Creating a Selection Set

There are two places you can create selection sets: on the fly from the advanced search tool, or in the System Administration module.

To create a selection set in System Administration, complete the following steps:

  1. Select System Administration in the top navigation bar to open the System Administration menu along the left side of the page.
  2. Expand the Tools options in the left navigation menu and select Selection Sets.
  1. Select the + icon next to the Selection Sets header to open the Build Selection Set window.
  2. Enter a descriptive name for the selection set in the Name field.
  3. Optional: enter a full description of the selection set in the Description field.
  1. In the Field Alias field, select the student record field that contains the data to evaluate for this rule.

    If you don't know the specific field alias, begin typing the field name and the list will narrow.

    Note: Field aliases are written to represent the section within the student record they originate from followed by a period and then the field name. For example, if you want the First Name field from the ISIR Student screen, you look for ISIRStudent.FirstName. While building your query, you can enter any part of the alias and the field will list options with the information given. Continuing with the previous example, you can enter 'name' and the list will generate several options that have 'name' in it, including ISIRStudent.FirstName.

  2. Specify the type of comparison to make between the initial field alias and the corresponding field or value selected in the Comparison field.

    Like in a mathematical equation, the comparison allows you to describe the logical relationship between the data within each rule.

    Depending on the type of data being compared, different comparison options will be available. In addition to standard mathematical operations such as 'equal to' or 'greater than', the following options are also available for certain fields:

    • Any in List: This option allows you to add multiple values to the rule. For example, if you want to add a condition to your selection set to include students who have tracking statuses in Ready for Packaging and Ready for Disbursement, you would select the Any in List option, then select those values.
    • Not in List: This option does the opposite of Any in List and allows you to create a rule that searches for the absence of multiple values. In the previous example of student tracking status, if you selected Not in List, you would capture all students who have a tracking status other than Ready for Packaging and Ready for Disbursement.
    • Is Blank: This option allows you to create a rule that searches for a blank value in a field. For example, if you wanted to find all students who did not provide their housing status on the ISIR, you could create a rule that searches for that condition using the Is Blank comparison.
    • Is Not Blank: This option does the opposite of Is Blank and allows you to create a rule that searches any record containing a value in that field. So if you wanted to create a selection set that includes all students who provided a housing status on their ISIR, you could create a rule that searches for that condition using the Is Not Blank comparison.
  3. Select if you want to compare to the data in another field in the student record, to a specific value, or to a relative date.
  4. Enter the field, value, or relative date that you want to compare against.

    Note: When creating a rule in a selection set using a field alias with award year-specific code set values, choose the appropriate award year from the Code Set list (1) and the values available to choose within that award year will appear as options in the Field/Value list (2) as seen in the image below:

    Rule in a selection set with ISIRCalculated.ApplicationDataSource chosen as the field alias and the 2023-2024 year selected for the Code Set.

  5. If applicable, select Add Rule to continue to add conditions to your advanced search, repeating the steps above to create your criteria.

    Tip: If you decide you want to remove a rule in your search, click the X at the end of the rule to remove. You can also rearrange rules by selecting and holding the Move icon move icon and dragging the rule to another spot within the search.

    Advanced search window with two rules entered

    Tip: As you create your selection set, you can see the actual query being generated below the selection fields. In the example above the query is currently ISIRParent.AdjustedGrossIncome < 50000 AND ISIRCalculated.AwardYear == "2023-2024". This can be helpful to validate complex queries, especially those using nested groups.

  1. Select Add group to add a group within your search. Your group will connect to the rules above and below it using the selected connector for that section.

    When creating multiple rules in selection sets, you can indicate how each rule or group is connected from the options at the top portion of the selection set window:

    • Connecting two rules with And indicates that they must both be satisfied in order for a student to qualify for the population.
    • Connecting two rules with Or indicates that at least one rule must be satisfied but both are not required.
    • Selecting the Not qualifier reverses the parameters of the associated rule or group.
  2. Using the same steps as stated above, build out your nested search clause
  3. Continue to add additional rules and/or groups to your advanced search until you have the exact query you are looking for.

Perhaps you want to create a selection set that identifies all students who are both independent and legal residents of Virginia. Both of those conditions (independent status and Virginia residency) would be their own rules in the selection set.

Advanced search with three rules added

Note that because we’re searching for year-specific data points - in this case, values from the ISIR file - we’ve also added a rule to specific the associated award year. For more information, see Year-Specific Selection Sets.

You can also group rules in your selection set by selecting Add Group. Groups are nested searches within a selection set that allow you to group rules together, similar to how parentheses function in a mathematical equation. The rules inside the group are evaluated first without regard to the rules outside the group.

Expanding on the previous example, perhaps you want to create a selection set that identifies all students who are either independent and legal residents of Virginia, or dependent with parents who are legal residents of Virginia. To achieve this using grouping, you would create two groups within the selection set to identify those two cohorts of students.

Advanced search with two groups, each with three rules

Note that the And connector (1) is used within both groups because you are searching for students who meet both conditions within those groups. However, because you are identifying students who fall into either group, the Or connector (2) is used to connect the two groups.

Advanced search with two groups, each with three rules, with numbered callouts highlighting specific areas

Additionally, to ensure you are using the correct connectors, you can visually check the connection by looking at the brackets in the user interface, or you can read through the corresponding logic statement shown at the bottom of the selection set (3).

Select Search to preview the population of students in the selection set.

A success message is displayed in the upper right portion of the page letting you know the selection set has been created.

This selection set is now displayed in the list of selection sets in System Administration > Tools > Selection Sets as well as in the Selection Sets list next to the student search at the top of the application:

Selection Sets list in the application header

Saving a Selection Set from an Advanced Search

To create a selection set from an advanced search, complete the following steps:

Advanced search button

Advanced search window

The process for creating an advanced search is the same as the steps detailed above for creating a selection set. An advanced search is simply a way to access the powerful functionality of a selection set for on-the-fly searches.

  1. Enter a name and description for the selection set you are creating.

    Save as selection set window

  2. Select Save.

    A success message is displayed in the upper right portion of the page letting you know the selection set has been created.

    This selection set is now displayed in the list of selection sets in System Administration > Tools > Selection Sets as well as in the Selection Sets list next to the student search at the top of the application:

    Selection Sets list in the application header

Tip: Due to the nature of the PowerFAIDS system, there may be a slight delay when updating a student record and committing that change across the system, so a selection set may not immediately return the expected student population. If this occurs, wait a few moments before refreshing and trying again.