Admins: Sections Flow - Admin-Managed

Introduction

Sections are our group model. By default, Sections are weekly recurring series, where a new event is created for the given days/times listed in your CSV once the current week's event has passed and the provider has submitted feedback. 

You can also set up sections as single events, by setting the start date and end date to the same value. Single sections are great for one-time events, where you are able to share event details with a large group of students. 

Basic Process

1. Admin uploads one or more sections to Penji (name, course, provider/lead user, location, time, etc.)
2. Optional: Admin uploads the Student Invites CSV to pre-populate the attendance log, and to trigger email invitations to these students (also optional within this step)
3. Students join the Section from within Penji, after which it is treated just like an appointment (notifications, session logs, etc.)
4. The session is held, and the provider will log attendance within Penji from a pre-populated attendance log

How to set up admin run sections can be found here: Admins: Set-Up Sections (Groups) Mode.

Student Experience 

Students have a learn screen within Penji. Here, they see buttons corresponding to the different modes offered in your community (your center). You'll label your section button in a way that tells the student what the section is - for example, "Join a weekly study group". Students will:

1. Tap the Section-related button
2. Pick a course
3. View upcoming events for that section - if it's a weekly ongoing series, they'll see the upcoming event this week; if it's a single event, or series, where the next event isn't for some time, they'll see the event with the date of that upcoming event
4. They'll join a Section, and that session card will appear on their learn screen's activity feed, just like a scheduled appointment. If the section is not for a few weeks, they will not see the session card until the scheduled week of the event. 
5. If a waitlist is enabled for a certain Section, students can join it if the Section is the current week's and has no more open seats. Students also have the option to leave the waitlist. 
6. Students will attend the current week's session and then complete the feedback log. 

Canceling: If a student were to cancel a section that they signed up for, this section will be removed from their student learn screen. This will remove the student from all future instances of the section. This will not remove the section session card from the provider teach screen, as the provider is still expected to lead this section. This will also not affect other registered students.

Cancellation emails are sent to students when the entire series is canceled. This happens when the admin changes the name of the section on the CSV upload or uploads a new section.csv without the original section listed. Examples of this can be found in the article, Admins: Set-Up Sections (Groups) Mode, under the header, "Editing the CSV".

Joining a Section on the same day, when the section has already started: If a student were to join a section on the same day, and the section has already started, the student is registering for the current section. See the below examples:

• A section is in person, held on Tuesday at 4 pm: A student shows up and did not register before, but came with a friend. If the student were to sign up for the section at 4:05 pm, they are registering for the current section (not the future week) and will show up on this week's section attendance list for the provider. 
• A section is Zoom-Online, held on Tuesday at 4 pm: If the student signs up through Penji at 4:05 pm, they are registering for the current section (not the future week) and will show up on this week's section attendance list for the provider. The student will also be able to access the Zoom information and attend this week's section. 

Required Sections without Student Invites

If student invites are not used, students will be able to discover and register for the section through the normal section flow. When a student signs up for a required section, both online and in-person, they will receive an email with the details of their upcoming section - not a calendar invite. Right now, only providers receive calendar invites for sections. See the below screenshots for an example of the initial email. Additionally, once they sign up in Penji, this week's session card will be on their learn screen and students will receive session reminders each week until the section end date. For each section, they will be able to submit feedback based on the custom questions you have added from the admin panel. 

Once a session has passed, a new weekly session will appear on the student's learn screen, once the provider submits their feedback, until the section's end date. There is no action required by the student.

If a registered student does not attend a required session, this will count towards the community section no-show policy. A registered student is a student who signed up for the section on their own or was uploaded to a required section through student invites. 

Key Differences:

1. The student needs to register for the initial section
2. Each week the student is automatically registered for the following week's session
3. Once the student registers, absences count toward the no-show policy
   • If the student never signed up in Penji, absences do not count toward the no-show policy
4. Students will get an initial email when they sign up for the section

Emails:

Above are two examples of the email sent to students once they sign up for the Section. This is the same email format sent when a student signs up for an Optional Section with or without Student Invites. 

Required Sections with Student Invites 

When a student is invited to a required section, the section automatically appears on their Learn Screen. There is no action needed by the student to register. Students will get an email notifying them of the section they were pre-registered for. See the screenshot below. Students will get the weekly invitation email (if enabled) 24 hours before the event and will receive session reminders each week until the section end date. An example of the invitation email can be found in, Admins: Set-Up Sections (Groups) Mode, under the header, "Step 5: Student Invites (optional)". For each section, they will be able to submit feedback based on the custom questions you have added from the admin panel. 

Once a session has passed, a new weekly session will appear on the student's learn screen, once the provider submits their feedback, until the section's end date. There is no action required by the student.

If a registered student does not attend a required session, this will count towards the community section no-show policy. A registered student is a student who signed up for the section on their own or was uploaded to a required section through student invites. 

Key Differences:

1. The student does not need to register for the initial section
2. Each week the student is automatically registered for the following week's session
3. Absences always count toward the no-show policy
4. Students will get an initial email when student invites are uploaded (letting them know they have been added to a group vs. their section registration is confirmed)
5. "Invitation" emails can be sent to students 24 hours in advance of the week's session if enabled 

Emails:

Optional Sections without Student Invites 

If student invites are not used, students will be able to discover and register for the section through the normal section flow. When a student signs up for an optional section, both online and in-person, they will receive an email with the details of their upcoming section - not a calendar invite. Right now, only providers receive calendar invites for sections. See the screenshots under, "Required Sections without Student Invites", the same initial email details are provided. Additionally, once they sign up in Penji, this week's session card will be on their learn screen and students will receive session reminders for this week's session.  For each section the student registers for, they will be able to submit feedback based on the custom questions you have added from the admin panel. 

If a student does not attend a section that they registered for, this will count towards the community section no-show policy. Once a session has passed, students will need to sign up for the next upcoming session, each week. There is no automatic session created if the session is set to Optional.

Key Differences:

1. The student needs to register for the initial section
2. Each week the student MUST register for the following week's session
3. Once the student registers, absences count toward the no-show policy
   • If the student never signed up in Penji, absences do not count toward the no-show policy
4. Students will get an initial email when they sign up for the section 

Optional Sections with Student Invites 

When a student is invited to an optional section, the student needs to log in to Penji and register for the section through the normal section flow. Once an invited student signs up for an optional section, both online and in-person, they will receive an email with the details of their upcoming section - not a calendar invite. Right now, only providers receive calendar invites for sections. See the screenshots under, "Required Sections without Student Invites", the same initial email details are provided. Additionally, once they sign up in Penji, this week's session card will be on their learn screen and students will receive session reminders for this week's session.  For each section the student registers for, they will be able to submit feedback based on the custom questions you have added from the admin panel.

Students will get the weekly invitation email (if enabled) either asking them to register in Penji or confirming their registration, 24 hours before the event, until the section end date. An example of the invitation emails can be found in, Admins: Set-Up Sections (Groups) Mode, under the header, "Step 5: Student Invites (optional)". If the invitation email is disabled, students will not be notified that they have been invited to the section.

If a student does not attend a section that they registered for, this will count towards the community section no-show policy. However, if the student never registered for the section, an absence will not count towards the no-show policy. Once a session has passed, students will need to sign up for the next upcoming session, each week. There is no automatic session created if the session is set to Optional.

Key Differences:

1. The student needs to register for the initial section
2. Each week the student MUST register for the following week's session
3. Once the student registers, absences count toward the no-show policy
   
   • If the student never signed up in Penji, absences do not count toward the no-show policy
4. Students will get an initial email when they sign up for the section
5. "Invitation" emails can be sent to students 24 hours in advance of the week's session if enabled 

Provider Experience

Providers have a Teach screen within Penji. Here, they will see the different appointments and sections they are expected to lead. Providers after the session will:

1. Tap the Section-related placeholder card for the current week
2. Tap "Check-In Students" and log the student attendance, record the length of the session, and provide group (or individual) feedback

Skipping: Like admins, Providers have the ability to skip a session of a recurring Section -- this is the same process they would do to skip a session of a recurring 1:1 or group appointment. Please see the article Providers: Appointment Training to see the skip feature from the Provider's perspective. 

Canceling: When a provider cancels a session that is part of a section, they are only canceling the registration of the students, not the actual sessions of the series. This will remove the session placeholder card from the student's learn screen. After the provider cancels a section, there will still be a session placeholder card on their teach screen, even when there are no students registered. 

If student attendance was set to required, the provider would cancel the student's registration for the entire series and the student would need to re-register for the current week and future sessions. Even if student invites are used, a provider canceling a section would clear all current and future section registration. The admin would need to re-upload student invites. See the video below for how providers canceling affects students' registration for required sections. 

If the attendance was set to optional, the provider would be canceling that week's registration; and the student could re-register for the current week and future sessions.

Cancellation emails are sent to providers when different parts of the section.csv are edited. Examples of this can be found in the article, Admins: Set-Up Sections (Groups) Mode, under the header, "Editing the CSV".

Required Sections without Student Invites

Once the CSV with a new section is uploaded into Penji, the provider leading the section will receive an email with the details of the upcoming section - this will include a calendar invite, the first email shown below. This will happen for all locations, in-person and online. The current week's session card will also appear on the provider's teach screen.

For online and in-person locations, once the very first student signs up and registers for the section (first instance), the provider will receive two emails: (1) an email that “Students have now joined your section”, and (2) an email with the section details for reference, not a calendar invite. These additional two emails are the second and third emails shown below. 

More on the "first instance":

• The provider will only be notified after the very first instance of a student joining each section. Providers will not get notified about a student joining in any other instance.
• For example, if every student were to cancel their registration, and now a new student signs up, this is still not the first instance of a student joining the section, so the provider will not get notified. 

The provider will run the section each week and submit the session feedback log. The feedback log includes attendance and feedback questions. The available students to check-in will purely be based on those who registered for the section. The following week's session will not be created until the provider submits the current week's feedback log. 

Key Differences: 

1. Providers will be notified about the very first instance of a student joining each section they are leading
2. When taking attendance, the students the provider will see is made up of those who registered

Emails: 

Email 1: Above is an example of the email sent to Providers once a section.csv file is uploaded. This is to alert them that they will be leading a section. This is the same email format sent for all section Models: Required and Optional, with or without Student Invites. 

Email 2: Above is an example of one of the two emails sent to Providers once a student has signed up for their section. This email is to alert providers that at least one student has signed up for the virtual section. This is the same email format sent for all section Models: Required and Optional, with or without Student Invites.

Email 3: Above is an example of one of the two emails sent to Providers once a student has signed up for their section. This email is to remind providers of the section details. This is the same email format sent for all section Models: Required and Optional, with or without Student Invites.

Required Sections with Student Invites 

Once the CSV with a new section is uploaded into Penji, the provider leading the section will receive an email with the details of the upcoming section - this will include a calendar invite. See the first screenshot under, "Required Sections without Student Invites", the same calendar invite emails are sent. This will happen for all locations, in-person and online. The current week's session card will also appear on the provider's teach screen.

For online and in-person locations, when a student who was not invited joins the section, after the very first instance of this, the provider will receive two emails: (1) an email that “Students have now joined your section”, and (2) an email with the section details for reference, not a calendar invite. See the second and third screenshots under, "Required Sections without Student Invites", the same emails are sent. If more students who were not invited join, the provider will not get notified – only after the first student signs up, who was not invited, is this email triggered. 

The provider will run the section each week and submit the session feedback log. The feedback log includes attendance and feedback questions. Utilizing student invites pre-loads attendance information into Penji without any action from the student. When a provider takes attendance, they will see all of the students from the Student Invites as well as students who registered through the normal section flow as available to check in, organized in alphabetical order. The following week's session will not be created until the provider submits the current week's feedback log. 

Key Differences: 

1. Providers will be notified about the very first instance of a student joining each section only if the student was not included in the student invites list
2. When taking attendance, the students the provider will see is made up of those who were invited to the section and those who registered through the normal section flow

Optional Sections with OR without Student Invites 

Once the CSV with a new section is uploaded into Penji, the provider leading the section will receive an email with the details of the upcoming section - this will include a calendar invite. See the first screenshot under, "Required Sections without Student Invites", the same calendar invite emails are sent. This will happen for all locations, in-person and online. The current week's session card will also appear on the provider's teach screen.

For online and in-person locations, once the very first student signs up and registers for the section (first instance), the provider will receive two emails: (1) an email that “Students have now joined your section”, and (2) an email with the section details for reference, not a calendar invite. See the second and third screenshots under, "Required Sections without Student Invites", the same emails are sent. 

More on the "first instance":

• The provider will only be notified after the very first instance of a student joining each section. Providers will not get notified about a student joining in any other instance.
• For example, if every student were to cancel their registration, and now a new student signs up, this is still not the first instance of a student joining the section, so the provider will not get notified.
• Specific to optional sections, even though students must sign up each week, when the first student signs up for the upcoming week's section, this is still not the first instance of a student joining the section, so the provider will not get notified.

The provider will run the section each week and submit the session feedback log. The feedback log includes attendance and feedback questions. The only difference caused by using Student Invites within optional sections is when providers take attendance. Utilizing student invites pre-loads attendance information into Penji without any action of the student. When a provider takes attendance, they will see all of the students from the Student Invites as well as students who registered for the section as available to check-in. Students who registered for the section will be shown at the top, with those who were invited and did not register below, organized in alphabetical order.

If student invites are not used, the available students to check in will purely be based on those who registered. In both cases, with or without invites, the following week's session will not be created until the provider submits the current week's feedback log. 

Key Differences: 

1. Providers will be notified about the very first instance of a student joining each section they are leading - regardless of if the student was invited or not
2. When taking attendance, the students the provider will see depend on if student invites are used: 
   • Without Student Invites: The attendance list will be made up of those who registered for the section
   • With Student Invites: The attendance list will be made up of those who were invited to the section and those who registered for the section 

Attendance Logging and Feedback

The provider (tutor, coach, etc.) leading the Section is responsible for logging attendance on their device. This logging occurs from a pre-populated list of students determined by:

1. The students who've joined the Section will show up on top for easy access
2. The rest of the students added to the Section via your Student Invites will show up below in an alphabetized list

Next, (if you have this setting enabled) providers will be asked to leave a comment or comments. In this flow, the provider can leave a single comment for all students, or click "individual" and fill out a comment for each student in the group individually.

If you have custom Provider session feedback questions, those will show up here for the section Provider to answer. Examples of this are shown in Admins: Sections Settings, under the header, "Enable Section Provider feedback (Penji Controlled)". 

Admin Experience - the Data

Instances of a section are known as a session, and section data can be found within the session tab. The session tab is explained within Admins: Data Collection - Sessions Tab. 

A session from a section will be found on the Sessions tab if: 

1. A student registers for a section (Optional and Required sections)
2. The section is "Required" and student invites have been utilized
3. The section is "Optional", student invites have been utilized and the student registers for the section

More data can be derived from the Student Invite tab, explained within the article Admins: Sections Tab. From here, you can look at what students were invited, what invitation emails were sent, and what students ultimately registered for the upcoming week's session.  

Canceling: An admin can cancel a session of a section through the Sessions Tab on the admin panel or through editing the section CSV. To see how editing the section CSV file edits/cancels a section, review the article Admins: Set-Up Sections (Groups) Mode, under the header "Editing the CSV". 

Sections Use Cases

Please reference Admins: Set-Up Sections (Groups) Mode on configuring your Sections CSV upload, while considering the below use cases.

Supplemental Instruction (or PASS, PLTL, etc.)

This was the original use case for Sections within Penji. Admins upload a weekly recurring event, which can optionally have multiple times per week. Students can then join these SI sessions from their Penji Learn screen, either joining one at a time or joining the series weekly.

Study Groups

Study groups are usually weekly events with 2-8 students in them. They can be led by a tutor, or led by the students themselves. Sections can be used for these, uploading a study group with either a tutor as lead or a generic account from your center as the "tutor", with a name like "The Learning Center" and a bio or major describing that this is a placeholder account and that students should lead the group.

Admin-Managed Study Groups

This is the most common study group mechanism. A normal design is for admins to upload 1-3 study group instances for high-demand classes, at different days/times. Then, as students begin the semester and browse options within Penji, they will see the available study groups. The student and provider experience in this flow is explained above in this article.  

Provider-Managed Study Groups

A special setting where tutors can pick times, locations, and courses for study groups - read more Admins: Sections - Provider-Managed "Study Pods". Contact Penji if you are interested in this option.

Embedded Tutoring

Penji can be used to log the interactions a tutor has with students in a given lecture. In this method, there is no button for students to join these sections, but the session still appears for the tutor, along with attendance logging capability. Contact Penji to set this up. More information can be found in the article Admins: Sections - Embedded Tutoring.

Single One-Time Events

The sections model can be used to track attendance for large group one-time events. On the section CSV file, you will set the start and end date as the same. 

Providers will be notified when this section is created with an email containing a calendar invite. For both required and optional sections, the session card will not be listed on the teach screen until the week of the event, or until the first student registers. Even if student invites are used, and the section is set to required, the session card will not be listed on the teach screen until the week of the event, or until the first student actively registers for the section. 

Students will be able to find the event through the normal section flow, and once registered, the session card will appear on their learn screen, regardless of when the event is scheduled for. If student invites are used, and the section is required, the session card will appear on the student's learn screen once the invites are uploaded. 

Skip One Session in a Weekly Series (Admin-Managed Sections)

Within the details of a session, you have the ability to add "Skip Dates" to a weekly series. The process for skipping one session of a weekly Section is the same as skipping a session in a weekly series of 1:1 or group appointments, as well as provider-managed Sections.

In order to skip a session as an admin, please reference the article Admins: Appointment Flow under the heading "Skip One Session in a Weekly Series (Group & 1:1)." Please note that skipping a Section session will skip it for all of its attendees.