The summer months are the perfect time for managing users, cleaning up compliance items, and preparing for the upcoming school year by building new items. Below are a list of suggestions for administrative users to review and complete each summer.
User Management
The first step is tidying up your portal by archiving users, adding NEW users, adding PPIDs, identifying Paraeducators, excluding users from Act 48 Submissions (if applicable), managing existing user profiles, and managing groups.
1) Download All Users - Administrative users can download a list of all user accounts within the database. This may be helpful when reviewing employee information. Click here to learn more about the Download All Users feature
2) Archive Users - Comply allows your district to archive users. Archiving a user typically happens when a user retires or leaves the school district. Click here to learn more about Archiving Users. Note - If you archive an Administrative User, Supervisor, or Limited Supervisor you will be required to reassign any connected items to others who will now oversee these items.
3) Add NEW Users - There are several ways to add New Users whether it's just a few users at a time (i.e., new hires), or a large group. Click here to learn how to add New Users.
4) Bulk Update Users - The Bulk Update Users feature under User Management has been enhanced. This feature can now be used to bulk update user accounts, including email, first name, last name, display name, PPID, and paraeducator status. This feature is especially helpful when bulk uploading PPID numbers and identifying paraeducators in mass. Click here to learn more about Bulk Update Users.
5) Add PPIDs - In order to use Comply to submit Act 48 hours to PERMS, end users will need to have their PPID numbers entered into their profile. PPID numbers can be manually entered into a user's profile OR PPID numbers can be uploaded in bulk. Click here to learn more about adding PPID numbers.
6) Identifying Paraeducators - Comply can be used to track the professional development hours of paraeducators. In order for these hours to be tracked, users need to be identified as a paraeducator within the software. Click here to learn more about adding Paraeducators in User Management.
7) Exclude Users from Act 48 Submissions - If you have a user that is not a certified educator (with a PPID number) and they are not a Paraeducator, you will want to exclude them from Act 48 submission to PERMS to avoid errors. Click here to learn more about excluding users from Act 48 submissions to PERMS.
8) Name Changes - If an individual's name changes (i.e., maiden name to married name), administrative users can edit a user's profile and update last name, display name, and email address. This action can also be completed with the Bulk Update Users feature. Note - if this user also has a PAETEP account, their information will be updated automatically within PAETEP. Please know that the login credentials (username and password) for Comply and PAETEP are the same.
9) Manage Groups - Each summer as employees move to different buildings or change assignments, changes in Groups will need to occur. Taking time to organize all your users in groups, makes the assignment of compliance items or access to specific Request items much easier and more efficient. Click here to learn more about Group Management.
Building Items
To prepare for the upcoming school year begin by duplicating compliance or request items that you previously used and want to build from again, select any of our pre-made templates, or build your own customized items. For example, you may need Policy Reviews, Handbook Reviews, Emergency Contact Information, etc.
1) Duplicate Items - To reuse an item that has proven effective in the past, simply navigate to the item and click View --> Actions --> Duplicate. Once duplicated you can edit the item as needed (i.e., changing dates, reminders, approvers, etc.). Items that are most likely to be duplicated for a new school year include any acknowledgment/sign-off items, inspection items, and Act 48 or professional development items. Important Note - If an item is set-up with recurrence, it does not need to be duplicated to repeat itself in the future.
2) Utilize Templates - Beyond duplicating and/or building new items, you can take advantage of and duplicate Templates. The purpose of Templates are to save administrative users time and to highlight how other clients are using Comply. Overall, there are Templates for clearances, inspections, mandated trainings, acknowledgments/sign-offs, Act 48 and more. Because Templates are being added to Comply on a regular basis, it is a good idea to review the Templates section for updates. Click here to learn how to create an item from a Template.
3) Utilize Tags - Use Tags to label and quickly find the compliance or request items that you are looking for. For instance, one tag or several tags can be used when building an item that will help you identify items such as 23-24 PD session, Act 48, Clearances, State Mandate, etc. Click here to learn more about how to use Tags.
4) Comply Overview for End Users Video Tutorial - If your district has new hires or could benefit from a refresher on how to navigate and use Comply, a ready to use template is available. This template includes a video overview of Comply that shows users how to navigate the dashboard, the difference between compliance items vs. requests, etc. Click here to learn more about the Comply Overview for End Users Video Tutorial
5) Building Customized Items - Besides duplicating previously used items or Templates, you can also build a new completely customized item. Click here to learn how to build a customized item.
6) Building Act 48 Items - There are two basic ways to build Act 48 items within Comply. You can build an Act 48 item for an event that already happened OR build one in advance of the event (e.g., in-service, professional development session, etc.). Click here to learn how to build Act 48 items and submit hours to PERMS.
7) Building Act 114, 151, and 34 Clearance Items - Once built, these compliance items will keep track of due dates, send email reminders to your staff reminding them to complete their clearances on time, and provide your staff directions on how to complete or renew their clearances. Click here to learn how to build Act 114, 151, and 34 Clearance items.
8) Building Request Items - Comply allows you to facilitate conferences requests, credit approvals requests, field trips requests, flex hours, work orders and more with an easy-to-use, paperless, electronic feature named Requests. If you previously utilized Requests for this past school year you may want to duplicate the Request item for the new school year. Click here to get started with Requests.
9) Building Requests and Professional Development/Act 48 - The Request feature of Comply can also be used to pre-register for in-service events. Teachers can view available professional development offerings and sign up to attend in advance. Organizers can then print attendance rosters. If desired, teachers can also be required to return to the item and provide follow-up feedback regarding the in-service. Once completed/approved, Act 48 hours are submitted directly to PERMS. If pre-registration is not necessary for an event, teachers can simply log into Comply following an in-service and indicate what sessions they attended and provide feedback. Once completed and approved, Act 48 hours are submitted directly to PERMS.
Click here to learn more about Requests - Act 48 – Inservice (After Specific Event Submit Feedback)
Cleaning Up and Archiving Items
The summer months are an excellent time to clean up and archive completed items.
Things to Consider Before Archiving an Item
- Do you have users in blue "Pending" that still need to be approved? If so, review and take action.
- Do you have users who did not complete an item that is now expired? If so, take action by using the "Nudge", "Message", "Disapprove", or "Forgive" feature. Note - If you Disapprove or Forgive a user, they can no longer complete the item. However, if the item is set-up with recurrence, the user will be responsible for future cycles.
- Do you have any users with a "red clock" for Act 48 items? If so, please refer to our troubleshooting for Act 48 PERMS errors. Click here to learn more about troubleshooting an Act 48 PERMS error "red clocks".
Archiving an Item
- When items are complete and no longer need to be viewed on the All Items page, they can be archived. Click here to learn how to archive a compliance item.
- Don’t worry, you won’t lose them! Archived items are just listed elsewhere to make navigating your All Items or My Supervision Items list easier.
How are other clients using Comply?
If you are interested in learning how other clients are using Comply, take a look at our featured Best Practices. Click here to stay current on our Best Practices.