Using Documentation as Prerequisites - Genius CE & Enterprise

Understanding How Document Prerequisites Function

To set up your Genius CE or Enterprise environment so that learners are required to upload specific documents before they can enroll in courses, you must follow a series of steps. This process ensures that all necessary documentation is collected efficiently, allowing for a smoother enrollment experience.

1. You can begin by modifying the 'External File Types' list to incorporate the types of documents you expect your learners to submit.
2. Next, include the entries from the External File Type List into the specific course for which you want to enforce document submission as a prerequisite.
3. After learners have submitted their documents, review these submissions through the External Files Uploaded report to ensure compliance.
4. Finally, create enrollments by approving the submissions made by your learners in the External Files Uploaded report.

Step-by-Step Guide to Editing the External File Types List

1. First, establish the documents that your learners will need to upload. This is done by editing a list found under Administration > System Setup > Lists.
2. Once you are on the List page, utilize the dropdown menu to locate the External File Types list, as illustrated below:

The External File Type List serves a crucial role in Genius CE & Enterprise, providing both Administrators and Learners the functionality to require and submit documents necessary for enrollment in the system.

You can add new entries to this list by clicking on the 'Add new entry' link. Alternatively, if you wish to modify existing entries, click the blue Pencil icon located on the left side of the results table. For instance, if you add a new entry titled 'National ID' to the External File Types list, ensure that its status is set to 'ACTIVE' before saving your changes.

With the 'National ID' document type now established, it is ready to be utilized as a prerequisite for course enrollment.

Configuring Document Prerequisites at the Course Level

Next, ensure that the appropriate documents are designated as prerequisites for each course created within the system. After completing the previous step, navigate to the Course tab and locate the course you wish to modify, such as 'Business 101'.

To set document prerequisites, click the Edit button on the course's profile page, then scroll down to the 'Course Requisites' section:

This interface allows you to add the necessary documents as prerequisites before learners can enroll in the course.

In this example, we want to ensure that the National ID document is a requirement for enrollment in this course. To do this, click on the dropdown menu under 'Documents Prerequisite' to select entries from the External File Types list that you previously edited. You can also utilize a search feature to quickly find the entry you need, such as 'National ID':

After selecting the appropriate entry, click on the Add button to include it in the list of prerequisites. To remove an entry, click 'Remove'. Once you have made all necessary changes, click the Save button at the bottom of the page to ensure that all edits to the course properties are saved.

Reviewing Submitted Documents via the External Files Uploaded Report

Once you have completed the prerequisite setup, the Catalog entry for any sections of that course will indicate that specific documents must be uploaded before enrollment.

If a learner attempts to enroll in a course without obtaining approval for each required file, they will be prevented from completing the registration process. Instead, the course will appear in their Pending Courses section of the Dashboard:

Learners can upload their documents using the 'External Files' command within their Genius+ interface, where they can specify which file they are submitting from the External Files list. So, it is best to keep this list concise and manageable.

As learners submit their documents through the External Files command on their interface, you can monitor their submissions using a specialized report known as the External Files Uploaded report. This report can be found under Reports > External Files > External Files Uploaded.

When you access this report, you can click on Get Data to view all submissions made by your learners. You also have the option to adjust the filtering criteria to broaden your search and find all external files submitted that may be associated with a specific course, document type, or learner.

All submissions related to the specific document type will be displayed here. You can review the actual files submitted by each learner by clicking the download icon under the 'File' column. Additionally, you can select individual records and approve or deny submissions using the buttons located at the bottom of the page.

Creating Enrollments by Approving Document Submissions

Once you have selected several records and clicked the Approve Selected button in the External Files Uploaded report, those learners' file submissions will be marked as approved.

• This action means that any enrollments previously on hold due to pending file approvals will now be processed. 

IMPORTANT:

• File approvals are universal. Once a file is approved, that learner will have approval for that file applicable to any course that requires that document as a prerequisite.
• File approvals are specific to each learner and each document type. This means that learners must submit files for each document type outlined in the External Files list, and they will receive approval for each file independently. If a course necessitates multiple files as prerequisites, learners must complete several submissions and obtain separate approvals for each file before they can enroll in the course.

Genius CE & Enterprise will archive the files submitted by each learner under the Files menu for that learner.

To review this information, navigate to the Learners tab, select a learner, and check the Files menu for the learner in question. For instance, you can find the National ID of the example learner we have used:

• Genius CE & Enterprise will send daily notifications to learners regarding any missing files. If a learner attempts to enroll in a course that requires document submissions, that course will be listed in the Pending Courses section of the learner's Dashboard. Genius CE & Enterprise will dispatch daily reminders to any learners missing files for their enrollments using the AUTO_MISSING_EXTERNAL_FILES template, which can be reviewed and edited under Administration > System Setup > Default Templates.

IMPORTANT: This email notification is not triggered immediately when a learner tries to create the enrollment, but rather, it is sent as part of a scheduled job every day.

Suppose you wish to modify the time of day when this email is sent. In that case, you can do so by navigating to Administration > Recurring Jobs > Edit Jobs page, and selecting the job titled 'EmailMissingDocumentsReminder.SendEmailToStudent' by clicking the blue pencil icon next to it.

THE LIST OF ALLOWED FILE TYPES FOR EXTERNAL FILES IN GENIUS ARE AS FOLLOWS:

• .pdf
• .csv
• .png
• .jpg
• .jpeg
• .gif
• .svg

It is recommended to include this in your email communication if you require learners to submit external files as prerequisites or as other required means.