Working with Rosters and CSV files

The roster files that you can download from REGIS and Sakai need to be edited before you can use them to import your students into clicker software, gradebook software (including the Sakai gradebook), and scanner software. The instructions below will help you create a file that can be used in the Benchmark 3000 Datalink software, and while the details may vary this should serve as a starting point for clicker systems and other tools.

Using the official rosters from REGIS

1. Go to the REGIS page (https://sims.rutgers.edu/rosters/) and log in with your NetID
2. Enter your course information and proceed to the page that lists your students.
3. Click the "download Excel file" link (near the upper right corner of the page).
4. Open the file in Excel.
5. Click column "B" to select the entire column, and continue holding the mouse button down while moving to column "C". You should now have all the data in the "RUID" and "Student Name" columns selected (if your RUID and Student Name columns are not in column "B" and "C" then select the appropriate columns).
6. Copy the selected data ('cntl-c' or 'command-c', or use the menus or buttons to copy)
7. Open a new spreadsheet.
8. Paste the data into cell A1 - the upper-left cell ('cntl-v' or 'command-v'). You should now have a spreadsheet with two columns, RUID in column "A" and student names in column "B".
9. Right click in any empty rows or in rows that contain unnecessary information and choose "delete", and click the "entire row" option.
10. Depending on how you will use the exported roster data, you may want to delete the heading row, or edit the headings to use specific titles.
11. Save the file as CSV file (see instructions below).

Using roster data from Sakai

1. Go to Sakai (http://sakai.rutgers.edu) and log in with your NetID
2. Go to your course tab, and click "Site Info"
3. Just above the student list, click the "Download participant data file compatible with Microsoft Excel" link.
4. Open the file in Excel. (Note that if your computer is not set to automatically open "csv" files with Excel, you may need to start Excel first and use Excel's "open file" button).
5. Click column "D" (the "ruid" column. If your spreadsheet does not have RUIDs in column D, choose the appropriate column).
6. "Cut" ('cntl-x' or 'command-x', or use the "cut" button) the selected data.
7. Click column "A" (the "name" column).
8. Click the "Insert" menu or button, and choose "insert cut cells". You should now have RUID as the first column, and name as the second column.
9. Right-click on any unnecessary columns and choose "delete", then click the "entire column" option.

To split Lastname and Firstname into separate columns

1. Click the letter above the student names (usually "B") to highlight the entire column.
2. Click the "Data" menu or ribbon, then click "Text to Columns..."
3. Click "Next", then place a checkmark next to "comma"
4. Click "finish"

To restore missing zeros to 9-digit RUID numbers

1. Check your student numbers. If any of the student numbers are less than 9 digits long, do the following:
2. Click the letter above the column (usually "A") to select the entire column
3. Click the "format" button, and choose "custom"
4. Type nine zeros "000000000" (without the quotation marks) in the custom format box.
5. Click "OK"

Save as "CSV"

"CSV" files are simple text files that can be used in almost any software, including "NotePad", "TextEdit", "Microsoft Word" and "Microsoft Excel". They are useful for importing or exporting student data between different software and web sites.

1. Check your ID number column. If any of the 9-digit ID numbers have fewer than 9 digits, follow the instructions above to restore missing zeros to ID numbers (note that every time you use Excel to open a CSV file, Excel will automatically delete the zero from any number that starts with a zero, e.g., "015009219" becomes "15009219").
2. Choose "Save as..." or "Export as..." from the "File" menu.
3. Select "Comma Separated Values (CSV)" as the file format.
4. Type a name for the file. Be sure to type ".csv" at the end of your file name.
5. Excel will give you two or three confusing "warnings", just agree to them by clicking "Continue" or "OK". If it asks you if you want to save the file again, click "cancel" or "no" (you already saved as a CSV file, Excel wants to know if you want to save a second copy in the xls format in order to retain any formatting and equations).
6. You should now have a "csv" file that is ready to be imported into your clicker software or your test scanning software.