Online Re-Enrollment Tune-Up Quick Start Guide

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Here is the new version of this article in the Veracross Community.

Overview

If you have been through at least one season of online re-enrollment (ORE) with Veracross, this article will help you "tune up" your processes as you get ready for a fresh enrollment season. We recommend reading through this article, watching the accompanying videos, and reading the recommended documentation well ahead of time so you can refamiliarize yourself with the process. Please reach out to your account manager at least four weeks ahead of your anticipated ORE launch date.

What is the difference between a "first time" and "tune-up" experience? Your first time through online re-enrollment is a fairly involved process that is guided in large part by your Veracross account manager. Tune-ups are different: The onus is on you, the school, to drive the "tune up" process and your account manager serves as a consultant in the process. Four weeks of lead time are still needed to ensure proper configuration and testing.

We also have a VC Pay Tuition Management ORE tune-up quick start guide.

Responsible Party	Role
School Point Person, Other Personnel	Drive configuration changes, ask questions, supply updates.
Veracross Account Manager	Advise in the overall process, answer questions, and provide guidance as needed.

Forgot How ORE Works?

Watch this brief demo video.

You can also checkout the article Online Re-Enrollment Overview.

Agree Upon Key Deadlines

We recommend setting several key deadlines for online re-enrollment (ORE). The focus here is on re-enrollment, but you may also want to have a conversation about online enrollment (OE) dates.

	Item	Date (Supply Your Own)
✔	Finalize all configuration, including portal homepage text, contract language, amounts, enrollment checklist items, HPU, and policies.
✔	Test different enrollment scenarios
✔	Launch to parents

Step One: Start Re-Enrollment

Online Enrollment Homepage > Action Menu > Start Re-Enrollment

You can complete these steps at any time.

Step	Action	Notes
1	Run the "Start Re-Enrollment" Procedure.	This generates enrollment records and updates other enrollment-related data in the system. Read more about the procedure. Among other things that happen: enrollment records are created for next year students' grades and grades applying for are incremented students' enrollment statuses are set to "Pending" last year's policy forms are copied forward
2	Remove email notifications (so that people don't get notified when doing your run-through and then testing)	Disable the two email notifications on the ORE config record and batch update the "Communication Status" of the queued enrollment complete emails to "Do Not Send."

Step Two: Initial Run-Through

Once you have created the enrollment records, run through ORE with a couple of real students as test cases and see what needs to be updated. We recommend using children of staff/faculty as your test cases. Don't worry, you've turned off notifications (you did #2 above, right?) and you'll reset their enrollments when you are done.

Step	Action	Notes
1	Pick two or three students, open their portals, and run through re-enrollment as their parents all the way through the contract.	As you go, write down everything you notice that you need to change, e.g., outdated text and amounts, any HPU or policy updates, etc.
2	Reset the enrollment records of the students you tested with.	On the enrollment record, select the Action menu item "TESTING ONLY: Reset Enrollment Test Data". Read more.

Step Three: Review and Update Configuration

Watch this video on configuring ORE:

Having run through ORE several times with last year's configuration, you now have a list of initial changes, so you can work your way through the following items in any order.

	Item	Notes
1	Update homepage sections that integrate with policies to a "current year" policy form.	Click into the policy homepage section, then update the "Policy Form" to the enrollment year.
2	Review and update the enrollment-year policy form in the "re-enrollment" context.	Here are your policy forms. Note that the query lists both enrollment and re-enrollment policy forms. You may want to update both but you only need to look at the re-enrollment context now.
3	Review and update ORE homepage text.	Optionally, configure OE homepage text as well for later enrollment. Read more about homepage and contract sections. Recommended for ORE homepage and contract sections: Set the publishing status for each section to "Needs Review" when you begin your review process, then update the statuses as you go.
4	Review and update contract components.	Reminder: ORE and OE share a common contract. Use contract inserts for person-specific additions.
5	Review and update amounts and fee types.	This should be a collaborative process with your business office. Read more about configuring tuition, fees, and deposits.
6	Review and update your HPU configuration in the ORE/OE context.	Use the "Configure HPU Forms" link on the Online Enrollment homepage.
7	Review and update person-specific configurations.	Depending on how you approach ORE, this step could require a long time or be fairly quick. Talk to your account manager if you aren't sure about these steps. You will return to these items in testing. Look at: contract text inserts online enrollment access signature requirements override amounts financial aid contract holds
8	Review your financial aid configuration.	If you use the Financial Aid module, reach out to your account manager to discuss your workflows.

Step Four: Thoroughly Test

Testing is wicked important. Watch this video on how to approach it:

After watching the video above, work through these testing elements:

Step	Action	Notes
1	Test amounts.	Use different test cases to make sure that all permutations of students get the right amounts. Read more. You can also use the Enrollment Amounts document browser.
2	Test enrollment intention and/or financial aid intention.	Use different test cases to make sure that all permutations of students see the right forms. Read more.
3	Test contract prerequisites.	Confirm that the contract remains in "preview only" mode until all contract prerequisite checklist items are completed.
4	Test policies.	Confirm that the correct policies have been applied to the appropriate students and/or families.
5	Test contract redirects.	Confirm that the redirects you specified on the ORE config record happen as you expect after you sign contracts.
6	Test payments.	Depending on how you collect payments, this step can vary significantly. Read more if you are collecting an enrollment deposit through Veracross. Reach out to your account manager if you use VC Pay.
7	Confirm charge items and simple receipts.	Accounting only.
8	Confirm homepage sections.	This is more of a review rather than test.
9	Confirm contract sections.	This is more of a review rather than test.
10	Confirm HPU configuration in the ORE/OE context.	Confirm that the appropriate HPU cards display.
11	Confirm person-specific configurations.	Look at: contract text inserts online enrollment access signature requirements override amounts financial aid contract holds
12	If you plan on enabling "contract complete" and "enrollment complete" emails, turn them on and test them.	Enable them on the ORE config record and test with a person who knows they will get an email. Turn them off when you are done with this step, then re-enable them right before ORE launch. This ensures that if you do any additional testing, emails won't get accidentally sent.
13	Reset enrollments for any testing cases.	Read more about resetting enrollment. Person-specific configurations (e.g., override amounts) are wiped out in this process, so you will need to take note and re-add as needed.
14	Run the “TESTING ONLY: Reset VCPay Registration Data” procedure.	This step only applies to Tuition Management Schools. This procedure is run from the Action menu on the Enrollment record. Perform this procedure only after you have completed testing ORE.
15	Remove email notifications that may have gotten queued during testing.	Batch update the "Communication Status" of the queued enrollment complete emails to "Do Not Send."

Step Five: Launch to Parents

Read about launching online re-enrollment to parents.

	Item	Notes
1	Determine your launch strategy.	You can: Add a link to the enrollment portal in your parent portal. Send an email to all parents of eligible re-enrolling students that includes a link to log directly into the enrollment portal or a link to your parent portal where you created a link to the enrollment portal. A common approach is to set up the link in the parent portal, but provide a link directly to the enrollment portal in the email you send.
2	Enable "contract complete" and "enrollment complete" emails if you plan on using them.	Enable them on the ORE config record.
3	Update the "Is Portal Open?" field for all re-enrolling students.	Read more here.
4	Refresh group membership.	Run this procedure on the Action menu of the System homepage. This ensures that the "All Online Re-Enrollment Recipients" system group (the one you will use to send your launch email) is updated. This group contains adults with the following criteria: Has ORE access for a student. Enrollment type for student is “re-enrollment.” Student’s enrollment portal is marked as “open.” Student’s Online Enrollment Status is not "not eligible."
5	Set up an enrollment portal link in your parent portal.	Read more about setting up a link in the parent portal to the enrollment portal. Technically this is not required as long as you are sending parents a direct link in an email, but it is highly recommended.
6	Send an email to the parents of your re-enrolling students.	Use the "All Online Re-Enrollment Recipients" system group. Include either a link to the parent portal (if you have set up an enrollment portal link there) or a link directly to the online enrollment portal. Read more here.