Creating a Course/Competency Record

1. From the Configuration section>Education Tracking card, select the Course/Competency icon.
2. Click on the Add button to open a screen to create a new record.
3. Enter a Code and Description to identify this course/competency record.

   The label describing the course/competency.

   The alphanumeric short name or abbreviation for the course/competency.

4. Enter a Number to identify this course/competency when used with input devices.

   The unique numeric value for this course/competency. This numeric value is used with input devices, for badging into a class.

5. From the Definition field, indicate whether this is a course or a competency.

   Indicates if this code is for a course or a competency.

6. Enter the Course Classification Code to use in filtering records.

   The classification of the course/competency, used to group similar types. When this is entered into the search criteria, it limits the courses displayed to those with the indicated classification.

   Note: The values displayed in the Field Look Up Values were previously set up on the Configuration section > Education Tracking card > Course-Competency Classification screen.

7. Determine whether this course/competency requirement is evaluated with a Pass/Fail mark (Yes/No). When this value is set to Yes, the employee score in this class must meet or exceed the value in the Minimum Score field to successfully complete the requirement.

   The minimum score required to pass the course, if applicable.

   Determines whether this course/competency requirement is evaluated with a Pass/Fail mark (Yes/No). When this value is set to Yes, the employee score in this class must meet or exceed the value in the Minimum Score field to successfully complete the requirement.

8. In the CBT Enabled field, indicate whether this course/competency can be taken as a computer based training class (Yes/No). If this field is set to Yes, enter the name of the related CBT class in the Computer Based Training Code field.

   The code identifying the computer based training program associated with this course.

   When the employee completes the CBT, this course requirement is updated.

   Indicates whether this course/competency can be taken as a computer based training program (Yes/No). When this option is set to Yes, employees are able to automatically launch and complete this course online.

   See Steps to Creating a Computer Based Training for more information.

9. When the Qualified Instructor Required field is set to Yes, only instructors set as Qualified (on the Instructors tab of this course) are included in the Show All listing of instructors to select when configuring a class.

   Indicates whether an instructor must be set as Qualified to teach a class for this course. When this value is set to Yes, only instructors set as Qualified (on the Instructors tab of this course) are included in the instructor search results when configuring a class.

10. The Allow Associations field indicates whether associated courses/competencies will be set up, which are also posted when this course is completed.

    Determines whether associated courses can be attached to this course (Yes/No). When this value is set to Yes, the Associated Courses section button is enabled to select courses.

    The associated "children" courses are considered to be completed when the employee completes this "parent" class.

11. In the Credits and Hours fields, indicate the number of credits and/or hours earned by completing this course/competency requirement. This information is used with the Pool Categories that evaluate the requirements by total credits or total hours.

    Number of educational hours the employee receives for successfully completing the course/competency, if applicable. This value is also used to automatically calculate the end time of a class for this course/competency when the start time is entered.

    Number of education credits the employee receives for successfully completing the course/competency, if applicable.

12. Enter the Employee Cost, Employer Cost, and Non Employee Cost to indicate the dollar amount charged to take the course, if applicable.

    The cost for course/competency attendees who are not employees of the corporation.

    The cost charged to the employer for each employee enrolled in the course/competency, if applicable.

    The cost charged to the employee for attending the course/competency, if applicable.

13. Enter the Room Layout and Capacity to indicate the configuration of the chairs and the maximum number of participants allowed for the course/competency.

    The maximum number of attendees that should be enrolled in a class for this course/competency. To indicate unlimited capacity, leave this field blank. Do not enter zero.

    The room layout recommended for the course/competency. Any text may be entered into this field.

    For example only:

    Circle	Chairs are arranged in a circle.
    Standard	Chairs are arranged similar to a classroom with all facing the same direction.
    Tables/Chairs	Tables and chairs are required.

14. In the Education Report Group Code field, enter the Report Group that automatically generated reports for this course/competency should be included in.

    Assigns this course/competency to a specific report group for automatically generating and/or printing reports.

15. In the Inactive Date field, enter a date when this course is no longer active or able to be assigned in the system. Leave this field blank if there is no foreseeable inactive date.

    The calendar date when this course is no longer active or able to be assigned in the system.

16. In the Device Message Participation field, indicate whether this course expiration will generate a message and/or prevent an employee from clocking into the system. Click on the link for more details on setting options.

    Indicates the action when an event occurs that is linked to an Event Subscription. For example, if an employee's required course has expired, this setting determines whether the employee is given a message and whether that employee can clock into the system.

    Messages can be viewed on the Home page>My Unread Messages screen and in the Actions section>Employee card>Messages screen.

    The My Unread Messages card displays any messages sent to the employee which are not marked as Read. The screen displays an icon for High or Low priority messages, shows the severity of the message, indicates if there is an attachment, shows who sent the message, displays the subject of the message, and shows the date and time the message was sent.

    To open and read a message, click the folder icon to the left of the message. Once a message is opened, it is marked as Read, and is automatically removed from the My Unread Messages card because it is no longer unread.

    To bring a read message back to the My Unread Messages screen, click on the View Messages button open the Actions section>Employee card>Messages screen. Check the box to the left of the record and click on the Mark as Unread button.

    • Messages that have been read are still available in the Actions section>Employee card>Messages screen. To permanently remove the message, check the box to the left of the record and click on the Delete Selected button.

    

    The following fields are displayed on this card:

    Folder

    Click on the folder icon to open the record and view the details. This will take the user to the Actions section>Employee card>Messages screen so the user can open and view all messages.

    Priority

    The priority icons can be assigned by the user sending the message to indicate the importance of the message. When the Normal priority is selected, no icon is displayed.

    	High Priority	Indicates that this message was sent with a high priority.
    	Low Priority	Indicates that this message was sent with a low priority.

    Severity

    This field shows the severity level of system-generated notifications. The severity level icon displayed is determined by the severity level assigned to the notification. Messages sent by other users have a severity level of Informational.

    	Critical	Indicates that this message has a status of Critical. Depending on settings, the employee may be locked out from badging into the system with a critical message relating to Licenses or Education Requirements. Note: Contact your supervisor if you are locked out due to a Critical message.
    	Warning	Indicates this message has a status of Warning. The employee may have to complete an action. If not completed by a certain date a related Critical message may be issued (for example, renew a license or education requirement.)
    	Informational	Indicates that this message is used to relay information to the employee. An action may need to be taken by a certain date or a related Warning message may be used.

    Status

    Unread

    Indicates that this message has a status of unread. Once a message has been opened, the status is automatically reset to Read and this icon is no longer displayed.

    Attachment

    Attachment

    Indicates this message has an attachment. Click on the icon to open the Attachment page, and a link to the attached document.

    From

    Indicates the user who sent the message. If the message is generated by the system as a result of a Notification Subscription, this field displays System Account.

    Subject

    The heading that describes the message.

    Date

    The date and time this message was sent.

    More About Date Value Fields

    When a date field is highlighted, the Date Selector is displayed in the right pane to search for the date. Use the arrows in the heading bar to scroll to the Previous or Next month's calendar. Double-click on a date to enter it into the field. Alternatively, dates can be typed into the field.

    More About Time Value Fields

    When a field requires a Time Value, the value must be formatted in 24-hour time. This means after noon, the hour value entered should have 12 added to the hour value shown on the clock. For example, if the time is 3:00 pm, the correct value in 24-hour format is 15:00 (12+3 = 15).

    • The system automatically formats entered values to hh:mm (two-digit hour value, two-digit minute value separated by a colon).
      • Enter 1500 and the system automatically adds the colon between the hour and minute values to convert this to 15:00.
      • Enter 900 and the system adds the leading zeros and colon to convert this to 09:00.
      • The system adds leading zeros to any value less than 4 digits. For example, if 9 is entered, the system converts this to 00:09 (nine minutes after midnight).
      • If the last two digits of the entered value is larger than 59, this cannot be converted to a valid time and an error message is generated.
      • If the first two digits of a four-digit value is larger than 23, this cannot be converted to a valid time and an error message is generated.
      • Enter midnight as 00:00; enter noon as 12:00.
    • If a "p" or "pm" is entered after the hour value, the system automatically converts the time to the corresponding afternoon value in 24-hour time. For example:
      • Enter 300p or 300pm and the system converts this to 15:00 and adds the colon.

    Action Buttons

    The following actions are available at the bottom of the grid:

    Add Message

    Click on the Add Message button to open a wizard to create and send a new message.

    For more information on creating a new message, see Steps for Adding a New Message.

    View Messages

    Click on the View Message button to open the Actions section>Employee card>Messages screen. From this screen, the user can view messages that were previously marked as Read, can update the status of a message to Read or Unread, can permanently Delete a message or create a New Message.

    The following actions are available in the left pane when the View Messages button is enabled:

    Delete Selected

    The Delete button is used to remove one or more records from a screen.

    To delete a record, complete the following steps:

    1. Click on the selection box to the left of each record to be deleted.

       A check mark is displayed

    2. Click the Delete button.
    3. If a single record is open, select the Delete button (there are no boxes to select the record).
    4. A message is displayed verifying the record should be deleted. Click on Yes to continue.

    Mark as Read

    To indicate that a message has been read, check the box to the left of the message and then click on the Mark as Read button. The message no longer appears on the My Unread Messages card on the Home page.

    To change the status of a Read message back to Unread, check the box to the left of the message and then click on the Mark as Unread button. The message now appears again on the My Unread Messages card on the Home page.

    Mark as Unread

    To change the status of a Read message back to Unread, check the box to the left of the message and then click on the Mark as Unread button. The message now appears again on the My Unread Messages card on the Home page.

    New Message

    Click on the New Message button to open a wizard to create and send a new message.

    For more information on creating a new message, see Steps for Adding a New Message.

    Device Message Participation Options

    The following Device Message Participation options are available:

    Enabled	This course participates in device messaging. A message is generated for the employee when a related event takes place. When a “lockout” occurs for a critical message, the employee sees the lockout messages, but is still able to delete the message and go on to add, edit, and delete clockings as normal
    Disabled	This course does not participate in device messaging. No message is generated when a related event takes place.
    Enabled with Lockout	This course participates in device messaging. When a related event takes place, if the severity level of the event is Critical, the employee sees the lockout message, and is NOT able to delete the message. The employee is not able to add, edit or delete clockings until the issue is resolved.

17. Click on the Comments tab. Enter any Comment regarding this course/competency, such as a description of the course or instructions.
18. Open the Assignment Defaults tab. When assigning this category to a curriculum, the default settings are automatically entered. These default settings can be changed on an individual record.
19. In the Default Mandatory field, enter whether employees must meet the requirements of this category in order to be scheduled (Yes/No).

    The default setting indicating if it is mandatory that the category needs to be completed for the employee to be eligible to be scheduled to work (Yes/No).

    Note: When an education requirement's mandatory flag is set to No, that category is still required for the education record, but it is not required for the employee to be scheduled (even when the Education Requirements Qualification rule is applied in the Selection Style for scheduling).

20. Enter the Default Effective Date and Default Expiration Date to indicate the date range that this category is a requirement.

    The defaulted date when this course/competency is no longer a requirement for the selected category, if applicable. If there is no anticipated expiration for this course requirement, leave this field blank.

    The defaulted date the course/competency is effective as assigned to a category or curriculum.

21. Enter the Default Frequency and Default Frequency Value to indicate how often this requirement must be renewed.

    Determines the default frequency value for expiration of employee education requirements. The Default Frequency Value number, when combined with the Frequency, determines the amount of time before a requirement must be renewed.

    Defaulted time span by which the expiration should be monitored (Days, Weeks, Months, Years, or Once).

22. The Default Expiration Type field determines the default employee expiration cycle for the requirement, whether it is based on a certain date or based on the last time the class was taken.

    Determines the default employee expiration cycle for the course.

    More About Expiration Type Options

    The following are valid Expiration Type options:

    Fixed	The requirement expiration runs on a fixed cycle - Every year, every 6 month etc. The date of the employee class transactions does not affect the expiration date of the requirement. If the Fixed Date is filled in, the course/competency expires for everyone on the same date. If the Fixed Date is not filled in, the cycle expiration date depends on employee-specific dates, such as hire date or position effective date, depending on the setting of the Use Hire Date field on the related curriculum. Indicates whether the requirement Fixed expiration date of the assigned courses will default to the month/day of the employees' hire date rather than to their position effective date (yes/no). When this value is set to Yes, the course expiration month/day defaults to the employees' hire date. This ensures the requirement will expire on the employees' anniversary date. When this value is set to No, the course expiration month/day defaults to the latest date among the employee hire date, labor distribution begin date, and curriculum content effective date.
    Rolling First	The expiration date is based on the date the employee last completed the class. If there are multiple requirements assigned to a category, the expiration date for the entire category is based on the expiration date of the requirement that expires first.
    Rolling Last	The expiration date is based on the date the employee last completed the class. If there are multiple requirements assigned to a category, the expiration date for the entire category is based on the expiration date of the requirement that expires last.

23. When this value is set to Fixed, the Default Fixed Expiration Date field is enabled, to determine if this requirement expires on the same date for everyone or if it is specific to an employee.

    The date this requirement expires, if applicable. This field is only used with the "Fixed" Expiration Type.

    • If a value is entered in this field, this course expires for all employees on the entered month/day.
    • If this field is left blank, the course requirement will expire for employees based on the latest effective date between the employee hire date, labor distribution begin date, and curriculum content effective date. Note: If the Use Hire Date field in the related Curriculum screen is set to Yes, this date is based on the employees' hire date.
24. When this value is set to Fixed, the Default Carry Over Days field is enabled to determine the maximum number of days prior to expiration that the requirement can be renewed.

    The number of days before the expiration date of a course/competency requirement that the employee can take the related class.

    For example, if this value is set to 60, the employee can schedule a class up to 60 days in advance of the expiration date. This field is only enabled if the Expiration Category is set to Fixed.

    Note: If this value is left at 0, this means the employee cannot take this class until the day it expires. Be sure to enter enough carryover days to allow the employee to attend a class before the expiration date, especially if a particular class is not offered very often.

25. In the End Of The Month Expiration field, indicate whether the expiration date of the requirement should be moved to the last day of the expiration month (Yes/No).

    Indicates whether this course requirement expiration is extended to the last day of the expiration month (Yes/No). This functionality is only available when the Rolling First or Rolling Last option is selected in the Expiration Category field.

26. In the Default Staff/Scheduling Grace Period field, enter the number of days that an employee can continue to be scheduled after expiration of one or more category requirements.

    Used with Staffing and Scheduling. The default number of days after expiration of this requirement that the employee is still able to be scheduled. If the requirement has a frequency of Once, this grace period is added to the beginning of the requirement cycle, so employees have X number of days to complete this requirement.

    Note: If the frequency of the requirement is anything other than “Once”, this grace period days are never automatically added to the expiration date as it is displayed in the portal. The expiration dates listed are always the true expiration. The Grace Period is taken into consideration when trying to schedule the employee to work after the employee’s eligibility has expired.

    If the requirement is a “Once” frequency, there is no end to the person’s eligibility once it has been fulfilled. Therefore, the grace period is applied to the beginning of the cycle. The Eligibility Expiration date displayed for an unfulfilled Once frequency requirement will be the effective date of the requirement plus the number of grace days.

27. Click on the Parameters tab.
28. In the Course Parameter ED Solution Standard Alpha 1 field, enter the default transaction status that should be automatically posted to attendees who badge into a class.
29. If this class has prerequisites, enter the Prerequisite Constraint Days value in Course Parameter ED Solution Standard Integer 1 field.
30. Save the record.