Define Organization Levels in Aspen

Aspen offers you the flexibility to use multiple levels to manage your organizationClosed an entity that contains one or more schools and control the security of your system. You can define up to five organization levels for your school district or educational group in Aspen. Organizations can be set up within these levels. An organization is an entity that contains one or more schools. Users with access to an organization can view consolidated lists of students, staff, and other data across its schools.

The root organization is the top level organization which many groups call District. It is defined as Level 0. Users with access to this organization can view data from all sub-organizations (and, implicitly, all schools). Organizations defined below the root are called . Intermediate organizations are defined at Levels 1, 2, 3, and 4.

The default setting and name for the root organization is District. You can change this as needed to fit the configuration of your group.

Following are some examples of how districts and groups set up the Aspen organizations and instructions on how to define organization levels.

Example 1: Many small or medium-sized districts are set up with the following:

  • Root = District
  • Schools are attached to the District.

Example 2: Other districts are set up to match the three educational levels in the U.S.:

  • Root = District
  • 3 Intermediate Organizations Level 1 = Elementary School, Middle School, High School
  • Elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools are attached to their organization.

Example 3: Large regional districts can be set up to accommodate state-required reporting from each town within a regional district:

  • Root = Regional District.
  • Each town in the district is set up as an Intermediate Organization Level 1.

Example 4: Very large districts or other types of educational organizations with multiple regional locations can use four or five levels.

For example, an educational group that is based in the U.S. but runs schools internationally may might need several levels.

  • Root = Headquarters
  • Intermediate Organization Level 1 = Continents (or Areas) (North America, Europe, Asia)
  • Intermediate Organization Level 2 = Countries
  • Intermediate Organization Level 3 = School Districts

Note:  Individual schools can be attached to any level.

Details and preferences can be defined for the root organization and for Intermediate organizations. By default, sub-organizations inherit preference values set by their parent organization.

Note: In Aspen's online help,'District' is frequently used for the root organization, which is the default name of the organization. However, you can change the name of the root organization in the Admin tab > Organization Definitions > Details. You can also name all intermediate levels here. These names become the tab and view names.

To define organization levels:

  1. Log on to the District view.
  2. Click the Admin tab.
  3. Click the Organization Definitions side-tab.

    4. Level 0 is the root organization. Level 1 is Intermediate Level 1, and so on. Level 0 is enabled. To use subsequent levels, you must enable them.

    Note:  Levels must be enabled in sequence. You cannot enable a given level if the preceding level is disabled.
  1. Click the number of the level you want to edit. The level's details page appears:

  2. Type a Name for the level. This name appears on the tab and the view.
  3. Select the Enabled checkbox to use this level.
  4. Click Save.

Once levels are defined and enabled, you can create new intermediate organizations, define their details and set their preferences.