Certifications

  Certifications

Certifications are similar to programs, but with the option of having a recurring element to groups of courses. They are only valid for a certain period of time, after which they will prompt the learner to recertify. 

For example, learners can complete a group of courses as the initial 'Certification Path.' After a set amount of time, they can finish the same group or a similar group of courses as the 'Recertification Path.'

This can be set to recur once, or on a schedule based on completion or fixed dates. 

 

---

  Creating a New Certification

1.  Navigate to Site Administration > Certifications.

2.  Click on the 'Add new certification' button at the bottom of the screen. You will then be redirected to the 'Create new certification program' page. 

3.  Select which course category your certification will belong in from the 'Category' drop-down menu. 

4. Enter the certification name in the 'Full name' field. 

5.  Create a unique certification short name in the 'Short name' field. 

6.  If necessary, you can enable both an 'Available From' and 'Available Until' date. 

Enabling an 'Available From' date will result in the certification being visible to learners on the specified date. Enabling an 'Available Until' date will result in learners being unable to access the certification after the specified date. 

7.  If necessary, you can also add a Summary to provide learners with a certification description. You can also upload summary files, such as relevant images or files related to the certification. 

8.  If necessary, you can also add an Endnote to be displayed to the learner once they have completed the certification. 

9.  In the 'Audience-Based Visibility' section, you can determine which audiences can see your certification. Select your desired audiences in the 'Visibility' drop-down menu.

If you select 'Enrolled users and members of the selected audiences,' then you can select these additional audiences by clicking on the 'Add visible audiences' button. 

10.  In the 'Appearance' section, you can select a certification icon and upload a certification image. 

11.  Once you are complete, click Save Changes at the bottom of the page.

 

---

  Editing Your Certification

When a certification is first created, it is not immediately live for learners to see. There are still other settings that need to be configured before learners can be enrolled.

After you initially finish creating your certification, you will be redirected to its editing page. There are six other tabs for you to edit. 

 

---

Editing Overview: Content

The Content tab shows any set of courses within the certification. 

Adding sets of courses creates the certification's learning path. Once multiple sets have been created, set dividers are used to allow the creation of sequences or dependencies between each set. 

 

Creating the Original Certification Path

1.  Under the Original Certification Path section, find the 'Add...' drop-down menu and click on its corresponding Add button. 

The drop-down menu only lists Set of Courses as an option, as you are only allowed to add sets of courses to certifications. 

2.   Select the necessary courses for your first course set. Once you have chosen these courses, click OK at the bottom of the page. 

3.  Your first course set will then appear listed on the page as an 'Untitled set.' 

In the Set Name field, add an appropriate course set name. 

In the Learner Must Complete drop-down menu, select the amount of courses that the learner must complete in order to finish the set. 

Selecting 'Some Courses' will prompt you to fill in the Minimum Courses Completed field and select an option from the  Course Score Field drop-down menu. 

Minimum Time Required: Determine the minimum time required for a learner to realistically complete this course set. 

You can also edit the courses in your course set by using the up and down arrows  to change how they are arranged, using the delete icon  to remove them, and clicking on the 'Add course' button to add additional courses.

4.  Once you have finished editing your first course set, you can add another one by clicking on the 'Add' button on the bottom of the page. 

5.  Once you have multiple course sets, you can change the way that they are arranged through using two options.

In between each course set, you can select whether learners complete the following set alongside the previous one, subsequently after the previous one, or in whichever order they choose by using the 'Then...' drop-down menu. 

At the upper-right corner of each course set section, you can determine how course sets are arranged on your certification page by clicking either 'Move Up' or 'Move Down.' If you would like to remove a particular course set, you can also click 'Delete.' 

6.  Once you are complete, click Save Changes at the bottom of the page.

 

Creating the Recertification Path

To use the same content as the original certification path, scroll down to the 'Recertification path' section and select the 'Use the existing certification content' checkbox. This will copy everything from the original certification path into the recertification path. 

However, this copy only happens once. If there are any additional changes made to the original path, then they must be manually recreated in the recertification path. 

To use different content from the original certification path:

1.  Under the 'Recertification path' section, find the 'Add...' drop-down menu and click on its corresponding 'Add' button. 

2.   Select the necessary courses for your first recertification course set. Once you have chosen these courses, click OK at the bottom of the page. 

3.   Once you have finished editing your first recertification course set, you can add another one by clicking on the 'Add' button on the bottom of the page. 

4.  Once you are complete, click Save Changes at the bottom of the page. 

 

---

Editing Overview: Messages

The 'Messages' tab is used to create automated messages that can be emailed to all learners assigned to a certification. An optional message for managers of each assigned learner can also be added, depending on the message type selected. 

1.  In the 'Add...' drop-down menu, select your desired message type and click the 'Add' button. 

Enrolment: To be sent to the learner when they are assigned to the certification.

Exceptions Report: To be sent to site administrators when there are new exceptions on the certification. 

Un-Enrolment: To be sent to the learner if they are unenrolled from the certification.

Program Due: To be sent to the learner a set period of time before they are due to complete the certification. 

Program Overdue: To be sent to the learner when the certification completion date has passed.

Program Completed: To be sent to the learner when they complete the certification.

Course Set Due: To be sent a set period of time before the current course set is due.

Course Set Overdue: To be sent a set period of time after the current course set is due. 

Course Set Completed: To be sent whenever a course set is completed.

Learner Follow-Up: To be sent to a learner a set period of time after they have completed the certification. 

Recertification Window Open: To be sent when the learner has entered the period when they can recertify.

Recertification Window Due to Close: To be sent when a recertification period is about to expire.

Failure to Recertify Message: To be sent when a recertification period has expired and the learner will need to repeat the original certification. 

2.  Create an appropriate subject line and add your desired text for your message.

3.  If necessary, you can enable 'Send notification to manager' to send an additional notification to the learner's manager. You can also create a separate subject line and text for this message. If a learner has multiple job assignments with more than one manager, the message will be sent to all managers.

4.  Once you are complete, click Save Changes at the bottom of the screen.

 

---

Editing Overview: Certification

The 'Certification' tab is used to control how recertification dates are determined. When a learner completes a certification path, a new expiry date is calculated based on the recertification date method and the active period. 

1.  In the 'Recertification date' drop-down menu, select how the certification's expiry date will be calculated. 

Use certification completion date: Calculates the new expiry date based on the date the learner completed the certification path. 

Use certification expiry date: Calculates the new expiry date based on the previous one. If there was no previous expiry date or the certification has expired, then the completion date is used. 

Use fixed expiry date: Calculates the new expiry date based on the previous one, even when expired. Choosing this method will enable an additional 'Minimum active period' setting that must be configured. If there was no previous expiry date, then the completion date is used. 

2.  In the 'Active Period' section, you can determine how long your certification will be active for before it expires. 

3.  If you have selected 'Use fixed expiry date' for the Recertification date, then the 'Minimum active period' field will be enabled. This determines the minimum time that a certification will be valid before it expires.

In this example, if a learner were to complete their certification and there is less than two years left before it expires, then their certification becomes active for an additional two years.

4.  In the 'Recertification Window' field, you can determine how long the recertification window lasts until the certification itself expires. When the window opens, all course and activity completion data will be reset. 

5.  Once you are complete, click Save Changes at the bottom of the screen.

 

---

Editing Overview: Completion

The 'Completion' tab allows you to manage and edit a learner's progression through a certification. If enabled, you have the ability to complete many tasks, such as:

• Manually change a learner's current completion record.
• Add, edit, or delete certification history for learners, even if they are no longer assigned.
• View a full audit trail of all changes made to a learner's certification completion records.
• Identify any certification records that contain problems.

To edit or amend a particular learner's certification completion record:

1.  Find your desired learner, and click on the corresponding 'Edit completion record' link.

2.  If you would like to amend a learner's certification completion state, select a new status from the corresponding drop-down menu. 

3.  If you would like to amend whether or not a learner has begun completing the required course sets, you can select a progress status in the 'In progress' drop-down menu.

4.  If you have selected either 'Newly Assigned' or 'Expired' for the learner's certification completion state, then you can enable and set a certification due date. 

5.  If you have selected either 'Certified before window opens' or 'Certified, window is open' for the learner's certification completion state, then you can set a completion date, a window open date, a effective expiry date, and a baseline expiry date. 

Completion Date: The date that the learner completed the certification.

Window Open Date: The date that the learner's recertification window opens.

Effective Expiry Date: The date that the learner's certification expires.

Baseline Expiry Date: The date used to calculate subsequent expiry dates. In most cases, this will be the same as the expiry date, but may be different if the expiry date has been extended. 

6.  Once you are complete, click Save Changes.

7.  Scroll down and expand the 'Completion history' section if you would like to add or amend a learner's completion history.

Click on the 'Add History' button to amend the learner's certification completion date. 

Click on the cog icon   to edit a particular record, or click on the delete icon  to remove it. 

 

---

Editing Overview: Assignments

The 'Assignments' tab is used to select learners who should complete the certification. Learners can be assigned by organisation, position, audience, and/or individually. Once learners are assigned to a certification, they will be provided access to enrol in each selected course. 

Assigning by Organisation or Position

1.  In the 'Add...' drop-down menu, select Organisations or Positions. Then, click the 'Add' button.

2.  Click on the 'Add organisations to program,' or 'Add positions to program' button.

3. Browse through all of the hierarchies available in the system, or search for a specific one. Click on the name of the hierarchy to include it under Items to add. 

4.  Once you have selected your desired hierarchies, click OK at the bottom of the screen. 

Assigning by Audience

1.  In the 'Add...' drop-down menu, select Audiences. Then, click the 'Add' button. 

2.  Click on the 'Add audiences to program' button. 

3.  Browse through all of the audiences available in the system, or search for a specific one. Click on the name of the audience to include it under Items to add.

4.  Once you have selected your desired audiences, click OK at the bottom of the screen.

Assigning by Management Hierarchy

1.  In the 'Add...' drop-down menu, select Management hierarchy. Then, click the 'Add' button.

2.  Click on the 'Add managers to program' button. 

3.  Browse through all of the managers available in the system, or search for a specific one. Click on the name of a manager to include them under Items to add. 

4.  Once you have selected your desired audiences, click OK at the bottom of the screen. 

Assigning by Individual Learners

1.  In the 'Add...' drop-down menu, select Individuals. Then, click the 'Add' button.

2.  Click on the 'Add individuals to program' button. 

3.  Browse through all of the learners available in the system, or search for a specific one. Click on the name of a learner to include them under Items to add. 

4.  Once you have selected your desired learners, click OK at the bottom of the screen. 

Assignment Due Date

Once you have assigned a group of learners to your certification, then you must also assign a due date. The due date for learners enrolled in the certification must be set using a fixed completion date, or using a time relative to a specified event. 

An assignment due date will be assigned to other learners as they join the group. The actual due date cannot be changed if the learner has already completed the certification. Learners' actual due dates may differ for various reasons.

To set an assigned due date:

1.  Find your desired learner or learner grouping, and click on the corresponding 'Set due date' link. 

2.  On the 'Completion criteria' page, you can select whether you would like a fixed completion date or Set [a] time relative to event. 

If you would like to set a fixed completion date, then click on the calendar icon and set a date and time. Once you are complete, click on the 'Set fixed completion date' button. 

If you would like to set [a] time relative to event, then select an event from the drop-down menu and set an appropriate time span. Once you are complete, click on the 'Set time relative to event' button. 

3.  Once you are complete, click Save Changes at the bottom of the page.