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Task: Here we will discuss the differences between Notes and Appointment Summaries in Navigate.
Instructions:
There are many benefits to documenting all student interactions in the platform, including:
- To create an electronic student record that is accessible by other staff or faculty on your campus,
- To allow for enhanced collaboration between those interacting with the student,
- To provide a more holistic view of how that student is navigating their college experience, and
- To allow for robust reporting on all interactions with your students.
Any faculty or staff member will only be able to view documentation in which they have the proper permissions, either by Care Unit or assigned students.
NOTE - Any information you enter into the platform pertaining to a student becomes a part of their official student record and may be subpoenaed by that student, as outlined in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
Methods of Adding Information to Navigate
There are two primary documentation methods available in Navigate -- Appointment Summary Reports and Notes. The type of student interaction will dictate the appropriate method for documentation. If you are documenting a student appointment (either scheduled, walk-in, or no show), you should use Appointment Summary Reports. If you are uploading a document to a student profile, or leaving a general comment, you should use Notes. Additional information on each type of documentation is included below.
Appointment Summary Reports
Summary reports allow you to document information pertaining to a specific student appointment, whether the appointment was scheduled, a walk-in, or the student was a no show. Most institutions require that all scheduled appointments have a documented Summary Report filed. Appointment Summary Reports are configured and restricted by Care Unit.
What Information Is Included?
Appointment Summary Reports should only include information related to that specific appointment. Within an Appointment Summary Report, you can include the following information:
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Association with an Appointment Campaign
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Care Unit, Location, Service, and Course
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Meeting Type
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Date of Visit, Beginning and End Times
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Attendance
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Suggested Follow up
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Appointment Summary (free text)
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Responses to Care Unit-specific Questions
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Attachments
Scheduled Appointments: The easiest way to add an Appointment Summary for a past scheduled appointment is to access your appointments section from your staff home page. On your Staff homepage, under the "Students" tab, scroll down and find your Recent Appointments. From this section, you can click on a student and select "Add Appointment Summary" from the Actions drop down. You can also access this section from the "Upcoming Appointments" tab of your homepage.
NOTE -- It is important to always create Appointment Summary Reports from the scheduled appointment itself, rather than ad-hoc, to ensure the Summary Report is tied to that specific appointment.
Walk-in Appointments: There are several different ways to create an ad-hoc Appointment Summary Report for walk-in appointments -- you will notice that "Create Appointment Summary" is an option in the Actions dropdown bar throughout the platform. The easiest way to create an ad hoc Appointment Summary Report for a walk-in appointment is from your staff homepage or a student profile.
Staff homepage, under the "Students" tab, find the specific student in your "My Assigned Students" section, or click the drop down to find the student from one of your saved Lists. From this section, you can click on a student and select "Create Appointment Summary" from the Actions drop down. This will create an Appointment Summary and add that appointment to your calendar in the past.
Student’s profile page, You can also create an ad-hoc Appointment Summary Report from a student’s profile page. Navigate to that specific student’s profile and click "Report on Appointment" from the Actions menu on the right. This will create an Appointment Summary and add that appointment to your calendar in the past.
NOTE-- When creating an ad-hoc Appointment Summary Report to track walk-in appointments, the Navigate platform will create the relevant appointment on your calendar for the date and time you selected in the past. Creating that appointment helps our system keep track of all appointments happening with students, regardless of whether they were scheduled or walk-ins. If you sync your professional calendar to the Navigate platform, this appointment created in the past will also sync to that calendar.
Notes
Notes offer an additional mechanism to jot down information about a student, collaborate across Care Units, and create a record of information provided directly to the student. Because of their flexibility, institutions take advantage of notes in a variety of ways. Some institutions view the capability as a "sticky note," and allow faculty and staff to document any important information that should be visible to anyone working with the student. Other institutions use notes to track very specific information about students, such as their degree plans. In these scenarios, faculty and staff can attach the student’s degree plan directly to the note, make the note visible to the student, and label the note with a searchable Note Reason, such as "Academic Planning" (note reasons vary depending on configurations). Notes are not restricted to specific Care Units, nor tied to student appointments -- therefore, they are accessible to any staff or faculty in the platform who have permission to view Notes.
What Information Is Included?
Notes should only contain general information related to that student, possibly documentation. No information specific to an appointment should be included in a Note -- please enter that information into an Appointment Summary Report instead. Within a Note, you can include the following information:
How Do I Create This Documentation?
There are several different ways to create Notes -- you will notice that "Note" is an option in the Actions dropdown bar throughout the platform. The easiest way to create a Note is from your staff homepage or a student profile. On your Staff homepage, under the "Students" tab, find the specific student in your "My Assigned Students" section, or click the drop down to find the student from one of your saved Lists. From this section, you can click on a student and select "Note" from the Actions drop down.
You can also create a Note from a student’s profile page. Navigate to that specific student’s profile and click "Add a Note on this Student" from the Actions menu on the right.
NOTE-- Notes are not restricted by Care Unit. Anyone with permission to view Notes and to view the specific student information will be able to view your notes.
FAQ
Are summary reports and notes part of a student’s official record and subject to restrictions under FERPA and local privacy laws?
Yes! Any information you enter into the platform pertaining to a student becomes a part of their official student record and may be subpoenaed by that student, as outlined in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Please consult with your Application Administrator for institution-specific guidelines about what information to include (and not include) in summary reports and notes.
If I mark a note as private, who can view that note?
A note marked as private is not visible to anyone in the platform other than you. However, it is still part of the student’s official educational record and therefore included within any student requests for their records. Please be mindful of the information you include within your private notes.
Outcome:
This will help understand the difference between adding information into the system as a note or an Appointment Summary.
Need additional help?
Please fill out the EAB (Navigate) web form with as much information as possible, or contact the Technology Help Desk on your local campus.
For additional Training please visit the TLT Docs & Training site.