Introduction to CROA

Table of Contents
Overview ..............................................................................................................................................................2
Getting Started.....................................................................................................................................................3
Navigation ............................................................................................................................................................4
Report Folder Structure .......................................................................................................................................5
Viewing a Report ..................................................................................................................................................6
Exporting a Report ...............................................................................................................................................9
Resources .......................................................................................................................................................... 10

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Page 1 of 10
North Idaho College - IT Help Desk
Location: Siebert 101 ~ Phone: (208) 769-3280 ~ Email: [email protected]
Introduction to CROA

Overview
Colleague Reporting and Operating Analytics, otherwise known as CROA, is the new enterprise
reporting platform at North Idaho College. Built on SAP BusinessObjects BI (business intelligence)
technologies, CROA meets the ad hoc, operational, and strategic reporting needs of the institution.

CROA reports against the Colleague Operational Data Store (ODS) which is made up of point in time
data refreshed nightly from Colleague. In addition, census snapshot data and data from other
sources, for example, the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC), are housed in the ODS and
available for reporting.

Note: Existing reports on the DataMart Report Server will be replaced with CROA reports over
time.

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Page 2 of 10
North Idaho College - IT Help Desk
Location: Siebert 101 ~ Phone: (208) 769-3280 ~ Email: [email protected]
Introduction to CROA

Getting Started
1. To access CROA, login to your MyNIC account at https://my.nic.edu/ .
2. Once logged in, search for CROA in the search bar, hit Enter, then click on Colleague
Reporting and Operating Analytics (CROA).

3. From the SAP BusinessObjects BI launch pad, enter your NIC username and password.
Ensure that Windows AD authentication is selected.

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Page 3 of 10
North Idaho College - IT Help Desk
Location: Siebert 101 ~ Phone: (208) 769-3280 ~ Email: [email protected]
Introduction to CROA

Navigation
The BI launch pad opens up with the Documents tab and North Idaho College public folder
selected. The navigation panel lists the top level, primary functional report folders available to all
CROA users.

For the first time logging in, update the Web Intelligence preferences:
1. Select Preferences from the top menu bar.
2. Select Web Intelligence from the list of options on the left-hand side of the screen.
a. Set View to HTML
b. Set Modify to HTML
3. Click Save & Close.

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Page 4 of 10
North Idaho College - IT Help Desk
Location: Siebert 101 ~ Phone: (208) 769-3280 ~ Email: [email protected]
Introduction to CROA

Report Folder Structure

The North Idaho College public folder in CROA is made up of primary functional report folders and
subfolders. Summary level and role-based reports are housed in the primary functional folders and
are available to all CROA users. Reports within these folders contain aggregate data and do not
contain personally identifiable information (PII) or are restricted by user roles.

Primary Functional Report Folders

Folder Name Folder Description

Admissions Summary level applicant and application data
Curriculum Programs, courses, and section data including enrollment summary
Employees Summary level or role-based employee data
Finance Financial, purchasing and fixed asset data
Financial Aid Summary level financial aid data
Institutional Research Institutional trends, census data, state reports, and survey results
Resources This folder contains helpful resources for CROA users
Students Summary level student data

Subfolders within each primary functional folder may contain reports with PII and are restricted to only
those users needing access. CROA permissions are folder based, not report based.

Viewing Report Folders and Subfolders

1. Click on the report folder name. Reports will be displayed in the list panel to the right.
2. Expand the “+” located to the left of the folder name to view report subfolders you have
access to.

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Page 5 of 10
North Idaho College - IT Help Desk
Location: Siebert 101 ~ Phone: (208) 769-3280 ~ Email: [email protected]
Introduction to CROA

Viewing a Report
Reports are displayed in the list panel and contain the report title, type and description. Hovering
over the report name will also display this information.

1. Right-click on desired report name from the list panel.

2. Select View from the list of options.

Prompts
Many reports will prompt for selection criteria. Prompts with an “*” are required.

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Page 6 of 10
North Idaho College - IT Help Desk
Location: Siebert 101 ~ Phone: (208) 769-3280 ~ Email: [email protected]
Introduction to CROA

Input Controls

Many reports contain input controls which allow for the further filtering of the data.

Multiple Report Tabs in Single Report

A single report can contain multiple report tabs. Click on each report tab to view report. Input
controls apply to all reports.

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Page 7 of 10
North Idaho College - IT Help Desk
Location: Siebert 101 ~ Phone: (208) 769-3280 ~ Email: [email protected]
Introduction to CROA

Refreshing Reports

To refresh a report, click on the Refresh icon located in the toolbar above or bottom right-
hand corner.

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Page 8 of 10
North Idaho College - IT Help Desk
Location: Siebert 101 ~ Phone: (208) 769-3280 ~ Email: [email protected]
Introduction to CROA

Exporting a Report
Reports can be exported to PDF, Excel or CSV format.

1. Select the Export icon from the tool bar.

2. From the Export window,

a. Select Reports or Data
b. Choose Select All to export all report tabs or check only desired report tab(s).
c. Select File Type (PDF, Excel, CSV or Text)
d. Click OK

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Page 9 of 10
North Idaho College - IT Help Desk
Location: Siebert 101 ~ Phone: (208) 769-3280 ~ Email: [email protected]
Introduction to CROA

Resources
The Resources folder contains helpful information for CROA users. Check this folder regularly for
added content and updates.

Report Catalog

The NIC Report Catalog contains a list of available reports in the North Idaho College public folder
with report tabs sorted by folder name, by report name, and a list of reports created or modified in
the last 30 days. The report catalog resides in the Resources report folder.

Requesting a Report

All requests for data and information can be made by emailing [email protected] . The NIC Office
of Planning and Effectiveness will log your request in a centralized ticketing system.

Requesting Access to CROA

To request access to CROA for someone or yourself, contact the IT Help Desk at (208) 769-3280,
send an email to [email protected] or submit a ticket directly at www.nic.edu/it. Specify what
folders you are seeking access to. Respective data custodians may be contacted to approve the
access request.

CROA Training

A library of recorded CROA training sessions are available on several topic areas. If you are seeking
additional training on using CROA or if you need guidance on any existing reports, please contact
the Planning and Effectiveness department at [email protected].
Click HERE to access the recorded CROA training sessions. When prompted, please sign in with
your NIC email address and password.

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Page 10 of 10
North Idaho College - IT Help Desk
Location: Siebert 101 ~ Phone: (208) 769-3280 ~ Email: [email protected]