SIMS Migration

SIMS is the "Student Information Management System", which, basically is our system that tracks "Achievements" for all students on the team. This page discusses changes happening to SIMS in late 2019/early 2020 which will require all students to update their account to continue checking achievements.

The new system is now live - you need to follow the instructions here to be able to check your achievements!

What is going on??

For several reasons, we are discarding the old "Discussion Forums" on the team website. You might say "I never used the forums, so I don't need to do anything!" but the reality is, if you ever logged into the achievement checking section of the team web site to see your achievement tally, you were indirectly using the forums. When you first joined the team, you probably made an account one day. Your "discussion forum" login is the one used to access your achievements display (also known as SIMS).

As we transition away from using the old team website forums for login management in SIMS and move to a new system, you will notice the following changes:

1. Your login will be your e-mail address and not a username. The e-mail address you use for logging in is whatever e-mail address used to be associated with your forum account.
2. Your old password will no longer work and needs to be reset. This is what the rest of this page is about.

What do I need to do?

For most students, you will be basically resetting your password used to login. The specific instructions depend on if you already had a forums-based achievements account or not...

• If you had an old forums account, follow these instructions
• If you are sure that you never had a forums or achievements system/SIMS account, follow these instructions. DO NOT CREATE A NEW ACCOUNT UNLESS YOU ARE TOTALLY SURE YOU NEVER HAD ONE as this will cause your old achievement records to not get carried over to your new account. We don't want that!
• If you are not sure if you had an account or not, or if you cannot remember the e-mail address your old forums account used, please contact the achievements team by e-mailing achievements -@- penfieldrobotics.com or ask on Slack in the #website_support channel.

Migration of Students with Existing Forum Accounts

Students with existing forum accounts will need to follow the below steps to access their existing account on the new system. Do not create a new SIMS account as you will lose out on existing achievements!

1. Go to the main SIMS (achievements) page - you can also get here by the same links on the team website you have always used.
2. Your old (forums-based) login will no longer work. A new login has already been created for you using the same e-mail address as your old forums-based login used. You will need to reset your password to log in.
3. Click the "Forgot Password?" link
4. Enter your e-mail address. This must match what your old (forum) account's e-mail address was! If you do not know it, ask on the Slack "website_support" channel for help or e-mail achievements -@- penfieldrobotics.com
5. Answer the simple anti-spam question and click the "Submit" button.
6. Check your e-mail for a verification link - be sure to check your spam/junk folders
7. Click the link in the e-mail and enter your desired new password.

New Students Without Existing Forum Accounts

Again, be sure you don't/didn't already have a forum account before following these steps! Doing so may cause your old achievement records to be lost! Basically you will be creating a new account that you can use to see your achievement records and for use by the team to log your achievements.

1. Go to the main SIMS (achievements) page - you can also get here by clicking "Team", the "Student Achievements" on the team web site navigation bar.
2. Click on "Register as a new student"
3. Follow the instructions to create your account
4. Verify your e-mail when prompted by clicking on the link sent to your e-mail. Check your spam/junk folders if you don't see the e-mail