on their outstanding attention to detail and service to candidates. The energy that is focused on ensuring all candidates are handled fairly, objectively, confidentially, and in a timely manner is outstanding. Processes have been developed that address every imaginable nuance. In addition, it is obvious that these processes are being continually reviewed and adjusted as needed to address any problems that may have occurred or to prevent potential problems that might occur. The physical administration of the exams requires significant human interaction and involvement. A new system is not going to eliminate or replace the human resources needed to set up, monitor, and close the actual administration of the exam. While these processes work well, they are labor-intensive and involve significant manual tasks such as tear-tabs, stapling, collating, hand labeling, hand-sorting, etc. The potential for human error is significant. However, it should be noted that because the staff takes these tasks so seriously and has focused so greatly on the detail, there is an amazing degree of accuracy throughout. But focusing so much energy on manual accuracy also creates a great deal of stress and anxiety for those charged with completing these tasks. By moving toward an electronic system that has the necessary checks for accuracy embedded as part of the system, the users should not only find that they are having to spend less time doing manual processes, but that they will be using less energy worrying about possible errors and mistakes. The Calbar Grader system appears to be meeting the immediate needs for the recording of test grades. At least for the short term, this system should be continued to be used and the data it contains be integrated into the new system as needed. Once the more immediately-critical modules of the new system (Moral Character, Testing Accommodations, etc.) have been developed, grading functionality can be added to the new Admissions system. A significant focus and effort has been placed on the development of step-by-step documentation for the grading process in the last couple of years. The individuals involved in this effort are to be commended on an outstanding result. It is rare to see any type of documentation for systems and processes, let alone the level of high-quality content and detail we saw. Recommendations A significant amount of time and energy is currently focused on how to keep test answers random and confidential, and therefore, free from grader bias or subjectivity. This function should be part of the system, thereby eliminating much of the manual effort currently expended in this area. This, coupled with barcoding and scanning, has the potential to offer significant savings in time currently spent manually inventorying, sorting, collating, and tracking test answer books. While there will still be manual effort involved in the sorting, packing, and shipping of test books to graders, reading schedules and assignments can be automated. In addition, reports will be readily available to ensure that all test books are accounted for and to quickly track where any


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test answer is in the grading process. The same system can reassign test books to new readers as required for Second and Third Reads. As a part of the project plan, we have recommended that training and documentation be included as part of the resources and effort needed, to ensure not only a smooth transition to the new system, but also as a means of ensuring consistency among all system users as new employees are hired or individuals take on new job roles. We encourage you to consider the Calbar Grader documentation as a model for the types of details that should be captured for your new system. While this documentation is paper-based, the same content could become part of a context-sensitive online help system integrated with your overall system. Because any documentation must updated to match the system and processes, an online system, if it is maintained, can offers users immediate, up-to-date instructions and information and avoids the need for paper duplication, replacement, and distribution. Organizational Impact Those involved in this part of the testing process will experience significant change to their work. Because they are so focused on accuracy, and much of that energy is spent on manual tasks of which they are “in control,” the first challenge may come from those who just don’t trust the accuracy of scanning or in changing the way that documents are now physically touched and handled. While learning the steps of the actual process, there is also the possibility that individuals, who have used the other, manual process for many years, will question the efficiency of how they’re spending their time initially. There will be a learning curve. But we expect that once they get their “pace” established in the overall scanning and sorting process, they’ll find it to be simple and easy to use.

Moral Character Overview Moral Character involves the review of applicants to ensure that all admitted to the Bar are of high moral standing. The majority of applications do not require in-depth investigation. Those that do, however, involve a significant investment in time and require careful tracking and filing of relevant data obtained through in-depth background and research. Observations Because the process of obtaining information on the moral character of an applicant occurs over a period of time, the ability to store and retrieve files on any single applicant is critical. The process today is very paper-based, from the application process itself to the collection of relevant documents. The process of registering for the moral character assessment is currently paper-based. It is possible today that someone can submit a moral character application before they have registered. Barcodes are currently used to log and track all moral character files. Each moral character analyst appears to have his/her own “system” of tracking relevant details, ranging from paper-based notes to word processing tables. The AS/400 system is used to track official data, but is cumbersome to use and limited in terms of content and usage flexibility. The letters sent to applicants follow a format and template of sorts. However, because the content results from a number of “cut-and-paste” sentences and paragraphs, the potential for content errors is high. A significant amount of effort is spent in the proofreading of these letters prior to their being sent out; even with this effort, mistakes can still slip through. Reporting capabilities are minimal and dependent upon a few individuals who have the security, knowledge, and ability to produce those reports. No ad-hoc reporting functionality is currently available (this is actually true for the entire Admissions system).


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Recommendations It is estimated that most of those who apply do not require in-depth background checks and research. A system can complete an initial screening of applicants so that many of those applications can automatically be cleared. This narrows down the number of applications that will require further investigation by the analysts. By allowing the system to make this first pass, the analysts will have more time available to focus on the in-depth investigations. The drafting of accurate letter content can be simplified and generated by the system through a series of sentence/paragraph choices. This should ensure a greater consistency of content as well as reduce the amount of time currently spent on editing and proofreading. Organizational Impact Because each analyst has adopted his/her own personalized process of maintaining records and documentation, the change to a standard system and processes will require change on everyone’s part. Again, a certain amount of trust will be required on the part of the analysts until they see proof that the initial screening of applications matches what they previously did without a system.

Registration Overview Registration is the process where anyone starting law school must register with the committee of bar examiners within 90 days of starting law school. Applicants currently have the option of registering online or by submitting a paper application. Observations The current process does not establish registration as a “must-have” first step in the overall admissions process. In other words, it is possible for an applicant to file a moral character application before he/she has completed the registration. As a result, extra steps are then required for the Admissions Office to set up an initial record while it waits for the registration process to be completed. Recommendations We recommend that a pre-registration form be submitted online and that no other processing occurs until this online form has been completed. This should result in no duplication of registrations and will put the applicant “in the system” from the very first point of application. All future records of this applicant will be tied to the initial pre-registration identifier assigned by the system. Organizational Impact We do not foresee significant change to the actual users of this system (the applicants). Online registrations are commonplace today and have almost become the norm for entry into an organization’s systems. By establishing this step as the first step for any other interaction with the Office of Admissions, much effort that is currently spent in a reactive mode could be reduced or eliminated. From the perspective of the Office of Admissions, this should be received as a positive step toward establishing basic standards.


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Examination Application Overview Examination Application is the process associated with applying for a Bar exam. The process is straightforward in and of itself, but is complicated by the need to handle Testing Accommodations. The Testing Accommodations process includes the request for special requirements due to applicants’ disabilities, physical needs, etc., needed during an exam. Observations The Testing Accommodations process involves a significant amount of focus and energy, both during the actual application/approval process as well as at the testing site. The historical tracking of each request is important since an applicant who retakes the exam at another time can request the same accommodations they received at the previous time. Today, that tracking and comparing of requests involves a combination of manual and online records. The approval or rejection of accommodations requires that a letter be sent to each person who has made a request. Today, those letters are developed through a series of cut-and-paste sentences and paragraphs. While the accuracy of the letter content going out is very high, it is only through careful proofing and editing. Recommendations The processes involved in this area open up many possibilities for system-based functionality. The letters could be assembled through a series of drop-down choices or other means of selection, thus ensuring consistency and accuracy of content. A great amount of activity is generated around the on-site logistics: materials required, special accommodations, assignments, etc. An integrated system should enable many of the logistics associated with a particular site or venue to be managed automatically, so that reports and checklists can be produced to assist in the smooth coordination of these details. Organizational Impact Because there is so much detail that is currently handled on a manual basis (or based upon individual record-keeping and processes), a standardized process and system will ensure greater consistency and should reduce overall time and effort expended to ensure all details are covered.

Test Development Overview This area includes the development and filing of potential essay test questions and answers. A drafting team develops potential test questions a minimum of two years in advance of when they might be used. Through a series of discussions, interactions and meetings, test questions and answers go through a series of discussions, a sophisticated editing process, and pre-testing. A “bank” of test questions is securely maintained from which the final selection of questions for an exam is made, along with the identification of grading standards. Observations The test development process appears to be working quite well in its current state. The key issues surrounding security of this content are addressed throughout the test development process, whether it be the shipping of documents among the test development team or the storage of test content. Recommendations


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Because the test development process involves the exchange of documents several times in the course of a year, there is the potential for using secured electronic transmission of these documents, versus ground transportation (Federal Express). However, in comparison to other areas where a change in systems and processes can bring significant value and impact to the Admissions Office, we believe that this area is functioning smoothly as it currently exists and therefore, is not high on the priority list for changing. One small system-based change that could be incorporated is the tracking of data related to test authors and their respective questions within the system. The system can assign a tracking number to tie an author with the test answer. This information can be retained for the lifecycle of the test question and can be tied to use of a test questions, payments, versions, etc. Also, while many authors and reappraisers may not be comfortable with electronic communication, the groundwork should be laid to move in this direction. While we have no recommendations for major changes to the processes in this test development, we do, however, encourage this area to keep abreast of how technology is being used today in other fields and professions in the construction and actual grading of test questions and answers. Significant progress is being made in computer-based testing, and the possibility of moving to integrating technology into the overall test development process may be worth consideration in longer-term strategies. A larger bank of questions will almost certainly be needed if and when the State Bar moves to computer-based testing, so we suggest that the number of test questions reviewed and approved for future use should be increased over time. Organizational Impact Because we are not recommending any significant changes in the processes for Test Development, there is no need for focus on organizational impact.


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Validated and Prioritized Requirements

General Requirements Category Number Description Notes PriorityGoals General System Goals 1.101 To maintain or reduce current operational cost levels

even with sustained increases in applicant levels. B

General System Goals 1.102 To implement stringent access restriction requirements, including potential field level access controls.

A

General System Goals 1.103 To improve efficiency. A

General System Goals 1.104 To be able to quickly process things that can be processed easily.

B

General System Goals 1.105 To improve response time to applicants. C

General System Goals 1.106 To reduce workload for State Bar. C

General System Goals 1.107 To centralize all applicant data in one area, available electronically.

A

General System Goals 1.108 To maintain current high levels of accuracy (perfection).

A

General System Goals 1.109 To eliminate mistakes made by people who shouldn't have access to certain areas.

A

General System Goals 1.110 To restrict the applicant/data entry person from doing incorrect things.

Such as registering multiple times.

A

General System Goals 1.111 To allow State Bar employees to be more autonomous and give them the ability to retrieve data easily from the system.

B


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Category Number Description Notes PriorityGoals General System Goals 1.112 To eliminate the AS/400. C

General System Goals 1.113 To improve flexibility. B

General System Goals 1.114 To allow for scalability, particularly with regard to growth in the numbers of applicants.

Allow for future changes, growth in numbers of applicants.

A

General System Goals 1.115 To have a system that is easy to understand, use, and learn.

If someone is out, a replacement should only need to learn the specifics of the content rather than general use of system in order to fulfill the role of the person who is absent.

A

General System Goals 1.116 To improve consistency in processes between the LA and SF offices.

A

General System Goals 1.117 To improve the user-friendliness and appearance of the system.

B

General System Goals 1.118 To make the management function easier. C

General System Goals 1.119 To improve reporting and end dependence on IT or other system experts.

B

General System Goals 1.120 To limit customer options to suit the State Bar operational requirements.

C

General System Goals 1.121 To have a system with a more modern look and feel. If a new recruit comes on, it should have a look and feel that people are used to. Needs to be usable by people who are familiar with the latest systems.

B

General System Goals 1.122 To improve the financial part of the system B

General System Goals 1.123 To maintain current staffing levels without increase or loss.

D


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Category Number Description Notes PriorityGoals General System Goals 1.124 To have a seamless transition to the new system. No data lost, people well

prepared and trained, clear communications and expectations in relation to responsibility and ownership.

A

General System Goals 1.125 To have a clear problem resolution process. Rapid and easy way to get answers and assistance.

A

General System Goals 1.126 To reduce dependence on outside consultants. Especially in areas where data processing could conceivably be done in-house.

B

General System Goals 1.127 To have a system using an industry-standard architecture.

E.g., client/server. B

General System Goals 1.128 To communicate electronically with third parties. B

General System Goals 1.129 To communicate electronically with applicants. C

General System Goals 1.130 To move away from paper dependency. C

General System Goals 1.131 To ensure that Admissions information is only accessible by Admissions people.

A

General System Goals 1.132 To eliminate the need to manually log all reporting activities and physically file the reports and logs.

C


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Category Number Description Notes PriorityCompliance Compliance 1.201 The system shall comply with the State Bar of

California's Information Technology Department's programming policies and standards.

Documented in the IT Department's ProgrammingStandards2005.doc.

A

Compliance 1.202 The system shall comply with the standards for accessibility as defined in Section 508 of the Federal Disabilities Act.

Federal statutory requirement; see www.section508.gov.

A

Compliance 1.203 The system shall comply with the standards for accessibility as defined in the State of California's Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA).

A

Compliance 1.204 The system shall comply with the State Bar of California's accounting standards and be adaptable as they change.

A

Integration Integration 1.301 The system shall be able to store documents

produced by the Microsoft Word word processing system.

A

Integration 1.302 The system shall be able to produce documents for use in the Microsoft Word word processing system.

A

Integration 1.303 The system shall be able to export information to Microsoft Excel.

A

Integration 1.304 The system shall be able to interface with Microsoft Outlook for the purpose of sending, receiving, and storing email.

It may also be helpful to interface with Outlook's calendar to aid in handling "tickler" and "Master Calendar" functionality (described elsewhere in the requirements).

B

Integration 1.305 The system shall be able to interface with Microsoft Outlook for the purpose of distributing reports via email.

B

Integration 1.306 The system shall be able to accept information scanned in via the State Bar's document imaging system.

A


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Category Number Description Notes PriorityIntegration Integration 1.307 The system shall be able to accept information

scanned in via the State Bar's barcode scanning system.

A

Integration 1.308 The system shall be able to produce barcodes readable by the State Bar's barcode scanning system.

A

Integration 1.309 The system shall be able to read from, and write to, the current AS/400-based Admissions System.

During the interim period when both the new system and the old Admissions system are both in use.

A

Integration 1.310 The system shall be able to push records of financial transactions to PeopleSoft Financials.

B

Integration 1.311 The system shall be able to push information relating to proctors to PeopleSoft HR/Payroll.

B

Integration 1.312 The system shall be able to read data from the State Bar's Member System.

For purposes of handling Wall Certificates.

A

Integration 1.313 The system shall be able to read from, and write to, the current Cognos system.

Report Net v1.1 A

Integration 1.314 The system shall be able to write data to the State Bar's Member System.

To transfer new records of people who have been admitted to the Bar.

A

Integration 1.315 The system shall be able to read some elements of data from the Calbar Grader system and match it to registrant records.

In the interim period prior to the development of the Grading module.

A

Integration 1.316 The system shall be able to accept data from Examsoft's list of applicants and match it to registrant records.

A

Integration 1.317 The system shall be able to read test answer data from Examsoft diskettes.

Answer data shall be read for purposes of printing answers for grading, and shall not be stored in the system in association with applicant profiles.

B


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Category Number Description Notes PriorityIntegration Integration 1.318 The system shall be able to accept data from the

State Licensing Match System (SLMS) and match it to registrant records.

A

Integration 1.319 The system shall be able to accept LSAT score data from the LSAS (Law School Admissions Service) organization and match it to registrant records.

B

Integration 1.320 The system shall be able to accept MBE score data from the ACT organization and match it to registrant exam records.

A

Integration 1.321 The system shall be able to accept MPRE score data and match it to registrant records.

A

Integration 1.322 The system shall be able to accept data from the credit card company used by the State Bar and match it to fee payments recorded in the system.

A

Integration 1.323 The system shall be able to accept data from the bank used by the State Bar and match it to fee payments recorded in the system.

A

Access Maintenance 1.401 The system shall allow access only by authorized

users. "The system" refers to the internal system used by State Bar employees.

A

Maintenance 1.402 The web interface shall allow the pre-registered user to access only his or her own data, and only that data which is made available to the web interface.

"The web interface" refers to the external-facing system used by members of the public. The user can only see his/her data, not other pre-registrants', and cannot see data related to him/herself that is for State Bar employees only.

A

Maintenance 1.403 The web interface shall allow the authorized entity to access only its own data, and only that data which is made available to the web interface.

Law schools, question authors, etc.

A


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Category Number Description Notes PriorityAccess Maintenance 1.404 The system shall maintain a list of all authorized

State Bar users of the system, their roles, remote access rights, and their managers.

Inclusion of manager information is for escalation purposes. Includes name, contact info, location.

A

Maintenance 1.405 The system shall maintain a list of roles for access purposes.

Such as "File Clerk," "Mailroom," "Testing Accommodations Entry," "Moral Character Section Chief," etc.

B

Maintenance 1.406 The system shall maintain a hierarchical list of system functions, and allow functions to be associated with roles.

Such as "Moral Character - Level 4 Clearance," "Testing Accommodations Correspondence Entry Detail View," "Add New User," "Exam Application - read only," etc. Includes standard reports.

B

Maintenance 1.407 The system shall allow the authorized system user to add, modify, and delete users and roles.

A

Maintenance 1.408 The system shall allow the authorized system user to lock named users out of the system, and to unlock them.

B

Maintenance 1.409 The system shall be able to display a list of users currently logged into the system.

Includes date/time of beginning of session; id of workstation.

B

Maintenance 1.410 The system shall maintain an audit trail of system access.

Includes user name, date/time of beginning and ending of session; id of workstation.

A

Maintenance 1.411 The system shall allow the authorized system user to view system access audit trail information.

A

Maintenance 1.412 The system shall allow the authorized system user to sort audit trail information in order of any of the fields.

B

Maintenance 1.413 The system shall allow the authorized system user to search and filter the system access audit trail by any of the fields.

B


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Category Number Description Notes PriorityAccess Passwords 1.414 The system shall require that each authorized user

create a new password upon their first access to the system.

A

Passwords 1.415 The system shall store the password in encrypted format.

A

Passwords 1.416 The system shall provide a mechanism for users to reset a forgotten password.

Possibly via email to the user's address as listed in the system.

A

Passwords 1.417 The system shall enforce the change of passwords by users according to a parameter.

E.g., every 60 days. A

Passwords 1.418 The parameter for the password change time period shall be maintainable by an authorized system user.

A

Passwords 1.419 If a user attempts to login and fails three times, the system shall lock the user out of the system until cleared by an authorized user.

A

Concurrent Sessions 1.420 The system shall allow a sufficient number of concurrent sessions by unique users to accommodate the Stat Bar Admissions' Department's needs.

The Admissions Department currently has around 60 members.

B

Concurrent Sessions 1.421 The system shall not allow an individual user to have multiple concurrent sessions.

As the system shall allow multiple windows to be open simultaneously, multiple concurrent sessions should not be necessary.

C

Concurrent Sessions 1.422 If a user attempts to login while he/she is currently logged in, the system shall ask the user if he/she wishes to log off the other session.

A

Concurrent Sessions 1.423 If the user elects to log out of the other session, the system shall give them the option of saving any changed information that has not yet been submitted for update.

A


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Category Number Description Notes PriorityAccess Login 1.424 Upon successful login, the system shall present the

user with a "main screen," which allows the user to access the functions to which he/she has rights.

A

Login 1.425 Functions to which the user does not have rights shall not appear on the main screen.

A

Login 1.426 The system shall allow authorized users to access it remotely.

This requirement is only valid if the method of remote access is demonstrated to be sufficiently secure.

Remote Access 1.427 The system shall provide an alert to State Bar management when the system is being accessed remotely.

Including the ID of the person accessing the system.

C

General Use Navigation 1.501 The system shall provide a means for users to easily

navigate the system. "Breadcrumbs," forward/back controls, consistent menus, etc.

A

Navigation 1.502 The system interface shall be designed so that information displayed "fits" on the monitors used by the State Bar so as to minimize up/down and left/right scrolling.

Navigation 1.503 The system shall allow the user to open and work on multiple data screens simultaneously.

A

Navigation 1.504 The system shall visually indicate the fact that multiple screens are open.

Perhaps by tabbed windows. B

General Tracking 1.505 The system shall not be limited as to the number of records that can be maintained.

A

General Tracking 1.506 The system shall be able to track information about jurisdictions.

B

General Tracking 1.507 The system shall be able to track information about law schools.

Described in the Educational Standards section.

A


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Category Number Description Notes PriorityGeneral Use General Tracking 1.508 The system shall track information about persons

applying to be admitted to the State Bar. Defined in greater detail in the subsections on Pre-registration, Registration, Exam Application, Moral Character, etc. These persons are generally referred to as “applicants,” or “registrants” (in the Pre-registration and Registration subsections).

A

General Tracking 1.509 The system shall track information about persons external to the State Bar.

Defined in greater detail in the subsections on Grading, Exam Development, Exam Administration, Educational Standards, etc. Includes law school contacts, graders, proctors, etc.

B

General Tracking 1.510 The system shall allow the system user to perform a simple search for applicant information by name, soundex name, former name, soundex former name, phone, SSN, DOB, unique preregistration id number, email address, status, date of registration, date of application for an exam, date of Moral Character application, date of Moral Character clearance, and date of admission to the Bar.

Searches for other types of persons or entities are described in the appropriate subsections. “Soundex” refers to a “sounds-like” search.

A

General Tracking 1.511 Upon selecting an applicant, the system shall present the system user with a summary page of information about the applicant.

Includes basic profile – name, SSN, contact info; registration status and date; exam application status and date; exam pass status and date; Moral Character status and date of application; correspondence entries (see below).

A


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes PriorityGeneral Use General Tracking 1.512 The system shall visually indicate the nature of the

status information about the applicant. For example, passed/completed/approved items could be shown in green; failed items in red; in-progress items in yellow.

A

General Tracking 1.513 The system shall allow the system user to drill down to additional information about the applicant from the summary screen.

Based on access rights. A

Audit Trails 1.514 The system shall maintain an audit trail of all additions, changes, and deletions to system data.

Includes name of person (or "System," if a system-generated activity), date/time, type of operation (add/change/delete), data prior to change/delete.

A

Audit Trails 1.515 The system shall maintain an audit trail of viewings of selected data fields.

A

Audit Trails 1.516 The system shall allow authorized users to view audit trail data.

A

Audit Trails 1.517 The system shall allow the user to sort audit trail data by any of the audit trail fields.

A

Audit Trails 1.518 The system shall allow the user to search and filter audit trail data by any of the audit trail fields.

A

Record Locking 1.519 Multiple users shall be able to view the same record at the same time.

A

Record Locking 1.520 The system shall lock fields only during the actual update operation.

A

Record Locking 1.521 Fields shall not be locked for more than ten seconds. C

Record Locking 1.522 If a user attempts to update a locked field, the system shall display a message to the effect that the field is locked.

B


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes PriorityGeneral Use Data Save 1.523 Update/submission of a field shall occur whenever

the user presses Enter in a field, or uses Tab to exit a field.

B

Data Save 1.524 The system shall save data in a field that has been changed onscreen, but not yet updated/submitted, according to a parameter.

E.g., every three minutes. B

Data Save 1.525 The parameter for the data save time period shall be maintainable by an authorized system user.

B

Data Save 1.526 The system shall provide an Undo function. A

Response 1.527 The system shall provide screen display in response to a user action other than query/report request in no more than three seconds.

Excludes remote access. Response time must be the same regardless of whether the user is in LA or SF.

A

Response 1.528 The system shall return onscreen query/report request results in no more than thirty seconds.

Excludes remote access. Response time must be the same regardless of whether the user is in LA or SF.

A

Field Validation 1.529 The system shall have the ability to set validation rules for any field.

Includes the ability to designate a field as required.

A

Field Validation 1.530 The system shall allow authorized State Bar users to add, change, or delete validation rules.

A

Field Validation 1.531 The system shall have the ability to create lists of acceptable entries for any field ("validated list fields" or "drop-down fields").

A

Field Validation 1.532 The system shall allow authorized system users to maintain all validated list fields, including adding, modifying, and deleting entries.

For example, if a new law school, or a Moral Character status, or a type of Testing Accommodation, needs to be added to the listed ones, an authorized user could add it without needing IT assistance.

A


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes PriorityGeneral Use Field Validation 1.533 The system shall apply validation rules upon

submission of any screen or update to any field. I.e., the system shall determine whether the information entered is of an allowable value and formatted correctly.

A

Field Validation 1.534 If submitted or updated data violates validation rules, the system shall re-display the screen with the invalid information highlighted and an explanation of how it must be entered.

A

Barcodes 1.535 All documents, excluding reports, printed by the system shall include a barcode on each page which uniquely identifies the document.

It is possible that this is not necessary on all documents, but only those associated with an applicant.

C

Barcodes 1.536 The system shall print the human-readable equivalent of the barcode below the barcode.

C

Barcodes 1.537 All documents printed by the system shall include the date and time of printing on each page.

Appearance 1.538 The system shall maintain a similar look and feel across all screens visible to members of the public, in terms of coloration, placement of information, and action (effect that occurs when clicking a button or entering information, for example).

Essentially, all materials from the Admissions Department shall, in a sense, be branded, and the brand shall be maintained across all forms of written communication with the public. Care must be taken to ensure that confusion between similar items is not possible, however.

C

Appearance 1.539 The system shall maintain a similar look and feel on all printed and/or printable forms visible to members of the public, in terms of coloration and placement of information.

B

Appearance 1.540 The system shall provide the correct data entry format for date, phone, and SSN fields.

A

Appearance 1.541 The system shall enforce proper case in text fields. A


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes PriorityGeneral Use Appearance 1.542 The system shall allow users to spell-check entered

information. B

Appearance 1.543 In multi-line fields, the system shall automatically perform word-wrapping.

B

Appearance 1.544 The system shall allow the cutting and pasting of information.

B

Appearance 1.545 The system shall allow users to change the font size of the information presented onscreen.

C

Master Calendar 1.546 The system shall maintain a Master Calendar of State Bar events and activities.

It may make sense to link the Master Calendar to Outlook, and use Outlook functionality to drive calendar functionality.

A

Master Calendar 1.547 The system shall allow authorized system users to add new Master Calendar entries.

Includes the date, the name of the event, an indication as to whether the item is public (anyone can view) or private (only the creator can view), an optional list of people involved/invited, and an optional description of the event or activity.

B

Master Calendar 1.548 The system shall automatically capture the name of the person adding the Master Calendar entry.

B

Master Calendar 1.549 The system shall include a link to the Master Calendar on the main screen.

B

Master Calendar 1.550 The system shall allow the user to display the Master Calendar in calendar or list format.

Calendar format: designed to look like a page of a monthly calendar with scheduled activities appearing in the square for the appropriate date; List format: a simple list of activities, showing the date, time, and activity.

B


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes PriorityGeneral Use Master Calendar 1.551 The system shall allow the user to drill down to the

event or activity details from the Master Calendar display.

B

Master Calendar 1.552 The system shall allow the user to display only public entries, only private entries, or both.

A

Master Calendar 1.553 The system shall visually distinguish between public and private entries.

A

Knowledge Base/Online Help


1.601 The system shall maintain a knowledge base. Data to be maintained in the knowledge base includes standard forms and letters, such as the exam announcement template, reminder letters, etc.

B


1.602 The system shall include context-sensitive online help as part of the knowledge base.

B


1.603 Each screen displayed by the system to the State Bar user shall include a means by which the State Bar user can see help data for the screen in question, as well as a means to access the complete knowledge system.

B


1.604 The web interface shall include context-sensitive online help.

C


1.605 Each screen displayed by the web interface to the applicant or other person or entity external to the State Bar shall include a means by which the external user can see help data for the screen in question, as well as a means to access all help information available to the external user.

C


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes PriorityKnowledge Base/Online Help


1.606 The system shall allow State Bar users to search for help information.

B


1.607 The web interface shall allow external users to search for help information.

B


1.608 The system shall allow authorized State Bar users to maintain the help information for both internal State Bar users and external web interface users.

B


1.609 The system shall maintain a distinction between help information available to State Bar users and that available to external web interface users.

B


1.610 For each help entry, the system shall maintain an entry id, short description, a full, unlimited length description, keywords, context area(s), author(s), date created, last date updated, and future review date.

B


1.611 The system shall allow an unlimited number of documents to be attached to each help entry.

B


1.612 The system shall automatically alert the author(s) when the future review date for any help entry is reached.

B


1.613 The system shall allow only the author(s) to edit a help entry.

B


1.614 The system shall allow an authorized user to change the author(s) for any help entry.

B


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes PriorityKnowledge Base/Online Help


1.615 The system shall allow users to see a summary view of help entries by future review date.

B


1.616 The system shall include tutorial-type information for the purpose of training new users.

B


1.617 The system shall be able to print help information. A


1.618 The system shall display context-sensitive error information which includes a description of the error and a description of how to correct it.

I.e., error messages must be "user-friendly."

B

Correspondence Tracking Correspondence Tracking 1.701 The system shall allow system users to document an

unlimited number of communications and interactions ("correspondence entries") between Admissions Department personnel, applicants, and persons external to the State Bar ("persons or entities").

Includes letters, emails, phone calls, faxes, and in-person communications. This is intended to replace the current "chron" functionality.

A

Correspondence Tracking 1.702 For persons or entities existing in the system, the system shall allow the system user to prepare to add a correspondence entry by searching for and identifying the correct person or entity and then performing a single operation.

B


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes PriorityCorrespondence Tracking Correspondence Tracking 1.703 The system shall allow the system user to add a

correspondence entry from any screen associated with a person or entity.

Note that all State Bar users can create and view summary-level correspondence entries, regardless of what the correspondence relates to (e.g., Moral Character, Testing Accommodations). So a person not part of the Moral Character department may take a message from an applicant regarding a Moral Character question, enter summary data, and assign it to someone in Moral Character.

C

Correspondence Tracking 1.704 For each correspondence entry, the system shall automatically record the person making the correspondence entry, and the date and time at which it is made.

B

Correspondence Tracking 1.705 For each correspondence entry, the system shall allow the system user to select the method of correspondence from a list of possible methods.

Letter, email, etc. This includes customized letters, which the user shall attach to the entry, not just system-generated form letters.

A

Correspondence Tracking 1.706 For each correspondence entry, the system shall allow the system user to select the type of correspondence from a list of possible types.

Testing Accommodations, Moral Character, Exam Application, etc. The point is to allow the user to categorize the nature of the communication for filtering and access rights purposes.

A

Correspondence Tracking 1.707 For each correspondence entry, the system shall allow the system user to flag the entry as a Complaint.

C

Correspondence Tracking 1.708 For each correspondence entry, the system shall require the system user to enter a 50-character short description of the entry.

C


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes PriorityCorrespondence Tracking Correspondence Tracking 1.709 For each correspondence entry, the system shall

allow the system user to record an unlimited-length full description of the correspondence.

However, in the case of phone conversations, for example, the user can enter any relevant details here.

C

Correspondence Tracking 1.710 For each correspondence entry, the system shall allow the system user to attach an unlimited number of documents.

For example, a correspondence entry indicating that a fax was received from an applicant may have the scanned-in fax attached to it.

A

Correspondence Tracking 1.711 The system shall display the a summary-level view of the most recent correspondence entries on the summary screen for the person or entity in reverse chronological order.

Includes date/time, person making the entry, method, type, and short description, as well as whether or not a tickler or attached documents are associated with it. "Most recent" refers to the number of entries that will fit on the summary screen; alternatively, the correspondence entries could appear in a window within the summary screen that allows for scrolling through the entries.

B


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes PriorityCorrespondence Tracking Correspondence Tracking 1.712 The system shall allow the system user to view all

correspondence entries at the summary level from the summary view with one operation.

Perhaps by clicking to open a correspondence summary window, or by scrolling (as suggested above). Note that only the summary level can be viewed by all State Bar users; detailed correspondence entry information, including attached letters, can only be viewed by users authorized for that particular type of correspondence (Moral Character, Testing Accommodations, etc.).

B

Correspondence Tracking 1.713 The system shall allow the system user to sort summary-level correspondence entries in order of any of the fields displayed with one operation.

Perhaps by clicking column headers.

B

Correspondence Tracking 1.714 The system shall allow the system user to filter summary correspondence entries by type.

I.e., a person can look at the summary info just for correspondence entries categorized as relating to registration, for example.

B

Correspondence Tracking 1.715 The system shall allow authorized system users to view the full description for any correspondence entry from a summary-level entry.

For users authorized to see full descriptions of that correspondence type.

A

Correspondence Tracking 1.716 The system shall automatically create a correspondence entry for any system-generated correspondence activity.

Such as an automatic reminder email sent to an applicant.

A

Correspondence Tracking 1.717 The system shall attach a copy of the correspondence to the entry for any system-generated correspondence activity.

B

Correspondence Tracking 1.718 The system shall allow the authorized user to view any documents attached to the correspondence entry.

A


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes PriorityCorrespondence Tracking Unaffiliated Correspondence Entries

1.719 The system shall allow the system user to create correspondence entries for persons or entities which do not exist in the system at the time of the entry ("unaffiliated correspondence entries").

This is meant to handle calls from people with information about someone who has not yet registered.

A

Unaffiliated Correspondence Entries

1.720 The system shall allow the system user to attach an unaffiliated correspondence entry to an existing person or entity.

If and when the person to whom the correspondence entry relates is added to the system, the correspondence entry can be "moved" to it.

B

Ticklers 1.721 The system shall allow the system user to create an unlimited number of reminder alerts ("ticklers") for each correspondence entry.

Includes date/time for the reminder, person who should be reminded (default is the creator). Note also that Complaints may be assigned to someone for review and resolution in this fashion.

A

Ticklers 1.722 The system shall allow the user to create a tickler that is not associated with a specific correspondence entry, which shall then automatically create its own correspondence entry.

I.e., a user can create a tickler that is associated with a registrant, but not necessarily with an existing correspondence activity, and the tickler is still recorded in the correspondence log.

A

Ticklers 1.723 The system shall allow the user to create a tickler that is not associated with a person or entity.

I.e., a user can create ticklers for general activities.

B

Ticklers 1.724 Ticklers shall be automatically added to the Master Calendar as private activities/events.

I.e., to the calendar of the person to be reminded, if that is different from the creator of the tickler.

B

Ticklers 1.725 The system shall visually indicate which correspondence entries have ticklers associated with them.

Perhaps by displaying a small icon.

A

Ticklers 1.726 The system shall allow the user to see details of the tickler from the correspondence summary or detailed view with one operation.

A


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes PriorityCorrespondence Tracking Ticklers 1.727 The system shall notify the person identified in the

tickler when it becomes due. Could be by pop-up window. Includes summary-level view of the correspondence entry.

B

Ticklers 1.728 The notification shall allow the person notified to reset the time/date of the tickler, or to cancel the tickler, or to reassign the tickler to someone else, or to create a new correspondence entry in which the person can indicate the actions taken in response to the tickler.

B

Ticklers 1.729 The system shall allow the system user to list ticklers which have been assigned to him/her but not yet been responded to.

Presented in chronological order. A

Ticklers 1.730 The system shall visually distinguish between ticklers which are past due, due on the current date, and due in the future.

B

Ticklers 1.731 The system shall allow management to list ticklers which have been assigned to his/her staff but have not yet been responded to.

A

Ticklers 1.732 The system shall allow management to list all ticklers which have been assigned to his/her staff and view the actions taken for each tickler.

B

Letters 1.733 The system shall maintain a list of the types of letters to be sent.

A

Letters 1.734 The system shall maintain the method by which each type of letter is to be sent.

Email or mail. A

Letters 1.735 The system shall maintain a list of the parameters required to produce each type of letter.

Includes the knowledge base entry id. While some types of letters will be personalized solely by the addition of the recipient's name and address information, others will require additional information from other system fields.

A


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes PriorityCorrespondence Tracking Letters 1.736 The system shall maintain the schedule and

conditions under which each type of letter is to be sent.

E.g., a law school transcript reminder letter should go out after 30 days if no response has been entered into the system.

A

Letters 1.737 The system shall allow the authorized user to add, modify, or delete letter types, parameters, schedules, and conditions.

B

Letters 1.738 The system shall present the system user with a list of scheduled letters each day on which letters are scheduled to go out.

A note on process: there are several ways this could be done. Each person could approve outgoing letters associated with their work, or perhaps someone in Receipts could approve all of them. Alternatively, the system could just send them automatically without oversight. All three methods might be necessary, depending on the type of correspondence.

B

Letters 1.739 The system shall allow the system user to approve, re-schedule, or delete scheduled letters.

B

Letters 1.740 The system shall print scheduled letters with a method of "mail" on a mail room printer.

Another process note: this assumes printed letters go directly to a mail room printer for mailing without additional review. (However, a copy of the letter will be attached to the correspondence entry.) Note that there is also no distinction made between the SF and LA offices - all letters could be sent from one office, or an "office parameter" could be added.

B


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes PriorityCorrespondence Tracking Letters 1.741 The system shall print the page number, out of the

total number of pages, at the top left of each page, beginning with the second page.

E.g., Page 1 of 3. Note that another requirement states that an identifying barcode will be printed on each letter.

C

Letters 1.742 The system shall allow the authorized user to reprint scheduled letters.

In the event of a printer problem. A

Letters 1.743 The system shall print mailing labels for scheduled letters with a method of "mail" on a mail room label printer.

Or on envelopes, if an envelope printer is available.

A

Letters 1.744 The system shall allow the authorized user to reprint mailing labels.

A

Letters 1.745 The system shall include a barcode which uniquely identifies the letter on the mailing label, and matches the barcode on the letter itself.

B

Letters 1.746 The system shall allow the mail room user indicate that a letter is ready to send by scanning the mailing label barcode.

C

Letters 1.747 Upon the scanning of the mailing label barcode, the system shall create a correspondence entry and attach a copy of the letter.

Alternatively, this could be done earlier. However, this is the point at which the letter is essentially "guaranteed" to be sent and avoids creating a correspondence entry for a letter than might be affected by a printer jam, etc., and is therefore not yet sent.

C

Letters 1.748 If a letter type allows a method of "email," and the recipient has an email address in the system and a contact preference of email, the system shall send the letter via email.

B

Letters 1.749 If a letter type allows a method of "email," and the recipient does not have an email address in the system, the system shall print the letter to be mailed.

A


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes PriorityCorrespondence Tracking Letters 1.750 The system shall be able to identify letter recipients

who have incorrectly formatted or missing contact information and alert the user.

C

Letters 1.751 Upon sending an email letter, the system shall create a correspondence entry and attach a copy of the email.

A

Email Receipt 1.752 The system shall be able to accept "emails," or web-based correspondence, entered through the web interface from persons or entities who are pre-registered with the State Bar .

These are not true emails, but are entered through a web form from the web interface (described in the Registration Section).

C

Email Receipt 1.753 Correspondence submitted through the web interface by a pre-registered applicant shall create a new correspondence entry containing a copy of the email, and create a tickler with the current date for a State Bar user assigned to processing web correspondence for the given subject area (see Registration Section).

A

Workflow Workflow 1.801 The system shall be able to track the progress of an

individual's attempt to become a member of the State Bar of California.

Includes pre-registration, registration, exams, moral character, and the motion list.

A

Workflow 1.802 The system shall provide workflow to allow users to manage and track the process of an individual's attempt to become a member of the State Bar of California.

A

Workflow 1.803 The system shall allow users to manage a list of the components and timeframes required for an individual to register with the State Bar of California.

Described in the Registration Section.

A

Workflow 1.804 The system shall allow users to manage a list of the components and timeframes required for an individual to take and pass the exams required by the State Bar.

Described in the Examinations Section.

A


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes PriorityWorkflow Workflow 1.805 The system shall allow users to manage a list of the

components and timeframes required for an individual to pass the Moral Character process.

Described in the Moral Character Section.

A

Workflow 1.806 The system shall allow users to manage a list of the components and timeframes required for an individual to be submitted to the Supreme Court on the Motion List.

Described below. A

Workflow 1.807 The system shall allow users to manage the relationships between the components of all areas.

I.e., users may define, and the system shall "understand," which components are prerequisites for others, and which may progress simultaneously.

B

Alerts 1.808 The system shall allow an authorized user to define and maintain alerts which indicate a status change to one or more components of an individual's progress toward the Bar, or to one of the ancillary processes.

Ancillary processes - testing accommodations, etc.

B

Alerts 1.809 The system shall allow the authorized user to assign an alert to one or more users.

B

Alerts 1.810 The system shall automatically monitor status changes and send alerts to the assigned users.

B

The Motion List 1.811 When an applicant has met all requirements and is eligible to become a member of the State Bar of California, he or she shall automatically be placed on the Preliminary Motion List.

Rules for eligibility include: no outstanding fees; passed Moral Character; General Bar Exam passed within the past 5 years; First Year exam passed or exempt; at least 18 years old; MPRE passed or exempt; SLMS ok; no outstanding fees; not currently able to practice law in CA.

A

The Motion List 1.812 The system shall allow an authorized user to review the Preliminary Motion List.

A


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes PriorityWorkflow The Motion List 1.813 The system shall allow an authorized user to sort the

Motion List in order of any of the fields displayed. Must include date of passing of the Bar exam.

A

The Motion List 1.814 The system shall allow an authorized user to filter the list on any of the fields displayed.

A

The Motion List 1.815 The system shall allow an authorized user to approve or deny any applicant on the Preliminary Motion List.

A

The Motion List 1.816 The system shall require the authorized user to enter a reason for denial of a applicant on the Preliminary Motion List.

A

The Motion List 1.817 The system shall allow an authorized user to approve all applicants displayed on the Preliminary Motion List with a single operation.

For example, if the user has filtered the list by exam pass date, all registrants with that pass date could be approved at once.

A

The Motion List 1.818 The system shall allow an authorized user to indicate that the current group of approved applicants displayed onscreen is to be placed on the Motion List.

A

The Motion List 1.819 The system shall require confirmation from the authorized user prior to placing the group of approved applicants on the Motion List.

A

The Motion List 1.820 Upon receiving confirmation, the system shall print a list of approved applicants to be sent to the Supreme Court.

A

The Motion List 1.821 Upon receiving confirmation, the system shall print letters to the applicants indicating that they are now qualified to be admitted.

B

The Motion List 1.822 Upon receiving confirmation, the system shall push a list of applicants who are now qualified to be admitted to the Member System.

A


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes PriorityFinancial Information Financial Information 1.901 The system shall allow users to define and maintain

fees and associate them with applicant and other entity (e.g., law schools) activities and timeframes.

A

Financial Information 1.902 The system shall allow users to define and maintain accounts to which fees should be allocated.

A

Financial Information 1.903 The system shall be able to produce monthly allocation statements.

A

Financial Information 1.904 The system shall be able to process fee refunds. A

Financial Information 1.905 The system shall be able to maintain a history of fee payments made and refunds received by the person or entity.

A

Financial Information 1.906 The system shall allow access to fee history from the person or entity's summary screen.

For authorized users only. A

Financial Information 1.907 The system shall be able to accept online payments. A

Financial Information 1.908 The system shall be able to accept manual entry of mailed payments.

B

Financial Information 1.909 The system shall allow a user to indicate that a check received at one office is being sent to the other office.

B

Financial Information 1.910 The system shall allow a user to indicate that a check that was sent to the other office has been received at that office.

B

Financial Information 1.911 The system shall provide a reconciliation process between data received from the State Bar's bank and credit card company, and the fee data contained within the system.

A

Financial Information 1.912 The system shall be able to produce a reconciliation report.

A


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes PriorityFinancial Information Financial Information 1.913 The system shall be able to push fee payment and

refund information to the State Bar's PeopleSoft system.

A

Financial Information 1.914 The system shall be able to process group billing payments and refunds.

A

Financial Information 1.915 The system shall provide a web interface that allows persons and entities to review their payment and refund history.

C

Meeting Tracking Meeting Tracking 1.1001 The system shall provide a mechanism for tracking

meetings, their invitees and attendees, their agenda items, and minutes.

Generally speaking, the "meeting tracking system" is meant to provide the functions of: tracking meetings; inviting attendees and tracking actual attendance; tracking meeting agenda items and the minutes/decisions associated with them; acting as a knowledge base related to meeting decisions and allowing searching on agenda/minute/decision information.

B

Meeting Tracking 1.1002 The system shall allow the State Bar user to log upcoming meetings.

Includes date, location, type (Law School Council, Grading, Dean, Registrar, Admission Ceremony).

B

Meeting Tracking 1.1003 The system shall allow the State Bar user to view a list of meetings.

Includes type of meeting, date, location.

B

Meeting Tracking 1.1004 The system shall allow the State Bar user to select a meeting from the list and see detailed information related to that meeting.

B

Meeting Tracking 1.1005 The system shall allow the State Bar user to record an unlimited number of meeting invitees to a meeting.

Includes name, contact information, comments.

C


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes PriorityMeeting Tracking Meeting Tracking 1.1006 The system shall allow the State Bar user to send

email invitations to all invitees for a specific meeting. C

Meeting Tracking 1.1007 The system shall allow the State Bar user to print invitations to be mailed to all invitees for a specific meeting.

B

Meeting Tracking 1.1008 The system shall allow the State Bar user to indicate whether an invitee accepted the invitation to attend the meeting.

B

Meeting Tracking 1.1009 The system shall allow the State Bar user to view invitation details associated with meetings.

Includes who has been invited, and which of those has accepted. For past meetings, can include which of those actually attended.

B

Meeting Tracking 1.101 The system shall allow the State Bar user to record an unlimited number of agenda items for each meeting.

Includes agenda item number, description of item, public/private; whether the item is a petition.

B

Meeting Tracking 1.1011 If an agenda item is a petition associated with a registrant, the system shall allow the State Bar user to reflect that association in the system.

C

Meeting Tracking 1.1012 The system shall allow the State Bar user to record keywords associated with each agenda item.

For searching purposes. C

Meeting Tracking 1.1013 The system shall allow the State Bar user to attach files to agenda items.

B

Meeting Tracking 1.1014 The system shall allow the State Bar user to automatically push new or updated public meeting information to the State Bar website .

Meeting dates, locations, and invitees are public information. However, note that only agenda items (with their associated minutes) flagged as public can go on the website. Agenda items flagged as private - and their associated minutes - cannot go on the website.

C


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes PriorityMeeting Tracking Meeting Tracking 1.1015 The system shall allow the State Bar user to print the

meeting agenda. In the format required for a meeting, as well as after a meeting so as to include all minutes.

B

Meeting Tracking 1.1016 The system shall allow the State Bar user to indicate whether an invitee actually attended the meeting.

B

Meeting Tracking 1.1017 The system shall allow the State Bar user to record minutes associated with each agenda item.

May be in the form of a single minutes field , accepting unlimited text, or multiple fields for different decisions associated with the minute , or a simple attachment of a separate document .

C

Meeting Tracking 1.1018 The system shall allow the State Bar user to attach files to minutes.

C

Meeting Tracking 1.1019 The system shall allow the State Bar user to search all agenda and minutes data.

Should search on all text in agenda item and minutes fields, as well as keyword.

B

Meeting Tracking 1.102 The system shall allow the State Bar user to print specific agenda items and minutes.

B

Meeting Tracking 1.1021 The system shall allow the State Bar user to print petition decisions to be mailed to the registrant associated with the petition.

In letter format. B

Meeting Tracking 1.1022 When the petition decision is printed, the system shall automatically attach a copy of the decision to the registrant’s record in the form of a correspondence entry.

B

Meeting Tracking 1.1023 The system shall maintain an audit trail of all changes made to meeting information.

Includes name of person making the change, date/timestamp, data prior to change.

B


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes PriorityQueries and Reports Queries and Reports 1.1101 The system shall be able to print any information that

is displayed onscreen to the user. A

Queries and Reports 1.1102 The system shall allow the user to print a screenshot of any screen.

A

Queries and Reports 1.1103 The system shall print any screenshot exactly as it appears onscreen.

A

Queries and Reports 1.1104 The system shall include an ad-hoc query and reporting tool.

To enable State Bar users to create new queries and reports whenever needed, without requiring assistance from IT.

A

Queries and Reports 1.1105 The system shall allow the system user to perform a simple query related to the information he/she is currently accessing.

For example, a user in the Testing Accommodations module could click on a Search link and search by accommodation application date, name, test site, etc.

A

Queries and Reports 1.1106 The system shall allow the system user to perform a complex query for information using Boolean terms.

And, or, not, greater than, less than, greater than or equal to, less than or equal to. Includes all fields and attached documents.

A

Queries and Reports 1.1107 The system shall allow the system user to elect to perform a search which is case-based.

I.e., "Moral Character" vs. "moral character."

B

Queries and Reports 1.1108 The system shall allow the system user to elect to search for exact phrases.

A

Queries and Reports 1.1109 The system shall allow the system user to perform queries which include and/or exclude specific date ranges on any date field stored in the system

B

Queries and Reports 1.1110 The system shall allow the system user to select which fields are to be displayed in the query results.

A

Queries and Reports 1.1111 The system shall allow the system user to define queries using date-relative terms.

I.e., "greater than, and including, five years prior to today's date."

B


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes PriorityQueries and Reports Queries and Reports 1.1112 The system shall not allow a user to search or

display any information to which he/she does not have rights.

A

Queries and Reports 1.1113 The system shall allow the user to sort query results in the order of any field displayed in the results.

A

Queries and Reports 1.1114 The system shall allow the user to filter query results by any field displayed in the results.

A

Queries and Reports 1.1115 The system shall allow the user to designate fields which should display totals in the query results.

A

Queries and Reports 1.1116 The system shall allow the user to designate fields which should display counts in the query results.

A

Queries and Reports 1.1117 The system shall allow the user to display a summary of query results only.

I.e., just counts and/or totals. A

Queries and Reports 1.1118 The system shall allow the user to display results in graphical formats, include pie and bar charts.

C

Queries and Reports 1.1119 The system shall allow the user to drill down into query results.

A

Queries and Reports 1.1120 The system shall allow the user to print the results of any query/filter operation.

A

Queries and Reports 1.1121 Printed search/filter results shall have a standard appearance with regard to coloration, font, text size, and page headers and footers.

B

Queries and Reports 1.1122 The system shall allow the user to use the results of a query in a mail merge operation, either by export for use by Microsoft Word or by linking to a standard letter or form defined in the knowledge base/online help system.

As a form of campaign management.

A

Queries and Reports 1.1123 The system shall maintain a set of standard queries/reports.

Listed below. A


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes PriorityQueries and Reports Queries and Reports 1.1124 The system shall allow users to access the reports to

which they have rights from a link on the main screen.

A

Queries and Reports 1.1125 The system shall allow users to add queries to their list of reports.

A

Queries and Reports 1.1126 The system shall allow users to name queries added to their list of reports.

A

Queries and Reports 1.1127 The system shall allow users to modify or delete queries that they have added to their list of reports.

A

Queries and Reports 1.1128 The system shall allow authorized users only to modify or delete standard reports.

A

Queries and Reports 1.1129 Prior to printing any report selected by a user, the system shall display the results onscreen.

A

Queries and Reports 1.1130 The system shall allow the results of any query or report to be exported to Microsoft Excel with a single operation.

A

Queries and Reports 1.1131 The system shall allow users to schedule the printing of reports.

A

Queries and Reports 1.1132 The system shall allow users to schedule recurring reports.

I.e., a report that should be printed every Monday.

A

Queries and Reports 1.1133 The system shall allow users to create a distribution list for reports.

A

Queries and Reports 1.1134 The system shall allow the user to select the distribution method for each recipient.

Email attachment or printed. B

Queries and Reports 1.1135 Printed reports with multiple recipients shall, when generated, automatically print the correct number of copies and include the name of the recipient for each copy on a header page.

C


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes PriorityQueries and Reports Queries and Reports 1.1136 Emailed reports shall create an email with a subject

line containing the name of the report, and shall automatically be sent to everyone on the distribution list.

B

Queries and Reports 1.1137 Emailed reports shall give the user an option to include a message in the body of the email.

C

Standard Reports 1.1138 The system shall be able to produce a standard query/report called "Bar Admissions Month-to-Date."

To show a list of the numbers of people qualified to be admitted by month

B

Standard Reports 1.1139 The system shall be able to produce a standard query/report called "Board of Governors KPI Reporting."

Includes number and type of petitions.

C

Standard Reports 1.1140 The system shall be able to produce a standard query/report called "Test Takers by School."

To show a list of the exam takers and the law schools with which they are associated.

A

Standard Reports 1.1141 The system shall be able to produce a standard query/report called "Test Takers by School Type."

To show a list of the exam takers by the type of law school they are associated with (accredited, correspondence, etc.).

B

Standard Reports 1.1142 The system shall be able to produce a standard query/report called "Test Takers by Gender."

To show counts of exam takers by gender.

B

Standard Reports 1.1143 The system shall be able to produce a standard query/report called "Test Takers by Ethnicity."

To show counts of exam takers by ethnicity.

B

Standard Reports 1.1144 The system shall be able to produce a standard query/report called "Number of Applications Received."

B

Standard Reports 1.1145 The system shall be able to produce a standard query/report called "Time Taken for Applications Entered."

To show how long it takes to process applications.

B

Standard Reports 1.1146 The system shall be able to produce a standard query/report called "Jewish Holiday Exception."

To show exam takers who require an exception for Jewish holidays.

B


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes PriorityQueries and Reports Standard Reports 1.1147 The system shall be able to produce a standard

query/report called "Ticklers by Date." To see outstanding to-do's associated with correspondence entries.

C

Standard Reports 1.1148 The system shall be able to produce a standard query/report called "Ticklers by Assignee by Date."

For management to see outstanding to-do's assigned to employees.

B

Standard Reports 1.1149 The system shall be able to produce a standard query/report called "Bar Status."

To show where applicants are in terms of their progress toward becoming a member of the Bar.

B

Standard Reports 1.1150 The system shall be able to produce a standard query/report called "The Motion List."

A subset of the "Bar Status" report, showing people who have completed all requirements.

A


The Diagonal Group

Examination Development Category Number Description Notes PriorityAuthor Information Tracking

2.01 The system shall be able to track information about question authors and potential question authors.

Information includes name, mailing address, phone, email, area of subject matter expertise, the status of the person (active or not), contact method preference, login, encrypted password, secret question 1 and secret question 2.

B

Reappraiser Information Tracking

2.02 The system shall be able to track information about reappraisers.

Information includes name, mailing address, phone, email, area of subject matter expertise, the status of the person (active or not), contact method preference, login, encrypted password, secret question 1 and secret question 2.

B

General Usage 2.04 The system shall allow the Exam Development System user the ability to search by question id, question subject matter area, question status, author name, author status and combinations thereof.

B

General Usage 2.06 The system shall track and identify uniquely each version of every question and answer.

B

Question Solicitation

2.07 The system shall be able to generate a list of author candidates based on subject matter expertise and/or active status.

B


2.10 The Exam Development System user shall be able to remove candidates from the list.

B


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority Question Solicitation

2.11 The system shall allow the Exam Development System user to initiate the sending of an invitation to submit questions to listed candidates.

C


2.12 Once initiated, the system shall be able to send an email to listed author candidates with a contact method preference of email, inviting them to submit questions in their subject areas.

A


2.13 The email shall include a link to a website where the author candidate may respond.

B


2.14 Once initiated, the system shall be able to print a letter to listed author candidates with a contact method preference of mail, inviting them to submit questions in their subject areas.

A


2.17 The system shall create an invitation record associated with the invited author candidate's record for each invitation, showing the date of the invitation.

Record information includes invitation id, invitation date, question required by date, accept/decline, declaration receipt, question received date, question id.

A


2.18 The system shall provide a web interface for author candidates.

C


2.19 The web interface shall provide a mechanism for account creation.

C


2.20 The web interface shall provide a mechanism for retrieving forgotten logins and passwords via secret question.

It is suggested that the login/password be sent to the email address in the record.

A


2.21 The web interface shall provide a mechanism for the author candidates to modify their profile information.

C


2.22 The web interface shall allow author candidates to respond to invitations.

B


The Diagonal Group


2.23 When an author accepts an invitation, the web interface shall require confirmation from the author that he/she understands that he/she is committed to providing the question, and that agreement is binding.

Essentially, an electronic declaration. It is suggested that this be presented in a way similar to a EULA and require specific action from the author to proceed. Alternatively, digital signature technology such as PKI can be used. Alternatively, the system can present a declaration for printing, which can be signed and mailed in, and its receipt recorded in the system.

B


2.24 The system shall be able to maintain author candidate responses to the invitation in the invitation record.

B


2.25 The system shall allow a Exam Development System user the ability to update invitation records with accepts/declines and declaration receipt information received via mail.

B


2.26 Upon receipt of invitation acceptance and declaration, the system shall create a question header record to be associated with the author and invitation records, and set the status of this record to "Submitted."

Information includes question id, subject matter area, status, submission fee, submission fee paid date, question use fee, question use fee paid date, test nomination date, test id (on which the question was used). Question statuses include: submitted; pretest editing in process; pretest editing complete; pretesting; ready for approval; approved; rejected; used.

B


The Diagonal Group


2.27 Upon receipt of invitation acceptance and declaration receipt, the system shall send the question template via email to authors with a contact method preference of email.

The Exam Development System user will mail a diskette to be used by the author for submitting the question, regardless of whether the author's preference is mail or email. It is recommended that, at some future point, the authors be given the opportunity to submit the question electronically, perhaps via VPN.

B


2.28 Upon receipt of invitation acceptance and declaration receipt, the system shall print the question template for mailing to authors with a contact method preference of mail.

B


2.29 The system shall allow the Exam Development System user to print labels containing the author and question id's in numeric and barcode format; these labels are to be affixed to the diskettes used for question submission.

C


2.30 The system shall allow the Exam Development System user the ability to attach files received on diskette to the question record.

Files retyped from paper by the Exam Development System user may also be attached in this way.

B


2.31 The system shall allow the Exam Development System user the ability to scan in and attach files received on paper to the question record.

B


2.32 The system shall allow the Exam Development System user the ability to identify the question author's initial analysis of the question, which shall be attached to the question record.

A

Question Editing 2.33 The system shall allow the Exam Development System user the ability to associate a question with a reappraiser.

B


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority Question Editing 2.34 The system shall allow the Exam Development

System user the ability to print questions to be mailed to reappraisers.

It is suggested that, at some future point, reappraisers communications be conducted electronically (similar to author and grader communications) and question edits be exchanged electronically (perhaps via VPN) once more reappraisers are comfortable with electronic data exchange.

B

Question Editing 2.35 The system shall print the question and reappraiser id in barcode format on the question document.

B

2.36 The system shall allow the Exam Development System user the ability to identify questions nominated for use by reappraisers.

A

Question Editing 2.37 The system shall allow the Exam Development System user the ability to attach edited questions to the original question.

A

Question Editing 2.38 Edited questions shall be identified uniquely. A

Question Editing 2.39 The editor who recommended a change shall be identified for each change.

C

Question Editing 2.40 The system shall allow the Exam Development System user the ability to print edited questions.

A

Question Editing 2.41 The system shall allow the Exam Development System user the ability to attach the final version of the question to the original question.

B

Question Editing 2.42 The system shall allow the Exam Development System user to identify the final edited version as such.

This is the "final edited" version of the question that will be used for pre-testing, not the "final" version.

A

Question Testing

2.43 The system shall allow the Exam Development System user the ability to attach answers received to the answer header record.

A


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority Question Finalization

2.44 The system shall allow the Exam Development System user the ability to print questions and answers for evaluation by the reappraisers.

B

Question Finalization

2.45 The system shall print the question, grader, and reappraiser id in barcode format on the question document.

A


2.46 The system shall allow the Exam Development System user the ability to attach the CBE version of the question to the record.

This is the final version as it will be presented to the CBE.

A


2.47 The system shall allow the Exam Development System user to identify the CBE version of the question as such.

A


2.48 The system shall allow the Exam Development System user the ability to attach the "gold standard" answer to the record.

A


2.49 The system shall allow the Exam Development System user to identify the "gold standard" answer as such.

A


2.50 The system shall allow the Exam Development System user to print all nominated questions and their associated "gold standard" answers for CBE review.

A


2.51 The system shall allow the Exam Development System user to identify the final versions of the question and associated "gold standard" answer.

These are the versions to be used on the test. A


2.52 The system shall not allow changes to the final versions of the question and associated answer.

B


The Diagonal Group

Educational Standards Category Number Description Notes Priority Goal 3.01 The system shall be the system of record for

law school information. In other words, all law school information, such as names, addresses, contacts, registration dates, etc., shall be maintained here and not in separate systems (as is currently the case, e.g., for label printing, etc.).

A

Law School Information

3.02 The system shall allow the authorized Educational Standards System user to indicate whether information is accessible to the public; only to internal State Bar Admissions users; or only to Educational Standards System users.


3.03 The system shall allow the authorized Educational Standards System user to enter and maintain profile information about each law school.

Profile information includes school id, school name, primary location, primary contact, website, type (ABA accredited, CA accredited, CA unaccredited, accreditation in progress, correspondence), registration status (not registered, registration information requested, registration in progress, registered), enrollment, fees, tuition, gender/ethnicity enrollment figures, comments/notes.

A


3.04 The system shall allow the Educational Standards System user to enter and maintain the information captured in the "Notice of Intention to Commence Instruction in Law."

Could also allow to be entered by law schools via web.

B


3.05 The system shall allow the Educational Standards System user to scan in the "Notice of Intention to Commence Instruction in Law."

B


3.06 The system shall be able to track the lifecycle of law school registration.

Based on registration status. B


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority Law School Information

3.07 The system shall be maintain a law school's registration lifecycle history, and thus be able to indicate exact periods of time during which a law school was or was not registered or accredited.

A


3.08 Updates to registered law school profile information that is displayed on the State Bar website shall be automatically pushed to the State Bar website.

Information maintained on the State Bar website includes contact information and web links.

A


3.09 The system shall allow the Educational Standards System user to enter and maintain profile information about an unlimited number of locations for each law school.

Profile information includes location name, address, contacts, comments/notes.

B


3.10 The system shall allow the Educational Standards System user to enter and maintain profile information about an unlimited number of contacts for each law school location.

Profile information includes name, title/role, phone, address, email, comments/notes.

B


3.11 The system shall maintain an audit trail of all changes made to law school profile, law school location, and law school contact information.

Including name of user making the change, data prior to change, date/timestamp.

A


3.12 The system shall allow the Educational Standards System user to print mailing address labels for all or a selected subset of law schools, and to select the specific contact type (such as Deans, Registrars, etc.).

A

Law School Registration

3.13 The system shall allow the Educational Standards System user to indicate that a school has requested registration information.

B


3.14 When a school has been flagged as requesting registration information, the system shall print a Notice of Intention and Registration form and form instructions for that school.

B


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority Law School Registration

3.15 The Notice of Intention and Registration form shall be barcoded with the law school's id.

C


3.16 When the Notice of Intention and Registration is printed for a particular school, the system shall change the registration status of that school to "registration information requested."

C


3.17 The system shall allow the Educational Standards System user to manually enter and maintain registration form information.

B


3.18 The system shall allow the Educational Standards System user to scan in registration forms.

B


3.19 The system shall be able to track registration deadlines as they relate to each school in the registration process.

For the purpose of sending reminder notices; e.g., if a notice should be sent after 90 days, the system will calculate this.

B


3.20 The system shall be able to email reminder notices to law school contacts based on registration deadlines.

B


3.21 The system shall be able to print reminder notices to be mailed to law school contacts based on registration deadlines.


3.22 The system shall alert the Educational Standards System user to generate and print reminder notices based on registration deadlines.

B


3.23 The system shall allow the Educational Standards System user the ability to indicate that a reminder notice has been mailed.

B


3.24 The system shall be able to track late fees paid by California accredited schools which have not met the deadlines.

B


3.25 The system shall allow the Educational Standards System user to designate a registration form as being complete.

B


The Diagonal Group


3.26 The system shall allow the Educational Standards System user to search and report on the contents of the fields of the form.

Reports mentioned include student population statistics (gender, ethnicity, etc.) by school type; tuition fees by school type.

A


3.27 The system shall include a web interface for law school users.

Only designated users at each law school are allowed to access the system. The process of communicating login information to designated users has yet to be determined, but will probably involve manual communication.

A


3.28 The web interface shall require users to log in and provide a password.


3.29 The web interface shall allow law school users to see only information related to their schools.


3.30 The system shall provide an audit trail of all access attempts by law school users, as well as any changes made.

Information included in the audit trail shall include date/time, changed data, data prior to the change, and information identifying the person or computer accessing the system and/or making changes in the event confirmation of the person is needed.


3.31 The system shall update the web interface with information as to which applicants are allocated to each school.

Students are allocated to the school from which they graduated, or, in the case of students who qualify to take the bar exam through a combination of school and other law study, to the last school they attended.

B


3.32 The web interface shall allow the law school user to review the list students allocated to his or her school.

B


3.33 The web interface shall allow the law school user to identify mis-allocated students and communicate the error to the State Bar.

B


3.34 The web interface shall allow the law school user to view summary pass/fail test information for test takers who are allocated to their law school.

C


The Diagonal Group


3.35 The web interface shall allow the law school user to enter required annual report data.

B


3.36 The web interface shall allow the law school user to save annual report information and return to it in a later session.

The expectation is that the forms will take some time to complete so users will need the ability to save information and come back later.

B


3.37 When the law school user has completed entering annual report data, the web interface shall allow the annual report to be submitted.


3.38 Upon submission, the web interface shall validate the data, and, if invalid data is found, re-display the annual report data with the invalid information highlighted.


3.39 Once the completed annual report has been submitted, the system shall not allow changes to the annual report data.


3.40 The system shall allow the Educational Standards System user to scan in annual reports received by mail and attach them to the record.

B


3.41 The system shall allow the Educational Standards System user to generate and print reminder notices for schools that have not sent in their annual reports.

B


3.42 The system shall allow the Educational Standards System user to search and report on the contents of the fields of the annual report.

Reports mentioned include student population statistics (gender, ethnicity, etc.) by school type; tuition fees by school type.

B


3.43 The system shall allow the Education Standards System user to enter annual report data.

B

Activity Tracking

3.44 The system shall provide tracking for communications between the State Bar and each law school.

Details include contact name, method of communication (phone, email, etc.), description of communication, automatic date/timestamp.

B


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority Activity Tracking

3.45 The system shall automatically record the generation of reminder notices as a communication.

B

Activity Tracking

3.46 The system shall allow the Educational Standards System user to attach files to the communications record.

Such as scanned copies of letters, faxes, etc. B

Activity Tracking

3.47 The system shall allow the Educational Standards System user to attach emails to the communications record.

B

Activity Tracking

3.48 The system shall allow the Educational Standards System user to search for communications by law school, date, communications method, word within the description field, or combinations thereof.

B

Activity Tracking

3.49 The system shall allow the Educational Standards System user to record complaints about law schools submitted by students.

Includes student name, contact info, description of complaint, action taken, resolution code (resolved, open, unable to resolve). It is suggested that complaints be treated as a form of correspondence entry.

B

Activity Tracking

3.50 The system shall allow the Educational Standards System user to search for complaints by law school, date, student name, word within the description field, resolution code, or combinations thereof.

B

Law School Accreditation

3.51 The system shall allow the Educational Standards System user to record law school site visit schedule information.

Includes date scheduled, location, contact info. Each site must be visited every five years to maintain accreditation.

B


3.52 The system shall allow the Educational Standards System user to record an unlimited number of site visit team members who will visit the site.

A minimum of three people are on the team that visits a site: one consultant and/or staff member, one Committee member, and one law school member.

B


3.53 The system shall allow the Educational Standards System user to view a list of site visits.

B


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority Law School Accreditation

3.54 The system shall allow the Educational Standards System user to select a visit from the list and see detailed information related to that visit.

B


3.55 The system shall automatically notify site visit team members when they are scheduled for a site visit.

D


3.56 The system shall automatically send reminders to site visit team members who are scheduled for a site visit 30 days prior to the visit.

D


3.57 The system shall allow the Educational Standards System user to scan in and/or link the site visit report to the site visit record.


3.58 The system shall allow the Educational Standards System user to record recommendations from the site visit.

Such as brief summaries involving actions taken by the Committee.

C


3.59 The system shall allow the Educational Standards System user to attach a copy of the site visit report to the record.

B


3.60 The system shall allow the Educational Standards System user to generate and send an invoice.


3.61 The system shall track when the invoice was generated and when it was sent.


3.62 The system shall allow the Educational Standards System user to indicate that accreditation fees have been received.

B


3.63 The system shall allow the Educational Standards System user to indicate that accreditation fees have been received and when they were received.

B


The Diagonal Group

Registration Category Number Description Notes Priority Pre-Registration 4.01 The system shall have a web interface that

requires registrants to pre-register (create an account) prior to performing any other web-based interaction with the State Bar Admissions Department.

Such as registering, applying for an exam, etc. A

Pre-Registration 4.02 The system shall not be limited as to the number of accounts it can maintain.

A

Pre-Registration 4.03 The web interface shall provide a mechanism for account creation.

A

Pre-Registration 4.04 During account creation, the web interface shall collect title, first name, last name, middle name, suffix, social security number, home phone, work phone, mailing address, email, re-enter email, date of birth, login id, password (encrypted), secret question 1, secret answer 1, secret question 2, secret answer 2.

A

Pre-Registration 4.05 The web interface shall visually indicate which fields are required.

Required pre-registration fields include first name, last name, social security number, email, re-enter email, date of birth, login id, password, secret question 1, secret question 2.

A

Pre-Registration 4.06 The web interface shall allow the pre-registrant to submit the information once he/she believes it is complete and correct.

A

Pre-Registration 4.07 Upon submission, the web interface shall determine whether the social security number is in a pre-existing pre-registration record.

A


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority Pre-Registration 4.08 If the social security number is a duplicate, the

system shall display information to the effect that the information cannot be processed , and include instructions for resolving the problem.

The process for handling duplicates is yet to be determined. It may be desirable to validate the registrant by phone by instructing them to call the State Bar, or to alert a State Bar user to contact the registrant. However, the system can in no way indicate to the registrant that the record is a duplicate.

A

Pre-Registration 4.09 If the social security number is unique, the web interface shall validate the pre-registration information for presence of required fields and correct formatting.

Includes use of duplicate login id. Note that "correct" formatting will depend on the implementation; for example, a single phone number field may require use of dashes, while a phone number field consisting of three separate fields will not.

A

Pre-Registration 4.10 If required fields are missing or information is incorrectly formatted, the web interface shall redisplay the form with the errors visually highlighted.

A

Pre-Registration 4.11 Once the pre-registration form has all required fields filled, and fields are correctly formatted, the system shall store the pre-registration information, assign an account id and set the account creation date.

A

Pre-Registration 4.12 When the account id has been assigned, the system shall automatically email a confirming email to the registrant's email address.

Other information regarding State Bar policies may be included in this email.

B

Pre-Registration 4.13 The system shall require the registrant to take a confirming action upon receiving the email in order to activate their account.

Such as sending a blank reply, or clicking a link. This is to ensure that the email address is valid for the registrant.

Pre-Registration 4.14 The web interface shall provide a mechanism for retrieving forgotten logins and passwords via secret question.

It is suggested that the information be emailed to the address on the account.

A

Pre-Registration 4.15 The web interface shall provide a mechanism for the account holder to modify their profile information.

A


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority Pre-Registration 4.16 The system shall maintain a history of account

holder profile changes. A

Pre-Registration 4.17 The system shall provide a mechanism for expiration of accounts.

It is suggested that accounts containing pre-registration information only (i.e., no registration, moral character, exam application, etc.) which have not been updated in one year be set to an inactive status.

B

Pre-Registration 4.18 The system shall provide an interface for State Bar users to search for, and display, pre-registrant information.

Regardless of whether or not the person has registered, applied for an exam, or performed any other interaction with the State Bar. It is suggested that the records be searchable on name, SSN, phone, email, DOB.

Web Correspondence

4.19 The web interface shall provide a mechanism for account holders to initiate correspondence to the State Bar Admissions Department.

Perhaps as a "Contact Us" link. This feature will not be used initially by the State Bar, but it must be able to be "turned on" when needed.

Web Correspondence

4.20 The web interface shall require account holders to enter a subject line for the correspondence.

Web Correspondence

4.21 The web interface shall require account holders to enter a message.

Web Correspondence

4.22 The web interface shall require account holders to select a subject area for the correspondence from a drop-down list.

This is to enable routing of the correspondence to the correct person. Some suggested values are Registration, Moral Character, Testing Accommodations, Exam Application, etc.

Web Correspondence

4.23 Correspondence submitted through the web interface shall create a correspondence entry and create a tickler for the correct State Bar person based on the subject area selected.

Registration Application

4.24 The system shall not be limited as to the number of registration applications it can maintain.

A


4.25 The system shall have a web interface that provides a registrant with the ability to register online.

A


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority Registration Application

4.26 The system shall restrict a registrant from registering more than once.

The online application process does not currently cross reference the registration database and hence people can re-register. Reportedly, there are about 1,000 of these each year.

A


4.27 The web interface shall provide appropriate instructions to the registrant in relation to the completion and submission of the registration application.

A


4.28 The web interface shall allow the registrant to save the registration application.

A


4.29 The web interface shall allow the registrant to retrieve and open a saved registration application.

A


4.30 The web interface shall force the registrant to confirm the profile information entered during the pre-registration (account creation) process and allow them to update this information if necessary.

A


4.31 The web interface shall provide a mechanism for the account holder to enter their former names information.

A


4.32 The web interface shall allow the account holder to enter an unlimited number of former names records.

One former names record would be used for each distinct former names the account holder has had (e.g. an account holder would need to create two former names records if they had two former names).

A


4.33 The web interface shall provide a mechanism for the account holder to add to their former names information.

B


4.34 The system shall maintain a history of account holder former names changes.

A


The Diagonal Group


4.35 The web interface shall provide a mechanism for the account holder to enter their pre-legal education information.

A


4.36 The web interface shall allow the account holder to enter an unlimited number of pre-legal education records.

One pre-legal education record would be used for each distinct element of pre-legal education undertaken (e.g. an account holder would need to create two pre-legal education records if they attended two different pre-law schools). An unlimited number of entries may not be required .

A


4.37 The web interface shall provide a mechanism for the account holder to add to their pre-legal education information.

B


4.38 The system shall maintain a history of account holder pre-legal education changes.

B


4.39 The web interface shall provide a mechanism for the account holder to enter their legal education information.

A


4.40 The web interface shall allow the account holder to enter an unlimited number of legal education records.

One legal education record would be used for each distinct element of legal education undertaken (e.g. an account holder would need to create two legal education records if they attended two different law schools). An unlimited number of records may not be required.

B


4.41 The web interface shall allow the account holder to select a law school code from a pre-defined list and assign this code to each legal education record.

A


4.42 The web interface shall allow the account holder to manually enter law school information for schools which are not on the list.

Such as foreign law schools.


4.43 The system shall provide the ability for a State Bar user to create and maintain a list of law schools and corresponding law school codes.

A


The Diagonal Group


4.44 The web interface shall provide a mechanism for the account holder to add to their legal education information.

B


4.45 The system shall maintain a history of account holder legal education changes.

B


4.46 The web interface shall provide a mechanism for the account holder to enter their jurisdiction admission information.

A


4.47 The web interface shall allow the account holder to enter an unlimited number of jurisdiction admission records.

One jurisdiction admission record would be used for each distinct element of jurisdiction admission (e.g. an account holder would need to create two jurisdiction admission records if they are admitted to two separate jurisdictions). An unlimited number of entries may not be necessary .

B


4.48 The web interface shall provide a mechanism for the account holder to add to their jurisdiction admission information.

B


4.49 The system shall maintain a history of account holder jurisdiction admission changes.

B


4.50 The web interface shall provide a mechanism for the account holder to enter their sex, race, and ethnicity statistics information.

Text must be displayed that explains the purpose for which this information is collected. This is not required information.

A


4.51 The web interface shall enable the registrant to submit an electronic declaration.

A


4.52 The web interface shall enable the registrant to print a paper release authorization to be physically mailed to the State Bar. This release authorization shall be encoded with information identifying the registrant.

Both human-readable and barcoded. Note that this is the signed paper authorization to allow the State Bar to request transcripts, not a paper version of the declaration.

C


4.53 The web interface shall allow the registrant to submit the information once he/she believes it is complete and correct.

A


The Diagonal Group


4.54 The web interface shall validate the registration information for presence of required fields and correct formatting.

A


4.55 If required fields are missing or information is incorrectly formatted, the web interface shall redisplay the form with the errors visually highlighted.

A


4.56 The web interface shall allow the registrant to print a copy of the successfully-submitted registration form for their records.


4.56 Once the registration form has been successfully submitted, the system shall store the registration information in a registration record, link this record to a unique account id and record the registration application date.

A


4.561 The web interface shall allow the successful registrant to complete an online Law Study Evaluation Request.

C


4.562 Once the registration form has all required fields filled and fields are correctly formatted, the system shall guide the registrant through the registration payment process.

A


4.563 The web interface shall determine the appropriate registration fee based on the information entered by the registrant and in the case of late fees, the date of submission.

A


4.564 The web interface shall allow the registrant to pay the registration fee electronically.

A


4.565 The web interface shall allow the registrant to print an invoice for payment, in case the registrant wishes to pay by mail.

B


4.566 The printed invoice shall be encoded with information identifying the registrant.

Both human-readable and barcoded. A


The Diagonal Group


4.567 Once the payment information is approved, the system shall automatically issue a receipt to the registrant in the form of an e-mail to the address specified on the registrant's online account.

B


4.568 The system shall enable group billing functionality - law firms paying for multiple registrants at once.

May not be necessary.


4.569 When a registration record is created, the system shall automatically flag that record to indicate each type of further information required in relation to the application.

E.g., payments, declarations, release authorizations, CLEP scores, pre-legal academic transcripts, certificates of good standing, evaluation of foreign law study.

A

Registration Processing

4.570 The web interface shall enable registrants to check the status of their registration after they have successfully submitted their registration application.

I.e., information entered, payment approved A


4.571 The system shall allow the State Bar user to update registrant information.

Such as correspondence addresses. B


4.572 The system shall allow the State Bar user to indicate the receipt of each type of required information.

I.e., when the authorization is received, the State Bar user will flag that registration requirement as complete.

B


4.573 The system shall allow the State Bar user to scan received documents and attach them to the registration record.

B


4.574 The system shall enable a registrant to withdraw their application within the prescribed withdrawal timeframe.

A


4.575 If a registrant withdraws their application, the system shall automatically calculate the withdrawal refund amount and refund this to the registrant.

A


4.576 The system shall automatically alert the State Bar user when a refund is to be issued.

A


4.577 The system shall allow the State Bar user to issue the refund.

Includes printing refund check and letter. A


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority Registration Processing

4.578 The system shall allow the State Bar user to waive the registration fee.


4.579 The system shall automatically generate requests (physical letters) for transcripts for those registration applications where the registrant does not have a bachelor's degree.

B


4.580 The system shall automatically include a copy of the release form (part of the declaration) when requesting transcripts for those law schools that require the release.

A


4.581 The system shall be able to electronically communicate with law schools in relation to requesting and receiving transcripts.

A


4.582 The system shall automatically attach a copy of an electronically-received transcript to the registrant's record upon receiving the transcript from the law school.

A


4.583 The system shall automatically flag applications as complete once all required documents have been received.

Including payment. A


4.584 The system shall flag complete applications as eligible or not eligible.

Based on law study, pre-legal education, CLEP tests, attorney applicant jurisdiction admission, etc.


4.585 The system shall enable a State Bar user to review complete registration applications and confirm, delay, or deny eligibility. The system shall also allow the user to enter any notes or comments in relation to the approval, delay or rejection.

Alternatively, the system could automatically process any applications it flags as eligible without requiring human confirmation.

A


4.586 The system shall enable a State Bar user to manually approve a registration application once he or she confirms it has met the eligibility criteria.

A


The Diagonal Group


4.587 The system shall record the State Bar user that approves a registration application.

A


4.588 The system shall automatically notify the registrant via e-mail if their application has been approved.

B


4.589 The system shall allow the State Bar user to search for a registration record.

By name, SSN, DOB, phone, email. A


4.590 The system shall provide the ability to list a series of registration records on screen.

A


4.591 The system shall enable the list of registration records to be filtered by entering ranges of filtering criteria.

A


4.592 The system shall enable the list of registration records to be sorted by different fields.

A


4.593 The system shall allow a user to open the details of a registration record from the list of registration records.

A


4.594 The system shall allow a user to select a registration record and view the details of the record.

A


4.595 The system shall be able to store scanned electronic copies of authorizations received in relation to registration applications.

A


4.596 The system shall allow users to view electronic copies of authorizations received on screen.

A


4.597 The system shall provide the ability to record details of events that occur in relation to a registration application. These events would include phone calls, faxed/mailed/e-mailed correspondence and State Bar user notes.

A


The Diagonal Group


4.598 Where communications events have information in electronic format (e.g., documents and e-mails), the system shall provide a link through to that electronic information allowing the State Bar user to view the information on screen.

A

Registration Abandonment

4.599 The system shall automatically flag registration applications as submitted for abandonment once they meet the abandonment criteria.

A


4.600 The system shall enable a State Bar user to review those registration applications flagged as submitted for abandonment and confirm, delay or reject the abandonment. The system shall also allow the user to enter any notes or comments in relation to the abandonment.

A


4.601 The system shall enable a State Bar user to manually abandon a registration application once it has met the application abandonment criteria.

A


4.602 The system shall require the State Bar user to select a reason for abandonment.

A


4.603 The system shall maintain descriptive paragraphs associated with each reason for abandonment.

For printing in abandonment letters. A


4.604 The system shall allow the State Bar user to select "other" as a reason for abandonment.

B


4.605 If the State Bar user selects "other," the system shall require the State Bar user to provide a description of the reason.

Unlimited text. B


4.606 The system shall record the State Bar user that abandons a registration application.

A


4.607 The system shall automatically notify the registrant via e-mail if their application has been abandoned and include the details on why the application was abandoned.

A


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority General Registration

4.608 The system shall allow the registrant to print a receipt for payment of registration fees .

B

General Registration

4.609 The system shall allow the registrant to re-print receipts.


4.610 The system shall provide the ability to reconcile monies received at the bank with the registration fees paid online.

A


4.611 The system shall record the history of all communications with the registrant including details of e-mails, documents, faxes and phone calls.

A


The Diagonal Group

Moral Character Category Number Description Notes Priority Goal 5.001 To reduce processing time for level 0 and 1

applications to 90 days. A

Goal 5.002 To put the Moral Character application online. A Goal 5.003 To create a more user-friendly system. A

Goal 5.004 To be able to track Moral Character files more easily.

A

Goal 5.005 To reduce repetitive data entry of Moral Character information.

A

General Web Interface

5.006 The system shall provide a web interface for registered applicants to fill out the Moral Character application.

A


5.007 The web interface shall not allow non-registered applicants to fill out a Moral Character application.

A


5.008 The web interface shall present the Moral Character application across multiple screens.

For ease of entry by the applicant - the form is fairly long. It also allows interim validation of field contents.

A


5.009 The web interface shall present explanatory information currently contained in the paper application in context-appropriate areas.

The system may also link to other areas of the site for additional information, or "force" the applicant to read and indicate he/she has read presented information (such as the Duties of Attorney). Explanatory information should remain accessible to the applicant at all times, even if he/she has been "forced" to read it. An example might be the definitions associated with questions 10.2 and 10.3: this information should be directly visible, or easily accessible, while the applicant is answering these questions.

A


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority General Web Interface

5.010 The web interface shall assign a unique id to the application when the applicant elects to fill it out.

I.e., each application will have an identifier from the very start - even before any data is entered.

A


5.011 The web interface shall assign a status of "submission in progress" to the application for the period from its creation to its validated submission.

Status values are given as an indication of the lifecycle of the application; the exact verbiage used is not required, though the status change itself is required.

A


5.012 The web interface shall require the applicant to "submit" each screen before continuing on to the next.

C


5.013 The system shall allow the applicant to edit any submitted screen prior to final submission of the completed application.


5.014 The system shall provide a mechanism which allows the applicant to easily move to and edit any previously submitted screen.

E.g., something like "breadcrumbs," or a list of the application steps that is visible on each screen of the application process.


5.015 The web interface shall allow the applicant to cancel entry of a screen, which shall remove all information that was entered on that screen.

A


5.016 The web interface shall validate field content upon submission of a screen.

Alternatively, the system may validate field content upon entry of each answer .

A


5.017 In the event invalid field content is identified, the web interface shall re-display the screen and visually indicate which field(s) are in error.

A


5.018 The web interface shall visually indicate required fields.

A


5.019 The web interface shall present information to the applicant that is required based on his/her answers.

Many questions are in Yes/No form, followed by an "If Yes, provide more information" statement. Applicants responding Yes should be required to respond to the additional questions; applicants responding No should not have to see any of the additional questions required for Yes responders.

A


The Diagonal Group


5.020 The web interface shall provide a means for applicants to elaborate on their answers to Yes/No questions.

It is suggested that a memo field of unlimited length be associated with each Yes/No question, particularly to allow applicants answering No an opportunity to provide additional information if desired.

A


5.021 The web interface shall provide a means for applicants to indicate whether, for Yes/No questions, they will be providing an attachment.

It is suggested that a check box be used. Note that this requirement, and the three following, are intended to give the system a means of maintaining a count of attachments .

A


5.022 If an applicant has answered "yes" to a question which may have an associated (paper) attachment, the web interface shall automatically indicate that an attachment is required.

If a check box is used, the web interface could automatically check it, based on the applicant's answer to the main question.

A


5.023 The web interface shall allow applicants to manually indicate that they wish to provide an attachment, even if they are not required to provide one.

Current questions with the potential for attachments are: 2.1, 9.1, 10.2, 10.3, 11.1, 11.2, 11.3, 11.4, 12.4, 12.5, 13.4, 14.1, 14.2, 14.3, 14.4, 14.5, 15.1

A


5.024 If an applicant has indicated that he/she will be sending a non-required (paper) attachment, the web interface shall require the applicant to confirm this on validation.

A


5.025 The web interface shall allow applicants to save an in-progress application at any point in the process of filling it out.

A


5.026 The web interface shall save all entered data on the current screen, regardless of whether the screen has been submitted.

A


5.027 The web interface shall allow applicants to save an in-progress application to be worked on later regardless of field contents.

I.e., the application can be saved to be worked on later even if required fields are blank or invalid data has been entered.

A


5.028 The web interface shall allow the applicant to return to a previously-saved application.

A


5.029 The web interface shall not allow the applicant to have more than one application in progress.

A


The Diagonal Group


5.030 The web interface shall not allow the applicant to modify a submitted application.

A

5.031 The web interface shall allow the applicant to submit amendments to submitted applications.


5.032 The web interface shall allow the applicant to delete an in-progress, but not yet submitted, application, which will remove all submitted information from the system.

A


5.033 After all screens have been successfully submitted, the web interface shall require the applicant to submit the final application.

This allows the applicant the ability to review previous screens prior to submitting the entire application.

B


5.034 The web interface shall allow the applicant to review the application prior to final submission.

A


5.035 The web interface shall allow the applicant to print a copy of the successfully-submitted application for his or her records.

A


5.036 The web interface shall allow the applicant to see the status of the Admissions' Department's receipt of his/her application and related information once it has been successfully submitted.

Including the application itself, payment, each attachment specified by the application, declaration, authorization, fingerprint cards.

A

5.037 The web interface shall allow the applicant to see if correspondence has been sent by Admissions to the applicant, and whether a response has been received.

Allows the applicant to see if Admissions is still waiting for them to respond to correspondence.


5.038 The system shall provide a web interface for registered applicants who have a Moral Character application that is about to expire to fill out the Moral Character Extension form.

A

Application Details

5.039 The web interface shall require the applicant to confirm his/her previously-entered profile details prior to beginning the application.

Such as name, contact details, etc. A

Application Details

5.040 The web interface shall allow the applicant the ability to change profile details prior to confirming.

A


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority Application Details

5.041 The web interface shall require the applicant to indicate his/her applicant type: student, attorney, MJP, or foreign legal consultant.

The selection may be made via radio button, with a brief description of each type of applicant visible.

A

Application Details

5.042 For attorney applicants, the web interface shall require the applicant to send a paper attachment.

Either a Certificate of Good Standing or, if their status is inactive, a letter from the jurisdiction indicating there has been no disciplinary action.

A

Application Details

5.043 If the applicant has answered "yes" to current question 2.1, the web interface shall allow the applicant the ability to enter an unlimited number of former names.

Includes first, middle, last, time period, and reason for change. It is suggested that the reason be selectable from a drop-down list; selection of "other" requires the filling in of a free-form field; selection of "court order" requires an attachment (see above for discussion of attachments). It is suggested that for this, and all other questions that allow an unlimited number of entries, that the system ask for the first entry, then asks "do you have another <former name, etc.>?" The system should continue accepting entries until the applicant responds "no."

A

Application Details

5.044 The web interface shall allow the applicant the ability to enter an unlimited number of address history entries.

Address history includes start date, end date, address.

A

Application Details

5.045 The web interface shall not require that address history entries be entered chronologically.

B

Application Details

5.046 Upon re-display or printing of address history information, the address history entries will appear in chronological order.

Application Details

5.047 Upon submission of the address history, the system shall calculate the time gaps between each address history entry and the subsequent chronological entry, and between the latest address history entry and the current date.

A


The Diagonal Group


5.048 If any gaps are identified, the system shall re-display the information with a message and an additional comment field and allow the applicant the opportunity to correct or add to the information entered, or to add a comment.

A message can be on the order of "There are 90 day+ gaps in your address history. If this is correct, please add a comment indicating the reason for the gap(s). If it is not correct, please adjust any incorrect dates and/or add any addresses that are not listed, then click re-submit."

A

Application Details

5.049 The web interface shall allow the applicant the ability to enter an unlimited number of pre-legal education history entries.

Education history includes start date, end date, school name, address.

A

Application Details

5.050 The web interface shall not require that pre-legal education history entries be entered chronologically.

B

Application Details

5.051 Upon re-display or printing of pre-legal education history information, the pre-legal education history entries will appear in chronological order.

Application Details

5.052 The web interface shall allow the applicant the ability to enter an unlimited number of legal education history entries.

Education history includes start date, end date, school name, address.

A

Application Details

5.053 The web interface shall allow the applicant the ability to select schools for each legal education history entry from a validated list.

This list is based on the school table of record.

A

Application Details

5.054 The web interface shall allow the account holder to manually enter law school information for schools which are not on the list.

Such as foreign law schools.

Application Details

5.055 The web interface shall not require that legal education history entries be entered chronologically.

A

Application Details

5.056 Upon re-display or printing of legal education history information, the legal education history entries will appear in chronological order.


The Diagonal Group


5.057 If the applicant has answered "yes" to current question 6.1 (self-employment), the web interface shall require the applicant to provide reference details for an unlimited number of self-employment situations.

The information involved for questions 6.1 and 6.2 includes business name, address, phone, time period, nature of business, duties; and reference information, including name, address, occupation, phone, time period known.

A

Application Details

5.058 If the applicant has answered "yes" to current question 6.2 (self-employment as an attorney), the web interface shall require the applicant to provide reference details for an unlimited number of self-employment situations.

The information involved for questions 6.1 and 6.2 includes business name, address, phone, time period, nature of business, duties; and reference information, including name, address, occupation, phone, time period known.

A

Application Details

5.059 The web interface shall allow the applicant the ability to enter an unlimited number of work history entries.

Work history includes start date, end date, company name, address, supervisor, phone, title/position, reason for leaving. It is suggested that the reason for leaving be selectable from a drop-down box, and choices "current employer" and "other" be included; selection of "other" requires entry into a memo field.

A

Application Details

5.060 The web interface shall not require that work history entries be entered chronologically.

B

Application Details

5.061 Upon re-display or printing of work history information, the work history entries will appear in chronological order.

Application Details

5.062 Upon submission of the work history, the system shall calculate the time gaps between work and education history entries, and between the latest entry and the current date.

A


The Diagonal Group


5.063 If gaps longer than 90 days are identified, the system shall re-display the information with a message and an additional comment field and allow the applicant the opportunity to correct or add to the information entered, or to add a comment.

A message can be on the order of "There are 90 day+ gaps in your work and education history. If this is correct, please add a comment indicating the reason for the gap(s). If it is not correct, please adjust any incorrect dates and/or add any information that is not listed, then click re-submit."

A

Application Details

5.064 The web interface shall allow the applicant the ability to enter five personal references.

Information includes name, address, occupation, phone, time period known, relationship.

A

Application Details

5.065 The web interface shall, on submission of personal references, disallow the use of personal references who are listed as employment or self-employment references.

This should be re-displayed as a validation error.

A

Application Details

5.066 If the applicant has answered "yes" to current question 8.1 (credentials and licenses), the web interface shall require the applicant to provide details for an unlimited number of credentials/licenses.

Details include issuing authority, address, license/certification, time period, license/certification number, active/inactive.

A

Application Details

5.067 If the applicant has answered "yes" to current question 9.1A (complaints/discipline), the web interface shall require the applicant to provide details for an unlimited number of license denials.

Details include authority name, address, court name, date admitted, address, date of denial, reason for denial.

A

Application Details

5.068 If the applicant has answered "yes" to current question 9.1B (complaints/discipline), the web interface shall require the applicant to provide details for an unlimited number of disqualifications.

Details include authority name, address, court name, date admitted, address, nature of disqualification, time period of disqualification, reason for disqualification.

A

Application Details

5.069 If the applicant has answered "yes" to current question 9.1C (complaints/discipline), the web interface shall require the applicant to provide details for an unlimited number of complaints.

Details include authority name, address, court name, date admitted, address, date of complaint, final disposition.

A

Application Details

5.070 If the applicant has answered "yes" to current question 10.2 (mental illness), the web interface shall require the applicant to provide details for an unlimited number of incidents.

Details include the information currently in Form 5.

A


The Diagonal Group


5.071 For each instance of details submitted for current question 10.2, the web interface shall require submission of at least one instance of Form 4.

A person may have been treated by more than one doctor.

A

Application Details

5.072 If the applicant has answered "yes" to current question 10.3 (adjudged incompetent), the web interface shall require the applicant to provide details for an unlimited number of incidents.

Details include the name of the court, title and name of case, proceeding date, name and address of the institution, time period, and narrative description.

A

Application Details

5.073 For each instance of details submitted for current question 10.3, the web interface shall require submission of at least one instance of Form 4.

A person may have been treated by more than one doctor, so the system must be able to accept multiple doctor-related details.

A

Application Details

5.074 If the applicant has answered "yes" to current question 11.1 (prior application to practice law), the web interface shall require the applicant to provide details for an unlimited number of prior applications.

Details include state/country, date of application, date of examination, date of admission/readmission, reason for non-admission. Reasons include Failed, Withdrew, and Other. It is suggested that the reason be selectable from a drop-down box; selection of Withdrew or Other requires an attachment.

A

Application Details

5.075 If the applicant has answered "yes" to current question 11.2 (civil actions), the web interface shall require the applicant to provide details for an unlimited number of civil actions.


A

Application Details

5.076 If the applicant has answered "yes" to current question 11.3 (judgments), the web interface shall require the applicant to provide details for an unlimited number of judgments.


A

Application Details

5.077 If the applicant has answered "yes" to current question 11.4 (fraud), the web interface shall require the applicant to provide details for an unlimited number of complaints.

Details include the information currently in Form 1. Note that an answer of Yes to this question will require the applicant to send a paper attachment or set of attachments for each incident.

A

Application Details

5.078 If the applicant has answered "yes" to current question 12.1 (convictions), the web interface shall require the applicant to provide details for an unlimited number of convictions.

Details include the information currently in Form 2. Note that an answer of Yes to this question will require the applicant to send paper attachments.

A


The Diagonal Group


5.079 If the applicant has answered "yes" to current question 12.2 (final adjudication), the web interface shall require the applicant to provide details for an unlimited number of incidents.


A

Application Details

5.080 If the applicant has answered "yes" to current question 12.3 (contempt of court), the web interface shall require the applicant to provide details for an unlimited number of incidents.


A

Application Details

5.081 If the applicant has answered "yes" to current question 12.4 (immunity), the web interface shall require the applicant to provide details for an unlimited number of incidents.


A

Application Details

5.082 If the applicant has answered "yes" to current question 12.5 (other jurisdiction), the web interface shall require the applicant to send a paper attachment.

A

Application Details

5.083 If the applicant has answered "yes" to current question 13.1 (scholastic discipline), the web interface shall require the applicant to provide details for an unlimited number of incidents.

Details include school name, date, reason for discipline, final disposition.

A

Application Details

5.084 If the applicant has answered "yes" to current question 13.2 (bonded positions), the web interface shall require the applicant to provide details for an unlimited number of incidents.

Details include the nature of the position, time period, amount of bond, and whether any attempt has been made to recover or cancel the bond.

A

Application Details

5.085 If the applicant has answered "yes" to current question 13.3 (refused bond), the web interface shall require the applicant to provide details for an unlimited number of incidents.

Details include narrative description of the circumstances.

A

Application Details

5.086 If the applicant has answered "yes" to current question 13.4 (default), the web interface shall require the applicant to provide details for an unlimited number of incidents.


A


The Diagonal Group


5.087 If the applicant has answered "yes" to current question 13.5 (debts), the web interface shall require the applicant to provide details for an unlimited number of incidents.

Details include name of creditor, address, nature of indebtedness, date incurred, account number, amount still owing, reason for nonpayment, steps taken to address the debt.

A

Application Details

5.088 If the applicant has answered "yes" to current question 13.6 (student loan default), the web interface shall require the applicant to provide details for an unlimited number of incidents.

Details include name of creditor, address, loan account number, amount owed, steps taken to make the amount current.

A

Application Details

5.089 If the applicant has answered "yes" to current question 14.1 (bankruptcy), the web interface shall require the applicant to provide details for an unlimited number of incidents.


A

Application Details

5.090 If the applicant has answered "yes" to current question 14.2 (petition in bankruptcy), the web interface shall require the applicant to provide details for an unlimited number of incidents.


A

Application Details

5.091 If the applicant has answered "yes" to current question 14.3 (Chapter 13), the web interface shall require the applicant to provide details for an unlimited number of incidents.


A

Application Details

5.092 If the applicant has answered "yes" to current question 14.4 (unlawful preference), the web interface shall require the applicant to provide details for an unlimited number of incidents.

Details include date, title and number of the case, name and location of the court. Note that an answer of Yes to this question will require the applicant to send a paper attachment or set of attachments for each incident.

A

Application Details

5.093 If the applicant has answered "yes" to current question 14.5 (chemical dependency), the web interface shall require the applicant to provide details for an unlimited number of incidents.


A


The Diagonal Group


5.094 If the applicant has answered "yes" to current question 14.5 (chemical dependency), the web interface shall require the applicant to provide details for an unlimited number of doctors associated with each incident.

Application Details

5.095 If the applicant has answered "yes" to current question 14.5 (chemical dependency), the web interface shall require the applicant to print one copy of Form 4 for each doctor .

B

Application Details

5.096 If the applicant has answered "yes" to current question 15.1.b (former member of armed forces), the web interface shall require the applicant to send a paper attachment.

A

Application Details

5.097 If the applicant has answered "no" to current question 15.1.c.1 (honorable discharge), the web interface shall require the applicant to provide details.

Details include a narrative description of the circumstances.

A

Application Details

5.098 If the applicant has answered "yes" to current question 15.1.c.2 (court-martial), the web interface shall require the applicant to provide details for an unlimited number of incidents.


A

Application Details

5.099 If the applicant has answered "yes" to current question 15.1.c.3 (resignation), the web interface shall require the applicant to provide details.


A

Application Details

5.100 If the applicant has answered "yes" to current question 15.1.c.4 (administrative discharge), the web interface shall require the applicant to provide details.


A

Application Details

5.101 If the applicant has answered "yes" to current question 15.1.c.5 (non-judicial punishment), the web interface shall require the applicant to provide details for an unlimited number of incidents.


A

Application Details

5.102 The web interface shall maintain a count of required forms for each question.

A


The Diagonal Group


5.103 The web interface shall maintain a count of required or otherwise provided attachments for each question.

"Otherwise provided" refers to non-required attachments that the applicant has indicated he or she elects to provide (see 5.021).

B

Application Details

5.104 Upon validated submission of the last screen of the application, the web interface set the status of the application to "submitted."

A

Application Details

5.105 The system shall track the date the application was submitted.

A

Application Details

5.106 The system shall track the date payment was received.

Application Details

5.107 Upon validated submission of the last screen of the application, the web interface shall display a list of the next steps the applicant must take to complete the application.

"Next steps" includes sending any attachments referenced in the application - the system should list these; the declaration; authorization; payment; fingerprinting.

A

Application Details

5.108 The web interface shall provide additional, explanatory, information about each step in a way readily accessible to the applicant.

It is suggested that the applicant can click on each step to gain additional information about the process, the reasons the information is needed, etc.

A

Application Details

5.109 The web interface shall display a status for each of the next steps.

It is suggested that statuses such as "waiting to receive," "received," and "accepted" be used - the applicants do not necessarily need to see the statuses used by State Bar employees.

A

Application Details

5.110 The web interface shall allow the applicant to submit an electronic declaration.

This requires specific action from the applicant to indicate he/she has read, understood, and agrees to the information in the declaration. Note that this is separate from the authorization document.

B

Application Details

5.111 The system shall track the date the declaration was submitted.

Note that the application is not actually considered to be complete until payment is received.

A

Application Details

5.112 The web interface shall allow the applicant to print a copy of the authorization to be signed.

A


The Diagonal Group


5.113 The web interface shall allow the applicant to print all required forms, based on his/her answers to the questions.

Note that, regardless of the order in which information is accepted by the web interface, the printed information must appear as it currently does in the standard forms.

A

Application Details

5.114 The web interface shall allow the applicant to print cover pages for all required attachments.

In order to scan in the receipt of application components, a barcode must be associated with each component.

A

Application Details

5.115 The web interface shall print individual copies of each form and cover page, based on the counts maintained.

B

Application Details

5.116 All printed forms and cover pages shall include a barcode uniquely identifying the application, form, page of form, and question number to which the form relates.

A

Application Details

5.117 All printed forms and cover pages shall indicate, in large human-readable print, the name of the form and the question number to which it relates.

A

Application Details

5.118 All printed forms shall be pre-filled with any information already captured by the system.

Applicant's name, law school name, etc. A

Application Details

5.119 The web interface shall allow the applicant to submit payment electronically.

A

General Moral Character System

5.120 The system shall allow the Moral Character System user to list total application counts by status, by date.

A


5.121 The system shall allow the Moral Character System user to list applications by status.

Possibly by drilling down into a count by status. Information shown should include status, name, date submitted, registration number ; default order is by date.

A


5.122 The system shall allow the Moral Character System user to re-sort a list of applications.

A


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority General Moral Character System

5.123 The system shall allow the Moral Character System user to see the status of each of the components of an individual's application on a page summarizing the status of the application .

Possibly by drilling down into the list of applications by status. Information shown should include status, name, date submitted, and the status and date received of all components of the application (application, payment, authorization, declaration, etc.).

A


5.124 The system shall be able to maintain business rules that define the allowable timespan of each segment of the lifecycle of an application.

A


5.125 The system shall be able to maintain business rules that govern the addressee, frequency, nature, and content of alerts that are sent to Moral Character System users.

A


5.126 The system shall be able to alert Moral Character System users based on these business rules.

Alerts may be in the form of pop-ups, emails, visual indications on a listed application, etc.

A


5.127 The system shall be able to maintain business rules that govern the frequency, nature, and content of reminder letters and emails that are sent to applicants.

Business rules are associated with how often reminder letters are sent (every 30 days, for example); letters need to indicate what information is missing. Includes the Moral Character application and the Extension. Note that the State Bar may elect not to use email communications for Moral Character.

A


5.128 The system shall be able to automatically send letters and/or emails to applicants based on these business rules.

Note that the State Bar may elect not to use email communications for Moral Character.

A


5.129 Authorized Moral Character System users shall be able to add to, modify, or delete business rules.

A


5.130 The system shall track the last update date/time and person updating for each application.

A


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority General Moral Character System

5.131 The system shall provide a means to track correspondence related to the application.

Standard correspondence tracking as described in the General Section. Note that it includes communication between the State Bar and the DMV, FBI, DOJ, or any other entities involved in processing and investigating the application, as well as the applicant.

A


5.132 The system shall allow the Moral Character System user to print a copy of an application.

For sending to other jurisdictions, or for their own use. Note that, regardless of the order in which information is accepted by the web interface, the printed information must appear as it currently does in the standard forms.

A

Application Receipt

5.133 The system shall alert the Moral Character System user to the receipt of new electronically-submitted applications.

A

Application Receipt

5.134 The system shall allow the Moral Character System user to view a list of new applications.

Application Receipt

5.135 The system shall allow the Moral Character System user to manually enter the data from applications that have been mailed in.

A

Application Receipt

5.136 The system shall allow the Moral Character System user to print file labels.

To be placed on the paper files used to hold non-electronic data. Label information includes unique id number in human readable and barcode forms.

B

Application Receipt

5.137 The system shall allow the Moral Character System user to manually enter the receipt date of each of the components of the application.

Including status of receipt of individual components of the application: application itself, payment, each attachment specified by the application, declaration, authorization, CQ's, fingerprint cards; it also includes overall status of the application (submission in progress, waiting for receipt, receipt complete - used when everything has been received, investigation in progress, approved, denied, reconsideration).

A


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority Application Receipt

5.138 The system shall allow the Moral Character System user to scan the cover page barcode of an application component to record the receipt date.

Application Receipt

5.139 The system shall automatically print reminder letters based on the business rules.

A

Application Receipt

5.140 The system shall automatically send reminder emails based on the business rules.

A

Application Receipt

5.141 The system shall allow the Moral Character System user to manually print reminder letters for selected individuals.

A

Application Receipt

5.142 The system shall visually indicate whether an applicant is represented by an attorney.

A

Application Receipt

5.143 The system shall accept electronic fingerprint submission data from LiveScan.

A

Application Receipt

5.144 The system shall indicate which elements of fingerprint data were received from the DOJ, and which from the FBI.

A

Application Receipt

5.145 Upon receipt of fingerprint data for an applicant, the system shall attach the data to the application and flag the fingerprint component of the application as being complete.

A

Application Receipt

5.146 The system shall automatically flag an application as abandoned if fees, authorization, declaration, or fingerprint information (via properly completed fingerprint cards or LiveScan results receipt ) is not received by 60 days after submission of web applications or receipt of mailed applications.

Note that the business rules determining the sending of reminder letters must ensure that at least one mailed reminder letter must have been sent prior to flagging an application as abandoned.

A

Application Receipt

5.147 When all fees, authorization, declaration, and fingerprint information (via properly completed fingerprint cards or LiveScan results receipt ) has been received, the system shall set the status of the application to "filed."

A


The Diagonal Group


5.148 When the status is set to "filed," the system shall assign the application a preliminary level.

Levels are 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4. C

Application Investigation

5.149 The system shall be able to maintain business rules governing the preliminary level to which an application is assigned.

Business rules involve the number of attachments to the application and/or the number of negative answers on the questionnaire. Given the complexity of the rules associated with evaluating Moral Character - all of the criminal codes and their combinations - it is suggested that the system assign a level based on severity of the item and the count of items, rather than by an exact accounting based on specific codes.

A


5.150 When the status is set to "filed," the system shall assign the application to an analyst.

It is suggested that a low-level analyst (or analysts) be designated to review Level 0 and 1 applications.

B


5.151 The system shall be able to maintain business rules governing the allowable preliminary levels of each analyst.

E.g., Analyst A may work applications of up to preliminary Level 2.

A


5.152 The system shall be able to maintain business rules regarding the assignment of applications to analysts by office.

Currently, most attorney applicants are processed by LA analysts; SF processes most student applicants.

A


5.153 The system shall assign applications to analysts based on applicant type (attorney, student, foreign legal consultant, MJP ), thresholds, levels, and frequency of assignment.

E.g., Analyst A and B may both handle Level 2 applications; the system should give it to the one who has not received one most recently.

A


5.154 Authorized Moral Character System users shall be able to override application assignment rules.

E.g., they could "force" a new application into an analyst's queue even if he/she is at the threshold, or if it isn't at an appropriate level.

A

Application Receipt

5.155 When an application's status changes to "filed," the system shall print a Law School Declaration form to be sent to each law school listed in the application.

A

Application Receipt

5.156 Each law school declaration shall be barcoded with a unique identifier.

A


The Diagonal Group


5.157 The system shall automatically print reminder letters to law schools references if the declaration has not been received after 45 days, and again after 60 days.

B

Application Receipt

5.158 The system shall send a replacement form if the law school declaration has not been received after 60 days.

C

Application Receipt

5.159 When an application's status changes to "filed," the system shall send an electronic request to the DMV upon submission of an application that includes a California driver's license number.

Fees associated with the DMV request should be determined - it may be cheaper to batch DMV requests and send them when a threshold is met, or on some periodic basis.

B

Application Receipt

5.160 The system shall accept electronic DMV responses.

A

Application Receipt

5.161 The system shall alert the system user to errors or other exceptions encountered when processing DMV files.

Application Receipt

5.162 The system shall provide the Moral Character System user with a log file showing DMV file processing results.

Application Receipt

5.163 The system shall allow the Moral Character System user to print manual DMV request forms.

Note that this should be reviewed with the DMV.

A

Application Receipt

5.164 The system shall allow the Moral Character System user to manually enter DMV results from manual requests.

If manual requests are used. A

Application Receipt

5.165 Upon receipt of DMV data for an applicant, the system shall attach the data to the application and flag the DMV component of the application as being complete.

A

Application Receipt

5.166 The system shall maintain a list of DMV codes and be able to display DMV information with the meaning of the code.

For example, if DMV code 54.4.1.c means "DUI," the system user reviewing the DMV information should see both the code and its meaning.

A


The Diagonal Group


5.167 When an application's status has changes to "filed," the system shall automatically send Confidential Questionnaires (CQs) to all personal references, all verifying references for self-employment, all law-related employers in the past 10 years, and all non-law employers in the past 5 years.

CQs are Scantron sheets containing several questions.

A

Application Receipt

5.168 The system shall be able to track the number of responses by type of CQ (personal references, self-employment references, law-related employers, and non-law employers).

Application Receipt

5.169 The system shall be able to identify the required number of positive responses required for each type of CQ.

Application Receipt

5.170 The system shall allow the authorized system user to override the number of positive responses required for an application.

Application Receipt

5.171 The system shall be able to track responses to each of the CQ's individual questions.

Application Receipt

5.172 Upon selection, the system shall print a copy of the authorization and CQ form to be sent to the selected reference.

A

Application Receipt

5.173 Upon selection, the system shall flag the each reference's CQ as an expected component that is required to complete the application.

A

Application Receipt

5.174 The authorization, and CQ form shall be barcoded with a unique identifier.

A

Application Receipt

5.175 The system shall automatically print reminder letters to CQ references if the CQ has not been received after 45 days, unless the required number of positive responses has been received.

The system will not need to print reminder letters if a sufficient number of responses has been received.

A

Application Receipt

5.176 The system shall automatically send a replacement CQ form to a reference if the CQ has not been received after 60 days.

The system will not need to send replacement forms if a sufficient number of responses has been received.

B


The Diagonal Group


5.177 The system shall automatically cease sending reminders and/or replacement forms to a reference after a specified period of time.

B

Application Receipt

5.178 The system shall allow the Moral Character System user to scan the barcode of received CQs, which shall flag the CQ as "received - pending entry."

B

Application Receipt

5.179 The system shall allow the Moral Character System user to electronically scan the received CQ forms.

CQ forms are Scantron sheets. A

Application Receipt

5.180 The system shall allow the Moral Character System user to easily flag received CQs as being positive.

A set pattern of responses on the CQ indicates a positive response. State Bar employees can easily recognize positive CQs and should not be required to electronically scan the forms prior to indicating that there is a positive response. The forms can be scanned and attached at a later date.

Application Receipt

5.181 Electronically scanned CQ forms shall be attached to the application record.

A

Application Receipt

5.182 The system shall allow the Moral Character System user to manually enter the data from CQs.

This capability would only be used if the scanner is inoperable, or in other exceptional cases.

B

Application Receipt

5.183 The system shall automatically assign a status to scanned CQs based on the answers to individual questions .

Statuses include Positive, Negative, Not Allowed to Answer, and Other. Note that requirement 5.180 allows a State Bar employee to manually assign this status; the system will only need to assign a status if it hasn't been previously assigned by an employee.

B

Application Receipt

5.184 Upon data entry completion, the system shall allow the Moral Character System user to "submit" the CQ.

Solely in the event of manually entered CQs . B

Application Receipt

5.185 The system shall validate the CQ for the presence of all required fields.

Solely in the event of manually entered CQs . A


The Diagonal Group


5.186 The system shall re-display the CQ to the Moral Character System user with any errors visually highlighted, and allow the user to make corrections.

Solely in the event of manually entered CQs, in case there is a typo (a missed field, for example) .

B

Application Receipt

5.187 Upon successful submission of the CQ, the system shall flag the CQ as "received."

A

Application Receipt

5.188 As each CQ is received, the system shall track the number of positive and negative responses by type of CQ (personal references, self-employment, etc.).


5.189 The system shall be able to present summary information showing the number of applications by status and assignee, the date of any previous determination, and any previously-assigned analyst .

In "dashboard" format. This refers to applications that are currently being worked on by analyst.

A


5.190 The system shall present the Moral Character System analyst with a list, or queue, of the applications which have been assigned to him/her.

Includes name, status, date submitted, last date updated. Default order is by date submitted.

A


5.191 The analyst shall be able to re-sort the queue in order by any of the fields present in the queue.

A


5.192 The system shall maintain business rules regarding the aging of applications.

The goal is to process applications within 180 days.

A


5.193 The list view shall visually distinguish between applications which have breached the allotted timeframe, which are in danger of breaching the timeframe, and which are not in danger of breaching the timeframe.

E.g., out-of-date applications could be listed in red, ones nearing the date may be yellow, others can be green.

A


5.194 The system shall allow the analyst to request the applicant's paper file with a single operation.

A


5.195 The system shall alert the file clerk to make the file available to the analyst.

A


5.196 The system shall allow the file clerk to indicate that the file is en route to the analyst.

A


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority Application Investigation

5.197 The system shall allow the analyst to indicate that the file has been received.

A


5.198 The system shall allow the analyst to indicate that a file is en route back to the file room.

B


5.199 The system shall allow the file clerk to indicate that the file has been received.

A


5.200 The system shall allow the ability to view a list of files checked out by analyst.

A


5.201 The system shall allow the analyst to select an application from the list view for analysis.

A


5.202 The system shall present the Moral Character System analyst with a summary view of the application.

Includes basic profile information, level, submit date, receipt complete date, application component status, clearance status of each component (which must indicate whether the information is positive or if there are issues), exam status, responses to key questions, correspondence history (if screen space is available) .

A


5.203 The system shall allow the analyst to add an unlimited number of new application components.

An example might be an incidence of cheating on the exam.

A


5.204 The system shall allow the analyst to indicate the status of the overall application, in accordance with the standards that are adopted .

Suggested values are "Certified," "Denied," "Open," "Abeyance," "Appeal," "Committee," "Abandoned," "Withdrawn."

A


5.205 The system shall visually indicate which application components have attached information.

B


5.206 The system shall allow the analyst to indicate whether the applicant is represented by an attorney.

C


5.207 The system shall allow the analyst to enter attorney contact information.

C


The Diagonal Group


5.208 The system shall allow the analyst to schedule ticklers for an application.

For example, the analyst could schedule a reminder to him/herself to follow up on abeyance requirements.

A

Application Clearance

5.209 The system shall allow the analyst to indicate that the application is cleared, based on the level of the analyst's clearance authority.


5.210 The system shall require Section Chief review for Level 3 applications.

The Section Chief reviews files and either approves and sends back to the analyst to clear, or does not approve and sends the file back to the analyst.

B


5.211 The system shall require Section Chief or Director clearance for Level 4 applications.

A


5.212 If the analyst does not have the authority to clear an application, upon the analyst's review of all application components, the system shall assign the application to his/her Section Chief.

B


5.213 The system shall allow the analyst to manually refer an application to the Section Chief.

In the case that the analyst wants the Section Chief to review it, even if it is within the analyst's authority to clear it.

A


5.214 The system shall allow the Section Chief to indicate the status of the application after his/her review.

A


5.215 Upon the Section Chief's review of a Level 4 application, the system shall refer the application to the Director.

A


5.216 The system shall allow the Section Chief to manually refer an application to the Director.

The Section Chief may create correspondence entries containing any comments associated with his/her review.

A


5.217 The system shall allow the Director to indicate the status of the application after her review.

The Director may clear a file on her initiative if it is substantially complete and there is no negative information . The Director may create correspondence entries containing any comments associated with his/her review.

A


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority Application Clearance

5.218 Upon the final determination of clearance, the system shall automatically print a letter to be sent to the applicant.

B


5.219 Upon the final determination of rejection, the system shall allow the Director to prepare a letter to be sent to the applicant.


5.220 The system shall track the date of clearance/rejection.

A


5.221 The system shall allow the analyst to print a letter to the applicant indicating that the application is going to the Committee.

Letter contents may be different, depending on the issues presented by the application, and are thus subject to the requirements for letter generation (i.e., maintenance of separate paragraphs or letter templates, etc., in the knowledge base).

A


5.222 The system shall allow the Director to print a letter inviting the applicant to a Committee hearing.

B


5.223 The system shall track petitions and appeals entered by applicants.

Via correspondence entries. A

Application Closure

5.224 The system shall maintain business rules regarding file destruction dates.

File destruction dates are linked to clearance/rejection dates. Currently 5 years.

A

Application Closure

5.225 Modification to an application shall reset the file destruction date.

Modifications include application for extension, appeals, sitting for the bar exam.

A

Application Closure

5.226 The system shall alert the file clerk when an application's destruction date is reached.

A

Application Closure

5.227 The system shall allow the file clerk to indicate that a file has been destroyed.

A

Application Closure

5.228 The system shall record the actual file destruction date.

A

Application Closure

5.229 Once a file has been indicated to have been destroyed, the system shall allow the user to easily delete all electronic Moral Character application information allowed by policy.

Information to be retained, such as summary screen information , is still to be determined.

B


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority Reporting 5.230 The system shall be able to produce reports

showing the length of time taken to clear an application by analyst and level of application.

A

Reporting 5.231 The system shall be able to report on the difference between an application's filed date and the date it was first worked on by an analyst.

A


The Diagonal Group

Exam Application Category Number Description Notes Priority Exam Application Setup

6.01 The system shall allow State Bar users to maintain information in relation to individual exams.

Information includes type (e.g. FYLSX, GBX etc.), question subjects, questions used, sessions, exam dates and timely filing dates (main cutoff date and "failed applicant" cutoff date).

A

Exam Application Setup

6.02 The system shall allow State Bar users to maintain information in relation to test centers.

Information includes address, capacity and type (e.g., laptop, writing, accommodations-related, etc.).

A

Exam Application Setup

6.03 The system shall allow State Bar users to indicate test centers that will be used for a given exam.

A

Exam Application

6.04 The system shall force an applicant to register prior to applying to take an exam.

A

Exam Application

6.05 The system shall not be limited as to the number of exam applications it can maintain.

A

Exam Application

6.06 The system shall have a web interface that provides an applicant with the ability to apply for an exam online.

A

Exam Application

6.07 The system shall restrict an applicant from applying for the same exam more than once.

I.e., the same type of exam on the same date. However, applicants may apply for different instances of the same exam.

A

Exam Application

6.08 The system shall allow an applicant to apply for as many exams as it takes for them to pass.

A

Exam Application

6.09 The system shall record an applicant's history. A

Exam Application

6.10 The system shall restrict an applicant from applying for an exam if they are still waiting on results from a previous exam.

A


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority Exam Application

6.11 The system shall allow applicants who have failed the previous exam to apply after the main cutoff date, up through the "failed applicant" cutoff date.

A

Exam Application

6.12 The system shall prevent an applicant applying for the GBX if they have not passed the FYLSX and are not exempt from taking the FYLSX.

A

Exam Application

6.13 The web interface shall provide appropriate instructions to the applicant in relation to the completion and submission of the exam application.

A

Exam Application

6.14 The web interface shall allow the applicant to save an in-progress exam application.

A

Exam Application

6.15 The web interface shall allow the applicant to retrieve and open a saved, in-progress, exam application.

A

Exam Application

6.16 The web interface shall require the applicant to indicate the exam for which they are applying.

A

Exam Application

6.17 The web interface shall require the applicant to indicate on what basis they are applying to take a given exam.

E.g. as a general applicant, attorney applicant, etc.

A

Exam Application

6.18 The web interface shall prevent applicants from applying to take the GBX as a general applicant if they have indicated that they have been admitted to practice law in any jurisdiction.

A

Exam Application

6.19 The web interface shall allow the applicant to indicate whether they have requested testing accommodation for this exam, or intend to request testing accommodations for this exam


The Diagonal Group


6.20 If the applicant indicates that he or she will be petitioning for testing accommodations, and has previously received testing accommodations for a previous exam, the web interface shall display the accommodations received and require the applicant to indicate whether they should receive the same accommodations.

Exam Application

6.23 If the applicant indicates that he or she will be petitioning for testing accommodations and has not received accommodations for a previous exam, or has indicated that he or she wishes to request different accommodations than those previously granted, the web interface shall direct the applicant to fill out the testing accommodations application.

B

Exam Application

6.25 The web interface shall not display accommodations-only test sites to applicants who do not have an approved accommodation.

A

Exam Application

6.19 The web interface shall allow the applicant to indicate whether they will be using a laptop.

Explanatory text must be displayed that indicates to the applicant that, if the reason for using a laptop is due to the need for testing accommodations, the testing accommodations application must be completed.

Exam Application

6.19 The web interface shall require the applicant to select, from a pre-defined list, the test center where they wish to take the test.

A

Exam Application

6.20 The system shall prevent an applicant from selecting a test center that is already full.

Maximums are set in the Exam Administration Section.

A

Exam Application

6.21 If the applicant has indicated that he or she will be using a laptop, the test center choices shall be limited to laptop test centers.

B

Exam Application

6.22 If the applicant has indicated that he or she will be writing the test, the test center choices shall be limited to writing test centers.

A


The Diagonal Group


6.23 If the applicant has an accommodations application that is not Complete, the web interface shall limit test center choices to those which are appropriate for the applicant's accommodation, and shall display a message that the final determination of the test center depends on the outcome of the accommodations application.

See the Testing Accommodations Section. C

Exam Application

6.24 If the applicant has been granted accommodations for the exam for which he or she is applying, the system shall limit the test center choices to those which are appropriate for the applicant's accommodation.

A

Exam Application

6.25 The web interface shall visually indicate which fields are required.

A

Exam Application

6.26 The web interface shall force the applicant to confirm the profile information entered during the pre-registration (account creation) process and allow them to update this information if necessary.

A

Exam Application

6.27 If the applicant is applying for the GBX or Attorney's Exam, the web interface shall record former names information. If the applicant has already recorded former names information against their account, the system shall force the applicant to confirm this information and allow them to update it if necessary.

A

Exam Application

6.28 The web interface shall record legal education information. If the applicant has already legal education names information against their account, the system shall force the applicant to confirm this information and allow them to update it if necessary.

A


The Diagonal Group


6.29 If the applicant is applying for the GBX or Attorney's Exam, the web interface shall record jurisdiction admission information. If the applicant has already recorded jurisdiction admission information against their account, the system shall force the applicant to confirm this information and allow them to update it if necessary.

Note that information about previous admission may not be removed, but only modified in case of error/addition.

A

Exam Application

6.30 The web interface shall record race and ethnicity statistics information. However, if the registrant has already recorded race and ethnicity statistics information against their account, the system shall not re-display the information for confirmation and update.

B

Exam Application

6.31 Based on the information entered on the application and on an applicant's online account, the web interface shall inform the applicant if they are exempt from taking the FYLSX if the applicant is applying for the FYLSX. In this case, the web interface shall force the applicant to acknowledge this notification and choose whether or not to proceed with the application.

Although unnecessary, an applicant can apply to take the FYLSX even if they are exempt.

A

Exam Application

6.32 The web interface shall enable the applicant to submit an electronic declaration.

A

Exam Application

6.33 The web interface shall allow the applicant to submit the information once he/she believes it is complete and correct.

A

Exam Application

6.34 The web interface shall validate the exam application information for presence of required fields and correct formatting.

A

Exam Application

6.35 If required fields are missing or information is incorrectly formatted, the web interface shall redisplay the form with the errors visually highlighted.

A


The Diagonal Group


6.36 Once the exam application form has all required fields filled and fields are correctly formatted, the system shall guide the applicant through the exam application payment process.

A

Exam Application

6.37 The system shall not allow the applicant to modify a submitted application.

Exam Application

6.38 The web interface shall determine the appropriate exam application fee based on the information entered by the applicant and in the case of late fees, the date of submission.

It should be noted that repeaters have a different schedule of cut off dates for their exam applications.

A

Exam Application

6.39 The system shall facilitate payment for exam applications by the Department of Rehabilitation.

A

Exam Application

6.40 Once the payment information is approved, the system shall store the exam application information in an exam application record, link this record to an account id and record the exam application date.

A

Exam Application

6.41 When an exam application record is created, the system shall automatically flag that record to indicate what (if any) further information is required in relation to the application.

E.g. certificates of good standing, academic transcripts etc.

A

Application Processing

6.42 The web interface shall enable applicants to check status of their application after they have successfully submitted their exam application (i.e. information entered, payment approved).

A


6.43 The web interface shall enable an applicant to change their test center after their exam application has been submitted but prior to any cut off dates.

B


6.44 The web interface shall be able to calculate and change any applicable fees that result from changing from a writing to a laptop test center.


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority Application Processing

6.45 If an applicant has selected a laptop center, the system shall provide the applicant with a link to the laptop software vendor's website where they can get instruction for registering with the vendor.

Examsoft is the current vendor. A


6.46 The system shall, on a daily basis, process data received from Examsoft regarding those applicants who have registered with Examsoft.

A


6.46 Once an applicant has been confirmed by Examsoft, the system shall automatically notify the applicant that the laptop request has been approved and include a final bulletin regarding the use of a laptop computer for the exam.

Either by letter or email. B


6.47 The system shall enable an applicant to withdraw their application within the prescribed withdrawal timeframe.

A


6.47 If an applicant withdraws their application, the system shall automatically calculate the withdrawal refund amount and present the proposed refund information to the State Bar user for approval .

A


6.48 The system shall be able to present summary information showing the number of applications by status.

In "dashboard" format. A


6.48 The system shall be able to present summary information showing the counts and types of applications.



6.49 The system shall allow the State Bar user to list applications by status.

Possibly by drilling down into a count by status. Information shown should include status, name, date submitted; test center, default order is by date.

A


6.49 The system shall allow the State Bar user to re-sort a list of applications.

A


The Diagonal Group


6.50 The system shall allow the State Bar user to see the status of each of the components of an individual's application.

Possibly by drilling down into the list of applications by status. Information shown should include status, name, date submitted, and the status and date received of all components of the application (application, each of the required forms).

A


6.50 The system shall be able to maintain business rules that define the allowable timespan of application activities.

A


6.51 The system shall be able to maintain business rules that govern the addressee, frequency, nature, and content of alerts that are sent to State Bar users.

A


6.51 The system shall be able to alert State Bar users based on these business rules.


A



A


6.52 The system shall allow the State Bar user to print a copy of an application.

A


6.53 The system shall automatically flag applications as submitted for approval once they meet the eligibility criteria.

Note that this is the system's indication that, according to the business rules, the applicant meets the eligibility criteria - review is still required by Eligibility personnel as shown below. However, it may be possible to allow the system to automatically approve some applications.

A


6.53 The system shall enable a State Bar user to review those exam applications flagged as eligible and confirm, delay or reject the approval. The system shall also allow the user to enter any notes or comment in relation to the approval, delay or rejection.

A


The Diagonal Group


6.54 The system shall enable a State Bar user to manually approve an exam application once it has met the eligibility criteria.

A


6.54 The system shall record the State Bar user that forces an exam application to be approved.

A


6.55 The system shall automatically notify the applicant via e-mail if their application has been approved.

B


6.55 The system shall automatically generate a printed letter to notify the applicant that their application has been approved (the "Admit ticket") .

Note that this supposes that all applicants, even those notified by email that they have been approved, will receive a printed admit ticket. However, the system could be designed to allow use of a printed copy of the email as an admit ticket (similar to how airlines allow use of printed boarding passes).

B


6.56 The system shall automatically generate requests (physical letters) for transcripts for those exam applications where applicable.

Transcripts may be applicable in all cases . B


6.56 The system shall automatically include a copy of the release form (part of the declaration) when requesting transcripts for those law schools that require the release.

B


6.57 The system shall be able to electronically communicate with law schools in relation to requesting and receiving transcripts.

B


6.57 The system shall provide the ability to list a series of exam application records on screen.

A


6.58 The system shall enable the list of exam application records to be filtered by entering ranges of filtering criteria.

A


6.58 The system shall enable the list of exam application records to be sorted by different fields.

A


6.59 The system shall allow a user to open the details of an exam application record from the list of exam application records.

A


The Diagonal Group


6.59 The system shall allow a user to select an exam application record and view the details of the record.

A


6.60 The system shall provide the ability to record details of events that occur in relation to an exam application. These events would include phone calls, faxed/mailed/e-mailed correspondence and State Bar user notes.

A


6.60 Where communications events have information in electronic format (e.g. documents and e-mails), the system shall provide a link through to that electronic information allowing the State Bar user to view the information on screen.

A

Application Abandonment

6.61 The system shall automatically flag exam applications as submitted for abandonment once they meet the abandonment criteria.

A


6.61 The system shall enable a State Bar user to review those exam applications flagged as submitted for abandonment and confirm, delay or reject the abandonment. The system shall also allow the user to enter any notes or comment in relation to the abandonment.

A


6.62 The system shall enable a State Bar user to manually abandon an exam application once it has met the application abandonment criteria.

A


6.62 The system shall record the State Bar user that forces an exam application to be abandoned.

A


6.63 The system shall automatically notify the applicant via e-mail if their application has been abandoned and include the details on why the application was abandoned.

B


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority Application Abandonment

6.63 The system shall automatically generate a printed letter to notify the applicant that their application has been abandoned and include the details on why the application was abandoned, in the event the applicant has not provided an email address.

A

General Exam Applications

6.64 The system shall provide the ability to automatically generate a receipt for payment of exam application fees.

B


6.64 The system shall provide the ability to reconcile monies received at the bank with the exam application fees paid online.

A


6.65 The system shall record the history of all communications with the applicant including details of e-mails, documents, faxes and phone calls.

A


6.66 The system shall allow State Bar users to determine the number of applicants that have applied to take a given test at the assigned given test centers.

A


6.67 The system shall alert State Bar users when applicant numbers have reached a certain level for a test center.

This level is defined by the State Bar users on a test center by test center basis.

A


The Diagonal Group

Testing Accommodations Category Number Description Notes Priority Goal 7.001 Increase the accuracy of accommodation

letters. A

Goal 7.002 Decrease the amount of effort needed to proof accommodation letters.

A

Goal 7.003 "The big picture" of testing accommodations available to SF and LA.

A

Goal 7.004 Inform applicants of accommodations in a timely manner.

A

Goal 7.005 Eliminate information loss (due to physical misfiling).

A

General Accommodations

7.006 The system shall maintain information about testing accommodations requested by applicants.

Including information regarding the ultimate disposition of the request; i.e., whether it was granted, partially granted, or denied.

A


7.007 The system shall allow authorized users to maintain a list of possible accommodations.

Note that this does not preclude the applicant from requesting a non-listed accommodation.

A


7.008 The system shall maintain a history of each accommodation requested, for each disability, by each applicant, for each exam.

A


7.009 The system shall allow authorized users to maintain a list of accommodations request cut-off dates for each exam.

A


7.010 The system shall provide a web interface for the registered applicant to request testing accommodations.

The interface must include instructions that indicate that the request is an application for the request only; accommodations petitions require the submission of proof of the need for accommodations and these documents must be received in order for the request to be considered.

A


The Diagonal Group


7.011 The web interface shall require that the applicant has registered prior to requesting an accommodation.

B


7.012 The web interface shall present the accommodations application across multiple screens.

For ease of entry by the applicant. It also allows interim validation of field contents.

A


7.013 The web interface shall present explanatory information currently contained in the paper application and related documents in context-appropriate areas.

The system may also link to other areas of the site for additional information, or "force" the applicant to read and indicate he/she has read presented information (such as the Guidelines for Evaluating Petitions). Explanatory information should remain accessible to the applicant at all times, even if he/she has been "forced" to read it.

A


7.014 The web interface shall assign a unique id to the application when the applicant elects to fill it out.

I.e., each application will have an identifier from the very start - even before any data is entered. Each application, however, shall also be linked to the applicant, so that an applicant's multiple, unique, accommodations applications can be identified.

C


7.015 The web interface shall assign a status of "submission in progress" to the application for the period from its creation to its validated submission.

Status values are given as an indication of the lifecycle of the application; the exact verbiage used is not required, though the status change itself is required. In this case, the status is meant to indicate that the application is in the process of being entered and has not yet been completed by the applicant.

C


7.016 The web interface shall require the applicant to "submit" each screen before continuing on to the next.

"Submit," in this case, refers to the capture and validation of the information filled out on any one screen, and is not meant to imply that the application as a whole is submitted at this point.

C


7.017 The web interface shall allow the applicant to cancel entry of a screen, which shall remove all information that was entered on that screen.

C


The Diagonal Group


7.018 The web interface shall validate field content upon submission of a screen.

B


7.019 In the event invalid field content is identified, the web interface shall re-display the screen and visually indicate which field(s) are in error.

A


7.020 The web interface shall allow applicants to save an in-progress application at any point in the process of filling it out.

A


7.021 The web interface shall save all entered data on the current screen, regardless of whether the screen has been submitted.

A


7.022 The web interface shall allow applicants to save an in-progress application to be worked on later regardless of field contents.

I.e., the application can be saved to be worked on later even if required fields are blank or invalid data has been entered.

A


7.023 The web interface shall allow the applicant to return to a previously-saved application.

A


7.024 The web interface shall not allow the applicant to have more than one application in progress.

A


7.025 The web interface shall allow the applicant to modify a fully-submitted application.

Note that requirement 7.089 alerts the Testing Accommodations system user to modifications to submitted applications .

B


7.026 The web interface shall allow the applicant to delete an in-progress, but not yet submitted, application, which will remove all submitted information from the system.

A


7.027 After all screens have been successfully submitted, the web interface shall require the applicant to submit the final application form .

Note that the application is not considered to be fully "submitted" to the State Bar until all required documentation has been received.

B


7.028 The web interface shall allow the applicant to review the application prior to final submission of the application form .

A


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority Accommodations Application

7.029 The web interface shall require the applicant to confirm his or her profile contact information.

Profile contact information has been previously entered by the applicant as part of the registration or exam application processes - this gives them an opportunity to update any changes.

A

Accommodations Application

7.030 The web interface shall require the applicant to indicate the type of exam they have applied for, or intend to apply for.

Bar or FYLSX. A


7.031 The web interface shall require the applicant to select the month and year of the exam they intend to take.

Applicants may apply for accommodations for an exam up to two years in the future.

A

Emergency Accommodations

7.032 If the applicant is requesting accommodations after the accommodations cut-off date for that exam, the web interface shall display a message to that effect, and ask whether the applicant acquired the disability after the cut-off date, which shall also be displayed.

This is only relevant if the applicant has elected to apply for the upcoming exam .

C


7.033 If the applicant indicates that they acquired the disability after the cut-off date, the system shall display a message that the applicant must provide Emergency Form H, documenting the date and circumstances under which the disability arose, and shall ask if the applicant wishes to continue.

This is a new form, and is only designed to cover the reasons for the emergency. All other forms will also need to be filled out.

B


7.034 If the applicant does not wish to continue with the emergency application, the system shall return to the screen from which the accommodations request was selected.

B


7.035 If the applicant wishes to continue, the system shall allow the applicant to fill out the accommodations application, and flag the emergency nature of the application for use later in the process.

B


The Diagonal Group


7.036 The web interface shall require the applicant to select the method by which they intend to take the exam.

Writing, dictating, or laptop. A


7.037 If the applicant is not applying for emergency accommodations, and has previously received accommodations for a permanent disability from the State Bar, and these accommodations are recorded in the system, and the original accommodations request associated with the permanent disability was made no more than five years prior to the current date, and the applicant has selected the same method by which he or she took the exam for which accommodations were granted, the web interface shall display the previously-granted accommodations and allow the applicant to indicate that he or she wishes to receive the same accommodations as before.

A


7.038 If the applicant indicates he or she wishes to receive the same accommodations as before, the applicant shall not have to fill out the remainder of the form.

A


7.039 For applicants who do not have previous accommodations recorded in the system, or who do not wish the same accommodations they received previously, or who are applying for emergency accommodations, the web interface shall capture all of the information currently recorded on Form A, the Petition for Testing Accommodations.

B


7.040 The web interface shall maintain a count of required forms for each question.

C


The Diagonal Group


7.041 If the applicant answers Yes to Form A, Section II, Question 8, the web interface shall allow the applicant to record an unlimited number of standardized tests, each with an unlimited number of accommodations granted.

A


7.042 If the applicant answers Yes to Form A, Section II, Question 9, the web interface shall allow the applicant to record an unlimited number of law schools, each with an unlimited number of accommodations granted.

The system shall count one required Form F for each law school listed.

A


7.043 If the applicant answers Yes to Form A, Section II, Question 10, the web interface shall allow the applicant to record an unlimited number of jurisdictions.

The system shall count one required Form G for each jurisdiction listed.

A


7.044 The web interface shall allow the applicant to record an unlimited number of disabilities (Form A, Section II, Questions 1-7).

A


7.045 For each disability recorded, the web interface shall require the applicant to select the disability type.

Physical (Form B), Learning (Form C), ADHD (Form D), Mental Disability (Form E). The system shall count one required form as described for each instance of each disability.

A


7.046 For each disability recorded, the web interface shall require the applicant to select whether the disability is temporary or permanent.

A


7.047 If the applicant is applying for emergency accommodations, for each disability recorded, the web interface shall require the applicant to indicate whether the disability was acquired after the cut-off date.

The system shall count one required Form H for each emergency disability.

A


7.048 The web interface shall allow the applicant to indicate the requested accommodation type for each disability.

B


7.049 The web interface shall allow the applicant to describe architectural/environmental accommodations requests.

Includes description and rationale. A


The Diagonal Group


7.050 The web interface shall allow the applicant to describe special equipment accommodations requests.



7.051 The web interface shall allow the applicant to describe personal item accommodations requests.



7.052 The web interface shall provide explanatory text to assist the applicant in providing correct and complete information, possibly including descriptions and examples of each accommodation type.

Note that applicants are required to seek specific accommodations; the State Bar may not suggest them. Explanatory text must help guide the applicant in how to fill out the form, but not guide the applicant in what, exactly, to request.

D


7.053 If the applicant has indicated that they intend to take the FYLSX, the web interface shall allow the applicant to indicate whether, and how much, extra time is needed for the essay portion of the exam.

Applicants must state the amount of time needed, including the units (i.e., minutes, hours).

A


7.054 If the applicant has indicated that they intend to take the FYLSX, the web interface shall allow the applicant to indicate whether extra time is needed for the multiple choice portion of the exam.

A


7.055 If the applicant has indicated that they intend to take the Bar exam, the web interface shall allow the applicant to indicate whether extra time is needed for the essay session of the exam.

A


7.056 If the applicant has indicated that they intend to take the Bar exam, the web interface shall allow the applicant to indicate whether extra time is needed for the performance test session of the exam.

A


The Diagonal Group


7.057 If the applicant has indicated that they intend to take the Bar exam, the web interface shall allow the applicant to indicate whether extra time is needed for the multiple choice session of the exam.

A


7.058 If the applicant indicates that they require extra time, the web interface shall require the applicant to indicate the amount of extra time and the rationale for the extra time for each test session.

A


7.059 The web interface shall allow the applicant to indicate whether they require limited testing time, the amount of time, and the rationale.

A


7.060 The web interface shall allow the applicant to print an authorization form.

A


7.061 The web interface shall require the applicant to submit an electronic declaration.

This requires specific action from the applicant to indicate he/she has read, understood, and agrees to the information in the declaration. Alternatively, the paper declaration could continue to be used.

B


7.062 The system shall track the date the declaration was submitted.

B


7.063 The web interface shall allow the applicant to print all required forms, based on his/her answers to the questions.

B


7.064 All printed forms shall include a barcode uniquely identifying the application, form, page of form, and question number to which the form relates.

A


7.065 All printed forms shall indicate, in large human-readable print, the name of the form and the question number to which it relates.

A


7.066 All printed forms shall be pre-filled with any information already captured by the system.

Applicant's name, law school name, etc. A


The Diagonal Group


7.067 The web interface shall allow the applicant to print a copy of the successfully-submitted application for his or her records.

B


7.068 The web interface shall allow the applicant to check the status of their application.

The exact statuses available to the applicant will need to be determined, as the applicant should not be privy to all of the State Bar's work in assessing an application. Suggested statuses might be solely related to whether or not all of the forms required have been received.

C


7.069 The system shall allow a State Bar user to manually enter testing accommodations requests that have been received by mail.

A


7.070 The system shall allow a State Bar user to scan in testing accommodations requests received by mail.

B

General Accommodations System

7.071 The system shall be able to present summary information showing the number of applications by status and authorized system user.



7.072 The system shall be able to present summary information showing the counts and types of disabilities and accommodations.



7.073 The system shall allow the State Bar user to list total application counts by status.

A


7.074 The system shall allow the State Bar user to list applications by status.

Possibly by drilling down into a count by status. Information shown should include status, name, date submitted; test center, default order is by date.

A


7.075 The system shall allow the State Bar user to list applications by appeal status.

A


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority General Accommodations System

7.076 The system shall allow the State Bar user to re-sort a list of applications.

Possibly by clicking on column headers. A


7.077 The system shall allow the State Bar user to see the status of each of the components of an individual's application.

Possibly by drilling down into the list of applications by status. Information shown should include status, name, date submitted, and the status and date received of all components of the application (application, each of the required forms). The applicant shall not see all of the information available to State Bar users regarding the status of their application .

A


7.078 The system shall be able to maintain business rules that define the allowable timespan of accommodation application activities.

E.g., within 20 days of being assigned to a consultant, the applicant must receive a status update.

A


7.079 The system shall be able to maintain business rules that govern the addressee, frequency, nature, and content of alerts that are sent to State Bar users.

A


7.080 The system shall be able to alert State Bar users based on these business rules.


A



A


7.082 The system shall allow the State Bar user to print a copy of an application.

A


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority General Accommodations System

7.083 If the applicant has applied for an accommodation for a particular exam, but has not yet applied for that exam, the system shall automatically send a reminder letter to the applicant to remind him or her to apply for the exam.

The timing of the letter shall be defined in the business rules governing the sending of letters.

B

Application Receipt 7.084 The system shall alert the State Bar user to the receipt of modifications to electronically-submitted applications.

Application Receipt 7.085 The system shall allow the State Bar user to print file labels.

To be placed on the paper files used to hold non-electronic data. Label information includes unique id number in human readable and barcode forms.

B

Application Receipt 7.086 The system shall allow the State Bar user to track receipt and receipt date of each of the components of the application.

Application itself and required forms. A

Application Receipt 7.087 The system shall automatically flag an application as abandoned if all required forms have not been received by the cut-off date.

A

Application Receipt 7.088 The system shall allow the State Bar user to scan the barcode of received required forms, which shall flag the form as "received - pending entry."

A

Application Receipt 7.089 The system shall allow the State Bar user to electronically scan the received required forms.

A

Application Receipt 7.090 Electronically scanned required forms shall be attached to the application record.

A

Application Receipt 7.091 The system shall allow the State Bar user to manually enter the data from required forms.

A

Application Receipt 7.092 Upon data entry completion, the system shall allow the State Bar user to "submit" the required form.

A

Application Receipt 7.093 The system shall validate the required form for the presence of all required fields.

A


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority Application Receipt 7.094 The system shall re-display the required form

to the State Bar user with any errors visually highlighted, and allow the user to make corrections.

A

Application Receipt 7.095 Upon successful submission of the required form, the system shall flag the required form as "received."

A

Application Receipt 7.096 The system shall automatically set the application's status to "receipt complete" once all components of the application have been flagged as received.

A

Application Receipt 7.097 When the status is set to "receipt complete," the system shall flag applications based on whether this is a new application, or whether the applicant is requesting the same accommodation as they have received previously, or whether the applicant has previously requested other accommodations.

Flags are "new," "same," "modified."


7.098 When the status is set to "receipt complete," the system shall flag applications based on whether the applicant has a physical disability, or whether the applicant has a non-physical disability, or whether the applicant has both a physical and a non-physical disability.

A


7.099 The system shall present the authorized system user with a list, or queue, of the applications.

Includes name, status, appeal status, date submitted, last date updated. Default order is by date submitted. Only applications requiring activity shall be shown in the queue; i.e., applications that are not in status Complete, or that are in status Complete and have an Appeal Status of Open, Committee, or Subcommittee.

B


7.100 The authorized system user shall be able to re-sort the queue.

Perhaps by clicking column headers. B


The Diagonal Group


7.101 The system shall maintain business rules regarding the aging of applications.

No later than 60 days from "receipt complete," the applicant must receive a communication regarding the status of the application.

A


7.102 The list view shall visually distinguish between applications which have breached the allotted timeframe, which are in danger of breaching the timeframe, and which are not in danger of breaching the timeframe.

E.g., out-of-date applications could be listed in red, ones nearing the date may be yellow, others can be green.

A


7.103 The system shall allow the authorized system user to select an application from the list view for analysis.

Perhaps by drill-down. B


7.104 The system shall present the authorized system user with a summary view of the application.

Includes basic profile information, level, submit date, receipt complete date, disabilities and accommodations associated with each disability, status of each accommodation, comments, correspondence history.

B


7.105 For applications where the applicant has requested the same accommodations granted previously, the system shall display the information associated with the permanent disabilities and associated accommodations present in the database.

A


7.106 For each disability listed on the summary view, the system shall allow the authorized system user to view the associated required form with one operation.

A


7.107 The system shall allow the authorized system user to attach information to a disability.

"Information" includes emails, electronic documents (including scanned documents).

A


7.108 The system shall allow the authorized system user to attach information to an accommodation.

A


7.109 The system shall visually indicate which disabilities and/or accommodations have attached information.

A


The Diagonal Group


7.110 The system shall allow the authorized system user to select a disability or accommodation to review or add attached information.

A


7.111 The system shall allow the authorized system user to attach comments to the application.

This may be done merely by having a "comment" type of correspondence entry.

A


7.112 The system shall allow the authorized system user to print an "Incomplete Letter."

May be via email or letter. A


7.113 If the authorized system user elects to print an Incomplete Letter, the system shall require the authorized system user to enter a description of the information that is incomplete, and shall incorporate this information into the letter.

A


7.114 The system shall require the authorized system user to spell-check the description of the incomplete information.

A


7.115 The system shall maintain a list of testing accommodations consultants.

Including name, contact information, type (physical or non-physical), and specialty.

A


7.116 The system shall allow the authorized system user to indicate that a disability requires review by a consultant.

A


7.117 If the authorized system user indicates that a disability requires review by a consultant, the system shall allow the authorized system user to select a consultant from a list.

A


7.118 The system shall facilitate electronic communications with consultants.

Some alternatives: the consultants could log in remotely to the system, and have access only to those accommodations requests assigned to them. Or, upon setting the status to Consultant, the system could send an email to the consultant containing the pertinent information, and accept email replies from the consultant back into the system as correspondence entries. Consultant reports may also be scanned into the system .

C


The Diagonal Group


7.119 The system shall attach the consultant's recommendations and comments to the disability.

Current examples of denied applications show excerpts from consultant comments, not the entire commentary provided by the consultant. For the system to automatically print denial letters, the consultant's comments must either (1.) be included in full, which is not the current practice ; or (2.) the consultant must enter a subset of comments in a field especially designed to hold the information to be printed on the letter; or (3.) the State Bar authorized system user must cut and paste the comments to be printed on the letter into a field designed to hold the letter information. Note that in a single application containing multiple disabilities - even if the disabilities are assigned to the same consultant - there will be separate comments for each disability. In this case, the letter would need to print a disability, followed by its comments, then the next disability and comments, etc.

C


7.120 The system shall visually indicate which disabilities have attached consultant information.

A

Application Completion

7.121 The system shall allow the authorized system user to indicate their recommendation for each accommodation for each disability.

Open, appeal, granted, partially granted, granted in revised form (where more is granted than what was requested), and denied are suggested as possible values. The default value assigned to accommodations on a newly-received application would be Open. Note that "authorized system user" in this case (and all cases where that phrase is used) means only the person(s) allowed to perform this function.

A


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority Application Completion

7.122 The system shall require the authorized system user to provide a rationale for each accommodation designated as "partially granted," "granted in revised form," and "denied."

Refers to a summary of applicable consultant recommendations .

B


7.123 The system shall allow the authorized system user to add an unlimited number of new accommodations with a status of "partially granted" or "granted in revised form" for each accommodation listed for each disability.

C


7.124 The system shall allow the authorized system user to indicate the status of the overall application.

Suggested values are "Abandoned," "Open," "In Progress," "Withdrawn," "Complete."

B


7.125 The system shall not allow an application to be marked as Complete if it has accommodations with a status of Open.

A


7.126 The system shall allow the authorized system user to re-assign an application.

In the case that the authorized system user wants someone else to review it, even if it is within the authorized system user's authority to complete it.

B


7.127 The system shall facilitate approval workflow for Level 2 applications.

Current practice is review and recommendation by Section Chief; review and recommendation by Administration Director; review, recommendation, and final approval by Senior Executive.

C


7.128 When the application is marked as Complete, the system shall automatically print a letter to be sent to the applicant.

A


7.129 The system shall track the date of Completion. A


7.130 If the application is not Complete within the allotted timeframe, the system shall alert the authorized system user.

A

Appeals 7.131 The system shall track appeals filed by applicants.

A


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority Appeals 7.132 The system shall allow the appeal to be

scanned into the system and attached to the application record.

A

Appeals 7.133 When an appeal is attached to an application, the system shall set an Appeal Status for the application.

Suggested values are "Open Appeal," "Subcommittee," "Committee," "Granted Appeal," "Denied Appeal." New appeals would result in a status of Open Appeal.

A

Appeals 7.134 The system shall assign applications with an Appeal Status of Open Appeal to the Senior Executive.

At this point, the Senior Executive may change the Appeal Status, add correspondence entries, attach documents, etc. - there is no additional functionality associated with recording Appeal information that is not covered by other Accommodations functionality requirements.

C

Appeals 7.135 The system shall be able to print appeals documentation in the format used by the Subcommittee.

B

Appeals 7.136 The system shall visually indicate applications which have been appealed in the list view.

A

Application Destruction

7.137 The system shall maintain business rules regarding file destruction dates.

A


7.138 Modification to an application shall reset the file destruction date.

E.g., appeals. A


7.139 The system shall alert the file clerk when an application's destruction date is reached.

A


7.140 The system shall allow the file clerk to indicate that a file has been destroyed.

A


7.141 The system shall record the actual file destruction date.

A


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority Application Destruction

7.142 Once a file has been indicated to have been destroyed, the system shall delete all electronic application information, with the exception of the final status and actual file destruction date, which shall remain associated with the applicant's profile.

The actual information to be kept is still to be determined .

A

Reporting 7.143 The system shall be able to produce reports showing the length of time taken to complete an application.

A

Reporting 7.144 The system shall be able to report on the difference between an application's "Receipt Complete" date and the date it was first worked on by an analyst.

C

Reporting 7.145 The system shall be able to produce reports showing the number of applications and disabilities referred to consultants.

A

Reporting 7.146 The system shall be able to produce reports showing the accommodations requested vs. granted by disability type.

A

Reporting 7.147 The system shall be able to produce summary reports showing the status of accommodations requests.

A

Reporting 7.148 The system shall be able to produce reports showing accommodations requests received and processed within a given date range.

A

Reporting 7.149 The system shall be able to produce summary reports showing the number of disabilities by type of disability.

This includes counts of multiple disabilities contained in a single petition .

A

Reporting 7.150 The system shall be able to produce summary reports showing the number of accommodations by accommodation type by exam and Test Center .

A

Reporting 7.151 The system shall be able to produce reports listing applicants with different accommodations requests for different exams.

I.e., "repeaters." A


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority Remote Access 7.152 The system shall allow authorized State Bar

users who are administering an exam to access accommodations data remotely.

Note that access may be limited, or unavailable, at State Bar discretion.

C

Remote Access 7.153 The system shall allow authorized State Bar users who are administering an exam to add correspondence entries remotely.

C


The Diagonal Group

Exam Administration Category Number Description Notes Priority Facilities 8.01 The system shall be able to track information about

exam sites and potential exam sites. Includes site name, address, general location (for matching to proctors - could be regional or metropolitan area based), fees, contract id, inspection date..

A

Facilities 8.02 The system shall be able to track an unlimited number of contacts for each site and potential site.

Includes name, title, contact information, comments.

A

Facilities 8.03 The system shall be able to accommodate attachments to the facility record.

Such as scanned-in floor plans. A

Facilities 8.04 The system shall be able to track exam history for each site.

Includes which exams were held there, number of test takers, facility report information.

A

Facilities 8.05 The system shall be able to track an unlimited number of incidents for each exam at a site.

Includes person reporting, person(s) involved, description of the incident, date/time, resolution of the incident.

B

Facilities 8.06 The system shall be able to track an unlimited number of locations within a site.

For example, in the case of a large conference center or hotel in which multiple rooms were used. Includes location name, address/number, minimum/maximum number of applicants, comments.

B

Facilities 8.07 The system shall be able to accommodate attachments to the location record.

Such as scanned-in floor plans. A

Facilities 8.08 The system shall be able to track an unlimited number of comments associated with a location.

Includes name of commenter, comment. A

Facilities 8.09 The system shall be able to track the status of each site and potential site.

For example, "Approved," "Rejected," "Analysis in Progress."

A

Facilities 8.10 The system shall be able to track contract details for each site.

Includes time period covered, fees, status of contract (for example, "Approval in Progress, "Approved").

B


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority Facilities 8.11 The system shall be able to manage contract

approval workflow. Contracts must be approved by Operations, the Senior Executive of Admissions, Legal, Finance, Requisition, and another final review by Operations. The system must track each step in the process, and will need to be able to interface with the Member Systems involved in contract approval .

B

Facilities 8.12 The system shall be able to attach electronic copies of contracts to the site record.

B

Facilities 8.13 The system shall be able to track the maximum number of applicants allowed at each site and location .

A

Facilities 8.14 The system shall be able to display the number of applicants registered for a site.

Limits on registration are handled in the Exam Application Section.

A

Facilities 8.15 The system shall allow a State Bar user to display a summary of each exam's count of granted, partially granted, or granted with revision accommodations applications by type of accommodation by test site.

Note that this is summary/count information only .

A

Facilities 8.16 The system shall allow a State Bar user to list accommodation applications for an exam.

Includes name, accommodations requested, accommodation status, test site requested. Note that the information available to test administrators is limited compared to that available to Testing Accommodations personnel - test administrators need only know what was granted for the exam in question, and do not need to see other accommodations information about the applicant.

A

Supplies 8.17 The system shall be able to track the types of supplies needed for an exam.

B

Supplies 8.18 The system shall be able to display an estimate of the types and number of supplies needed for each site, based on the number of applicants.

An Excel spreadsheet currently provides this functionality - it is suggested that the business rules built into the spreadsheet be used.

B


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority Supplies 8.19 The system shall be able to print barcoded labels

identifying the test taker, to be affixed to the test taker's exam answer cover pages or diskettes by the test taker during the exam.

B

Supplies 8.20 The system shall be able to print packing lists of the supplies to be sent to each site.

B

Supplies 8.21 The system shall be able to print shipping labels to be affixed to the boxes of supplies.

Includes site, unique shipping id. B

Supplies 8.22 The system shall be able to record the supplies that are being shipped to each site by box.

B

Staffing 8.23 The system shall be able to track information about State Bar staff members who will oversee the exams.

Includes name, exam assigned, dates, role. B

Staffing 8.24 The system shall allow the authorized Exam Administration system user to assign State Bar staff members to exams.

Note that this is a controlled function; not all Exam Administration system users are allowed to do this .

B

Staffing 8.25 The system shall be able to alert State Bar staff members when they are assigned to an exam.

C

Proctors 8.26 The system shall maintain business rules governing the number and type of proctors needed for an exam.

Includes number of sites/locations, test takers per site.

B

Proctors 8.27 The system shall be able to produce an estimate of the number and type of proctors needed for an exam.

B

Proctors 8.28 The system shall be able to track information about proctors and potential proctors.

Includes unique id, name, address, phone, email, role, status (a rating system, ranging from most preferred to not allowed), preferred location, contact method preference, etc.

B

Proctors 8.29 The system shall allow the Exam Administration system user to change the status of a proctor or potential proctor.

B

Proctors 8.30 The system shall be able to maintain a history of proctor exam activities.

Includes each exam attended, role filled, hours worked, rate, total paid, comments.

B


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority Proctors 8.31 The system shall be able to suggest matches

between the proctors and potential proctors and the available proctor positions for an exam.

A

Proctors 8.32 The system shall be able to display a summary count by role and location of the suggested matches and indicate where proctor needs cannot be met.

A

Proctors 8.33 The system shall be able to display a detailed list of suggested matches.

Includes name, role, location. A

Proctors 8.34 The system shall allow the Exam Administration system user to view details about any suggested proctor.

Includes profile and history. B

Proctors 8.35 The system shall allow the Exam Administration system user to approve or reject suggested matches.

A

Proctors 8.36 Once a suggested match has been rejected, the system shall not re-suggest that match when the list is re-displayed for that exam.

A

Proctors 8.37 The system shall allow the Exam Administration system user to search for proctors by name, role, preferred location, and status.

B

Proctors 8.38 The system shall allow the Exam Administration system user to sort searches on any field displayed in the search.

B

Proctors 8.39 The system shall be able to produce a list of the proctors who have been supplied by the temporary agency relative to the estimate of the number and type of proctors needed for an exam.

B

Proctors 8.40 The system shall be able to produce an ID badge for each accepting proctor, barcoded with the proctor's unique id number.

Includes name, role, site, date and type of exam in human-readable format.

B


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority Exam Activities 8.41 The system shall be able to be used at the exam

sites. Possibly via laptop with a connection to the secure server. Laptops must be equipped with barcode scanners. The State Bar may elect to make this capability unavailable, or available only in a limited sense, at its discretion.

B

Exam Activities 8.42 The system shall be able to record what supplies were received at the site.

C

Exam Activities 8.43 The system shall be able to provide a timeclock function and indicate that a proctor has "clocked in" or "clocked out" by the scanning the proctor's ID badge.

C

Exam Activities 8.44 The system shall require the proctor to confirm the "clock in/out" operation.

C

Exam Activities 8.45 The system shall record the time and date of each timeclock operation.

C

Exam Activities 8.46 The system shall allow the Exam Administration system user to manually perform timeclock operations.

B

Exam Activities 8.47 The system shall allow the Exam Administration system user to modify timeclock events.

B

Exam Activities 8.48 The system shall maintain an audit trail of any modification to a timeclock event.

B

Exam Activities 8.49 The system shall allow the Exam Administration system user to add new proctors at the test site.

B

Exam Activities 8.50 The system shall be able to accept testing accommodations additions and modification onsite.

Note that only authorized users will be able to make testing accommodations changes. The onsite person may need to call the State Bar offices to have the change approved and entered in the case where an authorized user is not onsite.

C

Exam Activities 8.51 The system shall be able to "scan in" test takers. If barcoded attendee identification does not already exist, requirements will need to be added to print it.

B


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority Exam Activities 8.52 When a test taker is scanned in, the system shall

record the time, date, and exam session. B

Exam Activities 8.53 The system shall be able to record the collection of profile information for each test taker.

Fingerprint cards, handwriting samples. May be checked in manually, or via scanning of barcode (if the forms are not barcoded, requirements will need to be added to print them).

A

Exam Activities 8.54 The system shall be able to record the collection of exams for each test taker.

Each exam answer's cover sheet barcode shall be scanned. For laptop exams, each disk label's barcode shall be scanned.

B

Exam Activities 8.55 The system shall be able to alert the State Bar user to discrepancies between the expected exam data collected and the actual data collected.

C

Exam Activities 8.56 The system shall be able to produce reporting on exam attendees' collected exam data.

C

Exam Activities 8.57 The system shall allow the State Bar user to enter information about incidents that occur during an exam.

Includes proctor reporting the incident, date/time incident occurred, facility/site of incident, attendee(s) involved in incident, short description of incident (i.e., "name" of incident), full description of incident.

C

Exam Activities 8.58 The system shall allow the State Bar user to view incidents associated with a facility and/or with an exam.

C

Exam Activities 8.59 The system shall be able to print signs onsite. Requires a printer. D Exam Activities 8.60 The system shall be able to produce shipping labels

for items being shipped back to the State Bar. Includes exams and leftover supplies. C

Reporting 8.61 The system shall be able to produce reporting on proctor time, rates, and total fees due the proctors.

B

Reporting 8.62 The system shall be able to produce reporting on incidents that occurred during an exam.

C


The Diagonal Group

Grading Category Number Description Notes Priority Goal 9.001 To reduce the amount of time the grading

process takes. B

General System 9.002 The system shall be able to track information relating to the grading of exams administered by the State Bar.

A

General System 9.003 The system shall be able to track information about graders and grader candidates (including pre-test graders).

Includes unique id, name, address, phone, email, role, subject specialty, status (a rating system, ranging from most preferred to not allowed), contact method preference, login, encrypted password, secret question 1, secret question 2. Note that all references to graders below, except where otherwise specified, include pre-test graders and grader candidates .

A

Grader Web Interface

9.004 The system shall provide a web interface for graders .

B


9.005 The web interface shall provide a mechanism for account creation by graders.

B


9.006 The web interface shall provide a mechanism for retrieving forgotten logins and passwords via secret question.

It is suggested that the login/password be sent to the email address in the record.

A


9.007 The web interface shall provide a mechanism for the graders to modify their profile information.

Includes name, home phone, work phone, home address, work address, email.

C


9.008 The web interface shall not, however, allow graders to modify profile information between the application deadline and the date of the exam.

In the event that a grader needs to make a change to profile information during this time period, he or she will need to contact the State Bar.


9.009 The web interface shall allow graders to rank grading subjects in order of interest.

A


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority Grader Web Interface

9.010 The web interface shall not allow a grader to apply to act as a grader for a particular exam if he or she does not live in the San Francisco area.

Suggest that zip codes be validated - zip codes in, say, the Los Angeles area could be rejected upon entry by the applicant, and a message displayed that the applicant must be in the San Francisco area. Zip codes relatively near San Francisco could be entered by the applicant and evaluated by the State Bar on a case-by-case basis.

B


9.011 The web interface shall not allow a grader to apply to act as a grader for a particular exam if he or she has passed the Bar exam within one year from the date of the exam for which the grader is applying .

A


9.012 The web interface shall not allow a grader to apply to act as a grader if he or she attended a correspondence law school.


9.013 The web interface shall not allow a grader to apply to act as a grader for a particular exam if he or she took more than two attempts to pass the Bar exam.

A


9.014 The web interface shall query the Member System to determine whether the grader is in good standing, and not on suspended or inactive status; if the grader is not in good standing, or is on suspended or inactive status, the web interface shall not allow them to apply to act as a grader.


9.015 The web interface shall indicate that the exam for which they are applying is for the next grading cycle and indicate the dates associated with that grading cycle .

A


9.016 The web interface shall a grader candidate to fill out an application to act as a grader apprentice for the indicated exam.

Note that GBX people don't apply; only about six graders are needed, and these positions are offered to senior people.

A


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority Grader Web Interface

9.017 If a person has acted as a grader on a previous exam, the system shall allow him or her to fill out a re-application form.

The re-application form is a shorter version of the full application required for grader apprentices.

A


9.018 The web interface shall allow the grader to submit an electronic declaration.

The grader must certify that he/she is available for the exam for which they are applying, that they do not know anyone who is taking the test, that they have not taught/tutored in law school or given a bar review course in the previous six months, and that they are in good standing.

A

Grader Applications

9.019 The system shall allow the State Bar user to scan and attach declarations received by mail.

For grader applicants who do not use the web interface.

B

Grader Applications

9.020 The system shall allow the State Bar user to search for grader applicants by name, exam, status, or subject specialty.

A

Grader Applications

9.021 The system shall allow the State Bar user to view details about any suggested grader.

Includes profile and history. A

Grader Applications

9.022 The system shall allow the State Bar user to update the grader applicant record.

Particularly with status, role, and grader letter . New grader applicants - those who have never participated in an exam - shall have status New and role Unassigned (for example).

A

Grader Applications

9.023 The system shall be able to maintain a history of grader activities.

Includes each calibration sessions attended, role filled, questions assigned, exams assigned and graded, comments.

A

Grader Applications

9.024 The system shall be able to produce a list of the graders who have applied for an exam.

Based on role, status, and subject expertise. C

Grader Applications

9.025 The system shall allow the user to select the graders to be used on an exam.

B

Grader Selection 9.026 The system shall allow the user to initiate the sending of a contract for an exam to an approved grader who has applied to act as grader for that exam.

B


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority Grader Selection 9.027 The system shall allow the user to indicate that a

signed contract has been received. C

Grader Selection 9.028 The system shall maintain fee information related to grader activities.

Includes preparation, calibration session participation, actual grading.

A

Grader Selection 9.029 The system shall maintain a history of fees paid to graders.

A

Grader Selection 9.030 The system shall automatically indicate fees pending to graders based on grader activities.

A

Grader Selection 9.031 The system shall allow the State Bar user to approve pending fees and generate payments to graders.

A

Calibration 9.032 The system shall allow the State Bar user to assign a specific test question on an exam to a grader.

A

Calibration 9.033 The system shall allow the State Bar user to initiate the sending of the assigned test questions to the graders of an exam.

A

Calibration 9.034 Upon initiation, the system shall automatically print the test question and instructions to be mailed to the graders.

A

Calibration 9.035 The system shall not allow test questions to be sent prior to the first date after the administration of the exam to be graded.

A

Calibration 9.036 The system shall allow the user to enter scoring information for the sample answers by grader.

A

Grading 9.037 The system shall allow MBE scores to be imported.

A

Grading 9.038 The system shall attach the test taker's MBE score to the test taker's record.

A

Grading 9.039 The system shall maintain business rules governing the pass and fail thresholds for the First Read of an exam.

"First Read" is the first time an exam is graded. Most exams will only require a First Read.

A


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority Grading 9.040 The system shall allow the user to indicate that

an answer book has been received from the test site.

Preferably by scanning the barcode on the cover sheet.

A

Grading 9.041 The system shall maintain location information about the drop-off location for question boxes.

A

Grading 9.042 The system shall allow the user to assign graders to drop-off locations.

A

Grading 9.043 The system shall allow the user to assign ranges of test answer code numbers to graders by grader letter .

Grading 9.044 The system shall allow the user to create and view a Grading Schedule, which indicates the dates on which test answers (by code number) are due to be returned, and whether or not they have been received.

A

Grading 9.045 The system shall allow the user to scan in the bubble sheet associated with each grader's batch of 100 answers.

A

Grading 9.046 The system shall attach the bubble sheet grade to the test taker's answer.

B

Grading 9.047 The system shall allow the user to enter the grade information that the grader has written on the test answer cover sheet.

A

Grading 9.048 The system shall attach the entered written grade information to the test taker's answer.

A

Grading 9.049 When both the bubble sheet grade and the written grade have been entered into the system, the system shall flag the answer as having been received from the grader.

A

Grading 9.050 The system shall alert the user to discrepancies between the bubble sheet grade and the written grade.

A


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority Grading 9.051 If a discrepancy has been identified, the system

shall allow the user to edit the bubble sheet grade and/or the written grade.

A

Grading 9.052 The system shall allow the user to create a Grade File to be sent to the psychometricians for the creation of a scaling formula.

A

Grading 9.053 The system shall allow the user to enter scaling formula information received from the psychometricians.

A

Grading 9.054 The system shall apply the scaling formula to determine the exam score for each test taker.

A

Grading 9.055 The system shall flag exams at or above the Pass threshold as Pass.

A

Grading 9.056 The system shall flag exams at or below the Fail threshold as Fail.

A

Grading 9.057 The system shall flag exams that fall between the pass and fail thresholds as requiring a Second Read.

A

Grading 9.058 The system shall maintain business rules governing the pass and fail thresholds for the Second Read of an exam.

A

Grading 9.059 The system shall automatically assign Second Read exams by code number to graders.

B

Grading 9.060 The system shall not assign a Second Read exam to the original grader.

A

Grading 9.061 The system shall allow the user to manually override automatic assignment and reassign to another grader.


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority Grading 9.062 The system shall print labels, to be placed over

the original scoring information on the test question's cover page, that allow the grader to write new scoring information.

Alternatively, if all answers are scanned or captured from diskette, the system could print all Second Read answers with new cover pages. Note that the labels used are a special format; if it is not possible to print labels of this type onsite, the current process of ordering labels will continue to be used .

C

Grading 9.063 The system shall track the scoring information for Second Read exams.

A

Grading 9.064 The system shall automatically calculate the average score of the First and Second Reads.

A

Grading 9.065 The system shall flag exams with average scores at or above the Pass threshold as Pass.

A

Grading 9.066 The system shall flag exams with average scores at or below the Fail threshold as Fail.

A

Grading 9.067 The system shall flag exams with average scores that fall between the pass and fail thresholds of the Second Read as requiring Reappraisal.

A

Grading 9.068 The system shall allow the user to print a Reappraisal Certificate for exams requiring Reappraisal.

To be attached to the exams given to the Reappraisers; contains scoring information from First and Second Reads. Note that changes to the reappraisal process are being considered; if implemented, the reappraiser will only focus on answers where there is a discrepancy between the First and Second Read grades.

A

Grading 9.069 The system shall allow the user to enter the Reappraisers' recommendation.

Pass or Fail only; no new scores are calculated.

A

Grade Notification 9.070 The system shall allow the user to view a list of test takers by exam status.

Pass or Fail. A

Grade Notification 9.071 The system shall allow the user to print exam results letters for test takers who have failed the exam.

Fail letters include the actual scores. A


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority Grade Notification 9.072 The system shall apply Motion List criteria to test

takers who have passed the exam. See the General Section for Motion List information.

A

Grade Notification 9.073 If the test taker has passed the exam and meets all Motion List criteria, the system shall allow the user to generate results letters for the applicants.

Pass letters indicate Pass only; they do not include the actual scores. Note that the pass letters are not printed here, but by running the Motion List.

B

Grade Notification 9.074 Results letters for test takers who have passed the exam but do not meet all Motion List criteria shall include information regarding the missing Motion List requirements.

Grade Notification 9.075 The system shall allow the user to post test taker pass information on the Admissions web site.

The current system has functionality which allows test takers (and the public) to access pass information.

A

Grade Notification 9.076 The system shall allow the user to post public pass data by test taker on the website.

Test data is posted with access for test takers only for 36 hours. After that, pass data is available to the public.

A

Grade Notification 9.077 The system shall allow the user to post test taker pass information by law school on the law school web interface.

See the Educational Standards Section. Alternatively, a separate web area, other than the one used to maintain Educational Standards information, could be used for allocation information.

A

Grade Notification 9.078 The system shall allow the user to track requests from test takers to view copies of their tests.

B

Grade Notification 9.079 The system shall maintain business rules as to what test takers are able to view.

Original written answers are available to failing test takers only.

Grade Notification 9.080 The system shall allow the user to track test taker payments for sending copies of their tests.

B

Reporting 9.081 The system shall be able to produce reports on pass/fail results by gender and/or ethnicity of the test taker.

A

Reporting 9.082 The system shall be able to produce reports on the percentage of test takers passing the test.

A


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority Reporting 9.083 The system shall be able to produce reports on

the percentage of first-time test takers passing the test.

A

Reporting 9.084 The system shall be able to produce reports on the percentage of repeat test takers passing the test.

A

Reporting 9.085 The system shall be able to produce reports on the percentage of test takers passing or failing the test according to the method by which they qualified to take the examination (law office study, attorney applicant, or law school attendee).

Reporting 9.085 The system shall be able to produce reports on the percentage of test takers passing or failing the test by the law school to which they are allocated.

Test takers are allocated to the law school from which they graduated; note that there may be other business rules that apply to the allocation of test takers to law schools.

A


The Diagonal Group

Wall Certificates Category Number Description Notes Priority All Certificates

10.01 The Member System shall be the system of record for member names and contact information.

The name on the oath card is the official name of the member; this information is maintained in the Member System. It is recommended that the Wall Certificate system be developed as a sub-system of the Member System, rather than of the Admissions System. Regardless of the development choice made, all queries on name information must go to the Member System. (Note: It may be desirable at some future time to assign the responsibility for certificates to another area of the State Bar, rather than Admissions, since only admitted Members have certificates.)

C

All Certificates

10.02 The system shall create a certificate record, associated with the member's record, for each certificate requested by the member.

The certificate record may be linked to the member record by member id, name, etc.

A

New Certificates

10.03 The system shall create a certificate record when a new member's oath card information is entered into the Member System.

B

All Certificates

10.04 The system shall uniquely identify each certificate request.

A

All Certificates

10.05 The system shall allow a Member System user to record whether the new member requires a "Standard" or "Custom" type of certificate.

Standard certificates are printed by the Clerk of the Supreme Court. Custom certificates require a fee and are sent to a printer.

B

New Certificates

10.06 The system shall allow a Member System user to record the name of the Clerk of the Court.

It is believed that this information is already captured when oath card data is entered into the system. Certificates must include the name of the Clerk at the time the member was admitted.

A


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority All Certificates

10.07 The system shall allow a Wall Certificates System user to flag certificate records as being of class "Original," "Replacement," or "Reorder Original."

Original: used the first time a certificate is issued. Replacement: used when a certificate is damaged or lost and a replacement is required. Reorder Original: used when the original certificate has been printed with an error and a corrected version is required.

B

New Certificates

10.08 The system shall automatically flag new certificate requests as type "Original."

A

All Certificates

10.09 The system shall allow a Wall Certificates System user to indicate the status of a certificate record: statuses include "Ready," "Pending," "Printing," and "Complete."

Ready: a certificate is ready to be sent to the printer. Pending: a certificate request requires more information before being sent to the printer. Printing: a certificate request has been sent to the printer. Complete: the certificate has been printed.

A

New Certificates

10.10 The system shall automatically flag new certificate requests as status "Ready."

Note: new requests are set by default to "Ready" as there is no reason - until the request is reviewed by the Wall Certificate system user - to believe more information is required. After review, the system user may set the request to "Pending" if more information is needed.

B

All Certificates

10.11 The system shall datestamp all certificate request records with the current date and time.

A

Replacement Certificates

10.12 The system shall provide a web interface for pre-registered members to request replacement wall certificates.

It is recommended that this be added to the Member System interface, not the Admissions System.

C


10.13 The system shall display text which explains that a member may only have one certificate at a time, and must sign a declaration that, under penalty of perjury, describes the reason he or she requires a replacement certificate.


10.14 The web interface shall require the member to indicate the reason for the request.

Reasons include incorrect name, name change, lost, destroyed, and damaged.

B


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority Replacement Certificates

10.15 The web interface shall display the requirements the member must fulfill in order to receive a replacement certificate, based on the reason for the request.

Incorrect name: two forms of photo id and the original certificate. Name change: two forms of photo id with the old name, two forms with the new name, fee. Damaged: two forms of photo id, the old certificate, fee. Lost or destroyed: two forms of photo id, a signed declaration that the original is lost or destroyed, fee.

B


10.16 The system shall track the requirements needed to fulfill the request, based on the reason for the request.

A


10.17 In the case of incorrect name or name change, the web interface shall require the member to enter their correct or new name.

A


10.18 The web interface shall allow the applicant to submit an electronic declaration.

This requires specific action from the applicant to indicate he/she has read, understood, and agrees to the information in the declaration. Alternatively, the paper declaration could continue to be used.

A


10.19 The web interface shall allow the member to print a copy of the declaration to be signed.

Only to be used if the electronic declaration is not used.

C


10.20 The web interface shall require the member to confirm the mailing address currently in the Member System.

B


10.21 The web interface shall allow the member to enter a new mailing address if the member does not confirm the current address.

Proper proof will be required (see 10.25). A


10.22 The web interface shall accept electronic payment. A


10.23 The web interface shall show the replacement request as "Pending" until the requirements (photo id, fee, etc.) are received by the State Bar.

B


10.24 The system shall only allow replacement requests to be entered via the web interface.


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority Replacement Certificates

10.25 The system shall allow a Wall Certificates System user to update the record to indicate that each individual requirement (photo id, etc.) has been received.

Members may send in required information in separate mailings, so each requirement must be flagged separately.

A

All Certificates

10.26 The system shall automatically update the member's official name in the Member System when all requirements related to name change or incorrect name have been flagged as being received.

A

All Certificates

10.27 The system shall automatically update the member's official address in the Member System when all requirements related to the address change or incorrect address have been flagged as being received.


10.28 The system shall change the record's status to "Ready" when all requirements (photo id, etc.), based on the reason for the request, have been flagged as being received.

B

Preparing Certificates

10.29 The system shall allow a Wall Certificate System user the ability to review all certificate requests with a status of "Ready" at any time.

This group of certificate requests shall be referred to as a batch.

B


10.30 When presenting a batch for review, the system shall display the full name of the member, the date the certificate was requested, the type and class of certificate, and the status of the certificate request in row and column format.

B


10.31 The system shall allow a Wall Certificate System user the ability to change any visible field while reviewing a batch of certificate requests.

A


10.32 Changes to type, class, and status fields shall be made via selection from a validated list of choices.

It is suggested that drop-down lists would be a logical choice for this.

A


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority Preparing Certificates

10.33 Changes to member name information shall be free-form; i.e., not from a validated list or drop-down selection.

It is suggested that when a name change is desired, the user clicks on the name, a new window is opened where the user can change any of the name fields (title, first, middle, last, suffix), then click save to update the list screen and close the name change window.

D


10.34 The system shall automatically update the member's official name in the Member System if a change to the member's name is made during batch review.

While most changes to member names will have been made prior to this point, the possibility still exists that the reviewer may find an error that had been missed earlier.

D


10.35 The system shall allow a Wall Certificate System user the ability to change the status of each certificate request individually.

Allowable status changes are: Ready - Pending; Pending - Ready.

A


10.36 The system shall give the Wall Certificate System user the ability to process the batch for printing.

It is suggested that the user be given the option to "Approve entire batch?" or a choice to that effect.

A


10.37 The system shall give the Wall Certificate System user the ability to save his/her work and exit without processing the batch for printing.

A


10.38 Upon approval to process the batch for printing, the status of "Ready" requests in the batch shall change to "Printing."

A

10.39 The system shall automatically assign a batch number to every certificate request record in the batch.

A


10.40 When the status changes to "Printing," the system shall automatically email a report of certificate requests in state "Printing" of type "Custom" to the printing contractor (currently Herff-Jones).

Herff-Jones cannot or may not be able to accept electronic file submissions; it is recommended that this be discussed directly with Herff-Jones. If it is the case, this requirement must be modified to print a report for mailing.

A


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Category Number Description Notes Priority Preparing Certificates

10.41 When the status changes to "Printing," the system shall automatically email a report of certificate requests in state "Printing" and type "Standard" to the Clerk of the Supreme Court.

The Clerk cannot or may not be able to accept electronic file submissions; it is recommended that this be discussed directly with the Clerk. If it is the case, this requirement must be modified to print a report for mailing. (It is unlikely that the Clerk will want to accept electronic submissions.)

C


10.42 The reports sent to the printing contractor and the Clerk shall include the member's name as it must appear on the certificate, the mailing address, and whether the certificate is a replacement or not.

A


10.43 The system shall give the Wall Certificate System user the ability to print mailing labels for certificates by type (Custom or Standard).

A

Reviewing Certificates

10.44 The system shall give the Wall Certificate System user the ability to call up a batch by batch number or date.

B


10.45 The system shall give the Wall Certificate System user the ability to change the status of a batch to Complete.

A


10.46 The system shall allow a Wall Certificate System user the ability to change the status of each certificate request in Printing status individually.

Allowable status changes are: Printing - Complete; Printing - Pending; Printing - Ready.

A


10.47 The system shall allow a Wall Certificate System user the ability to change all "Printing" certificate requests being viewed to "Complete" with one operation.

It is suggested that the user be given the option to click on "Batch completed successfully?" or a choice to that effect.

A


10.48 Once a certificate request has been changed to status "Complete," its status may not be changed again.

A


10.49 The system shall allow a Wall Certificate System user the ability to query on certificate request history by member name or member id.

The system user must be able to see the history of certificate events for a particular member, including the issuance of a new certificate, any replacements/reorders, etc. The date of each event, the name on the certificate, the type and class of the certificate, must be included.

B


The Diagonal Group

Category Number Description Notes Priority Reviewing Certificates

10.50 The system shall allow a Wall Certificate System user the ability to query on certificate requests by status, type, and/or class by date.

For example, the user should be able to see how many Ready requests are waiting, how many "Reorders" there have been, how many Custom certificates have been printed in the last year, etc.

B


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The Diagonal Group

Technical Architecture We developed three different views of the technical architecture: a simplified view of the current architecture; a “halfway-point” view of how the system is likely to appear as the new system begins to come online while other pieces of system functionality remain running on the older systems; and a view of the new system, once all modules have been developed. Security of the system is critical, but the current method of securing the system does not allow for the flexibility and data exchange required by the new system. While the mechanisms used for securing the new system are in part determined by the approach taken by the developers as the system is designed, security suggestions and recommendations by the developers must be in line with State Bar IT Department standards and approved by the IT Department prior to their development or implementation.

Current State

Admissions Workstations

Admissions Servers

State Bar Firewall

Applicants

Internet

ExamDevelopment

"Server"

AS/400

CalbarGraderServer

WebServer

TARTS


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Transitional State


Admissions Servers

State Bar Firewall

Applicants

Internet

ExamDevelopment

Server

CalbarGraderServer AS/400

NewDatabase

Server

"Mirroring"

WebServer

Web ServerConnection to

Database

TARTS


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Desired State


Admissions Servers

State Bar Firewall

Applicants

Internet


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Project Planning The project plan which follows details the major tasks to be accomplished in developing the new system. At a very high level, the steps to be taken are:

1. Identify the project team 2. Select a development partner 3. Design the overall database 4. Design the conversion processes for the existing data 5. Develop the online help facility 6. Develop each of the modules of the system

The current order in which the modules will be developed is:

Pre-registration (a subset of the Registration requirements) (online) Pre-registration (back end) Moral Character (online) Moral Character (back end) Testing Accommodations (online) Testing Accommodations (back end) Registration (online) Registration (back end) The Motion List (a subset of the General requirements) Exam Applications (online) Exam Applications (back end) Exam Administration Educational Standards Examination Development Grading Wall Certificates

Certain “universal” elements of functionality will be developed as needed; for example, the Master Calendar functionality may be developed in conjunction with Testing Accommodations, while the communications tracking facility may appear at the same time as back end Registration. We expect that the development team may identify simpler areas that can be easily combined with others, or areas with similar functionality that may be combined; therefore, the modules may appear in a slightly different order than that listed. Each module’s development is similar. All include a design phase, consisting of preliminary design work, prototyping, joint application development (JAD) sessions, and approval. Actual development follows, after which the system is tested and implemented. The vision captured by the requirements can be realized in many, many different ways. As a result, it is vital that users participate in the JAD sessions and testing. Furthermore, for the online, public-facing aspects of the system, we recommend that you have people external to the Admissions Department participate in the testing.


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Project Plan (See separate Microsoft Project Plan file.)


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Project Resource and Cost Estimates The resource and cost estimates for developers and State Bar resources appear below. Only costs for external resources have been identified; costs for internal State Bar employees are not shown. Vendor costs have been estimated using industry-standard values for the listed roles. Resource ID Hourly Rate Hours Total Cost PM $250.00/hr 1,300.57 hrs $325,143.31 Vendor PM $250.00/hr 269.33 hrs $67,335.17 Vendor Analyst 1 $185.00/hr 1,087.93 hrs $201,268.79 Vendor Analyst 2 $185.00/hr 967.72 hrs $179,026.19 Vendor Developer 1 $150.00/hr 210.18 hrs $31,528.19 Vendor Developer 2 $150.00/hr 163.08 hrs $24,461.52 Vendor Developer 3 $150.00/hr 445.35 hrs $66,802.56 Vendor Developer 4 $150.00/hr 415.45 hrs $62,318.03 Vendor DBA $200.00/hr 452.1 hrs $90,420.05 Vendor QA 1 $150.00/hr 214 hrs $32,100.00 Vendor QA 2 $150.00/hr 188 hrs $28,200.00 Ken Papai - State Bar PM/Standards $0.00/hr 344.28 hrs $0.00 David Martin - IT A/P $0.00/hr 1,192.32 hrs $0.00 Pritika Sharma - IT A/P $0.00/hr 385.43 hrs $0.00 Business Technical 2 $0.00/hr 471.53 hrs $0.00 Documenter 1 $0.00/hr 182 hrs $0.00 Documenter 2 $0.00/hr 132 hrs $0.00 Moral Character 1 $0.00/hr 123.17 hrs $0.00 Moral Character 2 $0.00/hr 123.17 hrs $0.00 Testing Accommodations 1 $0.00/hr 48.95 hrs $0.00 Testing Accommodations 2 $0.00/hr 48.95 hrs $0.00 Registration 1 $0.00/hr 41.2 hrs $0.00 Registration 2 $0.00/hr 41.2 hrs $0.00 Motion $0.00/hr 4.78 hrs $0.00 Exam Application 1 $0.00/hr 106.53 hrs $0.00 Exam Application 2 $0.00/hr 106.53 hrs $0.00 Certificates $0.00/hr 15.83 hrs $0.00 Exam Administration 1 $0.00/hr 15.23 hrs $0.00 Exam Administration 2 $0.00/hr 15.23 hrs $0.00 Grading 1 $0.00/hr 59.52 hrs $0.00 Grading 2 $0.00/hr 59.52 hrs $0.00 Grading 3 $0.00/hr 59.52 hrs $0.00 Educational Standards $0.00/hr 6.6 hrs $0.00 Examination Development $0.00/hr 12.27 hrs $0.00 Total External Resource Costs $1,108,603.82

The internal State Bar resources identified do not necessarily need to be limited to the number of roles listed; in fact, it is preferred that as many people as practicable participate in JAD sessions and testing.


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State Bar IT resource tasks are shared between resources. Development tasks are shared between State Bar IT resources and vendor developer resources. The workload of the internal resources, their skills, and the timing of development work will necessarily modify exactly how development work is assigned. If completely new Admissions Department software is developed, additional software costs do not apply since the State Bar IT Department already has appropriate Microsoft SQL Server, etc., licenses. However, if the State Bar elects to customize an existing software package that provides some of the required functionality, software costs will be significant. In that case, though, development costs will be decreased. Hardware costs are limited in either case. Dedicated servers will need to be purchased (and may just be additional drives which are slotted into the existing server farm); the total cost is expected to be no more than approximately $25,000.


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Project Methodology Documentation In this section, we review the methodology to be used in managing Project 2, the development of the Admissions Department system, and include some templates to be used in preparing for and running the project. Project Roles Several project roles are listed above in the Costs and Resources section: Project Manager: this person has overall management responsibilities for the project. He or she maintains the schedule and budget, monitors the project’s scope, prepares status reports, identifies and works to mitigate risks, communicates with all stakeholders, and acts as the linking factor between the development vendor, the State Bar IT Department, and the Admissions Department. For this project, the Project Manager must have an understanding of the capabilities of the technical resources assigned to the project, the defined requirements themselves, software development, and the technical environment. Given that The Diagonal Group is proposing to provide the Project Manager, who will have aided in the development of the software requirements, we also expect that the Project Manager will fully understand the business needs of Admissions and have a clear sense of the vision Admissions has for its new system. As a result, the Project Manager will also participate in design, JAD sessions, training planning, and implementation, acting as an advocate for Admissions’ needs and a liaison between the business and technical worlds. Vendor Project Manager: the development vendor’s project manager will perform the same general management tasks for his or her group, resolve issues, and work with the overall Project Manager to ensure delivery of a quality software product on time and within the budget. Vendor Resources: we have identified the types of development vendor resources we believe will be needed for a project of this scale. We have included software analysts and developers, a database administrator, and quality assurance people (software testers). Our assumption is that these resources will be onsite at the State Bar, working directly in the State Bar’s technical environment, but this is not strictly necessary: in particular, developers may be based off-site as long as the work product is readily accessible. State Bar IT Management: the State Bar’s IT Department has developed applications for the Bar that are similar in vision to that defined for Admissions. Further, the IT Department has an understanding of the technical and security requirements for the project, the environment, and the nature of the Admissions Department’s business needs. Therefore, regular participation by IT Management will help ensure success and could possibly act to accelerate development by approving and facilitating re-use of existing code (if feasible). If State Bar IT resources are also used for development work, the State Bar IT Management person will act as project manager for his or her staff. Business Technical Resources: these roles are designed to be filled by Admissions Department personnel who have knowledge of both the business needs and the technical aspects of the software. We expect the TSATs to fulfill this function, although others with the same type of skill set could be used. The business technical resources will provide continuity across all modules by participating in all design and training work. Documentors: the documentors will prepare the online help documentation and assist with training documentation. They may also aid in collecting knowledge for the knowledge base,


The Diagonal Group

particularly in finalizing the wording of letters and standard announcements in conjunction with the appropriate Admissions Department experts. Given the quality of the Calbar Grader documentation and the knowledge the TSATs have of the Admissions Department’s business, we suggest that they also fill these roles. Module Resources: each module requires Admissions Department subject matter experts to participate in design and testing. Most of the modules have two resources specified; however, that is a lower bound. We encourage the Admissions Department to provide more people, if possible, to work on each module, as the inclusion of more viewpoints and expertise will result in a stronger, better-tailored product. We have listed the module resources as though they are unique for each module; however, we know that many people in Admissions have knowledge of multiple areas and may elect to work on multiple modules. Not listed in the project resource sheet are two additional roles: Project Sponsor: the Project Sponsor is the Admissions Department member with overall project decision-making authority. The Project Sponsor helps resolve vendor issues and deals with State Bar resource allocation. Project Steering Committee: the Directors of the Admissions Department have been very involved with Project 1 and should continue to be involved as we move into Project 2. We suggest that the Directors make up the Steering Committee, which will receive regular status reports and provide feedback and direction. The Steering Committee may also choose to act as the Project Sponsor, although given the potential need for fast tactical decisions by the Sponsor, this may be too unwieldy. We know that the Directors will also act as Module Resources; Steering Committee activities are in addition to and outside of Module Resource work and are concerned with the overall project. Project Methodology The project is divided into phases: initiation, some set-up work, and the modules, and each phase, with the exception of initiation, consists of the same repeated activities: design, develop, test, and implement. Each set of activities contains approval milestones, which help to ensure that user needs are being met prior to committing resources for the next step. The design activities include preliminary design, which is performed by the software development vendor’s analyst. The analyst will review the requirements and lay out the initial design for a developer, who will create a prototype. Depending on the development environment, the prototype may consist of a rough working model, or may be limited to screenshots, storyboards, and associated descriptions of functionality. The next step is the JAD session, where the prototype is demonstrated for the Module Resources, Business Technical Resources, State Bar IT Management, and the Project Manager. “JAD session” is something of a misnomer, in that it is an iterative process and will consist of multiple sessions: input will be used to adjust the prototype, which will be reviewed again, more input will be given, and so on, until everyone agrees that it meets the Admissions Department’s needs. This is very much a “measure twice, cut once” philosophy: the goal is to spend as much time as it takes to get the design right prior to doing any formal development work, since it is considerably more expensive to make modifications or correct bugs in developed code compared to ensuring that the design is correct.


The Diagonal Group

After the design has been approved, the module is developed. The developers will perform unit testing in the course of development, but the real testing begins once the code is complete. A vendor quality assurance resource will confirm that the code operates according to specifications, after which user acceptance testing will take place. User acceptance testing is exactly what it sounds like: actual system users, in this case, the Module Resources, will use the software and attempt to find any errors or design flaws. This is another iterative process; as problems are found and corrected, the testing cycle will repeat until everyone is satisfied and approves the software. Changes that are requested during testing are subject to scope change approval. It is very common for users to think of additional functionality that would be helpful when they have their first hand-on experience with a piece of software. “Scope creep” is a threat to the allotted time and budget for any software development project. Changes will be documented by the Project Manager and Module Resources, with input from the development vendor, and subject to Steering Committee approval. (This process will also be used for any scope changes identified during the JAD sessions.) The implementation activities begin with documentation. The software and the business rules governing its use must be documented thoroughly, and we expect that the availability of an easy-to-use online help/documentation facility will ease the process. Once the documentation is complete, training can begin. The Module Resources, Business Technical Resources, State Bar IT Management, the Project Manager, and the Vendor Analyst will all participate to some extent. If additional documentation, in the form of “cheat sheets” or reference cards would be helpful, it will be created at this time. The training itself should take place very close to the actual go-live date, so that users do not forget what they have learned. Therefore, the training activity may occur immediately after the completion of the documentation, or it may wait until just before the system is implemented. Data conversion is usually a big part of implementation, and one of the areas most fraught with difficulty and with the potential for delay and disaster. However, we have specified that the overall database design and data conversion routines be developed very early in the project. Our vision is that once the database is set up and the conversion routines in place, the new database will be regularly updated with data from the existing systems (preferably daily). This not only gives us actual data to work with during testing, but allows us to find and correct data conversion problems well before the implementation of actual modules. Changes to the database design will certainly be made in the course of module design, but they should be relatively minor and the conversion routines will be changed and tested at the same time. The database and conversion work will thus be very intensive at the beginning of the project, but will be only a small part of the implementation of each module. We have specified a “parallel run” activity prior to go-live. In a parallel run, both the new and old systems have the same data entered and the results are compared. We have specified a relatively short parallel run period for each module for several reasons. First, some of the functionality in the new system cannot be compared with the old system, in that it doesn’t exist in the old system. Second, a parallel run requires double work from the system users. For example, in the case of Grading, all the grades for an exam will need to be entered into Calbar Grader, then entered into the new system, after which reports will be run to compare the results. Finally, a full parallel run cycle may not be practicable for Admissions, in that the Admissions lifecycle is associated with exams, and several months of parallel activities are not really feasible. Our expectation is that the actual length of the parallel run period will be recommended to the Steering Committee by the Module Resources, Business Technical Resources, State Bar IT Management, and the Project Manager after the testing period is complete. The Steering


The Diagonal Group

Committee will have the final say on the length of the period and the resources devoted to parallel operation. The go-live activity involves moving the software into production, ensuring the data is current and the users are trained, and observing the system. During go-live, vendor resources, the Project Manager, Business Technical Resources, and State Bar IT Management are readily available to users to answer questions and document issues for resolution. Part of the preparation for go-live is the development and testing of a back-out plan, so that if the system does not operate correctly, the changes can be removed and users can go back to the previously working version. This is not quite as important in the early stages of the project, but as more and more of the Admissions Department’s work is moved to the new system, the back-out plan becomes critical. Finally, once the software has proven to be stable, the old system is decommissioned. At first, decommissioning activity will be minor since the AS/400 will continue to play a large role for Admissions. External systems or databases, such as TARTS, Calbar Grader, or the multiple lists of law schools, can be removed once their replacements are online. As part of the continuous improvement and growth of the Admissions System, a process for capturing desired changes must be put in place. We see this as an extension of the change process used to document changes in scope identified during design and testing. In this case, the changes will be captured by State Bar IT Management, their cost and impact assessed, and evaluated for approval by the Directors. A note on the development environment: we recommend using separate development, test, and production systems. Once development is frozen and the software delivered for testing, it should be moved to a separate area. The actual, live, system should be installed on the production server for the system. The development and test systems can be on separate physical servers, but they could also reside on the same box. However, the production server must be a completely separate physical entity. Software development firms usually have excellent version control processes in place. We recommend that these processes be evaluated and play a part in approving selection of a vendor. The vendor’s processes should then be used, rather than asking the vendor to adhere to new (to the vendor) version control standards. Project Management Activities Besides the software development project methodology described, there are other aspects to the management of this project. Every project requires clear and frequent communication to be successful. At the beginning of the project, the Project Manager, in conjunction with the Business Technical Resources and State Bar IT Management, and subject to Steering Committee approval, will develop the following documents: Project Charter: This document describes the business need and justification for the project, outlines the overall project goals, and sets forth the constraints and assumptions associated with the project. It also lists the project team members and defines their authority and responsibilities. Project Scope Statement: This document defines the high-level deliverables for this project as well as the overall project objectives. Any deliverables or objectives not specifically listed are excluded from the scope of the project.


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Communications Plan: “Lack of communication” is often cited as a reason for the failure of many different types of undertakings. In order for this project to be successful, the members of the project team, management, and all project stakeholders need to be aware of all aspects of the project at some level. A project communications plan defines the different levels of communication (generally, as types of communication, such as meetings or status reports) and their audiences. When adhered to, use of a communications plan ensures that unforeseen obstacles are brought to light, initiatives that may impact the project are discussed, and that project stakeholders are made aware of changes that will occur as a result of the project. Additionally, project buy-in is increased as stakeholders are made aware of project progress. Templates of the above documents are included in the Appendix. The following planning documents will be developed over the course of the project initiation phase: Documentation Plan: This plan describes each type of documentation that needs to be produced and sets the standard for the style and appearance of the system’s documentation (both internal and public-facing). Training Plan: The training plan sets the rough schedule for training, which will be revised as the project progresses. It also describes the methods to be used in training – online tutorial, classroom “lecture,” hands-on practice, etc. Outlines of the types of materials to be produced are included. Organizational Impact Plan: The organizational impact plan is a specific type of risk management plan associated with system acceptance. It can also be viewed as an extension of the communications and training plans. Workshops, focus groups, and demonstration sessions may be described and scheduled for delivery over the life of the project to allow for project participation at all levels and to increase buy-in for the project. The same resources, along with vendor resources, will develop the following documents: Infrastructure Plan: The infrastructure plan expands on the technical architecture and defines in detail the hardware and software resources needed for the project. Development, production, and test systems are included, along with how they fit into the existing State Bar IT environment. Transition states, as parts of the new system are implemented and existing systems are decommissioned, are documented. Support Plan: State Bar IT Management, vendor resources, and the Project Manager will determine how best to support the system during its development and implementation. The plan and schedule for training State Bar IT support personnel is included. Maintenance Plan: Once the system is implemented, updates and adjustments will be required. The maintenance plan describes which aspects of the system will be maintained by the State Bar, and how the transition from vendor development to State Bar ownership is to be accomplished. Enhancement Plan: The change request process is fully defined in the enhancement plan, including the documentation, collection, analysis, prioritization, and approval processes for new system requests. During the development of each module, the Project Manager, with the Business Technical Resources, Module Resources, State Bar IT Management, and vendor personnel, will develop these documents:


The Diagonal Group

Test Plan: The test plan for each module will include test cases, or scenarios, which cover all aspects of the module’s functionality. Examples covering positive conditions (i.e., verifying that the system responds correctly when correct, expected, or appropriate data is entered) and negative conditions will be included, along with lists of the reports and/or other techniques to verify results. A standard problem report form will be used during testing; a suggested template is in the Appendix. Data Conversion Plan: Each module’s data conversion plan should be relatively simple, since the major conversion work will have been done prior to the development of any of the modules. However, specific details, including provision for handling data exchanges from external agencies, will be recorded here. Back Out Plan: Every module will have a back out plan developed, in case an issue arises at go-live. In most cases, the back out plan will consist of restoring the previous version of the software and ensuring that no data is lost. Implementation Plan: The actual implementation is usually a list of the steps to be performed, their dependencies, and the timing associated with them. The implementation plan ensures that all resources participating in go-live understand the actions to be taken and the schedule for the actions. Finally, the Project Manager, with the aid and input of the project team, is responsible for producing and distributing the Project Status Report. A suggested template is in the Appendix.


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The Diagonal Group

Risk Assessment Risk Management is a big part of any software development project. We believe the project management methodology we have described will help mitigate risks, but there are still bound to be issues that arise. The Project Manager will have responsibility for maintaining the Risk Log, monitoring risk status, and will work with the Project Sponsor and/or Steering Committee to identify owners for each risk. The following chart lists the risks we have identified, and suggests a mitigation strategy for each. This chart may be used for the ongoing report and update of risks.

ID Number

Date Reported Risk Description Probability Impact Mitigation Approach

Risk Owner

Current Status

Date Updated

1 5/1/2005

The software requirements do not adequately capture Admissions' needs, resulting in scope changes during development. H M

The requirements analysis used several methods to capture needs, and the results were consistent regardless of method. Also, the requirements will have been reviewed, modified, and prioritized by all of Admissions' directors before being delivered to developers. Incomplete requirements are likely to be localized to small areas of specific modules, and will not require large-scale architectural changes to correct. Change requests will be collected during the design and test phases and subsequent analysis of requests by the Steering Committee will ensure only approved budget impact.

2 5/1/2005

The development company has difficulty understanding the requirements, resulting in incorrectly-developed software. H H

Understanding the requirements involves a high level of knowledge of the Admissions Department's business processes. In order to ensure the developers fully understand the requirements, we propose a "crash course" in Admissions processes prior to beginning development. While much of this would be led by the Project Manager, another round of interviews with the various business areas will be necessary.


The Diagonal Group

ID Number


Risk Owner

Current Status

Date Updated

3 5/1/2005

Exact user interface design requirements are not documented, beyond the need for intuitive and "user-friendly" software. The developer is thus left to design the appearance of the interface, which may not match Admissions' vision. L L

The system is intended to be web-based, which implies adherence to conventions familiar to most users. Any more "modern-looking" and operating interface will be appreciated by current AS/400 users. The prototyping process specified in the project plan will surface interface design issues quickly, and web-based software coding techniques enable fast changes to interface appearance.

4 5/1/2005

Developer experience may be insufficient for this project, resulting in poor software. L H

The process for selecting a development partner must include evaluation of previous projects and reference interviews. Preference should be given to vendors with legal, educational, or government software experience. Individual developer resources must be approved prior to project start.

5 5/1/2005

Vendor resources may be located offsite, resulting in impaired communication. M M

The vendor must be required to have, at a minimum, analytical resources onsite during analysis, JAD sessions, and user acceptance testing, or superior distance presentation and collaboration processes which must be demonstrated prior to vendor selection. Project management, the communications plan, and status reports processes are designed to facilitate good communication regardless of the vendor's location.

6 5/1/2005

The vendor may not be able to comply with the State Bar's programming standards, resulting in unacceptable code. L H

The programming standards and policies will be communicated to vendors as part of the selection process. Vendors who are unable to comply cannot be selected.


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ID Number


Risk Owner

Current Status

Date Updated

7 5/1/2005

The vendor's development methodology may be incomplete or insufficient to meet Admissions' requirements, resulting in poorly-designed and -tested software, and/or insufficient user input. L H

Vendor development methodologies will be reviewed as part of the selection process. Established development vendors have robust methodologies that comply with generally accepted software development lifecycle practices, which is what is detailed in this project's methodology. Vendors that cannot comply with the described methodology, or do not present an equally-effective methodology of their own, will not be selected.

8 5/1/2005

The vendor's change control processes may be inadequate, resulting in wasted time. L H

Vendor change control processes will be reviewed as part of the selection process. As above, established vendors have strong change control processes. Any vendor that provides inadequate change control will not be selected.

9 5/1/2005

The vendor does not adequately document code, resulting in difficulties for State Bar IT to take on maintenance of the software. M M

This is related to the ability of the vendor to comply with the State Bar IT Department's standards. The selected vendor will be able to comply with the standards; once development has begun, State Bar IT Management must conduct regular code reviews to ensure documentation is adequate.

10 5/1/2005

Vendor resources may change over the course of the project, resulting in a learning curve for the replacement team member, and possibly a team member with insufficient skills. H M

A fairly long term project such as this is likely to experience reassignment of vendor resources. The vendor must be contractually required to get State Bar to approval for all project team members, and may be required to ensure that the same people remain on the project unless they leave the vendor's company. New project team members must go through a project familiarization process, led by the Vendor Project Manager or other vendor resource, and approved by the Project Manager.


The Diagonal Group

ID Number


Risk Owner

Current Status

Date Updated

11 5/1/2005

The vendor may not provide adequate communication, resulting in last-minute crises, and budget and cost overruns. M H

The Vendor Project Manager is a vital resource, and his or her prior work experience must be evaluated before approval and as part of the vendor selection process. The vendor's communication processes must also be evaluated. If the Vendor Project Manager is correctly selected, the regular meetings and status report process will enable the Project Manager and Steering Committee to be informed of all vendor issues.

12 5/1/2005

Vendor issues may not be resolved in a timely way, resulting in project delays and low project participant morale. L M

Effective communication on the part of the Vendor Project Manager helps mitigate this issue. Also, the Steering Committee and/or Project Sponsor must act quickly to review and respond to open vendor issues. Regular project meetings and an escalation process for issues must be in place.

13 5/1/2005

Business resources may not be available as needed, resulting in project delays. H H

Insufficient user involvement is one of the major reasons software projects fail. Approval of a design or test phase without user involvement or with very minimal involvement is unacceptable. The business lifecycle of the Admissions Department will limit resource availability, particularly during exams and grading. The schedule of the project must take this into account to the greatest extent possible, and allow for activities that do not require user participation during these periods. It may be required to perform design work on more than one module in parallel in order to maximize access to users, then perform parallel development work not requiring user participation during busy times for Admissions. Besides schedule creativity, given the knowledge of all processes possessed by many Admissions team members, it may be possible to substitute a resource when one is busy. Finally, the Project Sponsor and/or Steering Committee must authorize any project delays caused by limited resources.


The Diagonal Group

ID Number


Risk Owner

Current Status

Date Updated

14 5/1/2005

Approvals for development phases may be delayed, resulting in overall project delays. L H

Each phase of development requires Admissions Department sign-off. The group approving the phase must perform the review required to give the approval in a timely manner. Delay because one member of the approving team is unavailable - whether it is the Steering Committee or the Module Resources - is unacceptable. The Project Manager must monitor participation and communicate issues to the Project Sponsor and/or Steering Committee, which must take prompt action by either assigning a replacement or making the resource available.

15 5/1/2005

The Project Manager, State Bar IT Management, and/or the Project Sponsor may not have sufficient authority to make tactical decisions, resulting in project delays. L M

The project charter will define the responsibilities and authority of the participants. As part of the project initiation, the Steering Committee will document and approve the charter. The members of the Steering Committee are also fairly available, so that decisions that require fast approval from the Steering Committee can be communicated by email or phone on an ad hoc basis if they cannot wait for a regular project meeting.


The Diagonal Group

ID Number


Risk Owner

Current Status

Date Updated

16 5/1/2005

The schedule is unrealistic, resulting in longer development times and cost overruns. M H

Given the speed with which web-based applications can be coded, development times are fairly generous. The project is also loaded more heavily on the front end, to allow for database design (and, therefore, the development of the overall software framework). When selecting a software vendor, the vendor's estimate around software development time should be compared to the project plan, and discrepancies investigated. This will allow the vendor's actual capabilities to be taken into account, rather than relying on estimates based on previous experience on other projects using other vendors. Any discrepancies that must be taken into account will increase the project time, but they will have been identified at the project's inception, rather than coming as a surprise partway through. A more likely cause of delay, business resource availability, is addressed in Number 14, above.

17 5/1/2005 The budget is unrealistic, resulting in cost overruns. L H

The rates for vendor resources are based on current industry standards. It may be possible for the State Bar to find vendors who charge lower hourly rates. Vendor rates should be reviewed in the selection process. The overall budget is more likely to be impacted by schedule issues; the State Bar may wish to structure the contract as a fixed price contract, with clauses allowing for awards for bringing in the system under schedule and penalties for vendor-caused delays.

18 5/1/2005

Hardware for development and testing is not available, resulting in delays. L L

The State Bar may have servers available for this purpose; if not, provision should be made to purchase and set up the equipment early in the project. Servers are readily available, so there should be little or no delay in procuring the equipment.


The Diagonal Group

ID Number


Risk Owner

Current Status

Date Updated

19 5/1/2005

Desktop hardware or software (specifically, the browser) will be inadequate to run the new system, resulting in the purchase and deployment of new PCs. L L

The State Bar's desktop PCs are new and should be able to run any web-based software application without difficulty. As the software's general design is being completed, the hardware requirements should be re-evaluated; if new hardware or software is required, it should be purchased and installed prior to the implementation of any of the modules.

20 5/1/2005

System performance is inadequate, resulting in dissatisfied users and wasted time. L H

The technical architecture ensures adequate performance, but part of what is identified in the project plan as "unit testing" is intended to include performance testing. Performance test data must be reviewed as each module is developed; if the increasing complexity of the system results in performance degradation, additional resources will need to be identified, purchased, and installed (separate application and database servers, for example) or alternative functionality or processes developed (e.g., report generation on a mirrored copy of the database).

21 5/1/2005

System security is inadequate, resulting in unauthorized access to data. L H

The technical architecture defined, and the processes in place in the State Bar's IT Department, help ensure the security of the system externally. Processes such as the changing of passwords, clearly defined roles with limits to accessible data by role, and remote access standards (via secure VPN, for example) will secure data internally. The vendor's approach to security and their experience with other projects requiring highly secure systems should be evaluated as part of the selection process. Finally, the State Bar may wish to consider hiring a vendor specializing in security to attempt to find and exploit system weaknesses prior to implementation.


The Diagonal Group

ID Number


Risk Owner

Current Status

Date Updated

22 5/1/2005

Developers will have access to actual State Bar data, resulting in possible security breaches. H H

All vendor resources must be contractually bound to State Bar standards of data security. The vendor's internal security procedures should be evaluated as part of the selection process. It is suggested that, regardless of the vendor's security processes, that vendor resources be required to perform all work on State Bar systems, and not move data to vendor systems for development or test work.

23 5/1/2005

The testing process will not catch all software bugs, resulting in time required for correction and potentially for errors to be introduced into the data. H M

No testing process catches all bugs. To ensure that as many are caught as possible, the Project Manager and testing resources will develop test cases and scripts designed to exercise all branches of the code, including cases where inappropriate data or responses are used. The parallel test process enables the system's output to be compared to the current system, and problems can be found and corrected prior to go-live. The go-live process itself requires the presence of resources immediately available to the users to document issues.

24 5/1/2005

The parallel test process will not be long enough to encompass a full Admissions Department lifecycle, resulting in the possibility of unsuspected issues arising long after implementation. H L

This presents the greatest risk for modules like Grading, which has almost all of its activity within one period of time. Other modules, like Moral Character, may have peaks in activity, but regular Moral Character work goes on outside of those peaks and can be used as the basis for parallel run data. It may be possible to schedule the parallel run of modules to begin shortly before their peak in the cycle and continue through it, to ensure that the parallel period encompasses the point of greatest module activity.


The Diagonal Group

ID Number


Risk Owner

Current Status

Date Updated

25 5/1/2005

Documentation needed for the system's automated communications processes may not be readily available or may be provided incorrectly, resulting in bad data being sent to applicants. L H

The State Bar currently assembles letters from previous copies and cuts-and-pastes text from similar letters to create new ones. The letters are therefore not completely standard and errors can slip through the proofing process. The new system will be able to automatically assemble letters from components; these components must be reviewed by Admissions business personnel and standards set for each component of each letter. Each combination of components resulting in a valid system-generated letter must also be reviewed. Every business area must contribute to building the standards, which must be reviewed and approved by the Directors.

26 5/1/2005

Automatic data exchange with external agencies may be set up incorrectly, resulting in the introduction of bad data. L M

Each of the external agencies with which the State Bar exchanges data should be contacted fairly early in the development process so that standards for communication can be reviewed. State Bar IT resources who are currently involved in data exchange with external agencies must be asked about their experiences. Arrangements should be made with the agencies for practice runs as part of the testing and parallel processes.

27 5/1/2005

New regulatory requirements may impact system design, resulting in the need for re-design and project delays. L H

The Directors must keep the Project Manager advised of any planned regulatory changes, regardless of whether it is believed the changes will have a system impact. The Project Manager and the rest of the project team will evaluate each change and present feedback to the Steering Committee as to the effect any change will have. Since regulatory requirements must be accounted for, the only mitigation for this risk is to be aware of changes as early in the process as possible.


The Diagonal Group

Appendices

Organizational impact observations and recommendations In our initial interviews with key stakeholders, we ran into a number of “disconnects” in terms of relationships between the Office of Admissions and the IT Department. From the perspective of the Office of Admissions, we would frequently hear references to the IT Department as not understanding their (the Office of Admissions’) world, inadequate communication, and some sense that IT might not have the skills necessary to build the new system. From the IT perspective, there was the sense that Office of Admissions staff are deeply embedded in the old, manual way of doing things and do not appreciate all of the possibilities that technology can bring to the table. Bottom line: The success of any new system will be directly related to the ability of IT and Office of Admissions to work in partnership. There are two critical success criteria for the Admissions system development project: first, having a Project Manager who can stay on top of the system requirements as well as the changing business needs. This project manager must not only be able to manage the technical resources assigned to the project, but must also maintain positive, active relationships with the managers and staff of the Office of Admissions. The second critical success element, therefore, is ongoing, direct, and honest communication among and across the two groups. This is not a project that, once endorsed, should “disappear” into the black hole of IT, only to surface when it is completed. Likewise, the Office of Admissions must be prepared to actively participate throughout the development cycle, from reviewing prototypes to testing the system. The ongoing input, feedback, and dialogue between the two groups is critical.


The Diagonal Group

Long Term Strategic Recommendations Any organization that wishes to improve its processes and systems is faced with several key questions as it builds its business strategy. We encourage the management team to discuss these questions to help validate that it is moving forward in a way that is most beneficial, logical, and effective. Questions worth asking include: What changes must occur because something is not working or has the risk of breaking down in the near future? In other words, where is the organization most vulnerable? What changes will bring us the greatest value and impact—in terms of efficiency, effectiveness, and resource utilization? How much change can this organization sustain at any given time? Is there a logical sequence for building new processes and supporting systems? Our recommendations in this document for systems changes in the near future are based upon what we believe you can achieve in the next 2-3 years while maintaining the outstanding reputation you have achieved for test development, administration, and grading. While there are dramatic leaps your organization could take that utilize advanced technology and systems in test development and grading, for instance, we believe those types of changes are more appropriate and applicable once you have built the “foundation” of your new system. At the same time you take these first steps towards new processes and systems, we do encourage you to begin looking further into the future in terms of the more dramatic changes you may want to consider in test development and administration. Based upon the extensive experience of Janet Bowker in the areas of educational assessment and testing, those areas we encourage you to begin exploring include the following: A significant portion of your testing uses essay questions (constructed responses). The grading of these exams is a significant portion of the time, effort, and costs associated with testing. It is possible today to use remote and/or automated scoring, at least for short answers and writing skills. The automated scoring software does require all text from the candidates to be submitted by computers. As you evolve toward the possibility that all candidates take their exams via PC’s, this is an area that could bring significant value to the process. Because you are linked directly to the Multi-State Bar Exam, there are limitations in terms of how quickly you can report scores, how frequently the test can be offered, or the possibility of using computer-based testing. Because the exam is a licensing test, not just a certification test, the use of computer-based testing enables candidates to take (and retake) the exam on a more timely basis, based upon the readiness and availability of the candidates. Even if you would move to testing “windows” (e.g., offering the exam once every quarter), you would be offering an important service to candidates. While your current method of building test questions that go into your test question bank is working today, software is currently available that stores and inventories your test questions and enables the automatic assembly of tests. As stated earlier, the ideas just described present some of the more exciting possibilities that you can explore for future implementation. While the initial reaction for any of these changes may be “That just won’t work for us because…,” the integration of technology with new processes holds significant potential in helping the Office of Admissions meet the ever-increasing needs and demands of its constituents.


The Diagonal Group

Project Charter California State Bar Admissions Department

System Development Document Description This document describes the business need/justification for the project, outlines the overall project goals, and sets forth the constraints and assumptions associated with the project. It also lists the project team members and defines their authority and responsibilities. Business Need Project Goals Constraints Assumptions Project Management Team Project Sponsor: Project Manager: IT Management: Vendor Project Manager: Business Technical Resource: Business Technical Resource: The Project Management Team is responsible for ensuring that all key milestones are met within the time, cost, and quality requirements for this project. Additionally, the Team is responsible for:

Development and maintenance of the project plan Weekly project status reporting to executive management All formal communications regarding the project, both between the State Bar and any

vendors and within the State Bar itself Managing State Bar and vendor resources that are assigned project tasks

The State Bar of California Admissions Department Directors have formally authorized this project. The Project Management Team, above, is authorized to use State Bar organizational resources for project activities. The Team also has the authority:

To assign tasks and/or otherwise request and require assistance from State Bar personnel outside the project team, and to delegate responsibilities and authority as needed

To assign tasks and/or otherwise request and require assistance from vendor personnel To monitor vendor and State Bar personnel performance and take necessary steps to

resolve problems in conjunction with the State Bar business unit and/or State Bar Admissions Department management

To require updates from State Bar personnel as dictated by project requirements To interface with all levels of management as needed to satisfy project requirements To revise the project plan as needed, with Steering Committee approval To control and distribute the project budget, including use of vendor resources,

procurement, travel, and any other project costs


The Diagonal Group

Scope and Objectives Statement California State Bar Admissions Department

System Development Document Description This document defines the high-level deliverables for this project as well as the overall project objectives. Any deliverables or objectives not specifically listed are excluded from the scope of the project. Summary of Deliverables

Summary of Project Objectives State Bar Objectives Admissions Department Objectives State Bar IT Objectives


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Communications Plan California State Bar Admissions Department

System Development

Type Purpose Participants/Developers Audience Method FrequencyProject Status Reports

Primary project updates on milestones, issues, progress, resources, budget, and decisions

Project Manager, with the participation of the project team

Project Team; Steering Committee

E-mailed as an attachment

Weekly

Vendor Status Reports

Primary project updates on milestones, issues, progress, resources, budget, and decisions from the vendor perspective

Vendor Project Manager Project Team E-mailed as an attachment

Weekly

Team Meetings

Guide the project; update all members of the team as to current happenings; communicate decisions; discuss risks

Project Team, meeting is run by the Program Manager

Project Team; Vendor Team; includes project stakeholders as needed

In person and/or conference call

Weekly

Ad-hoc meetings

Perform the actual work of the project Any combination of Project Team members; other participants depend on the nature of the topic

Project Team and participants depending on the nature of the topic

In person and/or conference call

As needed

Steering Committee Updates

Review status reports; discuss resource issues, milestones, planning

Project Team Steering Committee In person and/or conference call

Monthly

Project Newsletter (optional)

Provide general project progress overview; discuss upcoming events

Project Team Affected business unit personnel

Distributed on paper or e-mailed as an attachment

Monthly

Meeting Notes Document all meetings Project Manager or designated Project Team Member

Project Team E-mailed as an attachment

As needed

E-mail Discuss any specific issues; get updates on specific points; provide relevant information

Any project stakeholder Any Project Team Member

E-mail As needed


The Diagonal Group

Project Status Report California State Bar Admissions Department

System Development

Status Report 1 For the week ending July 1, 2005

Project Start Date: Project Scope: Brief scope statement Project Current Phase: Brief description Weekly Summary:

Overview Scope changes Milestones achieved/missed General accomplishments

Plans (next week):

Upcoming milestones


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Project Chart:

Gantt chart of period Issues: ID Number Issue Assignee Status Date

Resolved Risk Management:

Current risk list, with risk updates and areas of particular concern highlighted Budget Information:

Project cost to date Planned/actual Comments

Resource Information:

Resource hours consumed Planned/actual Comments

Comments:

Any final comments, recommendations, etc.


The Diagonal Group

Software Test Problem Report California State Bar Admissions Department

System Development

Date: ________________ Reported by: _________________________________________ Module: ______________ Version: _____________________________________________ Report Type: __________ Severity: __________ Attachments (Y/N): ________________ 1 – Suggestion 1 – Minor 2 – Design Error 2 – Serious Can it be reproduced (Y/N)?: ________ 3 – Coding Error 3 - Fatal 4 – Documentation Error 5 – Other/Question Summary Description: ____________________________________________________________ Detailed description, including instructions for reproducing the problem (if applicable): _______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________ Suggested fix: __________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________


The Diagonal Group

Process Flowcharts (Please see the separate Visio files.)


The Diagonal Group

Acknowledgements The success of this initiative is the direct result of a great many individuals. The executive sponsors of this project—The Management Team--were instrumental in this project moving forward to a successful completion. The Management Team consisted of Jerry Braun, Gayle Murphy, Debra Lawson, Dean Barbieri, Gina Crawford, John Rodriguez, and Vanessa Poe. Your support for funding this project was backed by your willingness to participate in a number of meetings and interviews that were critical in helping us identify the key objectives for this project and providing us with historical perspective, process overviews, and future vision. That support was further evident in your willingness to make your staff members available for our in-depth interviews. To the key members of the IT team with whom we gained valuable insight into your current infrastructure as well as an idea of your strategic vision: Victor Rowley, Gary Clarke, Ken Papai, and Cathy Hamilton, our thanks. A special thank you goes to Gayle Murphy and Ken Papai who helped manage the details of schedules, background information, introductions, and all of the logistical details associated with this project. Your friendly dispositions and your willingness to help “make things happen” regarding schedules and appointments were invaluable. And finally, a heartfelt thanks to the entire staff of the Office of Admissions. You have an energy and positive attitude that is infectious. You made us feel welcome from the first day we arrived. Your dedication to your jobs and your “customers”—all of those who interact with the Admissions Department—is impressive. Your focus is on being accurate, professional, and timely. While there are many ways that the processes you have developed and currently follow can benefit from the use of technology, you are to be commended for the level of accuracy and confidentiality you have achieved through dedicated attention to accuracy and responsiveness. In short, our sincere thanks to everyone at The State Bar of California with whom we have had the pleasure of working. You are privileged to be part of an organization that recognizes the value of process improvement that will enable you to achieve a new level of service excellence. Our very best wishes for a journey that will bring value and growth to all!

Chris Broome & Doug Whittle, Partners Sean Murray and Janet Bowker, Associates The Diagonal Group, LLC

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