In all cases state is a for active or i for inactive. Only active items are displayed on forms. mysql> describe campus +-------+------------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+ | Field | Type | Null | Key | Default | Extra | +-------+------------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+ | row | int(10) unsigned | NO | PRI | NULL | auto_increment | | name | char(30) | YES | | NULL | | | abbr | char(10) | YES | | NULL | | | state | char(1) | YES | | NULL | | +-------+------------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+ Geauga | G | a | Kent | K | a | Stark | St | a | mysql> describe college; +----------+------------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+ | Field | Type | Null | Key | Default | Extra | +----------+------------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+ | row | int(10) unsigned | NO | PRI | NULL | auto_increment | | name | char(50) | YES | | NULL | | | abbr | char(10) | YES | | NULL | | | state | char(1) | YES | | NULL | | +----------+------------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+ | College of Arts & Sciences | A&S | a | | College of Business Administration | Bus | a | | College of Technology | Tech | i | | College of Appl Eng, Sustainability & Technology | AEST | a | mysql> describe dept; +----------+------------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+ | Field | Type | Null | Key | Default | Extra | +----------+------------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+ | row | int(10) unsigned | NO | PRI | NULL | auto_increment | | name | char(50) | YES | | NULL | | | abbr | char(20) | YES | | NULL | | | college | char(10) | YES | | NULL | | | state | char(1) | YES | | NULL | | +----------+------------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+ | Computer Science | Computer Sci | A&S | a | | English | English | A&S | a | | Geography | Geograpy | A&S | a | | History | History | A&S | a | | Justice Studies | Justice Studies | A&S | i | | Economics | Economics | Bus | a | | Management and Information Systems | MIS | Bus | a | | Marketing & Entrepreneurship | Marketing | Bus | a | mysql> describe rank; +-------+------------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+ | Field | Type | Null | Key | Default | Extra | +-------+------------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+ | row | int(10) unsigned | NO | PRI | NULL | auto_increment | | name | char(30) | YES | | NULL | | | abbr | char(10) | YES | | NULL | | | state | char(1) | YES | | NULL | | +-------+------------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+ | Assistant Professor | Asst | a | | Associate Professor | Assoc | a | | Professor | Prof | a | mysql> describe status; +-------+------------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+ | Field | Type | Null | Key | Default | Extra | +-------+------------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+ | row | int(10) unsigned | NO | PRI | NULL | auto_increment | | name | char(40) | YES | | NULL | | | abbr | char(8) | YES | | NULL | | | state | char(1) | YES | | NULL | | +-------+------------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+ | Tenured | TT/T | a | | Tenure Track/ Not Yet Tenured | TT/NYT | a | | Non Tenure Track | NTT | a | mysql>describe rank; +-------+------------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+ | Field | Type | Null | Key | Default | Extra | +-------+------------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+ | row | int(10) unsigned | NO | PRI | NULL | auto_increment | | name | char(30) | YES | | NULL | | | abbr | char(10) | YES | | NULL | | | state | char(1) | YES | | NULL | | +-------+------------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+ | Assistant Professor | Asst | a | | Associate Professor | Assoc | a | | Professor | Prof | a | mysql> describe committee; +------------------+------------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+ | Field | Type | Null | Key | Default | Extra | +------------------+------------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+ | row | int(10) unsigned | NO | PRI | NULL | auto_increment | | name | char(50) | YES | | NULL | | | abbr | char(10) | YES | | NULL | | | appointed_by | char(10) | YES | | NULL | | | state | char(1) | YES | | NULL | | +------------------+------------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+ | Educational Policies Undergraduate Council | EPC | Exec | a | | Faculty Professional Development Center Council | FPDC | COC | a | | University Teaching Council | UTC | COC | a | | Committee on Administrative Officers | CAO | FS | a | | Committee on Committees | COC | Exec | a | | Faculty Ethics Committee | FEC | FS | a | | Faculty Senate | FS | Faculty | a | | Intercollegiate Athletics Committee | IAC | COC | a | ============= mysql> describe com; +----------+----------------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+ | Field | Type | Null | Key | Default | Extra | +----------+----------------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+ | row | int(10) unsigned | NO | PRI | NULL | auto_increment | | kemail | char(30) | YES | | NULL | | | comm | char(10) | YES | | NULL | | | level | enum('IN','VI','NI') | YES | | NULL | | | memb | enum('C','E','P','N')| YES | | NULL | | | ent_date | char(40) | YES | | NULL | | +----------+----------------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+ IN = Interested; VI= Very Interested; NI= Not Interested C = Current ; E=Expiring ; P=Previous; N=Never mysql> describe faculty; +---------------+------------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+ | Field | Type | Null | Key | Default | Extra | +---------------+------------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+ | row | int(10) unsigned | NO | PRI | NULL | auto_increment | | last_name | varchar(30) | YES | | NULL | | | first_name | varchar(30) | YES | | NULL | | | middle_init | char(1) | YES | | NULL | | | email | varchar(30) | YES | | NULL | | | kemail | varchar(30) | NO | | | | | phone | varchar(15) | YES | | NULL | | | rank | varchar(10) | YES | | NULL | | | status | varchar(8) | YES | | NULL | | | years | char(3) | YES | | NULL | | | campus | varchar(10) | YES | | NULL | | | college | varchar(10) | YES | | NULL | | | dept | varchar(20) | YES | | NULL | | | year_recorded | varchar(4) | YES | | NULL | | | record_date | varchar(40) | YES | | NULL | | | activationkey | varchar(100) | NO | | | | +---------------+------------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+