Title: ETS(R) Personal Potential Index Evaluator User’s Guide - July 2012 thru June 2013 Formats available: The ETS(R) Personal Potential Index Evaluator User’s Guide is currently available in Adobe PDF and text format. Print or large print versions are available upon request. This electronic edition contains the entire text of the print edition except for extraneous header and footer information, graphical elements, and navigational controls for electronic documents. This document consists of the sections listed below. * Contents * Overview * ETS(R) PPI Steps at a Glance * Receiving a Request to Complete an ETS PPI Evaluation * Using the ETS PPI System * Logging into the ETS PPI System * Creating an ETS PPI Evaluator Account * Terms and Conditions * ETS PPI Evaluator Home Page * Getting Started * Rating the Applicant * Overall Evaluation * Self Evaluation * Review Your Evaluation * Submit Your Evaluation * Managing Evaluation Requests * Account Updates * Changing Passwords * Applicant Evaluation Data * ETS Contact Information Page numbers in this document are indicated with the word "page" enclosed between the less-than and greater-than symbol: . To locate material on page 1 of the printed edition, use your search or find command to search for " 1" (do not enter the quotation marks into the search window). 1 ETS(R) Listening. Learning. Leading.(R) ETS(R) Personal Potential Index Evaluator User’s Guide July 2012 - June 2013 www.ets.org/ppi 2 Table of Contents Overview 3 ETS(R) PPI Steps at a Glance 3 Receiving a Request to Complete an ETS PPI Evaluation 4 Using the ETS PPI System 6 Logging Into the ETS PPI System 6 Creating an ETS PPI Evaluator Account 6 Terms and Conditions 8 ETS PPI Evaluator Home Page 8 Getting Started 9 Rating the Applicant 11 Overall Evaluation 13 Self Evaluation 13 Review Your Evaluation 14 Submit Your Evaluation 14 Managing Evaluation Requests 15 Account Updates 15 Changing Passwords 15 Applicant Evaluation Data 16 ETS Contact Information 16 Copyright (C) 2012 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS, the ETS logo, LISTENING. LEARNING. LEADING., GRADUATE RECORD EXAMINATIONS and GRE are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS) in the United States and other countries. 20251 3 OVERVIEW The ETS(R) Personal Potential Index (ETS(R) PPI) is a web-based system for evaluating the personal attributes of applicants to graduate or professional school. The ETS PPI allows applicants the opportunity to provide evidence of a broader range of their capabilities. They select evaluators — typically faculty members or supervisors — to evaluate them on the following six dimensions that are considered critical for success in graduate or professional school: * Knowledge and Creativity * Communication Skills * Teamwork * Resilience * Planning and Organization * Ethics and Integrity There are 24 questions (four for each of the six dimensions), plus an overall evaluation rating. Evaluators provide ratings for each of the questions and for the overall evaluation. In addition, they may add comments for each dimension and for the overall evaluation. ETS creates an ETS PPI Evaluation Report that incorporates the ratings and comments and sends it to each institution designated by the applicant. Individuals who register for the Graduate Record Examinations (R) (GRE(R)) General Test are entitled to send up to four ETS PPI Evaluation Reports at no extra charge. Additional reports are $20 each. There is no charge to evaluators or receiving institutions. System Requirements The ETS PPI system supports the latest production versions of Internet Explorer(R) 7 and 8, Firefox(R) 3.0.7 and higher, and Safari(R) 3.2.2 and higher browsers. If you access the ETS PPI website without meeting these requirements, some functions may not perform optimally or may be disabled. ETS(R) PPI STEPS AT A GLANCE Step 1: The process begins when a prospective graduate applicant enters your name and email address into the ETS PPI system and indicates that they would like you to provide an ETS PPI evaluation of their personal attributes. You will then receive an email from ETS requesting that you complete an ETS PPI evaluation for the individual. Within the email, there are links that allow you to accept or decline the request to evaluate the individual. Click on "ACCEPT" to accept the request to evaluate the individual. An email confirmation of your decision will be sent to the individual. Click on "DECLINE" to decline the request. 4 Step 2: When you click on "ACCEPT" in the email, you will link to the ETS PPI Evaluator log-in screen. If this is the first request you are accepting, you will create a "New User" account and sign in for the request to be accepted and associated to your account. If you are a returning user, you can log in to the ETS PPI system with the User Name and Password you created previously. Step 3: Select the applicant from the list, answer questions about your relationship to them, respond to 24 statements (four for each dimension) about the applicant and provide an overall rating of the applicant. You also can add comments for each dimension as well as for the overall evaluation. Your comments are very important to the graduate and professional programs that will be reviewing the ETS PPI Evaluation Report. The evaluation should take you approximately 15 minutes. If you need to save your work in order to return later to complete it, click on "Save." Step 4: When you have completed your evaluation, click "Submit." The applicant will be notified via email that your evaluation has been submitted. Step 5: Click on "Back to My Evaluation Requests" to view the status of all your evaluations. RECEIVING A REQUEST TO COMPLETE AN ETS PPI EVALUATION You will receive an email each time a prospective graduate applicant enters your name and email address into the ETS PPI system and indicates that they would like you to provide an ETS PPI evaluation of their personal attributes. The email will include information about the individual requesting the evaluation as well as links that allow you to accept or decline the evaluation request. To accept the evaluation request, click on the "ACCEPT" link in the email message. This will connect you to the Evaluator Sign-In page (page 5). Alternatively, you can copy and paste the URL to accept the evaluation request from the email into your web browser. If this is the first ETS PPI evaluation request you are accepting, you will be asked to create an evaluator account and sign in for the request to be accepted and associated to your account. If you already have a PPI Evaluator account, you may simply sign in to your account to accept the request. 5 [image of PPI Evaluation Request page] To decline the evaluation request, click on the "DECLINE" link in the email or copy and paste the link from the email, and you will be directed to the Evaluator sign in page. If you already have a PPI Evaluator account, you may sign in to decline the request. If you do not have a PPI account, you may click "Decline Request Without Signing In." You will be directed to decline the request and an email message will be sent to the applicant informing them that their request has been declined. ETS encourages applicants to contact evaluators in advance of entering their information into the ETS PPI system so that the evaluation request from ETS does not come as a surprise to you. 6 USING THE ETS PPI SYSTEM Logging Into the ETS PPI System To log into the ETS PPI system, visit www.ets.org/ppi and click on Evaluator Sign In at the top of the screen. This will take you to the screen below. [image of PPI Evaluator sign-in page] Creating an PPI Evaluator Account Click on Sign Up in the New Users box to create a new PPI account. Write down your username and password and keep it in a secure location. It is important that you always create only one Evaluator Account and do not create multiple accounts for each applicant request. You only have to create a new Evaluator account for the first evaluation request received. To create your ETS PPI Evaluator Account, you will be asked to provide personal information, contact information and username and password. Your personal information and contact information is included on the ETS PPI Evaluation Report so that graduate and professional programs can contact you about your evaluation if they have questions. Note that an asterisk indicates a required field. A green check mark will appear as each field you tab through is completed. 7 [image of PPI Evaluator account creation page] Complete all of the necessary information and then click on Continue. If a required field was not completed or completed in an invalid format, you will receive an error message. If you receive this error message, check each field for either a red asterisk or a small red triangle and re-enter the information and in the correct format. Take note of the "Reminder" box. If you check this box, automatic email messages are sent to you when one or more of your evaluation requests are nearing their requested completion date and have not yet been submitted. You can stop the reminder messages by going into "Update Personal Information" and removing the check from "Reminder – Send me a reminder before the applicant’s requested completion date." 8 Terms and Conditions When you use the ETS PPI system, all information provided to you will be electronic. To use the ETS PPI, you will need Internet access and an email account. You will be asked to e-sign a statement confirming your identity and acknowledging that you have been informed of the potential penalties for misrepresentation. Check the Terms and Conditions box and the submit button to complete your account creation. Once an account has been successfully created, you will be directed to log in as a returning user. Enter your same User Name and Password and click the Sign In button. Be sure to add @ets.org to your address book or safe sender list to ensure that you receive email messages from ETS. ETS PPI Evaluator Home Page You can perform the following tasks on the ETS PPI home page: * View Evaluation Requests and Completed Evaluations – View applicant evaluation requests and completed applications. * Evaluate the Applicant – Respond to 24 statements and add optional comments. You can complete the entire evaluation or save the evaluation and return at any time to finish. Evaluators report that an average evaluation takes approximately 15 minutes to complete. * Manage Account – Update contact information in your account profile and change your password or security questions. * More Information – Access ETS PPI general information, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and the GRE(R) website. A copy of the home page follows on the next page. 9 [image of home page] Getting Started Click on Evaluate Applicant Now to begin evaluating applicants. Choose the applicant from the list (see screen below) that you would like to evaluate. Requests that have been declined or already completed will not be listed. [image of Begin Evaluation screen] 10 Click on the name of the applicant that you would like to evaluate. You will be linked to a screen with the applicant's information (see screen below). [image of Verify Applicant Information screen] Click Continue on the screen above to indicate that you would like to evaluate this applicant. The next screen (see below) asks you questions about your relationship to the applicant. The information you enter will appear on the ETS PPI Evaluation Report. [image of Relationship to Applicant screen] 11 Rating the Applicant You will rate applicants on six dimensions by responding to 24 statements (four for each of the six dimensions). Below is the complete list. Knowledge and Creativity * Has a broad perspective on the field * Is among the brightest persons I know * Produces novel ideas * Is intensely curious about the field Communication Skills * Speaks in a clear, organized and logical manner * Writes with precision and style * Speaks in a way that is interesting * Organizes writing well Teamwork * Supports the efforts of others * Behaves in an open and friendly manner * Works well in group settings * Gives criticism/feedback to others in a helpful way Resilience * Accepts feedback without getting defensive * Works well under stress * Can overcome challenges and setbacks * Works extremely hard Planning and Organization * Sets realistic goals * Organizes work and time effectively * Meets deadlines * Makes plans and sticks to them Ethics and Integrity * Is among the most honest persons I know * Maintains high ethical standards * Is worthy of trust from others * Demonstrates sincerity You will use a five-point rating scale to respond to the four statements for each dimension. Note that the reference group is other students from the same department or unit who have gone on to graduate or professional school. Note, too, that you can add comments, for 12 instance, to add specific examples in the text box provided. Cut and paste or type directly into the box. There is room for approximately 150–200 words for each dimension. Your comments are very important to the graduate and professional programs that will be reviewing the ETS PPI Evaluation Report. The Knowledge and Creativity Dimension screen is below. [image of Knowledge and Creativity screen] You are required to respond to each statement. If you feel that you do not have enough information to respond to a statement, you can answer "Insufficient Opportunity to Evaluate;" these responses are not calculated in the rating for that dimension. Providing comments is optional, but highly desirable. Note that at any point in the evaluation you can click on Save and Return Later or Continue. 13 Your session will time out after 30 minutes of inactivity. You will receive a session expiration warning message after 25 minutes of inactivity. The session expiration message will flash on the top and bottom of the screen. If you want to extend your session time, just click the "Click Here" link on the flashing message. If no action is taken on the session expiration time out warning message before the session has expired, the session will close, a message will appear and you will need to sign in again. Your evaluation will be saved up to the point where the session ended. Overall Evaluation You will also provide an overall rating. This page is very similar to the individual dimension ratings, except that there is more space to include comments (i.e., approximately 350–400 words). The overall evaluation is a separate rating. It is not the average of the other ratings. This increases reliability. A copy of the Overall Rating screen is below. [image of Overall Evaluation screen] Self Evaluation You will also be asked to complete a self evaluation. Check the appropriate button that best denotes your rating tendencies. There is also the opportunity to add additional text to elaborate on any examples and add general comments. Self evaluation data may be used in data analyses and research studies. In each instance, all identifying information will be removed. 14 Review Your Evaluation You will have an opportunity to review all the information you have entered in the applicant's evaluation. You will be able to edit and update your personal information as well as your evaluation responses. Once you complete the review, you have the option of saving the evaluation and returning later, or submitting the evaluation. If you click "Save and Return Later," the evaluation will not be submitted until you return and click on "Submit the Evaluation." Submit Your Evaluation When your evaluation is complete, click on the Submit the Evaluation. Once the evaluation is submitted, the following window will pop up indicating the evaluation was submitted successfully. [image of Evaluation Complete screen] The applicant will automatically receive an email that your evaluation has been submitted. Click on Go to my ETS PPI Home to return to the home page or Sign Out to log out. Important Note: If you have completed but not submitted your evaluation, the status of your evaluation will appear as "In Progress" and the applicant will not be able to include your evaluation in his or her ETS PPI Evaluation Report until you click on Submit the Evaluation. 15 Managing Evaluation Requests To view evaluation requests and completed evaluations, click on View Evaluation Requests and Completed Evaluations on the home page. You will see a list of all evaluation requests that have been sent to you and for which you have taken action (accepted, rejected, etc.). [image of My Evaluation Requests screen] Account Updates To update your contact information, click on Update Personal Information on the home page. Update the relevant contact information fields and then click on the Update Profile button. Changing Passwords To change your password or security question, click on "Change Password" or "Security Question" on the home page. You will be asked to enter your current password, enter a new password, re-enter the new password, select a security question and answer the security question. Once you have entered this information, click "Submit." For security purposes, ETS will automatically send you an email confirmation that you have successfully changed your password and/or security question. You will receive a similar notification if you have contacted a PPI customer service representative and a temporary password was generated. If you forget your user name and/or password go to the sign-in page, click Forgot your user name or password? in the "Returning Users" section of the page, and follow the instructions provided on the screen. APPLICANT EVALUATION DATA Evaluation data may be used in analysis samples, interpretation data and research studies. In each instance, all identifying information will be removed. 16 ETS CONTACT INFORMATION Evaluator Support Services: Email: ppi@ets.org Phone: 1-609-683-2866 - All locations available Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. ET (except for U.S. holidays). Mail: ETS PPI P.O. Box 6000 Princeton, NJ 08541-6000