Managing Programs

Totara Program management allows you to create learning paths for learners where you can define dependencies and control the order and flow of the competencies and courses your learners complete.

A program includes completion dates and time limits for your learners to complete each stage of the program. There is also the ability to set up customised messages and reminders that are sent to learners and managers as part of the program.

Program management allows you to enrol learners based on their organisation, position, management hierarchy, or audience, and set different completion criteria for each group if required. Learners can also be enrolled individually.

Program management also handles the requirement for courses to reoccur on a set cycle, such as yearly. This is great for handling compliance training that staff may be required to complete every year.

Set default image for all programs

Select Courses from the Site administration menu.
Select Manage programs.
Click on the Set default image for all programs link to set a default image to display if no image is uploaded by the program creator.
Upload an image in the Default image field.

Create a program

Select Courses from the Site administration menu.
Select Manage programs.
Select Add a new program to set up a new program.
Complete the Details section (see below).
Select Save changes and the Program Overview tab displays. You have now created your program; the next step is to add the program content and program assignment.

Details

When creating a new program there are a number of details you will be required to add, these are:

Setting	Description	Notes
Category	This is the name of the course category the program sits under.	-
Full name	This is the name of your program.	-
Short name	The short name must be unique.	-
ID	This allows you to give your program an ID number if required.	-
Available from	This allows you to set a date from which the program is available to learners.	-
Available until	This allows you to set a date until which the program is available to learners.	-
Description	The description text displays in the search program page and when the learner is viewing the details of the program.	-
Summary	The summary text is displayed in the search program page and when the learner is viewing the details of the program.	-
Summary files	The summary file is displayed in the list of programs.	-
Endnote	The program endnote displays when the learner has completed the program.	-
Visiblity	Decide who the program is visible to; all users, no users, enrolled users only, or enrolled users and members of the selected audience. To facilitate the last option you can also add one or more audiences to the visibility section.	-
Image	Choose an image to associate with the program.	This image will become the background image if you set-up this program as a program tile in a Featured Link Block.
Current icon	To add custom program icons: Click Courses in the Site administration menu. Click Custom icons. Select the graphic file you want to use for a course. Move this file to the Program icon file area. Select Save changes.	Graphic files will be resized to 35 X 35 pixels automatically.
Allow extension requests	When enabled users can submit extension requests for this program which can then be approved or denied by their manager.	Program extension requests need to be enabled on the Advanced features page to be able to allow or disallow program extension requests for a program.
Tags	You can add tags to your program.	-

Edit a program

Once a program has been setup it is still possible to make changes by editing the program.

From the Administration block follow the path Site administration > Courses > Manage programs.
In the table find the program you wish to edit.
Select the Settings icon, or alternatively select the program to open it, then select Edit program details.

Whilst editng a program you can amend the details, add content, assign learners, and manage messages. More about how to do each of these can be found below.

Add program content

Program content can include any course or competency on your Totara site.

Content is added in sets. The sets represent the order in which learners complete the learning. A set can contain:

A competency and assigned course(s)
Course(s)
Recurring course(s)

Time frames and conditions can be established for each set.

To add content to your program, follow these steps:

Go to the Content tab.

Select what you would like to add from the Add a new dropdown menu and select Add. Follow the instructions below for the content type you choose to add.

If

Then

Adding a course

1. Select Set of courses from the Add a new dropdown menu and click Add.
2. Click through the course categories and click on each of the courses you wish to add. You need to select your courses in the order you wish them to appear in the set.
3. Selected course(s) appear in the current selection column, click the delete icon to remove the course from the program selection.
4. Click Ok to complete the course selection. See also, course set settings below.

Adding competencies

1. Select Competency from the Add a new dropdown menu and click Add.
2. Select the competency framework from the dropdown list.
3. Select the competency you wish to add.
4. Click Ok to complete the course selection.

When you select a competency that has a linked course(s). The linked course(s) is/are automatically pulled through into the set.

Course settings

These are the available settings when adding a course set.

Setting	Description	Notes
Set name	The name you give to the course set.	-
Learner must complete	Choose either: One course: Only one course in the set needs to be completed. All courses: Every course in the set must be completed. Some courses: You can choose a number of courses that must be completed (but not all courses) For example you might set the Minimum courses completed to 3 with a total of 5 courses in the set. This means that a user must completed 3 out of 5 course (which ones these are is up to them). All courses are optional: The user does not have to complete any courses as all are optional.	If you select Some courses you will then be able to edit additional fields to set the completion criteria, these fields are the Minimum courses completed, Course score field, and the Minimum score. These fields are all locked when selecting All courses or One course as the completion of the selected courses is then the completion criteria.
Minimum courses completed	The minimum number of courses within this course set the assignees must complete for this course set to be considered complete.	-
Course score field	Specify a course custom field which is used to allocate a score to each course in the set. This is used in conjunction with Minimum score to determine the course set's completion criteria. The selected field should have numeric values e.g credit hours.	-
Minimum score	A minimum score that must be reached for the course set to be marked as complete. The score is calculated by summing the values from the Course score field for all the courses a user has completed.	For example, you might have a Credits custom field on your courses, so you could use this setting to mark a course set as complete when a certain number of credits have been achieved.
Minimum time required	This determines the minimum amount of time that users should be given if they are to have enough time to complete the course set. Please carefully read the warning alongside this description. For example, if set to one week, then it is expected that the user should be granted at least one week to be able to complete the course set, and that it would not be possible to complete it in any time less than that.	Setting this does not mean the user only has a certain amount of time to complete a course set, nor does it set or affect the program due date. This does not determine the maximum time allowed to complete the course set and setting this does not set a due date. It is used to generate exceptions when a completion date set in the Assignments tab is insufficient and is used to automatically set a sufficiently generous due date when resolving time allowance exceptions using the Set realistic time allowance action.
Courses	The courses you selected to be part of the set.	-

Competency settings

These are the available settings when adding a competency.

Setting	Description	Notes
Set name	You will need to give the competency set a name.	-
Competency name	The name of the competency or competencies you have selected.	-
Minimum time required	This determines the minimum amount of time that users should be given if they are to have enough time to complete the set.	-
Courses	This will show any courses associated to the selected competency.	-

Recurring course set

These are the available settings when adding a competency.

Setting	Description	Notes
Set name	You will need to give the competency set a name.	-
Course name	The name of the competency or competencies you have selected.	-
Minimum time required	This determines the minimum amount of time that users should be given if they are to have enough time to complete the set.	-
Recurrence	This is how often the course set should recur.	-
Course creation	Course creation defines when the course should be copied and recreated. It relies on the start and end date specified in the course settings.	-

Assign learners

Program assignment allows you to select the learners who need to complete the program. You can select users by organisation, position, audience, management hierarchy, or individually. Once you have assigned learners to the program, the system automatically takes care of course enrolment.

To assign learners to your program, go to the Assignments tab, select what you would like to add from the Add a new dropdown menu and select Add. Follow the instructions below for the assignment type you choose to add.

If	Then
Adding by organisation	1. Select Organisation from the Add a new dropdown menu and click Add. 2. The organisation options appear. Click Add organisations to program. 3. Select the organisation framework you want to use from the dropdown box. 4. Select the organisation items you wish to assign to the program. The selected items appear in the current selection column. Select the delete icon to remove. 5. Click Ok to complete the organisation selection. Select All below to include all users in the hierarchy structure below the selected organisation.
Adding by position	1. Select Positions from the Add a new dropdown menu and click Add. 2. The position options appear. Click Add position to program. 3. Select the position framework from the dropdown box. 4. Select the position items you wish to assign to the program. The selected items appear in the current selection column. Select the delete icon to remove. 5. Click Ok to complete the position selection. Select All below to include all users in the hierarchy structure below the selected position.
Adding by audience	1. Select Audiences from the Add a new dropdown menu and click Add. 2. The audience options appear. Click Add audiences to program. 3. Select the audience groups you wish to assign to the program. The selected audiences appear in the current selection column. Select the delete icon to remove. 4. Click Ok to complete the audience selection. To learn more about creating audiences, see Audiences.
Adding by management hierarchy	1. Select Management hierarchy from the Add a new dropdown menu and select Add. 2. The management hierarchy options appear. Select Add managers to program. 3. Select the manager name(s) and then choose the appropriate job (there may be more than one) applicable to the assignment. The selected manager(s) and their job assignment will appear in the current selection column. Select the delete icon to remove. 4. Select Ok to complete the manager selection. 5. Select direct team to add just the manager’s direct reports or all below to add their direct reports and their staff’s direct reports.
Adding individuals	1. Select Individuals from the Add a new dropdown menu and select Add. 2. The individual options appear. Select Add individuals to program. 3. Select the names you wish to assign to the program. The selected individuals appear in the current selection column. Select the delete icon to remove. 4. Click Ok to complete the position selection.

Learning will be made available immediately to new users once they've self-registered. Audience membership as well as audience-based enrolled learning (i.e. course enrolment and certification/program assignment) will occur before new users first log into the platform.

For existing users, audience membership and enrolment will occur when the relevant cron runs.

Set the due date for each group / individual you have assigned to the program. When setting the completion criteria you have two options:

Complete by: allows you to set a fixed completion date.
Complete within: allows you to set a completion date relative to an event. The events include:
- The date the learner first logged in.
- Position assignment date.
- Job assignment date.
- The date the learner completed another program.
- The date a learner completed another course.
- The date record in a profile field.
- The date they were assigned the current program.

Select Set fixed completion date or Set time relative to event to save your completion criteria, then select Save changes and confirm your changes. Once saved, a confirmation message appears at the top of the screen. Your program assignments are now set.

Users are assigned to the program when the program user assignment scheduled task is run.

For assigned users that have been given a time exception, the program due date is not updated.

If a learner has been previously marked as having completed the program and subsequently new courses are added, or the path is changed to "then", a learner will not need to go back and do these additional courses because as their program completion mark remains.

Add program messages

You can create and customise automated messages which are emailed to users assigned to a program. You can also add an optional message for managers depending on the message type selected.

Create a program message by editing your certification and selecting the Messages tab. The enrolment message and exception report message is added by default for every program.
Select the message type from the Add a new drop down menu and select Add.
Add a subject line and message body.
Select Send notice to manager if you want to send a message to the manager of a learner at the same time the learner message is sent. If a learner has multiple job assignments with more than one manager, the message will be sent to all managers.
Add a subject line and message body for the manager notice.

If a subject is not provided i.e. the field is left blank, the manager subject is populated with the default language strings for each message type.
Select Save changes to save your message. You will be prompted to confirm your changes or you can choose to continue editing.

(This video is taken from the Program and certifications course in the Totara Academy, where you can access more resources and learning materials - including other videos).

Message types

Message Type	Description
Enrolment	A message is sent to the learner when they are assigned to a program.
Exceptions report	A message is sent to site administrators when there are new exceptions on the program. An exception occurs when the system is not able to process an action related to the program, e.g. the completion date is set for 30 days from the position start date, but this field is empty for a user assigned to the program.
Un-enrolment	A message is sent to a learner when a they are unenrolled from a program.
Program due	A message is sent to the learner a set number of days, weeks or months before the learner is due to complete the program. Add a Trigger to set when the message is sent.
Program overdue	A message is sent to the learner when the program completion date for the learner has passed. Add a Trigger to set when the message is sent.
Program completed	A message is sent to the learner when they complete the program.
Course set due	Sent a certain length of time before the current course set is due. The due date is calculated by adding the course set Minimum time required to the date the user started the course set.
Course set overdue	Sent a certain length of time after the current course set is due. The due date is calculated by adding the course set Minimum time required to the date the user started the course set.
Course set completed	This message will be sent whenever a course set is completed.
Learner follow-up	A message is sent to a learner a set period of time after they have completed the program. Add a Trigger to set when the message is sent.

Variable substitution

You can insert variables into the subject and / or body of a message so that they will be replaced with real values when the message is sent. Variables should be inserted exactly as shown.

Variable	Description
%userfullname%	this will be replaced by the recipient's full name.
%username%	this will be replaced by the user's username.
%programfullname%	this is replaced with the full name of the program.
%completioncriteria%	this will be replaced by the completion criteria set in the assignment tab.
%duedate%	this will be replaced by the date assigned to the user to complete the program.
%managername%	this will be replaced by the manager's name. If a learner has multiple job assignments with more than one manager, a list of all manager names will be output, separated by commas.
%manageremail%	this will be replaced by the manager's email. If a learner has multiple job assignments with more than one manager, a list of all manager email addresses will be output, separated by commas.
%setlabel%	this is replaced with the course set label, when the message relates to course sets.

Capabilities that can edit

It is possible to assign a variety of editing permissions within the program functionality. Anyone with one or more of the following capabilities will see an Edit program details button whenever they view a program. By clicking on this they will then see the Overview tab, followed by additional tabs based on the capabilities they have assigned to them as follows:

totara/program:configuredetails: For the Edit tab.
totara/program:configurecontent: For the Content tab.
totara/program:configuremessages: For the Messages tab.
totara/program:configureassignments: For the Assignments tab.
totara/program:handleexceptions: For the Exceptions tab (this applies even if there are no exceptions currently).
totara/program:editcompletion: For the Completion tab (the completion editor must be enabled in site cofig).

Program overview report

Within the report builder it is possible to use the Program overview report source to create reports combining the status of individual completions in programs as well as the courses within those programs. This allows you to configure your own reports of based on the user, program and course information in the report source. The default columns for the report are:

Program Short Name
User's Organisation Name(s)
User's Position Name(s)
User's Fullname
Due Date
Program Status
Progress
Course Short Name
Course Status
Final Grade

There is also a default Search field filter that allows you to choose a particular program from the dropdown menu to view data on. Many additional filters, such as User Fullname, Status, and Due Date, can be added to reports to narrow down the completion records shown in the reports.

To find out more about how to set up and edit a report using the program overview report source see the Managing user reports section of the Managing reports help documentation.

Scheduled tasks

There are a number of scheduled tasks that take place as part of program management.

Scheduled task	Purpose
Deferred program assignments changes	Processes any program assignments that have been deferred.
Program availability checks	Checks availability according to available from and to settings and marks the program as available or not available.
Clean enrolment plugins in programs	Removes instances of totara_program enrolment plugins in courses that are not in course sets.
Program completions	This task checks every completion record to ensure that course completions that are processed outside of normal completions processes (such as using the course completion editor) are included in the program completion.
Copy recurring courses in programs	Makes a backup of any courses that are part of recurring course programs.
First login program assignments	Makes program assignments for any assignment type that requires a date that cannot be obtained when program is setup (e.g. completion 6 months from first login).
Program recurrence history	Fixes up completion history for courses that are recurring and have been completed (see comment in totara/program/classes/task/recurrence_history_task.php)
Program reccurence	Removes assignments to programs so they can be reassigned for recurring programs.
Send messages related to programs	Sends messages setup in the messages tab of programs.
Switch recurring courses in programs	Switches out recurring courses that were backed up by Copy recurring courses in programs task.
Program user assignments	Checks that program user assignments are correct (and assigns or unassigns as necessary or raises exceptions if issues are found).

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The Totara Academy has a whole course dedicated to using Programs and certifications in Totara Learn.

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