Continuing Education Import Type

Overview

The Veracross Data Importer allows schools to import Person Continuing Education records. For schools that use the Employment Module, tracking Continuing Education (sometimes called Professional Development) can provide valuable workflows and reporting tools.

If your school uses the Employment Module, ask your Account Manager to enable this import type for your school. Once enabled, a new import type called “Continuing Education” can be seen in the data importer.

Importing Continuing Education involves the following two steps:

1. Preparing the data for import, which involves using the CSV template (see details below).
2. Importing the data using the Veracross Data Importer.

Preparing the Data for Import

Prepare a comma-separated value (CSV) file containing data for the fields listed below. This CSV must contain all of the columns in the order listed below. Many of the following fields may be left blank; fields listed with an asterisk (*) are required and may not be left blank.

• person_id*: the Veracross Person ID and may not be left blank.
• activity_type*: must be populated with the text value of the activity type, which is a dropdown value in Veracross. The provided value has to match a possible value on the list. The field may not be left blank. This is not case-sensitive. Default values include:
  • Self Evaluation
  • Degree Program
  • Formal Courses
  • Seminars & Workshops
• activity_description*: populated with any text description, and may not be left blank. Max character length is 60.
• classification: may be populated with the text value of the classification, which is a dropdown value in Veracross. The provided value has to match a possible value on the list, or be left blank. Max character length is 50. This is not case-sensitive. As a default, the system does not have any classification values for CE but this table may be configured for use at your school.
• organization_id: may be populated with the internal ID for the Organization at which the activity occurred. The Organization must already be in the database. This may be left blank.
• activity_location: may be populated with any text value describing where the activity occurred, or may be left blank. Max character length is 60.
• activity_start_date: may be populated with a date, either in MM/DD/YYYY or YYYY/MM/DD format, or may be left blank.
• activity_completion_date: may be populated with a date, either in MM/DD/YYYY or YYYY/MM/DD format, or may be left blank.
• certificate_achieved: may be populated with any text value for the certificate that was achieved, or may be left blank. Max character length is 20.
• is_presenter: must be valid boolean (yes, y, 1, no, n, 0, or <blank>)
• duration: may be populated with any text value describing the duration, such as “4 days” or “8 hours”. Max character length is 15.
• ceus: stands for “Continuing Education Units” and may be used to track the credits, or may be left blank. If used, an integer value is required.
• ceu_category_1: If your school tracks continuing education credits in specific categories, the categories may be tracked using categories 1 thru 4. If your school only tracks overall credits, use the field “ceus” above, instead of each category. May be left blank, but if used, an integer value is required.
• ceu_category_2: May be left blank, but if used, an integer value is required.
• ceu_category_3: May be left blank, but if used, an integer value is required.
• ceu_category_4: May be left blank, but if used, an integer value is required.
• activity_status: may be populated if status workflows such as approval and follow-up are used. The value provided should be the text value of the activity status, which is a dropdown value in Veracross. The provided value has to match a possible value on the list, or be left blank. Max character length is 75. This is not case-sensitive. If left blank, the Activity Status will be inserted in Veracross with the status of “Requested.”. 
• activity_school_year*:  This field may not be left blank. The ID for the school year should be used. “2017” means the 17-18 school year.
• activity_notes: may be populated with any notes about the activity for internal use. Up to 2000 characters are allowed. May be left blank.
• benefit_to_school_notes: may be populated in order to take detailed notes about the institutional purpose of this activity. Up to 1000 characters are allowed. May be left blank.
• travel_departure_time: may be populated in order to track when travel begins, which may be helpful to plan travel for the employee. Time can be entered using AM/PM format (“1:00pm”) or using 24 hr format (“13:00”).
• travel_departure_date: may be populated with a date, either in MM/DD/YYYY or YYYY/MM/DD format, or may be left blank.
• travel_return_time: may be populated in order to track when the employee is expected to return, which may be helpful to plan travel for the employee. Time can be entered using AM/PM format (“1:00pm”) or using 24 hr format (“13:00”).
• travel_return_date: may be populated with a date, either in MM/DD/YYYY or YYYY/MM/DD format, or may be left blank.
• registration_cost: may be populated with an amount, and allows for accounting format (1,512.01) or regular numeric format (1512.01). May be left blank.
• flight_cost: may be populated with an amount, and allows for accounting format (#,###.00) or regular numeric format (####.00). May be left blank.
• hotel_cost: may be populated with an amount, and allows for accounting format (#,###.00) or regular numeric format (####.00). May be left blank.
• local_transportation_cost: may be populated with an amount, and allows for accounting format (#,###.00) or regular numeric format (####.00). May be left blank.
• is_sub_required: must be valid boolean (yes, y, 1, no, n, 0, or <blank>)
• sub_cost: may be populated with an amount, and allows for accounting format (#,###.00) or regular numeric format (####.00). May be left blank.
• total_cost: may be populated with an amount, and allows for accounting format (#,###.00) or regular numeric format (####.00). May be left blank.
• cash_advance: may be populated with an amount, and allows for accounting format (#,###.00) or regular numeric format (####.00). May be left blank.
• funding_source: may be populated with the text value of the funding source, which is a dropdown value in Veracross. The provided value has to match a possible value on the list, or be left blank. Max character length is 50. This is not case-sensitive. As a default, the system does not have any funding source values for CE but this table may be configured for use at your school.

All the columns in the CSV template must be provided in the CSV to be imported. The only columns that require data are Person_ID, activity description, and activity_school_year; every other column could be left blank, allowing for later data entry.

If Activity_status is left blank, the CE Record will be inserted with the status as “Requested.” If providing a value for activity_type, classification, or activity_status, the value provided in the file should be the “Description” value for those fields, e.g. “Evaluation” or “Approved.” Do not provide ID numbers for these fields.

Person_ID and Organization_ID do require providing the ID number for records that already exist in Veracross. If incorrect data is provided for person_id, organization_id, activity_type, classification, activity_status, or activity_school_year, the error message will indicate which row(s) have “Missing Records” (i.e. the importer is unable to identify what the file is referencing).

If the activity_description is left blank, the import will fail, as well, since this is a required field in Veracross.