In Stellic, a workflow (known as "requests" in the instance) is a paperless approval process. See “What are Workflows?” for a high level overview of Stellic workflows.
Users with the ability to create a workflow are determined by the institution's Stellic admin(s). Only users with the create workflow permission will be able to create a workflow. The permission to create workflows is currently institution-wide. We recommend that Stellic administrators clarify institutional preferences and best practices before assigning this permission to users at their institution.
1. To begin, select the "Requests" tab from the menu at the top of the screen or the left sidebar, and select the "Create New Workflow" button:
2. A pop-up box will appear that prompts you to name your workflow and select what you will be using your workflow for. There are two default templates: Make an Exception (only available in those partners where this functionality has been enabled) and Graduation Clearance. A creator can also create a custom workflow and copy from an existing workflow template or start from a blank page.
If you would like to use an existing workflow as a base for your new workflow, you can select that workflow in the "Copy an existing workflow" field. You'll be able to edit all of the fields once the workflow is created.
3. Once these options have been selected, it is time to start editing your workflow! By default, a new workflow is inactive when it is created, meaning that it is not visible to anyone without workflow editing permission until it is published.
4. Enter a description for your workflow. This description is visible to anyone who can see the request process at any stage of the request and approval process.
5. Select the criteria of students who are eligible to participate in the workflow. Workflows can be eligible for all students; specific selected students or students defined using the same process as filters for reports.
Students who do not meet the criteria won't be able to see or be entered into the workflow process. Currently, workflows are only available for processes that involve students. Additionally, the creator of the workflow will only be able to add students for who that creator has permission to view within Stellic. For example, if an advisor is only able to see their own advisees in Stellic and the advisor has the ability to create a workflow, the advisor will only be able to add their own advisees to a workflow.
In the example below, students who are sophomores or juniors in the Chemistry BS program are eligible for this workflow.
6. Decide who will be the initiator and what steps are necessary for the initiator to complete. Until a request is initiated, students will not be attached to the workflow, and this means that there will be no request to approve or review. The creator determines who is able to initiate the request. The options available for request initiators are:
the student's primary advisor (if available — not every institution identifies a primary advisor)
the student
anyone with the permission to edit the student's plan within Stellic
a specific user
a specific group
Additionally, you will need to specify what information is available to and/or required by the initiator. You can include none, some, or all of these options. Each option can be configured, and each field can be optional or mandatory.
Checkbox: The initiator will need to check the box before proceeding. For example, perhaps you want the student to acknowledge that they have read the rules associated with requesting a degree review or state that they have done an initial review of their requirements before submitting this request. The title and content of the checkbox are editable. Multiple checkboxes can be added to initiate a workflow.
Auto-upload progress snapshot: When added, this will automatically attach a PDF of the student's academic audit. This field can't be edited or made optional—it is an automatic action when included. The auto-upload progress snapshot is only available at the initiation of workflow.
File Upload: This field allows the initiator to upload a file with the request. It is possible to edit the file’s title and descriptive text, and you can make the text field mandatory or optional for the person initiating the request. Only one file upload is permitted when initiating a workflow.
Custom Text Field: This field allows the initiator to add a free text to the request. It is possible to edit the file’s title and descriptive text here as well, and you can make the text field mandatory or optional for the person initiating the request. Multiple custom text fields can be added to initiate a workflow.
This is an overview of available fields:
7. Next, determine approvers for the workflow. Workflows can have an unlimited number of approval steps and each approval step can have unique action items for the request to be approved. Approvers can be a Primary Advisor, a user with permissions on the student’s record, or a member of a user group that also has the relevant permissions. A workflow must have at least one approval step in order to be published.
Each approval step offers the same customization options as were available in the initiator step: checkbox, auto upload, file upload, and text field. Some fields allow the response to remain hidden from students.
In the example below, this approver must:
Select a checkbox acknowledgement. This is a required step, and will be visible to students when they review the request.
Optionally upload a file, which is also visible to student in this example.
A text field, where additional information is required and visible to students.
8. The workflow creator can allow users to skip or reassign a step to another user. There are three options:
Reassign the next step: after making an approval decision at Step X, the approver can decide to route the request to someone else for the next step.
Reassign the current step: If a request shows up to an approver, but that approver feels someone else is more appropriate, they can re-route it to that person without making a decision themself.
Skip next step: An approver at each step can decide that the next step in the approval process is not needed. Stellic will consider the skipped step as if it was approved, and route the request to the following step. If the skipped step was the last step in a workflow, the request will be completed and approved.
9. The last step is determining whether the order of the steps will be enforced.
When selected, “Enforce order of steps” means that the workflow must proceed in a sequential fashion, where the first approver on the list must approve the request before it moves on to the next person. If the first person denies the request, the next person in the workflow will not receive a notification to review the request.
When the “Enforce order of steps” checkmark is not checked, the request will be sent to all reviewers simultaneously and the workflow will not require the steps to be completed in any specific order.
Publishing a Workflow
Once you are satisfied with all of your workflow steps, you need to Publish the workflow to make it visible to anyone eligible to initiate the request! Please ensure that you are ready to publish the workflow before clicking the button—once at least one request has been submitted to a workflow, you are no longer able to make edits to that workflow.
To publish a workflow, click on the blue "Publish" button at the top of the workflow page. Students who are eligible to start a request for the workflow will receive a notification that the workflow is available for requests. And that's it! Your workflow is now ready to receive requests!
For information on how to add students into the workflow, please visit our article on Initiating Requests.