Search Preferences is a generic feature embedded in all SPIRE profiles. It allows students, instructors, and staff to select a default Institution, Academic Career, Term, and Aid Year. On most pages including these search fields, SPIRE will automatically fill in these default values.

Note: Because the instructor profile does not entail extensive searching, we do not recommend that you use Search Preferences. Here’s why:

• The Institution, Academic Career, and Aid Year fields do not apply to instructors.
• Selecting a default term will affect the Faculty Center. The Faculty Center page defaults to the most recent term, unless you select a term under Search Preferences. If you have a saved Search Preference term, your Faculty Center will default to that term.

If you do choose to use Search Preference, see below for the instructions.

• We know it’s easy to forget, but please remember to change the Term default when a new semester starts!
• To avoid an error, you must select an Academic Career before looking up the Term.

1. In the left Menu, go to My SPIRE > Search Preferences. The User Preferences page will open.
2. On the User Preferences page, from the Academic Career drop-down list, select your most recent academic career (e.g., Undergraduate).
3. Next to the Term field, click the Magnifying glass icon () to retrieve the 4-digit code for the semester you wish to set as your default. The Look Up Term page will open.
4. On the Look Up Term page, leave all the search fields blank, and click Look Up. All the available terms will open under Search Results on the same page.

Note: If you have not selected an Academic Career, you will get an error message on this page.

5. Click the term of your choice (e.g., Fall 2006). You will return to the User Preferences page with the 4-digit code already filled in the Term field (e.g., 1067).
6. On the User Preferences page:
   • In the Aid Year field, enter a default year. The page will refresh listing the Financial Aid Year of your choice.
   • Click Save, then OK to confirm the save. Your Search Preferences will now appear in most fields prompting you for this information.

If you encounter problems, submit an online Help Request.
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Contact the OIT Help Desk at 545-9400.