New Account - SELF GUIDED SET UP
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      1. Knowledge Base : CounselMore Support
      2. ACCOUNT SET UP
      3. New Account - SELF GUIDED SET UP

      Self Guided : 5) Routine Assignments

      Follow Articles 1-7 to guide your account setup. Open your account and watch the video, pausing as needed to make changes in your account.

      You can speed up the video using the gear icon, located on the video. Write down any questions you have, and if needed, meet with a Tech Mentor to supplement your self-guided setup.

      Return to the previous section in your Training Path,
      4) Google Prep & Connect

       

      Building a Routine Assignment, Applying Assignment, Link Assignment to Student Share Folder documents

      Recorded Training

       

      Speed up the playback? Click the gear icon, on the video.

      What is an assignment?

      An assignment is any work you want to apply to the Student. You have the ability to draft up each assignment using our in app editor and attach files from each Student's Files Tab, as well as external resources. See below for instructions for adding an assignment. 

      1. Any Student Record > Assignments Tab > Blue Beach Ball > Add Assignment
      2. Enter Assignment Name

      3. There are 2 type of links you can apply to a regular assignment

        1. Link To A Student File From Google Drive: This button allows you to attach files that are in the particular student's Files Tab. If it's not in their Files Tab yet, you won't be able to attach it to an assignment.
        2. Link To External Resources: Tip: Do not apply a link to editable documents here. This is a great place to add links to public resources like fafsa.com, commonapp.org, or college websites. Tip: Add the unique link to your Student Portal login page to each of your Student Routine assignments. Your unique link can be found in Webmaster. 
      4. Move down to the description box and enter assignment instructions
        • You can address the particular student in these instructions
      5. To the right, you will see some options that you can set
        • Assigned To
          • Student, Parent, Counselor, or all three!
        • Start Date
          • This is when the assignment will for become visible to the assignee
        • End Date
          • When the assignment is due
      6. You will not add a Routine Assignment Group
      7. Enter any Confidential Notes
      8. Click "Create" at the top right 

      Tip: 

      Click the pencil icon to the left of the assignment, which opens the in app editor, and start making changes to this student's assignment. 

      What is a Routine Assignment?

      A Routine Assignment is a 'Generic' version of an Assignment. A counselor would build a Routine Assignment for the purpose of not having to re-write the same Assignment over-and-over-and-over. Routine Assignment Ex: Request Letters of Recommendation

      Routine Assignments can be accessed 2 ways:

      1. Any Student Record > Assignments Tab > Blue Beach Ball > Routine Assignments
        • You can only assign an entire Routine Assignment Group (a collection of assignments) from the Assignments Tab. We will go over groups below.
      2. From Settings > Routine Assignments
        • You can only Bulk Assign Routine Assignments by accessing them from settings. We will touch on that topic later in the article.

      Building a Routine Assignment

      if you would like your Routine Assignments to have start & end dates ,see this KBA

      1. Go to Settings > Routine Assignments
      2. Click the button labeled: + Add New
      3. Enter Assignment Name

      4. Add a Link to the Routine Assignment

        • Tip: Do not apply a link to editable documents here. This is a great place to add links to public resources like fafsa.com, commonapp.org, or college websites

      5. Move down to the description box and enter assignment instructions
        • Do Not address these instructions to a specific student
      6. To the right you will see some options that you may choose to set
        • Assigned To
          • This will, by default, assign it to either the Student, Parent, Counselor or all three. This can be changed per student once assigned.
        • Start Date
          • Setting the start date of a Routine Assignment will make that date the default for all students. This can be changed per student after it's assigned.
        • End Date
          • Setting the end date of a Routine Assignment will make that date the default for all students. This can be changed per student after it's assigned.
      7. Add a Routine Assignment Group to categorize it
        • By default, we give you two groups
          • The Blue Prints To College Counseling
          • New Counselor Assignments
        • If you don't want to use the defaults, simple 'X' out the current group, type the name, and hit enter
          • The Routine Assignment Group will automatically update in the list after we finish creating the assignment
      8. Enter Confidential Notes
      9. Click "Create" at the top right 

       

      You should now have returned to the Routine Assignments page where you will see the new group title in a banner. Click the group banner to locate the Assignment you have just created. The banner will expand, showing a summary of the assignment.

      Tip: 

      Once you add a Routine Assignment to a student, it becomes a regular assignment. To view/edit the assignment, click the pencil icon to the left. The changes made here are only applied to that student's copy of assignment, not the Routine Assignment itself. If you want to modify the Routine Assignment for future students, go to Settings > Routing Assignments.

      Assigning Routine Assignments 

      We assign routine assignments in a student's Assignments Tab

       

      1. Any Student Record > Assignments Tab > Blue Beach Ball > Routine Assignments
      2. The window that opens displays your groups separated into banner rows
        • You can click the ">" symbol to the right of each group and select individual assignments by checking the boxes next to them
        • Or you can check the box next to the group name to select the entire collection of assignments in this group as mentioned in #1
        • As soon as any box is checked, the assignment(s) will be assigned to the student. If you inadvertently applied an assignment, it can be removed easily by clicking the garbage can next to any particular assignment in the Assignments Tab
      3. In the central columns for the assignment, select the icon(s) under the appropriate assignee(s) (Student, Parent, Counselor (you)) to identify who the assignment is intended for.
      4. Your student/family still cannot see the assignment. Choose a start date, and the assignment will then display in the student portal. 

       

      Bulk Assign Routine Assignments

      We can only bulk assign a Routine Assignment to multiple Students through Settings. 

       

      1. Go to Settings > Routine Assignments
      2. Click the button labeled: + Enable Bulk Assign
      3. Click the grey box to the left of a Routine Assignment to select it
      4. A new window will appear with options to Bulk Assign this by:
        • Grad Year
        • High School
        • Tag
        • Name
      5. Once you have selected your options, click the button labeled: Add Assignment

       

      Move onto the next section in your Training Program, Scheduling & Calendar Connections.

       

      Still have questions or need additional support?

       

      Advanced:

      Check out how one counselor enhanced her Assignment delivery by creating a video to accompany each assignments.

      Click to view an example of what you can do to enhance your high touch services.

      Hot tip:

      How to increase student engagement in the student portal.

      Settings > Webmaster > grab your unique Student Portal link and add an "external link" to each Routine Assignment. When your student receives an assignment via email, they will also receive the link directly to your portal. This returns the student to the portal. CounselMore has done several behavioral studies that showed students are more likely to engage the portal when there is "click convenience."

      How many avenues to communication do you leave open?
      If a student is able to reach their counselor from email, text, phone, portal, meetings - then the counselor is setting the expectation that they will check all communication channels.

      If the counselor would prefer the student communicate using one or two specific channels, then the counselor must reinforce that by not engaging on the other avenues and steering the student's communication back to the chosen line.

      Students can leave comments per assignment and click Done when an assignment is complete. 

      A counselor can view text messages in app and not be at the end of every message alert. 

      A counselor's time is valuable, they shouldn't feel they have to jump each time a message comes in.

      To streamline your practice, streamline your response.

       

      Would you like to know more about the CounselMore Comprehensive Assignments packages? These are pre-written, client-facing that can be used for all high school grades. The assignments package follows the comprehensive college readiness process. Read more here.​

       

      Still have questions or need additional support?

      Write down any questions you have, and if needed, meet with a Tech Mentor to supplement your self-guided setup.

       

       

      👍   Now that you've complete the Self Study, make a list of your questions and reserve a seat at a live training session. You will find a complete schedule here.