Creating and Managing Workflows

Administrators create workflows to coordinate multi-step processes, involving one or more users, from start to finish. A checklist allows all involved in the process to track progress. Workflows are made up of multiple phases.

After creating workflows (from the Admin tab, Workflows side-tab) and making them available to Aspen users, system administrators can manage them across the district. Users who participate in a workflow phase can also manage and access any phase they are responsible for on their Pages.

As an Aspen system administrator, you can use the following widgets to give users quick access to workflows they are associated with:

  • Tasks widget: Lets a user see and manage all of their phases across all workflows; can be used on the Home page, as well as class Pages.
  • Single Workflow widget: Lets a user see a single workflow definition, such as Contact Verification; can only be used on the Home page. Also, this type of widget must be configured by a system administrator before it can be used.

Workflows can be used in many areas of managing administrative processes in the school setting. Aspen helps you define the steps in the system and manage the process through:

  • preloaded default workflows
  • the ability to customize the default workflows to address your district's or school's needs
  • the ability to share (export) workflows with other districts and users
  • the ability to use (import) another district's or user's workflows

Workflows are frequently used in the Special Education view to help you track IEP referrals, renewals, re-evaluations, reviews, transfers, approvals, etc.

Example: Create a workflow for each IEP development process, such as referrals and renewals. Workflows determine the steps special education staff must complete to achieve the student’s status in the special education program.

When you initially enroll a student in the special education program, you complete steps on the checklist of the initial referral workflow, such as:

  1. Send consent form.
  2. Receive consent form.
  3. Administer tests.
  4. Schedule meeting.
  5. Hold meeting.
  6. Determine eligibility.
  7. Determine placement.
  8. Implement IEP.

Creating a new workflow in Aspen is comprised of these six steps:

  1. Define the details of the workflow.
  • Details consist of the workflow's:
    • Name
    • Description
    • Category it is associated with
  • You can disable the workflow in its details while you are creating it, and then when you are satisfied with it, go back to the workflow definition's detail and disable it.

  • Example:

    • Special education initial referral
    • Workflow used for the initial referral of a student for special education services
    • Special education
  1. Define the workflow phases and outcomes.
  • Specify the phases or steps that appear as items on the checklist, and also as tasks
  • on the Home page.

  • Example: A phase for the special education workflow is: Determine eligibility.

    Then determine the possible outcomes for each phase; and if needed, associate any forms to be completed when that outcome is selected. Each phase must have at least one outcome that either points to the workflow’s next phase, or marks the end of the workflow.

    The outcomes are:

    • Student is eligible; or
    • Student is not eligible.
  1. Define compliance rules for each workflow phase .

  2. If a phase must be completed within a specific time frame, create compliance rules to enforce due dates and track warnings and violations.

  1. Create workflow roles.

  2. Workflow roles are a way to group users eligible to participate in a workflow phase.

    Note: Security roles and individual users can also be used as participants.
  1. Specify the participants for each workflow phase.

  2. Participants are the users who are eligible to complete a workflow phase.

    Note: The participants you define for a workflow phase can complete that phase in the Tasks area on their Home page and also on the checklist. If you do not define participants for a phase, any user with access to the workflow can perform the task associated with that phase.
  1. Create forms and associate forms with workflow outcomes.

As you create or edit workflows, you can also create or edit forms that users must complete as they go through the workflow steps.