Draft:Student Management AI

SELMA SIS

SELMA (Student Education Lifecycle Management Application) is a student information system (SIS) developed in New Zealand. It is used by vocational and higher education providers to manage administrative, academic, and compliance-related processes across the student lifecycle. SELMA is delivered as a cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) and supports single-tenant deployment.

History

SELMA was developed in the early 2020s to meet the operational and regulatory needs of private tertiary education providers in New Zealand. It was designed to ensure compatibility with government-mandated reporting frameworks such as the Single Data Return (SDR) and the Industry Training Register (ITR), which are required by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) and the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC). The system was later expanded to support Australian reporting standards, including AVETMISS, and is now used by providers in both countries.

Features

SELMA SIS includes tools for managing applications, enrolments, academic records, compliance exports, attendance, and timetables. The system has been designed to accommodate regional compliance requirements and complex institutional structures. Key features include:

• Granular System Logging: SELMA records detailed activity logs for both users and students, including data access, record changes, and workflow progress. This supports audit trails, internal quality assurance, and regulatory investigations where necessary.

• Self-Service Attendance: The system offers QR code-based attendance marking, allowing students to register their presence at scheduled sessions using personal devices. This feature reduces administrative overhead and improves data accuracy for compliance and engagement monitoring.

• Graphical Timetabling Interface: A visual scheduling tool enables drag-and-drop timetable construction across courses, instructors, and locations. It is designed to reduce scheduling conflicts and improve planning workflows.

• LMS Integration: The platform integrates natively with learning management systems such as Moodle and Canvas, supporting bidirectional synchronisation of enrolments, grades, and course structures. This reduces duplication and improves data consistency across systems.

• Institution-Specific Configuration: SELMA allows providers to customise data fields, workflows, user interfaces, form structures, and reporting outputs. This adaptability supports a range of academic models and administrative practices.

Ownership

SELMA is developed and operated by SELMA International Limited and SELMA Australia PTY Ltd, which remain under family ownership. The company maintains direct relationships with its institutional clients and handles implementation, support, and compliance development in-house.

Adoption and Growth

Since its initial adoption in New Zealand, SELMA has expanded to serve a growing number of education providers in Australia. Its uptake has been attributed to the platform’s regulatory alignment, customisability, and the personalised support provided during implementation and ongoing use. The system is typically deployed as a single-tenant cloud instance on regional infrastructure, allowing institutions to meet data residency and security requirements.