The first program needs to be created on the Admin Tools page's Programs tab. Go to the Admin Tools from the button in the header.

From the Dept Settings OR Prog Settings tabs (left menu) you can create a new Program.

Click the little blue ➕ button above the Programs list.

Once any program is created, you can create additional programs this same way, or just use the blue plus button next to Programs on the Program settings tab.

Adding content to the programs takes quite a bit of thoughtful effort. Start by mapping out the ideal dates and deadline dates for all program milestones and requirements. To fill in the program details click the Edit “Program Name” Details button, this will load the Program Settings tab of the Admin Tools page.

Basic Information

• Provide the common name and formal name of the program (e.g. PhD, Doctor of Philosophy).
• Choose whether the Program has supervisors and committees.
• Enter the Program’s ideal or expected completion time in months.
• Enter the maximum program length in months. This will be recorded as the student’s program end date.
• Enter in the number of course credits required for the completion of the program.

Settings

We will be adding settings here as new program-specific settings are suggested to us by users.

For now, the only setting is whether or not students and supervisors get the automatic monthly update email that shows upcoming and overdue milestones and requirements. We strongly recommend leaving this on. If you wish to turn it on after a month or two, after students have back-filled their completed milestones, you can do that. (Set a reminder to turn it on.)

This tab also holds the list of subfields in the program. These are listed on students' profile pages. Simply add, edit, and delete them as necessary. Note that deleting one will not delete it from students' profiles.

🚧 Administrators (Under construction)

This tab will eventually let you add program-specific Administrators, who will be able to see all faculty in the department but only students in this specific program. However this feature is still under construction and not available. If you have a strong use-case for it, please let us know about it at [email protected].

<aside> ℹ️ About Stages, Milestones, and Requirements

In Prograds, the main sequential stages of the program are called Stages. For a PhD, for example, these are often: Coursework, Comprehensive Exams, Dissertation Proposal (Prospectus), Dissertation, and Awaiting Defense. There is no enforcement of the sequence of Stages in Prograds. Stage transitions are implemented manually for each student by administrative users from the student's profile page.

It's important to understand that Stages are set and changed manually and students occupy a stage until they have been progressed to the next one. So, for example, while there might be a stage called Comprehensive Exams, the individual exams with dates would be best set up as Milestones within the Comprehensive Exams Stage. When the milestone is complete and approved, the student can then be moved to the next stage (i.e. Candidacy or Prospectus or whatever your program specifies). When you make a Stage Transition, it shows also as an Event in the student’s Event’s feed.

Milestones are the key progress markers in Prograds. They are ordered by their ideal dates and must be placed within Stages. For example, choosing a committee and getting it approved is a typical Milestone within the Proposal/Prospectus Stage. There is no enforcement of the sequence of Milestones in Prograds; the milestones to be completed simply display on students' pages in the order defined by their ideal dates in months from program entry, which are set here on the Program Profile page. Milestones are baked into the program. Students can only be exempted from Milestones; they can’t be deleted from a Student’s record. Nor can personalized milestones be added (unlike Requirements, where personalized requirements can be created).

Requirements are things that must be completed but do not have a sequence or depend on completion of prior stages, milestones, or requirements. Examples include being a Teaching Assistant or certifying competence in a second language. Requirements are more flexible than Milestones — student-specific, personalized requirements can be added by administrators and by supervisors.

Milestones and Requirements have:

• Ideal Dates and Deadline Dates that are set by the Department. These dates are in months and are relative to each Student's Program Entry Date. So, for example, an Exam that should be taken after two years of coursework would likely have an Ideal Date of 24 months and a Deadline Date of perhaps 28 months. The ideal date is there to allow for reminders to go out indicating that a milestone’s ideal date is approaching or has passed; we hope this provides a lower-stress way to keep students progressing.
• Completion and Approved indicators for each student. If there are multiple approvers, these are shown in an Approvers list and then a list of those who have Approved.
• An Exempt indicator for each student, that can be toggled on if a student is exempt from that Milestone or Requirement.

Completion, Exemption, and Approvals are logged for audit purposes. You can view the history of a given Milestone or Requirement from a little clock-arrow icon on the right side of the milestones and requirements items.

💡Note: When Milestones and Requirements are added to an existing department, they populate to all Students (with status marked not complete). ****Also, when new Students are created, the Program's Milestone's and Requirements populate to the student.

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