Continuing Education

Certification Overview

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Using the Certifications Module within GrowthZone allows associations to administer, track, and report on the professional certifications of their members. With the proper setup, associations can save themselves and their members time in managing the courses, exams, and other tasks necessary to gain or maintain a certification. The module is built so that both simple and complex scenarios can be accommodated. It is important to note that the Certification Module does not deliver instruction or coursework, rather, it keeps track of necessary elements and the completion date of each.

Certification Definitions

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• Certification a collection of components that, when completed, attest to a person’s knowledge, skill, or level of achievement in a particular area.

• Component an element that when completed counts towards a certification. In GZ, components are courses, exams, or tasks. Components may have objectives assigned to them and there may be pre-requisites.

• Course a class or group of tasks, the completion of which earns a person hours or credits towards a certification. GZ does not house or deliver courses, it simply allows associations to track their completion.
• Exam a test, the passing of which earns a person hours or credits towards a certification. GZ does not house or deliver courses, it simply allows associations to track their completion.
• Task something other than a Course or Exam that needs to be accomplished in order to earn a certification. Tasks may include attendance at an event, uploading a document, or other actions.

• Objective what it is you want a person to know, understand, or be able to do; a specific result that a person aims to achieve. In GZ, objectives are assigned to components, following the logic that if you complete the component you will likely meet the objective.

A Certification is made up a X number of Components. It can be as simple as taking a single Exam, or as complex as a series of courses, exams, and tasks which must be taken in a specific order with minimum scores achieved.

Certification Statuses

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• In progress: Contacts currently working towards a certification. The status may be automatically set when a contact applies to the certification program, and participation in the certification program does not Require Approval, or this may be manually set when staff adds a contact to a certification program from the back-office.
• Applied: Contacts who have applied for a certification, but have not yet been approved. Only those certifications set to Require Approval will be included in this list. If a Certification is not set to Require Approval the status will automatically be set to In progress.
• Declined: Contacts who have applied for a certification, but the application was denied. This would be manually set by staff.
• Active: Contacts you have active certifications. This is automatically set when a certification has been completed (whether by system logic, that all components of a certification have been completed OR manually by staff if the certification completion requires approval).
• Inactive: This status may be manually set by staff, for example, if someone has signed up for a certification program, but has not been working towards its completion.
• Expired: Contacts whose certifications have expired. Expiration dates for certifications are configured at the certification program level.
• Not Completed: Contacts who did not complete the necessary certification work in the time allotted. This would be manually set by staff, there is no automated logic behind this status.
• Admin Review: Contacts who have completed the necessary work, but whose certification must be approved by an administrator.
• Expiring: Contacts whose certification is nearing expiration. Contacts will be marked as expiring base on the Send 'Certification Expiring' Emails n Days Before Expiration setting you have configured under Setup > Certification > General Settings.
• Cancelled: Contacts whose certification has been cancelled. This would be manually set by staff, there is no automated logic behind this status.

Certification Initial Setup

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Configure Certification General Settings

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The Certification General Settings allow you to define the number of days prior to the expiration of a certification that an automated email will be sent, and which or your lists/committees will receive a notification when final certification requires administrative review.

1. Click Setup in the left-hand navigation panel.
2. Click General Settings in the Certification section.

   

3. Configure the following:
   • Send 'Certification Expiring' Emails n Days Before Expiration: Enter the number of days, prior to the expiration of a certification, that you wish to send an automated email will be sent to the certified individual.
   • List/Committee that receives Admin Review Required email: You may setup final certification to require approval. Select the list/committee that should receive the notification when an approval is needed.
4. Click Save.

Configure Certification Categories

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Certification categories allow you to divide your certifications into "buckets" of share characteristics.

1. Click Setup in the left-hand navigation panel.
2. Click Category Lists in the Categories section.

   

3. Click the Add button. Setting up your category lists is a two step process. First you will add your list, then you will at the actual categories to that list.

   

   • Enter a Name for the category list.
   • Enter an optional Description of the list.
   • Enable Can Be Used Publicly? if you wish to display the category list publicly.
   • Is Active is enabled by default.
4. Click Done.
5. Next you will add the category items to your list. Click the hyper-link for the category list you just created.

   

   The Category Items dialog box will be displayed.

   

   • Click Add to add an individual category OR click Add Multiple to add a list of items (shown below).

   

6. Enter the names of your category items (one per line). If you have selected to add an individual item, you will only enter one item.
7. Click Done.

Set up a Certification

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While you technically do not need to create the parts of a certification in a specific order, it does make some sense to do some things first so you don’t have to go back after the fact and add them.

• Certification Category Creating Certification Categories allows for better organization and more granular reporting. This can created on the fly, but it’s nice to have them ready to go when setting up your certification programs. See Configure Certification Categories for instructions.
• Fee Items If you will be charging for the Certification, through the GrowthZone software, you will need a fee item. If you do not have permissions to the Finance area you will need to work with someone who does to have this created ahead of time. Fee Items must be setup of type Educational Registration to be available in the Certification module. See Setup Goods/Services for instructions.
• Terms & Conditions You can have multiple Terms & Conditions and display the appropriate/relevant one on each Certification. NOTE: There is no built-in checkbox an end user must check to verify they have read and understand the Terms & Conditions before they can move on. The Terms & Conditions are simply displayed for the user.

Setup Objectives

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Often set by a national or governing organization, objectives are attached to components such that if a person successfully completes the component they meet the objective. Objectives are not required for Components or Certifications.

NOTE: If Objectives are part of a Component it is helpful to set them up first, though you can go back later and add them.

The Objectives area includes Objective Collections, Objective Categories & Sub-Categories, and the actual Objectives.

Add Objective Collections

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Individual objectives must live in a “bucket” of related objectives. In GrowthZone, these buckets are called Collections and they are displayed on the Objectives tab of the Certification module. Objectives are also displayed in the Info Hub when certifications are included.

To add an Objective Collection:

1. Click on the Objectives tab within the Certifications module
2. Click on the Add Objectives Collection' button

   

3. Enter the appropriate information in the Add Objective Collection" window

   • Code Optional, but helpful for organization and reporting. At the Collection level the code will likely be the year of this iteration of the collection.
   • Name Name of the collection
   • Description Description of the collection. Optional

   

4. Click Done

Objective Categories

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An Objective Category is a division of a Collection into which Objectives (or other Objective Categories, called Sub-Categories) are entered. They are not required but can be helpful to associations that have a narrow collection of objectives that go fairly deep. Categories can have sub-categories, and sub-categories can also have sub-categories, allowing for very granular organization.

Visually you can distinguish between Categories/Sub-Categories and Objectives by the indenting (Objectives will be indented below their Category), as well as the icons along the right hand side. Categories/Sub-Categories have 4 icons whereas Objectives have only 2.

Add an Objective Category

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1. On the Objectives tab, click on the Collection Name.

   

2. Click on the Add Objective Category button in the top right corner.

   

3. Configure the following:
   • Category Name: This option is used when creating sub-categories. Leave blank when creating a top-level category.
   • Category Code: This will display the Code of the Category Name if one is selected.
   • Code Similar in function to the Collection Code, used for organization and reporting
   • Name Name of the Category
   • Description Description of the Category
4. Click Done

Add an Objective Sub-category

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1. On the Objectives tab, clicking on the Folder icon () in the Actions column of the Category/Sub-Category to which you wish to add a sub-category.

   

2. Configure the following:

   

3. Category Name: The category name will be set to the category/sub category selected.
   • Code Similar in function to the Collection Code, used for organization and reporting
   • Name Name of the Category
   • Description Description of the Category
4. Click Done.

NOTE: You can add Sub-categories to other Sub-category by clicking on the Folder icon () in the Actions column of the /Sub-Category and complete the steps above.

Add Objectives

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Objectives are the skills/knowledge that is required. They are added to Collections and can be “stand alone” or assigned to a Category.

Add a Stand Alone Objective

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1. On the Objectives tab, click on the Collection Name.

   

2. Click on the Add Objective button in the top right corner.

   

3. Category Name Use this drop down to assign the Objective to a Category if you want to assign it to a Category.
4. Category Code Will display the Code of the Category Name when one is selected
5. Code Similar in function to the Collection and Category Codes, used for organization and reporting
6. Name Name of the Objective
7. Click Done.

Add an Objective to a Category/Sub-category

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1. On the Objectives tab, click on the desired Collection Name.

   

2. Click on the icon in the Actions column of the Category/Sub-Category to which you want to add the Objective.

   

3. Enter the appropriate information in the Add Objective" dialog box:

   

4. Category Name: The category name will automatically be populated with the category to which you chose to add the objective.
5. Category Code Will display the Code of the Category Name selected.
6. Code Similar in function to the Collection and Category Codes, used for organization and reporting.
7. Name Name of the Objective.
8. Click Done.

Add a Certification

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1. Click on the Certifications tab within the Certifications Module

   

2. Click the Add Certifications button

   

3. Configure the following:
   • Name: Provide a name for the certification. This name will be used publicly when you display certification opportunities in the Info Hub. Name of Certification. Required.
   • Code: Optional field, may be used for codes associated to your certifications.
   • Version: Enter the version of this certificate. This is useful if requirements for certifications change from year to year.
   • Description: Enter a description of the certification. This is not required, but will be displayed publicly and may be helpful for your members.
   • Certification Category: Select the category for this certification. This can be useful in sorting, finding and reporting certifications. See Configure Certification Categories for information on setting up your categories.
   • Certificate Template: If you will provide a certificate on completion, select the desired template from the drop-down list. See Setting Up Document Templates for information on setting up your certificates.
   • Determine Certification completion via: Select the method by which certification completion will be identified. Choices are: All Components Completed or Hours/Credits. If Hours/Credits is select, configure the following:

   • Credits/Units/Hours:

   • Credits Required/Hours Required: Enter the number of credits/hours that are needed to be certified. Best practice is to use either credits OR hours. The system does not compute one to create the other and will only use one.
   • Credits To Maintain/Hours to Maintain: Enter the number of credits or hours that are needed to maintain the certification. Again, use either credits OR hours, not both.

   • Require Admin Review:
   • Prerequisites: Optional - select certifications that must be completed before this certification can be started. Click the . Enter the name of the certification in the text box. Type ahead functionality will find the certification and populate any associated code or version information. Repeat this step to add additional pre-requisites.
   • Availability:

   • Enrollment Start Date/Enrollment End Date: Select the start and end dates of the enrollment period for this certification.
   • Requires Approval Creates a checkbox in the Tracking area and requires a staff member to check the box before the member is allowed to proceed.
   • Expires (in months after completion/activation): Enter the number of months after certification completion that the certification expires.
   • Is Active: When checked the certification is available and will be available in the Info Hub for enrollment

   • Pricing

   • Fee Item: Select the Fee Item being used if charging for this Certification
   • Short Description: Will default to the description of the fee item. Edit if necessary. Will be the line item on the invoice
   • Member Price: Will default to the price set for the fee item. Edit if necessary.
   • Allow Invoicing If checked allows member to sign up and be invoiced later. If not checked, member must pay with a credit card at the time of enrollment.

   • Objectives Objectives are actually assigned at the component level and are simply displayed here
   • Terms/Conditions: Select the terms and conditions that apply to this certification from the drop-down list. This will provide a link to display any legal language related to the certification. To create new terms and conditions, click the icon.
4. Click Done

Create Certification Components

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Components are individual items that count towards a Certification. A component may be be a course, an exam, or a task. You may choose to have objectives for components and you have the option of setting a prerequisite for a Component, though prerequisites at the Component level should be used judiciously.

The Components screen within the Certification Module will contain all of the Components for all of the Certifications and could grow to be quite large. Search, Preset Filters, Custom filters, and Sort options are all available to make it easier to find what you are looking for.

NOTE: If you wish to include objectives, exams and tasks in a course configure these first.

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Add a Certification Component - Exam

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1. In the Certifications module, select the Components tab.

   

2. Click the Actions button.
3. Select Add Exam.

   

4. Enter a Name for the exam.
5. Enter a Code for the course (optional).
6. Enter a Description of the exam.
7. Enter the Availability Opens date. This indicates when the exam will open.
8. Enter the Availability Closes date. This indicates when the exam will close.
9. Enable the Is Active check-box to make this exam active. Best practice, when a course is no longer active, is to de-activate the exam.
10. Enable Requires Approval.
11. Enter the Instructor. This is useful if you need to track who proctored the exam.
12. Configure the Upon Completion options (optional) :
    • Hours Earned.
    • Credits Earned.
13. Configure the following Exam Info:
    • System Certification Exam Type: Select the exam type from the drop-down list.
    • System Certification Scoring Type: Select the scoring type from the drop-down list. Options include Passed/Failed and Scored.
    • Max Score: If System Certification Scoring Type is set to Scored, enter the maximum that can be scored on the exam.
    • Passing Score: If System Certification Scoring Type is set to Scored, enter the passing score for the exam.
14. Add any Objectives. Click the to add objectives. Add all objectives as needed.
15. Add any Prerequisites needed prior to taking this exam. Logic in the system will prevent the applicant from taking the exam if the pre-requisite(s) has not been met. Click the File:Orange plus icon to add all needed pre-requisites.
16. Configure the fees for this exam (optional):
    • Select the Fee Item from the drop-down list. The Price set for this fee item will automatically be populated. This may be over-ridden as needed.
17. Click Done.

Add a Certification Component - Task

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NOTE: Task components may include pre-requisites and objectives. If they are needed, best practice is to setup the pre-requisites and objectives prior to setting up tasks.

1. In the Certifications module, select the Components tab.

   

2. Click the Actions button.
3. Select Add Task.

   

4. Enter a Name for the task.
5. Enter a Code for the task (optional).
6. Enter a Description of the task.
7. Enter the Availability Opens date. This indicates when the task will open.
8. Enter the Availability Closes date. This indicates when the task will close.
9. Enable the Is Active check-box to make this task active. Best practice, when a task is no longer active, is to de-activate the task.
10. Enable Requires Approval.
11. Enter the Instructor. This is useful if you need to track who proctored the exam.
12. Configure the Upon Completion options (optional) :
    • Hours Earned.
    • Credits Earned.
13. Add any Objectives. Click the File:Orange plus icon to add objectives. Add all objectives as needed.
14. Add any Prerequisites needed prior to completing this task. Logic in the system will prevent the applicant from completing this task if the pre-requisite(s) has not been met. Click the File:Orange plus icon to add all needed pre-requisites.
15. Configure the fees for this task (optional):
    • Select the Fee Item from the drop-down list. The Price set for this fee item will automatically be populated. This may be over-ridden as needed.
16. Configure the Requirements for this task.
    • Hours Required for Completion.
    • Credits Required for Completion.
17. Click Done to save the new task.

Add a Certification Component - Course

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1. In the Certifications module, select the Components tab.

   

2. Click the Actions button.
3. Select Add Course.

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4. Enter a Name for the course.
5. Enter a Code for the course (optional).
6. Enter a Description of the course.
7. Enter the Availability Opens date. This indicates when the course will open.
8. Enter the Availability Closes date. This indicates when the course will close.
9. Enable the Is Active check-box to make this course active. Best practice, when a course is no longer active, is to de-activate the course.
10. Enable Requires Approval.
11. Enter the Instructor. This is useful if you need to track who was the instructor for the course.
12. Configure the Upon Completion options (optional) :
    • Hours Earned.
    • Credits Earned.
13. Add any Objectives. Click the File:Orange plus icon to add objectives. Add all objectives as needed.
14. Add any Prerequisites needed prior to completing this task. Logic in the system will prevent the applicant from completing this task if the pre-requisite(s) has not been met. Click the File:Orange plus icon to add all needed pre-requisites.
15. Configure the fees for this task (optional):
    • Select the Fee Item from the drop-down list. The Price set for this fee item will automatically be populated. This may be over-ridden as needed.
16. Configure the Requirements for this task.
    • Hours Required for Completion.
    • Credits Required for Completion.
17. Click Done to save the new course.

Add Components to a Certification

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1. Click the Certifications tab in the Certifications module.

   

2. Click the hyper-link in the Total Components column. If no components have been added to this certification No Total Components will be displayed. If components have been previously added, the number of components will be displayed.

   

3. Click the to add a new component.

   

4. Begin typing the Name of the component. Type ahead functionality will find the component, and populate the Type and Code. Repeat this step to add additional components.
5. Click Done.

NOTE: You can re-order the components by clicking the icon and moving the components into the correct order.

Certification Enrollment

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Contacts may be enrolled in a certification in one of the following ways:

• Register for a Certification event.
• Register via the Info Hub
• Staff enrollment from the back-office.

Enroll a Contact in a Certification from the Certifications module

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1. Click the Certification Tracking tab.

1. Click the +Add button in the upper right corner.

   

2. Enter the Contact Name. Type ahead functionality will show matching contacts. The contact must exist in your database.
3. Select the desired Certification Program from the drop-down list OR click the to add a new certification program.
4. Select the desired Certification Status from the drop-down list.
5. Enter the Started date. This is the date that the contact began the certification program.
6. If applicable, enter the Completed date. This is the date the contact completed the certification program.
7. Once the certification is active, the Expires date will be automatically calculated based on the Expires (in months after completion/activation) setting configured for the certification program.
   • Fee - this section will be displayed once a Certification Program has been selected:

   

   • The Fee Item will automatically be populated with the fee item configured when the certification program was set up. You may over-ride this if needed, by selecting a different fee item from the list.
   • The Description will be automatically populated with the description configured for the fee item. You may over-ride this if needed.
   • The Price will be automatically populated with the price configured for the fee item. You may over-ride this.
   • Invoice Options - this section will be displayed once a Certification Program has been selected:

   • Select the desired invoice delivery option: Print or Email'.
   • Select the desired Billing Contact, Billing Address, Billing Email for the invoice.
   • (Optional) Select Invoice Terms. If no terms are selected, the default configured in your Finance Settings will be used.
   • (Optional) Enter a Invoice Message to be included on the invoice.

8. % Complete and Hours/Credits Earned will be automatically updated by the system, dependent on status of this contact's certification.
9. Click Done.

Enroll a Contact in a Certification from the Contact's Profile

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1. On the Contact's Profile tab, click the orange plus sign in the Certifications section.

   

2. Select the desired Certification Program from the drop-down list OR click the to add a new certification program.
3. Select In Progress from the Certification Status drop-down list.
4. Enter the Started date. This is the date that the contact began the certification program.
5. If applicable, enter the Completed date. This is the date the contact completed the certification program.
6. Once the certification is active, the Expires date will be calculated based on the Expires (in months after completion/activation) setting configured for the certification program.
   • Fee - this section will be displayed once a Certification Program has been selected:

   

   • The Fee Item will automatically be populated with the fee item configured when the certification program was set up. You may over-ride this if needed, by selecting a different fee item from the list.
   • The Description will be automatically populated with the description configured for the fee item. You may over-ride this if needed.
   • The Price will be automatically populated with the price configured for the fee item. You may over-ride this.
   • Invoice Options - this section will be displayed once a Certification Program has been selected:

   • Select the desired invoice delivery option: Print or Email'.
   • Select the desired Billing Contact, Billing Address, Billing Email for the invoice.
   • (Optional) Select Invoice Terms. If no terms are selected, the default configured in your Finance Settings will be used.
   • (Optional) Enter a Invoice Message to be included on the invoice.

7. % Complete and Hours/Credits Earned will be automatically updated by the system, dependent on status of this contact's certification.
8. Click Done.

Member Enrollment via the Info Hub

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You members can easily view available certification programs, and enroll via the Info Hub. See Enroll in a Certification Program from the Info Hub for further details.

Associating Certification Components to Events

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You can easily offer your certification courses using the Events Module.

NOTE: For event registrants who have already enrolled in the associated certification program, the event registration will automatically update the certification progress. For event registrants, who are not enrolled in the associated certification program, you will need to enroll the registrant in the program to ensure that the registration in the course is tied to the contact, and associated certification program. See Certification Enrollment for details.

1. For the desired event, select the General tab.
2. In the Certification section, click the .
3. On the Add Event Certification Component screen, begin typing the name of the desired component OR click the to add a new component. See Create Certification Components for instructions.
4. (Optional) Enter Hours Earned or Credits Earned. If these have been configured when the component was created, they will be automatically populated.
5. Click Done.

If you wish to add additional components, repeat steps 2 - 5 above.

Tracking Certification

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You can also track certifications on the Tracking tab within the Certifications module.

By clicking the Show Only drop-down list, the Tracking tab may be filtered by the following criteria:

• In progress: Contacts currently working towards a certification.
• Applied: Contacts who have applied for a certification, but have not yet been approved. Only those certifications set to Require Approval will be included in this list.
• Declined: Contacts who have applied for a certification, but the application was denied.
• Active: Contacts you have active certifications.
• Inactive:
• Expired: Contacts whose certifications have expired.
• Not Completed:
• Admin Review: Contacts who have completed the necessary work, but whose certification must be approved by an administrator.
• Expiring: Contacts whose certification is nearing expiration. Contacts will be marked as expiring base on the Send 'Certification Expiring' Emails n Days Before Expiration setting you have configured under Setup > Certification > General Settings.
• Cancelled: Contacts whose certification has been cancelled.
• Or a specific certification: A list of all of your certifications will be available for selection.

Additional filtering criteria may be added by clicking the Customize Results button.

Enter Certification Results

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1. Select the Certification Tracking tab.

   

2. Click the for the person, for whom, you wish to enter results.

   

3. The Edit Progress Tracker dialog box will display a list of all components necessary to complete the certification. Tick the check-box for those components that have been completed or click the Mark All Completed button, to tick all components. Enter hours/credits if necessary.
4. Click Done.

Enter Certification Results - Bulk Entry

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To quickly arrive at a subset of those you wish to mark for completion of a certification, the Bulk Entry tab allows you to select contacts, certification types, and components. Once you have made the appropriate selections, you can mark all as completed.

1. Click the Bulk Entry tab. The tab will display all contacts currently in certification programs.

   

2. If needed, click Customize Results to select the desired filters:
   • Add Contacts: If you wish to filter to specific contacts, begin typing in the names of those contact. You may enter as many contacts as you wish.
   • Certifications: Select one or multiple certifications to filter to just those certifications.
   • Components: Select one or multiple components to filter results to just those components.

   

   • Click Done.

   

3. All contacts that match your filtering criteria will be displayed in the list, and selected by default. You may deselect any as needed.
4. Once you have selected/deselected the appropriate contacts, click Mark as Completed.

   

5. On the Edit Certification Bulk Entry screen, update the following if needed:
   • Completed On: The date will default to the current date, you may update as needed.
   • Hours Earned: This will default to the hours configured for the component, you may update as needed.
   • Credits Earned: This will default to the credits configured for the component, you may update as needed.
6. Click Done.

Certification Reports

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Reports to help you view and analyze status of your certifications are available on the Certifications Overview tab.

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Certification Summary Report

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Using the Certification Summary Report, you can generate a list of all of your certifications and their associated settings (i.e. fees associated to the certification, whether the certification requires approval, and so on). This report is not used to view participants, but to view your catalog of certifications and associated settings. This report may be filtered to specific certification types, categories, components, objectives, or your custom filter criteria.

1. Click the certifications Overview tab.
2. Click Certification Summary Report in the Reports section.