Search for People or Forms in Colleague

Skip to: Search for a Person | Search for a Form | Context Card

Perform Searches for People or Forms

Ellucian Colleague offers the convenience of being able to search for forms or people. It is integral that you note the symbol beside the search field.

  • If the highlighted icon next to the search bar resembles a person, then you are searching for an individual person.  Typing in a form name will generate zero results.

An example of the toolbar with the person icon circled.

  • If the highlighted icon next to the search bar resembles a piece of paper, then you are searching for a form.  Typing in a person's name or ID will generate zero results.

An example of the form search with the paper icon circled.

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Search for a Person
  1. Click the person icon next to the search bar to activate Search for a Person
  2. Enter the person's 7-digit University ID or their name
    • To perform the search, press Enter or click the magnifying glass icon
    • If searching using a name, enter the name in any combination and any order of first, last, and middle name/initial:
      • lastname (at least the first 2 letters)
      • lastname, firstname
      • lastname, firstname middlename
      • lastname, firstname middleinitial
      • firstname lastname
      • firstname middlename lastname
      • firstname middleinitial lastname
    • To search for multi-part names, either use an underscore for the spaces or leave out the spaces (van_buren or vanburen for the name Van Buren)

search for a person


Within the search results window, open the appropriate person in the context card by performing one of the following actions:

  1. Double click on the line containing the person's information
  2. In the Input box at the top of the window, enter the number to the left of the person's information and click on Open at the top of the window
  3. Single click on the line containing the person's information and click on Open at the bottom of the window

search results for a person

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Context Card
  1. Name and University ID
    • The name and University ID for the person in the context card is displayed at the top of the context card
  2. Picture
    • If you have enabled pictures to be displayed and the person in the context card has a picture on file, then the picture will be displayed
  3. Address and Phone Number
    • The address and phone number for the person in the context card are displayed
  4. Email address
    • The Elon email address is displayed for the person in the context card
    • If the person does not have an Elon email address then a personal email address will be displayed, if it is on file
    • The email address is an active link in the context card and you can click on it to send an email to the person
  5. Enrolled and Athlete flags
    • If the person in the context card is enrolled as a student, then “Enrolled” will be displayed in the context card
    • If the person in the context card is a current athlete, then “ATH” will be displayed in the context card
    • These flags are custom items that Elon has added to the context card and other institutions will not have this functionality
  6. Pushpin
    • Click the pushpin to toggle between closing or keeping context cards open
    • When the pushpin button is highlighted, records will remain in the context card as you save or cancel out of person related forms
    • Records in the context card are also highlighted when the pushpin is highlighted
    • When the pushpin is not highlighted, records in the context card will be closed as you save or cancel out of person related forms
  7. Downward arrow/Next & Previous arrows
    • The context area can hold one or more context cards
    • Click the downward arrow to see all the cards in the context area
    • When multiple cards are loaded into the context area, use the Next (to the right of the context card) and Previous (to the left of the context card) buttons to scroll through the cards
  8. Close record
    • Click the X to close the current card or all cards in the context area
  9. Favorites star
    • Click the star to add the person in the current card or all cards to your Person Favorites

context card

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Search for a Form
  1. Click the piece of paper icon next to the search bar to activate Search for a Form
  2. Enter the mnemonic (3-5 letter code) of the form or a word from the form's title
    • To perform the search, press Enter or click the magnifying glass icon
    • If searching using a word from the form's title, the search results window will appear with a list of any form with that word in the title

search for a form


Within the search results window, open the appropriate form by performing one of the following actions:

  1. Double click on the line containing the form's information
  2. In the Input box at the top of the window, enter the number to the left of the form's information and click on Open at the top of the window
  3. Single click on the line containing the form's information and click on Open at the bottom of the window

form search results window


  1. The form opens in the main section of the window and the mnemonic and title are seen in the search bar at the top of the window
  2. The form's mnemonic and title displays at the top of the form directly under the context card area
  3. If the form requires any parameters to pull information, such as a person's ID, an academic term, or a date, the LookUp window appears in front of the form
    • Enter the LookUp information then press Enter or click Ok
    • If a search must be completed with the LookUp information then the search results window may appear before the data loads into the form

form with lookup window

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