Processing a Request

Most requests come from students; in some cases staff create a request on behalf of a student. Either way, the processing workflow is the same: find the request, review it, draft a decision, sign it, and publish it.

Finding New Requests

New requests, messages, and other events appear in the Overview in the left navigation bar.

1. Open Overview. Each entry describes one event, for example a new request, a new message, or a decision that is available.
2. Use Unread only to hide entries you have already seen, and the filter menu to show only specific types of events.
3. Click Mark all read to clear the list once everything has been handled. When there is nothing to do, the list shows Nothing to do here at the moment.
4. Click on an entry to open the request.

Reviewing the Request

The right side of the request page shows the Request no. and the states of the request.

• The Request tab shows the submitted content, including all files.
• The History tab shows every step of the request. This is also where you can send messages to the student or to other staff members.

Drafting the Decision

1. Open the Decision tab. If no decision exists yet, select the Language for the decision (German or English) first.
2. Then choose how to create the decision:
   • Use a decision template — pick a template; the text is built from Text modules, Conditional blocks (which appear or disappear depending on the request), Fill in values, and data that is taken from the request automatically.
   • Free text — start from a blank document.
3. Adjust the text until it matches the request. The decision you draft is what the student will later download, so check names, dates, and references carefully.

Signing the Decision

1. Move to the Signing step.
2. Select the Printed signature that the decision should carry.
3. Select the Digital certificate for the digital signature and enter its Passphrase.
4. Click Sign this draft — see Signing Decisions for the details.

Once the decision is signed, the staff state of the request changes to Decision is signed and the publish options become available.

Publishing the Decision

Open the Publish menu in the decision area:

• Make available to student — the student sees Decision available in their own view and can download the decision. Use this when the request is processed completely by your office.
• Submit to ZPA — hands the signed decision over to the central examination office, which records it in RWTHonline — see Handing Over to the ZPA.

After publishing, finish the request by setting the final state if needed. Every action you take is recorded in the History tab — see Downloads and the Audit Trail.