The Application Triggers feature provides a simplified way for an admin to manage an application from the moment it is created by an applicant through subsequent processes, such as the completion of requirements, submission, and the status change of the application. With the use of easy-to-build workflows, an admin is able to specify criteria that determines to whom an application is assigned when created as well as to whom automated notifications should be sent when other specific application-related actions occur.

With flexible notification settings that support the configuration of multiple notifications for a single application trigger, offices can choose to alert their recipients each time a trigger action occurs - or "bundle" a trigger's notifications in a daily digest.

Application Triggers is located in the "Configuration" menu of the Admin Console.

This article covers the following topics related to Application Triggers:

• Important Considerations
• Access & Permissions
• Understanding Application Triggers
• Notifications
• Logging of Activity
• The "Application Created" Trigger
• The "Application Submitted" Trigger
• The "Application Status Change" Trigger
• The "Application Requirements Submitted" Trigger
• The "Application in Review" Trigger
• The "Application Tagged" Trigger
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Video Instruction

 

Important Considerations

Before getting started using Application Triggers, note the following:

• Deleting an application trigger is not recorded within the software. Offices should determine their own respective practice for deleting triggers.
• Non-processed applications are not supported by application trigger notifications. This means that notifications will not be suppressed for these applications. 
• There is not currently a limit to the number of application triggers that can be created. 
• Application triggers can be used with any app cycles (i.e. process maps or rules).
• Sub-statuses are not supported at this time by the Application Status Change trigger. Selecting the condition of "Withdrawn" means that a notification will be sent any time there is a change of status regardless of which of the four "withdrawn" sub-statuses are selected (i.e. pre-decision, by staff, declined, didn't commit). 
• After an application has been created and assigned to a staff group or program contact role, it is not currently possible to un-assign that application.
• When using Program Contacts, eight hard-coded program contact roles are available as options. If you would like to create a custom role, then select "Other" and manually enter the name of the custom role in the "Type Role" field that follows. This is a required step. Custom roles should be entered consistently when used in the various program contact interfaces across your site. Failure to enter the custom "Other" role type consistently will likely result in notifications not being sent as expected. 
  • Example: If you need to create a custom program contact role of "Assistant Director", then select "Other" and enter "Assistant Director" into the subsequent field. The custom role of "Assistant Director" must be entered consistently across your site when used going forward. "ASST Director", "assistant director", and "Assistant Dir." are not the same custom role as "Assistant Director".
• An application trigger is not retroactive. This means that only applications that are created, submitted, have a status change or have a requirement submitted after the relevant application trigger is created will be affected by the trigger.
  • Example: Susie created an application for the program "Study in Brazil" on March 15. An admin created an application trigger on March 20 that both assigns all applications created for the program "Study in Brazil" and sends a notification to the "Advisor" program contact role. Susie's application will not be assigned to the program advisor, nor will the advisor receive a notification about Susie's application, because this application was created prior to the March 20 application trigger.

 

 

Access & Permissions

Application Triggers can be accessed as follows:

1) From the Admin Console, navigate to the "Configuration" menu.
2) Click on "Application Triggers". 

This feature is available for use by administrators with the following permissions:

• Staff Admin: Workflow (View)
• Staff Admin: Workflow (Add)
• Staff Admin: Workflow (Edit)

Application Triggers are available for viewing and editing by all staff with the relevant permissions and not only the individual who created them as an application trigger rule is global across the client account.

Tabs organize configurations for each type of trigger: 

• Application Created
• Application Submitted
• Application Status Change
• Application Requirement Submitted
• Application in Review
• Application Tagged

 

Each tabbed page includes a central "search by name" field and organizes information with columns (from left to right) as follows:

• Name: This is assigned by the admin during the configuration process.
• Status: Active (in use, designated by a fluorescent pink toggle) or Inactive (not in use).
• Notification: Labels of "Daily", "Immediate", or "Immediate & Daily" appear based on how notifications have been configured for a trigger.
• Last Modified: This column records the date and time of the last edit made.
• Action: Edit configurations or delete a trigger completely.

Paginated search results give the admin the ability to increase or limit the number of items which appear per page.

 

 

Understanding Application Triggers

An application trigger consists of one or more conditions that the admin defines in the trigger configuration process. When the defined conditions are met for a specified event, then a subsequent action or event takes place. This construct is known as an application trigger. 

Types of Triggers

There are different application-related actions for which an admin can create an application trigger:

• Application Created
• Application Submitted
• Application Status Change
• Application Requirement Submitted
• Application in Review
• Application Tagged

Configuration Logic

The configuration logic for each of these application-related actions that serve as the basis of an application trigger is as follows:

• Application Created: When an application is created that meets X condition(s), then the assigned action(s) should occur. This may include sending a notification to desired recipients. 
• Application Submitted: When an application is submitted that meets X condition(s), then the assigned action(s) should occur. This may include sending a notification to desired recipients.
  • The "Submit" button must be enabled for a program (via the "Application Lifecycle" tab in Program Wizard) in order to use this trigger type. 
• Application Status Change: When an application's status is changed that meets X condition(s), then the assigned action(s) should occur. This may include sending a notification to desired recipients. Possible condition configurations include:
  • A status is changed to X.
  • A status is changed from Y.
  • A status is changed from Y to X.
• Application Requirement Submitted: When an application requirement (i.e. material, signature document, learning content, assessment, or questionnaire) is completed or submitted (questionnaire responses only), then the assigned action(s) should occur. This may include sending a notification should to desired recipients.
  • This trigger type is for use with requirements that an applicant completes. Therefore, it is not possible to use this trigger with recommendation and reviewer forms. 
  • Requirements that are marked as "N/A" will not meet the condition of this trigger type.
• Application in Review: When an application that meets X condition(s) is marked as "Ready for Review", then the assigned action(s) should occur. These actions could be:
  • Kicking off a review workflow.
  • Assigned an application tag to the application.
    • The application tag would be added to the application at the same time that the review workflow is kicked off. It is not possible to use an application trigger to add an application tag after the full review workflow has been completed. 
• Application Tagged: When an application that meets X condition(s) has X tag applied, the assigned action(s) should occur. 
  Assigned actions could be: 
  
  • Remove another tag from the application. 
  • Set an Applicant Parameter Value. 
  • Send a notification to the applicant, program contact, staff groups, or a specific email address. 

Application Assignment

The "Application Created" trigger is based on the common need in many functional offices to automatically assign a program application to a relevant party after it has been created by an applicant. With this in mind, the "Application Created" trigger is unique in that it not only notifies a designed party that an application has been created, but it also assigns the application to a designated party.

Important Note: After an application has been assigned, it is not possible to modify that assignment. 

During the configuration process for the "Application Created" trigger, an admin will have the option to assign the application to the following:

• Staff Group
  
  • An application can be assigned to more than one staff group.
• Program Contact Role
  • An application can be assigned to more than one program contact role.
  • A program contact role must first be added to a program before being used in an Application Trigger. See the Program Contact Management article for details, including how to batch add a  contact to multiple programs.

From the Application Finder, an admin can use the "My Applications" filter to view a list of applications assigned to them and take action.

 

Phrase-Based Search

When configuring an application trigger and assigning a condition of "program", a search field will appear from which you can perform a phrase-based search. When using this search type, a group of words are entered into the search field without the use of quotation marks. The system reads this phrase as a single value (instead of as distinct keywords) and always returns results based on a match on the entire phrase entered.

 

 

Notifications

For each application trigger, an admin has the option to configure an electronic notification that is sent to recipients after the desired criteria is met for the respective trigger.

Notifications are configured by taking the following steps:

1) Select a notification recipient.

2) Select a notification type. 

3) Create a notification subject line and add the desired information/instructions to the respective WYSIWYG editor(s). Built-in support for mail merge fields gives admins additional options for configuring their email template and ultimately controlling the messaging being sent to recipients. 

4) Click the "+" icon to configure an additional notification for your application trigger, as desired. With this option, it is possible to create multiple notifications for the same trigger.

5) Click on "Save & Close" to preserve your changes. To delete a notification configuration, click on "Remove Notification".

 

Notifications are sent from the "Contact 1 Email" field which is configured under Settings > Account Info.

There are two types of notifications: "immediate" and "daily". 

Notification Type: Immediate

When the notification type of "immediate" is selected, then an email will be sent instantly to recipients after the conditions are met for a trigger. This action will take place every time the conditions of a trigger are met which might mean that a recipient will receive multiple emails in one day regarding notifications for a specific trigger.

One WYSIWYG editor will appear in which an admin can configure the message to be sent. Consider taking advantage of applicant and program parameter mail merge fields. 

Notification Type: Daily Digest

When the notification type of "daily digest" is selected, then only one daily email will be sent to the desired recipients in the form of a digest that collectively lists all notifications generated in a day for a respective application trigger. A task (for which the settings can not be changed) will run each morning, resulting in the digest email being sent at that time. If no applications met the conditions of the trigger for a day, then no digest email will be sent.

After the notification type of "daily digest" is selected, two WYSIWYG editors will appear from which admins will need to make configurations.

The "Daily Digest Header" WYSIWYG is a space to be used for creating an introductory message. This text will only appear once in the daily digest notification and will precede the listing of the digest results.

Important Note: The information entered into the Daily Digest Header "WYSIWYG" only appears once in the email notification sent. This means that mail merge fields will likely not be used here. For example, if a mail merge field of "Last Name" was entered, then the email notification would only display the "Last Name" of the first applicant who made the action which triggered the notification. 

 

Example:

The "Trigger Results Summary" WYSIWYG is where an admin will configure what information will appear for every line of results in the daily digest. This information will appear after the introductory message (configured in the Daily Digest Header) and will repeat line by line representing each notification that was generated for the respective trigger that day. Mail merge fields will likely be the primary option used.

Based on the two example images above for "Daily Digest Header" and "Trigger Results Summary", an email recipient would see results similar to the following:

 

 

Notification Recipients 

Notifications can be sent to any of the following recipients when the desired criteria is met for the respective trigger:

Applicant

• The applicant to be notified will be the applicant who has created the application.
• By default, only "immediate" notifications can be generated for an applicant. It is not possible to select the option of "daily digest" for an applicant.
• Application Trigger notifications sent to applicants are always immediate and do not work with the decision date in mind. This should be considered before configuring trigger notifications for applicants for the Application Status Change Trigger.

Email Addresses

• An admin can manually enter the desired email addresses for which the notification should be sent in the "Email Recipients" field.
• The admin sees all of the email addresses listed in the "To" line of the email configuration modal. However, each recipient only sees their respective name in the "To" line of the notification received.
• Email addresses must be separated by a comma with no space between email addresses.
• Example: Susie400@terradotta.com,Tina400@terradotta.com,Ralph400@terradotta.com
• This field has a maximum character limit of 250.

Program Contact Role

• The populated drop-down list that appears is hard-coded and cannot be edited by an admin at this time. Choose from "Program Director", "On-Site Contact", "Group Leader", "Advisor", "Emergency Contact", "Housing Contact", "Exchange Partner Contact", "Faculty Leader", or "Other". 
• Selecting "Other" populates a "Type Role" field. If your program uses a program contact role that does not appear in the list above, this option allows you to manually enter this program contact role for use with Application Triggers.  

Staff Group

• A populated drop-down menu appears from which an admin can select the desired staff group to notify.

 

 

Logging of Activity

When the following actions occur as part of an Application Trigger, the activity will be logged:

• Notification emails sent to an applicant are logged in the Email Logs. Admins can click a hyperlink of the Notification Subject line to view a copy of the email.
• Notification emails sent to admins or email addresses are logged in the Activity Logs. Admins can view that a "notification sent to X by Y trigger action" occurred.

• Applications assigned to admins as part of the Application Created Trigger are logged in the Activity Logs. Admins can view that an application has been assigned to a program contact or staff group by the trigger.

 

 

The "Application Created" Trigger

The "Application Created" trigger is based on the common need in many functional offices to automatically assign a program application to a relevant party once it's created by an applicant.

Important Notes:

• This is the only type of trigger with which an application can be assigned to a designated party. 
• Applicant parameters that are manually entered by applicants will not always work as a condition for the Application Created trigger types. This is because if a user has never logged into the site and selects Apply on a program, their application will be created before being prompted to log in and enter the applicant parameter. This results in the Application Trigger not firing because the applicant parameter is entered after the application is created. This is true even if an applicant parameter is configured to be required for application access.

To create an "Application Created" trigger:

1) Navigate to Admin Console > Application Triggers. By default, you will land on the "Application Created" tab.

2) Click on the "+" icon located in the bottom right corner of the interface. This will open an "Application Created Configuration" display.

3) In the field for "Title", assign your trigger a name. The suggested best practice is to use descriptors which reference the criteria and notification which will comprise your trigger.

Example: "Programs in Brazil Group: Assigned to Advisor and Notifying Advisor" or "Study at Sea Program: Assigned to Advisors Staff Group and Notifying Program Director".

4) From the step "1: Criteria", add the criteria, or condition(s), that an application must meet when created in order for this rule to apply. Click the "+" icon to view the available criteria. Options are:

• Applicant Parameter No Response: Select an applicant parameter. If there is not an assigned value for that parameter when the application is created, then the condition will be met.
  • You can select more than one applicant parameter, and "Or" logic will be used between each parameter. This means that if you have no response for at least one of the selected parameters, then the condition will be met. 
  • The following parameter types are not supported with this condition: Date, Number, and Type.
• Applicant Parameter Value: Select an applicant parameter, such as "Major", and the desired values for that parameter, such as "Biology" and "Mathematics". The applicant parameters and values listed are based on those configured on your site under Settings > Applicant Params. 
• Applicant Type: Select "Internal" or "External". If the trigger applies to both applicant types, then this condition should not be used as it only allows you to select one or the other, but not both.
• Country: A drop-down menu allows you to select one or more countries from the country lookup table. Locations added as "Other" will not be included as options. This condition is based on the itinerary record dates, not the program location. If these dates are not yet present, then the trigger action and notification will not take place when the application is created.
• Location: A "type-ahead" field allows you to find and select the name of one or more existing locations. This condition is based on the itinerary record dates, not the program location. If these dates are not yet present, then the trigger action and notification will not take place when the application is created.
• Program Group: A drop-down menu allows you to select one or more existing program groups.
• Program: A "type-ahead" field allows you to find and select the name of one or more existing programs.
• Term: A drop-down menu allows you to select one or more terms from your global program terms list (Settings > Terms).

After making your selections, click "Next" to continue.

5) From the "2: Actions" step, choose the desired action(s) which will occur when the conditions are met:

• Assign Application to Staff Groups: Select one or more existing staff groups to which an application meeting the specified conditions will be assigned once the application is created. 
• Assign Application to Program Contacts: Select one or more existing program contact roles to which an application meeting the specified conditions will be assigned once the application is created. 
• Add Application Tag: Select one or more tags that will be applied to the application which meets the specified conditions. 
• Set Applicant Parameter Value: Select up to one parameter and the desired value which should be automatically set for that parameter when an application is created that meets the specified conditions of the trigger.

After the Application Trigger has been saved, any application created going forward which meets the criteria of this trigger will be assigned to those indicated in this step. 

 

After making your selection, click "Next" to continue.

6) From the "3: Notification" step, designate to whom you want an electronic notification to be sent when an application meeting the specified criteria of this trigger is created. See the "Notifications" section of this article for configuration details. 

7) Review the "Status" toggle switch, located to the right of the "Title" field, which determines if the trigger is active (e.g. to be in use right away) or inactive.

Important Note: A trigger is set to "active" by default.

8) Click "Save & Close" to preserve your changes and close the display window.

The new trigger will now appear on the tab for "Application Created". Triggers will be alphabetized from A to Z by default but can be sorted to appear from Z to A by clicking on "Trigger Name". To delete a trigger, click on the corresponding trash icon in the "Action" column.

Example using "Application Created" Trigger

Here is an example scenario of what might take place after creating an Application Trigger for "Application Created".

Your Application Trigger has been created on March 15 and configured as follows:

1. Criteria: Program Group of "Programs in Brazil".
2. Action: Assign applications to Staff Group "Advisors".
3. Notification: Send immediate notification to Program Contact Role "Program Director".

With this in mind, the following situation takes place:

• Susie Mustang is a student who recently attended a Study Abroad fair and is very interested in studying away for a term. She wants to talk to the financial aid office to see what her options are before taking action.
• Thomas Wu is a member of the staff group "Advisors". 
• Renata Miller is listed as the "Program Director" under the Program Contacts section of the "Study in Brazil" program.
• Susie Mustang meets with her financial aid counselor and decides to go for it! She creates an application on March 20 for "Study in Brazil", a program that is part of the "Programs in the Brazil" program group.
• Renata Miller immediately receives an email on March 20 which notifies her that an application for the Study in Brazil program has been created. 
• Thomas Wu arrives back from lunch on March 20 and navigates to Admin Console > Application Finder. He selects the "My Applications" filter and sees Susie's application for the "Study in Brazil" program.

 

 

The "Application Submitted" Trigger

The "Application Submitted" trigger sends a notification to a designated party after an application is submitted that meets the specific criteria of a the related trigger.

Important Note:

• This trigger is not phase specific.
• The "Submit" button must be enabled for use with this trigger. 
• It is possible to automatically mark an application as ready for review upon submission with this trigger. Read more about using this feature as part of Reviewers Management.

To create an "Application Submitted" trigger:

1) Navigate to Admin Console > Application Triggers. Click on the "Application Submitted" tab at the top of the page.

2) Click on the "+" icon located in the bottom right corner of the interface. This will open an "Application Submitted Configuration" display.

3) In the field for "Title", assign your trigger a name. The suggested best practice is to use descriptors which reference the criteria and notification which will comprise your trigger.

Example: "Programs in Brazil Group Apps: Notifying Advisor" or "Study at Sea Program Apps: Notifying Program Director".

4) From the step "1: Criteria", add the criteria, or condition(s), that an application must meet when submitted in order for this rule to apply. Click the "+" icon to view the available criteria. Options are:

• Applicant Parameter No Response: Select an applicant parameter. If there is not an assigned value for that parameter when the application is submitted, then the condition will be met.
  • You can select more than one applicant parameter, and "Or" logic will be used between each parameter. This means that if you have no response for at least one of the selected parameters, then the condition will be met. 
  • The following parameter types are not supported with this condition: Date, Number, and Type.
• Applicant Parameter Value: Select an applicant parameter, such as "Major", and the desired values for that parameter, such as "Biology" and "Mathematics". The applicant parameters and values listed are based on those configured on your site under Settings > Applicant Params. 
• Applicant Type: Select "Internal" or "External". If the trigger applies to both applicant types, then this condition should not be used as it only allows you to select one or the other, but not both.
• Application Tag: Select one or more application tags.
• Phase: Select pre or post-decision.
• Program Group: A drop-down menu allows you to select one or more existing program groups.
• Program: A "type-ahead" field allows you to find and select the name of one or more existing programs.
• Term: A drop-down menu allows you to select one or more terms from your global program terms list (Settings > Terms).

After making your selections, click "Next" to continue.

5) From the "2: Actions" step, choose the desired action(s) which will occur when the conditions are met and the application has been submitted:

• Mark Ready for Review: An application will automatically be marked as ready for review.
  •  When an application is marked as ready for review and it meets the assigned conditions of an Application in Review Trigger, then your configured review workflow will kick off. Admins should be aware of the connection between these two actions. 
• Add Application Tag: Select one or more application tags. 
• Remove Application Tag: Select one or more application tags.
• Set Applicant Parameter Value: Select up to one parameter and the desired value which should be automatically set for that parameter.

 

 

6) After completing step "2: Actions", it is not required that you create a notification in step "3: Notifications" when used in conjunction with an Application in Review Trigger as part of Reviewers Management. Instead, the notifications configured for each Reviewer Role will be sent to the respective reviewers at the appropriate moment during the review workflow when an application is ready for that Reviewer Role to review.

Therefore, the required next step in "3: Notifications" would be to click "Next", then "Save & Close" to preserve your changes.

Regardless, if you would like to create a notification alert for someone other than your Reviewer Roles when an application is marked as Ready for Review after being submitted, then you can do so in step "3: Notifications". See the "Notifications" section of this article for configuration details. 

7) Click "Save & Close" to preserve your changes.

The new trigger will now appear on the tab for "Application Submitted". Triggers will be alphabetized from A to Z by default but can be sorted to appear from Z to A by clicking on "Trigger Name". To delete a trigger, click on the corresponding trash icon in the "Action" column.

Example using "Application Submitted" Trigger

Here is an example scenario of what might take place after creating an Application Trigger for "Application Submitted".

• Admin Joe wants to notify the program contact role of "Program Director" along with Advisor Thomas and himself (three individuals in total) when an application is submitted for the program "Study in Brazil". With this in mind, Admin Joe creates an "Application Submitted" Trigger on March 25 that is configured as follows:
  • When an application is submitted for the program "Study in Brazil", an immediate notification should go to the three individual email addresses entered into the field for "Email Address".
• Applicant Susie Mustang created an application on March 20 for the program "Study in Brazil".
• On March 30, Susie has completed all application requirements. When the "Submit" button appears at the top of her application page (in the Modern Applicant Experience), she clicks on it. Her application has officially been submitted.
• Three separate electronic notifications, all of which use the same email template configured for this trigger, are immediately sent to the following individuals: the program contact of "Program Director" for the program "Study in Brazil" - who is currently Renata Miller, Advisor Thomas, and Admin Joe. 

Two weeks later, the Program Director for the program "Study in Brazil", Renata Miller, changes to Sam Masterson. Admin Joe does not need to take action on his Application Trigger because the notification is based on the program contact role, not the individual person. Admin Joe only needs to ensure that the program contact information for this program gets updated using the Program Wizard.

 

 

The "Application Status Change" Trigger

The "Application Status Change" trigger sends a notification to a designated party after an application's status is changed that meets the specific criteria of the related trigger.

Important Considerations:

• Before configuring this trigger to send notifications to applicants, keep in mind that Application Trigger notifications do not work with the decision date. Trigger notifications configured for applicants are always sent immediately. 
• While statuses and status aliases are supported with the Application Status Trigger, sub-statuses are not supported at this time. Selecting the condition of "Withdrawn" means that a notification will be sent any time there is a change of status regardless of which of the four "withdrawn" sub-statuses are selected (i.e. pre-decision, by staff, declined, didn't commit). 
• In order for the Application Status Change Trigger to operate, you must select at least one condition of "Status Changed To" or "Status Changed From". It is NOT possible to use both conditions at the same time. 

To create an "Application Status Change" trigger:

1) Navigate to Admin Console > Application Triggers. Click on the "Application Status Change" tab at the top of the page.

2) Click on the "+" icon located in the bottom right corner of the interface. This will open an "Application Status Change Configuration" display.

3) In the field for "Title", assign your trigger a name. The suggested best practice is to use descriptors which reference the criteria and notification which will comprise your trigger.

Example: "Programs in Brazil Group_Apps Changing From Pending_Notifying Advisor" or "Study at Sea Program_Apps Changing to Committed_Notifying Program Director".

4) From the step "1: Criteria", add the criteria, or condition(s), that an application must meet when its status is changed in order for this rule to apply. Click the "+" icon to view the available criteria. Options are:

• Applicant Parameter No Response: Select an applicant parameter. If there is not an assigned value for that parameter when the application status is changed, then the condition will be met.
  • You can select more than one applicant parameter, and "Or" logic will be used between each parameter. This means that if you have no response for at least one of the selected parameters, then the condition will be met. 
  • The following parameter types are not supported with this condition: Date, Number, and Type.
• Applicant Parameter Value: Select an applicant parameter, such as "Major", and the desired values for that parameter, such as "Biology" and "Mathematics". The applicant parameters and values listed are based on those configured on your site under Settings > Applicant Params. 
• Applicant Type: Select "Internal" or "External". If the trigger applies to both applicant types, then this condition should not be used as it only allows you to select one or the other, but not both.
• Program Group: A drop-down menu allows you to select one or more existing program groups.
• Program: A "type-ahead" field allows you to find and select the name of one or more existing programs.
• Status Changed From: Select one or more status.
  • You can select more than one status, and "Or" logic will be used between each option.
• Status Changed To: Select one or more status.
  • You can select more than one status, and "Or" logic will be used between each option.
• Term: A drop-down menu allows you to select one or more terms from your global program terms list (Settings > Terms).

After making your selections, click "Next" to continue.

 

5) From the "2: Actions" step, choose the desired action(s) which will occur when the conditions are met and the application status has been changed:

• Add Application Tag: Select one or more application tags. 
• Remove Application Tag: Select one or more application tags.
• Set Applicant Parameter Value: Select up to one parameter and the desired value which should be automatically set for that parameter.

 

6) From the "3: Notification" step, designate to whom you want an electronic notification to be sent after an application's status is changed that meets the specified criteria of this trigger. Click the "+" icon to view the available options. See the "Notifications" section of this article for configuration details. 

7) Review the "Status" toggle switch, located to the right of the "Title" field, which determines if the trigger is active (e.g. to be in use right away) or inactive.

Important Note: A trigger is set to "active" by default.

8) Click "Save & Close" to preserve your changes and close the display window.

The new trigger will now appear on the tab for "Application Status Change". Triggers will be alphabetized from A to Z by default but can be sorted to appear from Z to A by clicking on "Trigger Name". To delete a trigger, click on the corresponding trash icon in the "Action" column.

Example using "Application Status Change" Trigger

Here is an example scenario of what might take place after creating an Application Trigger for "Application Status Change".

• Admin Joe wants to notify the program contact role of "Program Director" when any applicant commits to the program "Study in Brazil". With this in mind, Admin Joe creates an "Application Submitted" Trigger on March 25 that is configured as follows:
  • When an application for the program "Study in Brazil" has a status changed to "committed", then an immediate notification should go to the program contact role of "Program Director".
• Applicant Susie Mustang submitted an application on March 28 for the program "Study in Brazil".
• On March 29, an advisor reviewed Susie's application and changed its status from "pending" to "accepted".
• Susie is notified that her application has been accepted. She sees the commitment panel on her application home page (in the Modern Applicant Experience) and clicks on "Commit".
• An electronic notification is immediately sent to the email address of whoever is currently assigned the program contact role of "Program Director" for the program "Study in Brazil".

 

 

The "Application Requirement Submitted" Trigger

The "Application Requirement Submitted" trigger sends a notification to a designated party after an application requirement is completed that meets the specific criteria of the related trigger.

Important Note:

• This trigger type is for use with requirements that an applicant completes. Therefore, it is not possible to use this trigger with recommendation and reviewer forms. 
• Requirements that are marked as "N/A" will not meet the condition of this trigger type.

To create an "Application Requirement Submitted" trigger:

1) Navigate to Admin Console > Application Triggers. Click on the "Application Requirement Submitted" tab at the top of the page.

2) Click on the "+" icon located in the bottom right corner of the interface. This will open an "Application Requirement Submitted Configuration" display.

3) In the field for "Title", assign your trigger a name. The suggested best practice is to use descriptors which reference the criteria and notification which will comprise your trigger.

Example: "Programs in Brazil Group_Any Learning Content Submitted_Notifying Advisor" or "Study at Sea Program_Scholarship Questionnaire Submitted_Notifying Multiple Parties (Email)".

4) From the step "1: Criteria", add the criteria for an application and its requirements that must be true in order for this rule to apply. Click the "+" icon to view the available criteria.

Unique to this trigger is the ability to select specific application requirements that, when completed by the applicant, will set off the selected action(s) and/or automated notification.

Important Note: In order for the Application Requirement Submitted Trigger to operate, you must select at least one requirement, that when completed (and any additional assigned conditions are met), will result in any assigned actions and notifications to take place.

For each application requirement below, a drop-down menu appears which allows you to select more than one of each requirement type to include as part of your trigger as desired: 

• Assessment Completed
• Learning Content Completed
• Material Completed
• Question Response Submitted
• Questionnaire Completed
• Signature Document Completed

Important Note:

• If you select "Question Response Submitted", a drop-down menu will appear from which you first select your question item and then select the applicable question item response.
• Only the question item types of "Selection" (multiple or single) or "Yes or No" with no explanation are supported with the use of the "Question Response Submitted" condition. Only these question item types will display from the drop-down menu in step 1 of the configuration process. 

In addition to selecting a requirement, you may also choose from the following optional conditions to further define when the trigger:

• Applicant Parameter No Response: Select an applicant parameter. If there is not an assigned value for that parameter when the application requirement is submitted, then the condition will be met.
  • You can select more than one applicant parameter, and "Or" logic will be used between each parameter. This means that if you have no response for at least one of the selected parameters, then the condition will be met. 
  • The following parameter types are not supported with this condition: Date, Number, and Type.
• Applicant Parameter Value: Select an applicant parameter, such as "Major", and the desired values for that parameter, such as "Biology" and "Mathematics". The applicant parameters and values listed are based on those configured on your site under Settings > Applicant Params. 
• Applicant Type: Select "Internal" or "External". If the trigger applies to both applicant types, then this condition should not be used as it only allows you to select one or the other, but not both.
• Application Tag: Select one or more application tags.
• Program Group: A drop-down menu allows you to select one or more existing program groups.
• Program: A "type-ahead" field allows you to find and select the name of one or more existing programs.
• Term: A drop-down menu allows you to select one or more terms from your global program terms list (Settings > Terms).

After making your selections, click "Next" to continue.

5) From the "2: Actions" step, choose the desired action(s) which will occur when the conditions are met and the application requirement has been submitted:

• Add Application Tag: Select one or more application tags. 
• Remove Application Tag: Select one or more application tags.
• Set Applicant Parameter Value: Select up to one parameter and the desired value which should be automatically set for that parameter.

 

6) From the "3: Notification" step, designate to whom you want an electronic notification to be sent after the application requirement is completed that meets the specified criteria of this trigger. Click the "+" icon to view the available options. See the "Notifications" section of this article for configuration details. 

7) Review the "Status" toggle switch, located to the right of the "Title" field, which determines if the trigger is active (e.g. to be in use right away) or inactive.

Important Note: A trigger is set to "active" by default.

8) Click "Save & Close" to preserve your changes and close the display window.

The new trigger will now appear on the tab for "Application Requirement Submitted". Triggers will be alphabetized from A to Z by default but can be sorted to appear from Z to A by clicking on "Trigger Name". To delete a trigger, click on the corresponding trash icon in the "Action" column.

Important Notes:

• If more than one application requirement is included as part of the criteria in Step 1, then all requirements must first be completed by the applicant before an action will occur and a notification will be sent to the applicable parties. 
• It is possible for a notification to be sent twice. For example, an Application Trigger is configured to notify the advisor when the Travel Questionnaire is completed. An applicant completes the questionnaire (sending notification #1) only to have admin un-submit it. The applicant updates their responses and submits the questionnaire a second time (sending notification #2). The notification will use the same email template configured for this application trigger.  

Example using "Application Requirement Submitted" Trigger

Admin Joe wants to know when a scholarship questionnaire is completed by an applicant as only the first 10 applicants who submit the requested information will be considered for the scholarship (being offered by the Office of Student Affairs). On March 25, Admin Joe creates the following application trigger: when the "Scholarship Questionnaire" is completed by an applicant for the program "Study in Japan", then an immediate notification will be sent to the email addresses for Admin Joe, the Director of Student Affairs, and Advisor Thomas.

On March 28, Applicant Susie begins working on her application for the program "Study in Japan". She enters her responses for the "Scholarship Questionnaire" and clicks "Done" to complete this requirement. 

An email notification is immediately sent to Admin Joe, the Director of Student Affairs, and Advisor Thomas to inform them that Applicant Susie has completed the "Scholarship Questionnaire". Susie is the 9th applicant to provide the requested information for the scholarship.

 

The "Application in Review" Trigger

The Application in Review Trigger works in conjunction with the action of marking an application as "Ready for Review". After an application has been marked as "Ready for Review" (either manually or via the use of the Application Submitted Trigger) - and if the conditions of your Application in Review Trigger are met, then the assigned actions of your Application in Review Trigger will occur. These actions can be kicking off a review workflow and applying an application tag to the application.

After the full review workflow has been completed, then the trigger's notification will be sent to notify your recipients.

For full details on how to configure this trigger for use with Reviewers Management, read more here. 

 

The "Application Tagged" Trigger

The Application Tagged trigger allows admins to set up automated workflows based on the tagging of an application. When an application meeting the conditions of the trigger is tagged with a specific tag or one of a set of tags, the trigger can be configured to initiate one or several of the following actions:

• Remove another tag from the application. 
• Set an Applicant Parameter Value. 
• Send a notification to the applicant, program contact, staff groups, or a specific email address. 

To create an "Application Tagged" trigger:

1) Navigate to Admin Console > Application Triggers. Click on the "Application Tagged" tab at the top of the page.

2) Click on the "+" icon located in the bottom right corner of the interface. This will open the "Application Tagged Configuration" display: 

3) In the field for "Title," assign your trigger a name. 

4) From step "1: Conditions, add the criteria, or condition(s), that an application must meet when tagged for this rule to apply. Click the "+" icon to view the available criteria.

Condition Types Include:

Applicant Parameter No Response: Select an applicant parameter from the dropdown. If that parameter does not have an assigned value when the application is submitted, then the condition will be met.

Applicant Parameter Value: Select an applicant parameter, such as "Major," and the desired values for that parameter, such as "Biology" and "Mathematics." The applicant parameters and values listed are based on those configured on your site under Settings > Applicant Params. 

Applicant Type: Select "Internal" or "External". If the trigger applies to both applicant types, then this condition should not be used as it only allows you to select one or the other, but not both.

Applications Tags Assigned: Set the tag the application must have in order for this workflow to apply. Note that the logic used within conditions is OR logic; the application will only need to have one of the tags selected from the dropdown to meet this condition.

Important Note: At least one Applications Tags Assigned condition must be set for this trigger type. 

Phase: Select pre or post-decision.

Program: Select the name of one or more programs this trigger should apply to. 

Program Group: Select the name of one or more program groups this trigger should apply to. 

Term: Select the name of one or more application terms to which this trigger should apply. 

 

Note: Or logic is honored within a condition type. And logic is honored between condition types.

OR logic within a condition type means multiple possible scenarios are allowed for a condition to be met (just one condition within a condition type needs to be true).

AND logic between condition types means that the application must meet the trigger conditions by meeting at least one entry in each condition type. 

Example: In the screenshot below the application only needs one of the Application Tag Assigned conditions, but the application must also meet the Application Phase requirement for the trigger to apply. 

 

5) From the "2: Actions" step, choose the desired action(s) that will occur when the conditions are met and the application requirement has been submitted:

• Remove Application Tag:  Remove another tag from the application. 
• Set Applicant Parameter Value: Select up to one parameter and the desired value, which should be automatically set for that parameter.

6) From the "3: Notification" step, designate to whom you want an electronic notification to be sent after the application requirement is completed that meets the specified criteria of this trigger. Click the "+" icon to view the available options. See the "Notifications" section of this article for configuration details. 

 

7) Review the "Status" toggle switch, located to the right of the "Title" field, which determines if the trigger is active (e.g. to be in use right away) or inactive.

 

8) Click "Save & Close" to preserve your changes and close the display window. The new trigger will now appear on the tab for "Application Tagged".

 

Frequently Asked Questions

1. I've created an Application Trigger for use on my site. In order for this trigger to take action, does an application have to meet all of the conditions assigned to the trigger or just a few?

An application must meet all of the conditions assigned to a trigger in order to kick off the actions of that respective trigger. However, if the condition contains multiple values, then the application only needs to match one of the values of that condition.

Example I: An application trigger uses the condition of "Program Group". The program group that you've selected contains ten programs. The application only needs to be in one of these ten programs in order to meet this trigger condition. 

Example II: An application trigger uses the condition of "Program Group" and a condition of "Applicant Type". The program group contains ten programs, and the applicant type selected is "Internal". The application needs to be in one of these ten programs AND it must meet the condition of applicant type is internal in order to kick off the trigger action. 

2. Is it possible to change an application from one program to another and then use an Application Created Trigger for the "new" program application?

If you were to change an application from one program to another, this is considered a "change of program" action and not considered to be the creation of a "new" application. Therefore, the change of program would not trigger your configured actions/notifications to deploy with an Application Created Trigger. Additionally, there is currently not an Application Trigger for "Change of Program".

A suggested option now would be to change the program and then perform an action such as a batch change of status, if applicable. If you have an Application Status Change Trigger set up, then the change of status would trigger your configured actions/notifications to deploy.

 

 

Video Instruction

Webinar: Getting Started with Application Triggers (June 2020)