Linking tables w/automatically created value

[ignignoct5d]

Don't know where this question will rank. Completely weird or completely common.

I've been getting great suggestions from this forum, one of them was to begin creating seperate tables for our data (I'm currently cleaning up a mess created 10 years ago for a nonprofit). The best way I have found to link/associate/whatever tables is to use their STUDENT identification number (since this value never changes). So we linked tests to that number (many tests to each student) by entering each new test as a seperate item with a manually entered stu id. We linked TUTOR and so forth the same way. But now I would like to start linking some more things. Particularly INSTRUCTION HOURS.

The question I have is this. How do I automatically create a value in the HOURS table that links to the value (stu id) in the STUDENT table. So that every student (previous and new) will have ONE associated HOURS set each time new student data is entered.

 

[ignignoct5d]

Ok, you make a great point. Because not everyone is active in the sense that we NEED records for those people hours. However, is there a simple way to create the connection? For example, could we make a little checkbox that if checked would create the value in the HOURS table (that relates the two) and then allows the user to enter data.