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z Prior Version Document - ASSIGNMENTS - QUICK START GUIDE

ASSIGNMENTS - QUICK START GUIDE


(Note: This is a document from a prior version and may no longer provide full insight into all the attributes of this feature. It is recommended to use the newest documents linked from the Main Page)



How to Add an New Assignment to the LMS System

1) The Assignment Scheduler can be accessed using the Advanced View > Learning Objects > Assignments drop down menu. This will bring you to the Assignment List page where you can view, edit, delete existing assignments and create (and schedule) new assignments.

To create a new assignment:

  1. Click on the New Assignment button.
  2. This will launch the Learning Object >> Assignments / Assignment details page.

How to Fill-in the Assignment Info Section

The Assignment info section of the Assignments / Assignment Details page lets you name and describe the assignment, activate / deactivate the assignment, select the assignment type (course, certification, goal), determine if the assignment should be associated with specific individuals, new hires and/ or specific employment and leadership levels.

The only required entry in Assignment info section is a Name for the assignment.

By default, assignments will automatically associated between courses and groups of users that can be further detailed and refined in the Selector section of the Assignments / Assignment Details page, however, in this Assignment info section, this default can be overridden when enabling (checking) the optional checkboxes. This will also change the selectors available in the Selector section.

For example, if the Individual checkbox is enabled (checked), all the default options for selecting groups of users, such as job code or job class, will be hidden. If the Is Certificate checkbox is enabled (checked), the course selector will change to a certificate selector (See next section).

Below is a listing of each of the required and optional fields (attributes) of the Assignment info section along with a brief description.

Assignment Info Section - Explanation of Fields

  • Name* - Creator defined name for the assignment.
  • Active - If checked, it means it is ready to deploy and will be processed the next time the assignment scheduler service runs.
  • New Hire - If checked, the system will apply this assignment only to newly hired employees.
    • Note: The system uses a previously defined company timeframe which is added to the user's actual hire date to determine if they are within Scope of an assignment.
    • For example, if your company defines a New Hire within the system as 30 Days and a person is hired on January 1, 2016, then this person is within scope of this assignment from January 1, 2016 January 31, 2016 (January 1, 2016 Hire Date + 30 days Defined Company Timeframe = January 31, 2016).
  • Individual - If checked, allows the creator to assign individuals (rather than groups) to the assignment. When enabled it will change options in the Selectors section from group options (e.g. job class, job position) to a single / multi-student selector.
  • Is certificate - If checked, allows the creator to assign certifications, rather than courses to in-scope students. When enabled, the Learning Object (Course) selector in the Selectors section will change to a Certificate Selector.
  • Is Goal - Part of the Talent Management Suite (TMS). If checked, allows the creator to assign Goals to in-scope users.
  • Is Evaluation - Part of the Talent Management Suite (TMS). If checked, allows the creator to assign Evaluations to in-scope users.
  • Employment Type - Part of the Scope Process. Allows the creator to limit the assignment to users meeting a specific employment type or types from those predefined for your organization (e.g. Full Time Employees & Interns).
    • If no selection is made, than any employment type is eligible to be in scope (subject to other scope restrictions made elsewhere in the assignment).
  • Description - Allows for an assignment description (For Administrator Reference).
  • Hire Start Date - Part of the Scope Process. Enter the Start Date for a range of dates. Anyone hired within that range of dates will be assigned. (5/12/2016 update). If entering value in Hire Start Date, Must also enter value in Hire End Date and vice versa.
  • Hire End Date - Part of the Scope Process. Enter the End Date for a range of dates. Anyone hired within that range of dates will be assigned. (5/12/2016 update). If entering value in Hire Start Date, Must also enter value in Hire End Date and vice versa.
  • Assigned by course order - New Feature. If checked, user must take courses in order they are added to the assignment.
    • Thus if two courses were added, for example, Beginner Excel and Intermediate Excel (added to the assignment in this order), the assigned student must complete Beginner Excel prior to taking course ntermediate Excel. Note: You will be enrolled in both courses, but (for online courses) couldn't launch the second course until the first was marked as Complete.
  • Leadership Assessment Level - A specific Leadership type or types from those predefined for your organization (e.g. Emerging Leaders, Enterprise Leaders) If no selection is made, than this is not part of the scope process.

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How to Fill-in the Assignment Timing Section

Assignment timing is one of the most powerful, but sometimes most complicated feature of the Assignment module. The Assignment Timing section of the Assignments / Assignment Details page allows you to specify the date which an assignment is due, the date when the assignment is executed and made visible to the user and the frequency of assignment.

NOTE: ASSIGNMENTS WILL ALWAYS HAVE SOME TYPE OF DUE DATE ASSOCIATED WITH THEM

Assignment Timing Section - Explanation of Fields

  • Effective date* - (REQUIRED) As long as the assignment is active, this is the date in which the Assignment will begin to be executed by the Assignment Scheduler service. It is essentially the assignment start date.
  • Frequency - Radio button selector requiring either a value of One Timeâ (default) or Recurring. Depending on selection, other elements of this section may or may not be accessible.
  • Due on due date: - Radio button selector allowing creator to set a specific date by which the assignment must be completed
    • Works in conjunction with Due Date, below. Note: inactive for Recurring assignments
  • Due: - Radio button selector allowing creator to set a specific number of days before or after the Anniversary date by which the assignment must be completed.
    • Works in conjunction with Days textbox and Anniversary dropdown box, below.
  • Due on anniversary** - Radio button to indicate assignment must be completed by the user's anniversary date.
  • Due on birth date: - Radio button to indicate assignment must be completed by the user's birthday.
  • Due on due days: - Radio button selector allowing creator to set a specific number of days after a user comes into scope by which the assignment must be completed.
    • Works in conjunction with Days textbox, below. Note: Not recommended for use with Recurring assignments.
  • Days- Radio button selector allowing creator to set a specific number of days after a user comes into scope by which the assignment must be completed
    • Works in conjunction with Days textbox, below. Note: Not recommended for use with Recurring assignments.
  • Stop date: - Date at which the assignment will stop and no longer run. User may use the dropdown calendar or enter the date manually using a mm/dd/yyyy format
  • Show days before due date*- The number of days prior to the due date in which the assignment will be effective and the user will be notified and enrolled in classes.
    • For example, if set to 30, the user will be notified of the assignment 30 days prior to the due date (assuming they were in scope and the assignment was active at least that many days before the due date).
  • Due Date: - A specific date by which the assignment must be completed
    • Works in conjunction with Due on Due Date radio button, above. User may use the dropdown calendar or enter the date manually using a mm/dd/yyyy format. Note: inactive for Recurring assignments
  • Anniversary** - Radio button to indicate assignment must be completed by the user's anniversary date.
    • Note: inactive for one time assignments
  • Recurring Every (text box) - Text box for numeric entry of a recurring period.
    • Works in conjunction with the Recurring Every Dropdown box, below. For example, a biannual assignment would recur every 2 / years while a quarterly assignment would recur every 3 / months. Note: inactive for one time assignments
  • Recurring Every (dropdown box) - Drop down box for selection of repeating period (Year, Month, Day).
    • Works in conjunction with the Recurring Every text box, above. For example, a biannual assignment would recur every 2 / years while a quarterly assignment would recur every 3/ months. Note: inactive for one time assignments

*Required Field

**Anniversary- In the LMS system, Anniversary refers to the anniversary of the user's hire date'

How to Fill-in the Selectors Section

The basic concept of an assignment in the LMS is to associate some group of users (Scope) with some specific learning object (Requirement) in some specific time frame (Deadline). In the Selectors section of the Assignments / Assignment Details page, the creator is able to choose both the specific requirement (usually (a) Learning object / Course(s) or Certification(s)) & make many of the selectors to define Scope (as noted some elements that filter the scope, such as employment type, new hire etc. were found in the Assignment info section of the Assignments / Assignment Details page).

Note: This guide assumes the CSA / Admin is familiar with using the system to select a single or multiple courses or scope selectors such as Job Position or using the tree structure of the Availability tree to select sections of an organization. If not, please see related help sections for further details as to how to utilize those specific elements presented below.

Different Views of the Selectors Section

The specific selector categories that are available to choose from in the Selectors section of the Assignments / Assignment Details page will adjust dependent upon items the Assignment info section of the Assignments / Assignment Details page.

In the DEFAULT VIEW, the Selectors section will allow the creator to select Learning Object / Course(s) to assign, as well as define scope by selecting from Job Class, Job Code, Position, Availability, Delegate fields. Also, if enabled, scope can be further defined using Specialty Type, Credential Type and Sub Status.

If certain options are enabled (checked) in the Assignment info section of the Assignments / Assignment Details page, however, the Selectors section will adjust and offer different selectors.

For example, if the Is Certificate checkbox is enabled (checked), than the option to add Learning Object / Course(s) will not be shown. Rather the Certification text box and buttons to Add / Remove certifications will be visible.

Another example of a view change is if the Individual checkbox is enabled (checked), than the group selectors will no longer be visible and only the Learning Object / Course(s) selector will be available.

Adding Courses to the Assignment

By default, the Learning Object / Course selector is viewable.

By clicking the Add button, the system will launch the Learning Object Lookup / Learning Object List in a new popup window. Here, creators will be able to search and select courses to assign. Courses can be added one at a time or in multiple selections (by using the check box) then pressing the Add Learning Object button.

Once courses are added they will appear in the Learning Object / Course(s) selector textbox window.

They may be removed by first highlighting the specific Learning Object / Course to remove and clicking the Remove button (While courses can be added in bulk, they must be removed individually).

NOTE: See Section 3 - Advanced Concepts & Best Practices section for best practices using an Assignment Instance for courses which will allow users to select their own class instances if classroom-based courses are part of the assignment.

Adding Certifications to the Assignment

If the Is Certificate? Checkbox is checked, the system will replace the Learning Object / Course selector, with the Certification Selector.

By clicking the Add button, the system will launch the Lookup / Certification List in a new popup window. Here, creators will be able to search and select Certifications to assign. Certifications can be added one at a time or in multiple selections (by using the check box) then pressing the Add Certification button.

Once certifications are added they will appear in the Selectors section Certification selector textbox window.

They may be removed by first highlighting the specific Certification to remove and clicking the Remove button (While certifications can be added in bulk, they must be removed individually).

NOTE: See Section 3 - Advanced Concepts & Best Practices section for best practices using an Assignment Instance for certifications which will allow users to select their own class instances if classroom-based courses are part of the certification.

Using Other Selectors to Define Scope of Users

As noted, depending on whether specific items were selected in the Assignment info section of the Assignments / Assignment Details page, certain selectors will or will not be visible.

One concept to note is that when using scope selectors, the lookup is an OR search within a specific selector, but an AND search between selectors.

For example, if the creator added Manager and Director to the Job Class selector, a user who had the Job Class = Manager OR had the Job Class = Director would both be in-scope of the assignment.

However, if the creator added the Manager to the Job Class selector AND Selected NY Office from the Availability (Tree) selector, then only a user who had both Availability = NY Office AND Job Class = Manager would become in-scope.

NOTE: Because email notifications will be sent to all in-scope users, pay special attention to use the selectors to limit the scope to the specific users only those required for the specific assignment.

Scope of Users Selectors - Job Class, Job Code, Job Position

The Job Class, Job Code and Job Position selectors allow the creator to specify a particular job class / codes / positions or groups of job classes / job codes / job positions to include in the assignment. Job Class, Job Code and Job Position information is usually provided by the company's HR system and associated with individual users and updated within the LMS as part of the User Import service which runs daily.

If viewable for this assignment, the Job Class. Job Code and Job Position Selectors are just below the Learning Object / Course(s) selector (or below the Certification Selector if the Is Certificate? option is enabled).

By clicking the Add button to the specific selector, the system will launch the Lookup list for the selected item in a new popup window. Here, creators will be able to search and select Job Classes, Job Codes or Job Positions in which to include as part of the scope of the assignment. Job Classes, Job Codes or Job Positions can be added one at a time or in multiple selections (by using the check box) then pressing the Add Job (Class, Code, Position) button.

Once Job Classes, Job Codes and / or Job Positions are added they will appear in the corresponding selector textbox window.

They may be removed by first highlighting the specific Job Classes, Job Codes and / or Job Positions to remove and clicking the Remove button (While items can be added in bulk, they must be removed individually).

Scope of Users Selectors - Availability

The Availability selector, which uses a tree structure and usually represents some type of company organization chart, allows the creator to specify which parts of the organization to include in the assignment. The Availability tree is automatically built based upon data imported into the LMS as part of the User Import service which runs daily. The definitions are usually established as part of the initial LMS installation and deployment process (Please contact your project manager if changes to the Availability tree structure are required).

In the default view, the Availability selector is just below the Job Position selector and just above the Delegate selector.

By clicking the (+) button the tree will expand to show deeper levels of the organization. (The Sort By 'Name, Dept, ID radio buttons allow sorting of the tree view for easier lookup for some organizations.) The assignment creator can select which part of an organization will be eligible to be scope for an assignment by simply clicking the checkbox next to that listing (location, division, department, etc.)

  • Multiple selections can be made by selecting multiple checkboxes.
  • The tree structure is recursive, that is, if a higher level of the tree is selected, all lower levels in the direct line will be included in the scope, as well.
  • Items can be deselected by simply clicking again to remove the checkbox.

Scope of Users Selectors - Delegate

Note: Selection Of A Delegate Will Override All Other Scope Selections!!!

The Delegate selector uses radio buttons to allow the creator to select a specific Delegate list to which the assignment will be applicable.

A delegate list is a listing of users, similar to a distribution list in an email program. The delegate is a very powerful feature that is used extensively by CSAs. Delegates are often created to allow for quick access to frequently used user combinations. Examples include setting up delegates for All Users, All Managers, Combinations of User Types and Divisions, etc. They can be created by using the Advanced View > User Management > Delegates dropdown menu (See separate How to create delegates Admin Guide for further details on creating delegates).

In the default view, the Delegate selector is visible just below the Availability selector. It is prepopulated with all the delegate groups that have been created within the LMS for the organization. The creator can use the scroll up and scroll down arrows on the right side of the selector to view all the different delegate choices.

Click the associated radio button to select the desired Delegate List.

  • As noted above, selection of a delegate will override all other scope selections.
  • Only one delegate can be selected per assignment.
  • Once selected, the delegate can be changed (clicking a different delegate radio button), but the delegate function cannot be deselected

Scope of Users Selectors - Specialty Type, Credential Type, Sub Status

The Specialty Type, Credential Type and Sub Status selectors allow the creator to further refine the scope of users to include in the assignment. Specialty Type, Credential Type and Sub Status are optional informational items that some companies use to group and identify workers. They are usually provided by the company's HR system and associated with individual users and updated within the LMS as part of the User Import service which runs daily.

In the default view, the Specialty Type, Credential Type and Sub Status selectors are at the bottom of the Selectors section. Not all organizations use these fields, but if they are populated, then there will be options to select specific types in the system using checkboxes (if not populated the associated selectors sections will be visible but not accessible).

How to Fill-in the Available Users / Excluded Users Section

By default, the final section of the Assignments / Assignment Details page is the Excluded Users section. This section allows the creator to remove specific individuals from the scope of the assignment. For example, you can assign a course to a specific job position to a course, but remove one or more individuals who have taken an equivalent course.

If the Individual checkbox is enabled (checked) in the Assignment Info section of the Assignments / Assignment Details page, however, the final section will change to the Available Users section. When this is the case, this section is used to add a specific individual or a specific group of individuals (rather than a generic group) users to an assignment.

Note: The Available Users / Excluded Users Section is only visible AFTER saving the assignment and NOT when in Edit Mode.

Filling in the Available Users Section to Add Individuals from Assignment Scope

As noted above, the Excluded Users section is the default view and allows the creator to exclude specific users from an assignment. To add users to the excluded users section, the assignment must first be saved and not in Edit Mode. If this is the case, then the Add User button will be enabled.

To add specific users to this list (and thus exclude them from the assignment scope):

  1. Click the Add User button.
  2. The User Lookup / User List Screen will popup.

  1. Use the search screen to find the users to add.
  2. Check the checkbox at the left of their records.
  3. Click the Add Attendees button.
  4. The User Lookup / User List Screen will close and the Assignments Screen, Excluded Users section will be shown with the users added.

To delete a user from the Excluded Users section:

  1. Click on the red (X) in the Delete Column of the Excluded Users Section to the left of the user to remove.

  1. A confirmation box will popup. To delete, press OK.
    1. To Cancel, press Cancel.
  2. The confirmation popup will close and the Assignments Screen, Excluded Users section will be shown with the selected user removed from the lsit.

Filling in the Available Users Section to Remove Individuals from Assignment Scope

As noted above, the Available Users section is enabled when the Individual checkbox is selected in the Assignment Info section of the Assignment Screen. This option will allow the creator to add specific users to an assignment. To add users to the available users section, the Individual checkbox must first be selected and the assignment must first be saved and not in Edit Mode.

The creator has two methods to add users to add users to the Available Users section:

  • Add Users from a predefined Excel File using the Multiple User Upload process
    • See separate section for using this function
  • Add users from within the LMS System, using the Add User button. To do so:

  1. Click the Add User button.
  2. The User Lookup / User List Screen will popup.

  1. Use the search screen to find the users to add.
  2. Check the checkbox at the left of their records.
  3. Click the Add Attendees button.
  4. The User Lookup / User List Screen will close and the Assignments Screen, Available Users section will be shown with the users added.

To delete a user from the Added Users section:

  1. Click on the red (X) in the Delete Column of the Available Users Section to the left of the user to remove.

  1. A confirmation box will popup. To delete, press OK.
    1. To Cancel, press Cancel.
  2. The confirmation popup will close and the Assignments Screen, Available Users section will be shown with the selected user removed from the list..

How to Edit an Assignment

  1. To edit an assignment, use the Advanced View > Learning Object > Assignments dropdown Menu to navigate to the Assignment List.

  1. In the section Assignment List, click on the row of the specific Assignment you wish to edit and the associated Assignment Details page will load.

  1. Click the Edit button to enter Edit mode.
    1. Click Exit to cancel and return to the Assignment List
    2. Click Audit Trail to see the audit trail associated with changes to this reminder
  2. Edit as desired.

  1. Click Save to save the edits.
    1. Click Cancel, to cancel any changes.
    2. Click Clone to create a separate assignment with the same parameters.

How to Delete an Assignment

  1. To delete an assignment, use the Advanced View > Learning Object > Assignments dropdown Menu to navigate to the Assignment List.

  1. Click on the delete (X) button to the right of the row of the Assignment you wish to delete.
  2. A pop-up box will ask you to confirm this deletion.

  1. To confirm deletion, click the OK button.
    1. To cancel, click Cancel.