How do I create a new counselor or instructor record?
Normally speaking a counselor record will be created by the administrator at the same time when their user account record is also created. However, you can also add counselors to the database that do not have access to Neoserra from the View|Counselor interface. However, keep in mind that in most cases there is a one-to-one correspondence between a counselor record and a user account record.
Instructors, who conduct your training events, can either be created within the counselor interface, or you can add a new instructor to your database directly on the training event record. "Instructors" are those individuals who are not performing any counseling activity and who do not have a user account to your Neoserra database. Usually instructors are outside consultants who have been invited to speak at one of your events. They will need to marked as "Instructors" in the "Resource Type" field. The "Instructor" designation means that these individuals will not be available for selection from the drop-down menus of any of the Counselor fields found throughout Neoserra.
Please refer to the FAQ titled: How do I create user and group accounts? to learn how you can set up a counselor record and user account at the same time. This FAQ only provides the steps required to set up a counselor record independent from a user account.
Creating Counselor/Instructor Records
Counselor records can be added as illustrated in the next set of steps:
- Click View|Counselors
- In the upper right hand corner of your screen, click New and then select Counselor:
- Enter the information for your counselor, as appropriate:
- Click Submit to save your changes.
- Next you will be asked to complete some additional information about the counselor. Only some of the additional fields require special attention:
- Resource Type: The resource type drop down list can be customized by your system administrator, but the "Instructor" type is the only one with special handing within Neoserra: As noted above, the instructors are individuals who will not be providing counseling services but who will be offering training services and thus will not be included in the counselor lists.
- External Scheduler: The external scheduler field is intended to include a URL that links to your online scheduling application such as Calendly or WhenWorks, Appoint.ly, SimplyBook.me, or any other third party application. You will need to enter the entire URL, including the http:// or https://, to include the link via a substitution variable in your email templates:
- Area(s) of Expertise and the Geographic Territory fields may or may not be configured for your database. Your Neoserra database administrator has the ability to configure these fields under the Pick List menu option under Configuration.
Once the counselor record has been created you can upload a picture of the counselor and add it to their record as described here.
Adding Instructors from the Training Event Record
You can add instructors to your system as discussed above, or you can add instructors directly from the training event record as discussed in the following steps:
- Click View|Training Events
- Select the event the instructor will be participating in
- In the right hand "Instructor" panel, click "New"
- Enter the first name and take note of potential duplicates in your database. If there is a duplicate then select it and avoid creating duplicates:
- Click "Save" to save your record.
Want more? Browse our extensive list of Neoserra FAQs.