Creating a programme

In the list management page, Programme Builder, select to add a NEW PROGRAMME from the options. There are components to a programme: Configuration, Prospectus, and Registration details. Create in draft and make active with open dates. Students can apply all year round to active programmes.

Configuring the programme

1. Programme name & code

Give a clear name as this will appear on the external URL for applicants. Use codes which helps you search and filter data when using Export to Excel. The code needs to be unique. Why not add the scholastic year to the code to make them unique?

2. Status

There are three statuses for programmes;

• Draft - To be used whilst creating the prospectus and application forms.
• Active - Will make the programme live. The programme will be visible to the applicants, but registration dates will control admissions. 
• Archived - If the programme is not to be used, or withdrawn from your lists for the year., Archive allows you to keep registration data.

Once a programme is set to active, applicants can start to apply, unless open/end dates have been added. Complete the programme details in draft mode.

3. Programme type

The default programme types are listed here. They are used for classification purposes only.

4. Qualifications & Credits

This is to show the applicants the qualifications they will achieve upon completing the programme. These can be amended depending on your institution's certification process. 

5. Year & Programme length

Programmes have to be created every year, the same as the modules (courses). They can be created manually, rolled over or imported. Selecting a multi-year programme will add the suffix of 2nd/3rd or 4th year.

6. Co-ordinator

This is for the administration of the programme, it is not the same as an Educator (Teacher). It will allow the staff user selected in this field to be able to set lessons, add modules and edit applicants.

7. Modules/Streams

In programme builder modules are courses, and a stream is a choice for learning content. A student can only choose one stream per programme on the programme application workflow.

Programme co-ordiantors can enrol students manually if the programme has applicants already.

Click on add module, a slideover will give you the option to create a course and attach it to an exisiting subject or create a new subject and course.

If there is already a module attached to the same subject within another programme, a pop up will ask you if want to use that module.

Educators are course Teachers and they will be added to the new module. You can schedule the courses or use the ad hoc lesson functionality. Please ask your CSM to activate this feature on your system.

Building the prospectus

The prospectus is key to giving information to the onlne applicants to assist their choice. It is also a brochure for your institute. Make it undertsandable and clear.

1. Overview and objectives

The prospectus is the first step for information for the programme. Applicants access this info panel via the overview button in the available programme list. Try to be succinct, and make it easier to read by providing more information with hyperlinks to your website. This is the first impression so make sure that the format outlines your core values.

The prospectus is not to be confused with the application form. The prospectus is part of programme builder, whereas form builder is found in the admissions module. 

2. Target audience, delivery method, and learning objectives

The target audience is managed by your institution. It is an information field for the prospectus. It allows applicants to filter the programmes available within your institution. You may have courses which are designed for Sports coaches and not players. Use this field to guide the applicant in their choice. You can combine this with the entry requirements, where you can ask them to submit certificates/proof to support their application. 

The delivery method is for information to be provided on the prospectus. the options are online, blended, or face-to-face. If you have a purely online programme, then why not use the LMS course resource package to help manage this all within the MySchool platform?

3. Entry requirements

You can add as many entry requirements as you like, and decide whether they are mandatory or not. 

Applicant confirmation via check box means that the applicant must check the box to agree to the requirement label. It is advisable to type this as a question. Provide further guidance as a description subheading.

Applicant typed statement provides the applicant with a simple text box in order to reply to the requirement label. If you need the applicants to reply in a specific way then offer guidance in the description box.

Attachment requires the applicant to upload a file as proof, this is best used to show previous qualifications or certificates obtained. The content of the files still needs to be manually verified by the admissions team.

4. Fee

The fees are used to present a price table, for the moment they are not connected to the MySchool finance module. Please contact our support team to discuss online payment possibilities for the programme builder. 

You can have multiple fees and depending on profile information, the system will calculate and apply the appropriate price field to the applicant.

• Full fee - Will apply the price field in full
• EU/EEA - will first check the nationality of the applicant, and check to see if their nationality is listed in the applicable country list and apply this price.
• Staff - it will check to see if the active employment field is set in the applicant profile. This may also be adapted for dependants of staff members.
• First course for 60 and over - This fee will be applied after checking the age of the applicant, and verifying the enrolment details. if no other course (module) is detected then it will apply this fee.
• Aged 60 over - Will check the age field of the applicant.
• Under 16 - It will check the age field of the applicant and determine whether they qualify for this price.
• Custom - Here we can create conditional prices based on custom fields. These must be created on the system before building the programmes. Contact our support team for more information.

Registration

The registration tab will show the list of applicants, and control the application phase of the programme builder. 

Open and close dates apply only to the application period, and not to the programme length. Once active the programme will be available in the Programme available menu header. The programme will automatically close after the last day. This will stop further applications.

Required form is used to build an admissions form using form builder, and then use this as part of the programme application module. You can have different admission forms for your programmes, depending on the target audience. (e.g. One for direct student application, one for parent submitters). You can also determine where you would like to place the accepted students. Create classes within a school level, and select as appropriate. It may be a good idea for better student management to create classes based on programme type.

You can also determine the capacity min/max values for the programme, and decide whether to accept late requests and create a waiting list or simply close applications once the capacity has been reached. 

Your institute can decide whether to automatically accept the applicants or whether the admissions team will manually accept them. You can also determine whether the programme application is for adult or minor students. Cannot apply for dependants is to be used when it is for an adult focussed programme.

Summary of steps

1. Create the prospectus part first. This phase will require some planning as you will need to fill out the information fields and test with users to see if the language is clear and informative. 

2. Determine the entry requirements. If you do need the certificates or a formal declaration then make sure you have provided sufficient information in the entry requirement fields.

3. Check the fees. Make sure you have checked the requirements for the fees and these are understood by the admissions team. if you need a custom field to be added then contact our support team for assistance.

4. Set up the application parameters. When will you allow the applications to be submitted? Don't forget that users can still see closed applications, but are not able to apply after the close date. Wait lists can be created automatically based on capacity. If you wish to add potential applicants to the closed programme, then this can be done manually via the applicants listing. 

5. Fill out the mandatory fields on the configuration page. Add a co-ordinator to control module, lesson and applicant workflow.

6. Add streams and modules. 

Check out this article for more information on building the content for the programme.