Abstract
Online clearance system is a research work that will help build an effective
information management for schools. It is aimed at developing a system for
making clearance after graduation hitch free. The designed software will
serve as a more reliable and effective means of undertaking students
clearance, remove all forms of delay and stress as well as enable you
understand the procedures involved as well as how to do your clearance
online. This project work made use of data collected from the University,
materials and journals from various authors and software was developed to
effectively achieve the aims of this project. In this project, the
implementation of the computer-based system was carried out using PHP,
CSS, APACHE and MYSQL for the database. In conclusion, the work met
all the objectives intended. It is, however, recommended for use by all
tertiary institutions.
1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY
Clearance is a status granted individuals, typically members of the military,
university graduates and employees of governments and their contractors,
allowing them access to classified information, i.e. state secrets. The term
“clearance” is also sometimes used in private organizations that have a
formal process to vet employees for access to sensitive information. A
clearance by itself is normally not sufficient to gain access; the organization
must determine that the cleared individual has a “need to know” the
information. No one is supposed to be granted access to classified
information solely because of rank or position, but once a clearance is
obtained, access to certain information or gain of freedom will be granted.
As many universities have choosing to pursue the dynamic
educational options available online. The advantages of e-learning are many.
As people of all ages and backgrounds become increasingly reliant on the
internet for information, online learning becomes more convenient and
efficient here the need for an online clearance system. The skills needed to
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access and comprehend information online are becoming commonplace, and
the flexibility of wireless computing means that any coffee shop, airport or
bedroom can become a classroom. Online courses, registrations, clearance
have few, if any scheduling restrictions, well-integrated learning resources
and competitive degree options, with an online clearance system.
The changing online college landscape now includes online clearance
system, traditional undergraduate and general studies programs. However,
career learning is still the most popular online training option.
1.2 STATEMENT OF STUDY
The processes of clearing students after their graduation requires that
the students be cleared in various departments and information units.
Among which are:
? Library fines and overdue or lost library materials from the
University
? Departmental Dues
? Infirmary and bookstore charges
? Residence hall damage charges
? Return of athletic equipment
? Student Union Fee
? Bursary and all other charges
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For a graduating student to carry out his or her clearance from all these
departments, it normally takes a lot of time and a lot of processes and delays
in clearing the student for youth service as well as collection of statement of
result. Hence it became imperative for an online clearance system to
eliminate the shortcomings of the manual system in place.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The objectives of this project include:
To effectively and efficiently process students clearance
To provide a reliable and transparent system devoid of personal
inclinations and interest
To provide borderless access
To ensure prompt clearance
To alleviate the problems and stress of travelling and queuing up of
students during clearance.
1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The project work will help in a good number of ways to ease the
queuing system in the university as the online clearance system will help
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students to achieve whatever they want to achieve without coming to the
various offices for clearance.
Clear advantages of Internet information processing over those of
traditional manual system are higher yields. Online clearance system allows
the users to check their clearance status as whether they are in any way
indebted to the school, fill and submit their clearance form, and obtain their
clearance letter. There are many other advantages of online clearance system
and some of them are listed below.
o It saves a lot of time.
o It is very convenient to use it right from the bedroom, office or
anywhere in the World.
o Information processing are very fast and delays can be avoided.
o It is inexpensive to students and school management.
Help the school in reducing costs such as labour and stationary.
1.5 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
This research work is limited to clearance system for graduating students
from Caritas University. The software developed will be carried out using
HTML, Visual Basic and Ms Access to manage both the database and at the
same time make the software online.
1.6 LIMITATIONS
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This project covers all aspect of online clearance system using Caritas
University as a case study. However, the following were the constraints:
Time constraints: Due to time constraint, the web – page
developed covers only clearance from various departments by
the graduating students.
Financial constraints: It would cost a lot to develop a full
web – based clearance system.
1.7 DEFINITION OF TERMS
Computer Network: Computer Network is a system that connects two or
more computers together using a communication link.
World Wide Web: World Wide Wed simply called www is the most
important tool of the Internet. It was created in the late
1980s in Europe and was used limitedly in academic
cycle.
Clearance: Official certification of blamelessness, trustworthiness,
or suitability for graduation and issue of certificates in
degree course.
Databases: A systematically arranged collection of computer data,
structured so that it can be automatically retrieved or
manipulated. It is also called databank.
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File Transfer: Any kind of computer file can be sent via the Internet
from one Internet user to another. Table of accounts on
spreadsheets, design by a graphic artists, music sound
files etc, can all be exchanged in this way.
Web Brower: This is a special kind of software that processes hypertext
make-up language (HTML) document. In other words, a
web browser is a computer program that interprets HTML
command to collect, arranged and display the parts of a
web page.
Web Site: A website is a collection of many interconnected web pages
organized by a specific college, organization company etc,
containing web pages (good and commodities) on the Internet.
Web site are stored on web servers. There are many web site and
thousand of HTML pages on each web site. A web site is a
treasure of information and entertainment.
Hyperlinks: Hyperlinks are highlighted words and phrase you find on web
documents that you can click on as to jump to some other
documents or Internet services.
Online: Connected via a computer attached to or available via a central
computer network.
Offline: Disconnected from computer network; describes a computer
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terminal or peripheral device disconnected from a computer
network.
System: Set of computer components that is, an assembling of hardware,
software and peripherals functioning together