A path item is at the core of your path—the actual action that fulfills or partially fulfills a domain. These are the required/optional items that users complete to receive credit. There are 3 item types: Organization Membership, Event Attendance, and Self-Report. These items can also be grouped into Group Items for accomplishing alternate paths in a domain. Any number of items can be in one domain, as well as belong to more than one domain.
To create any type of path item, navigate to your Admin view, select the Paths dropdown, and select Items.
To find out how to create each type of path item, read below, or use the quick links to jump to a specific type of item.
- Creating a Self-Reported Item
- Creating a Event Attendance Item
- Creating a Organization Participation Item
- Creating a Group Item
Creating a Self-Reported Item
Self-Reported Items allow you to create path requirements that don't fit in the other two categories (event or organization participation). This would be things that Engage can't asses or measure on its own, such as "talking with a faculty member" or "attending 3 community events not hosted on Engage."
Select the Create Item drop-down menu and choose the Self-Report option.
Name, Description & Requirement Status
Enter a name, a short name if desired, and a public description for the Path directory. The public description will be shown on the Path directory, but is also visible to the student if they click the details link next to any Path item on the Path map page. Next, determine if the Path item is required or optional (Required is selected by default). Note that "optional" items are generally not truly optional, but provide flexibility in which items a participant completes in order to progress through the path. The number of required optional items per domain is configured in the path's domain settings.
Self-Report Options
Determine the type of self-report option you would like to enable for the item:
- Allow Participants to Self-Report Completion of This Item: Allows the participant to personally mark the item complete, optionally requiring a reflection. Reflections are not available in any exports or reports, but do show on the Co-Curricular Path Progress Report.
- Allow Participants to Complete using the Self-Reported Experiences Tool: The student must submit an experience from your campus' Experience Type list and choose to associate it with this path item. Experiences can optionally require administrator approval and can be exported in bulk reports. The student will be able to submit a new experience directly from viewing the path, or they can review their existing Experiences through their User Drawer and modify one to associate it with the path.
Path Progress Report Description Settings
Below that, you can enter a default description for the Path progress report. This description is exclusively shown on the Path progress report. Select one of the description options: If the nature of the Path Item is one that would require students to give a personal account of what they did to fulfill the intended requirements behind the Path item, then it is advised that you allow them to edit the description; however, in cases where completing the Path item represents a very specific task, perhaps of an administrative nature, then it may be best to keep a standardized description for all students' Path progress reports. If you do not plan on utilizing the Co-Curricular Path Progress Report on your campus, you can leave this section blank.
Reflection Settings
Enter instructions for participant self-reflection. This is only recommended for "Self-Report Completion" items as Self-Reported Experiences have a separate reflection area that can be exported. The instructions are intended for the administrators to provide specific details on what they want the student to reflect upon related to the Path item. You can also choose to make the reflection required for completion. This option will force the student to enter some amount of text into their self-reflection input box before they will get credit for completing the Path item.
Item Assignment
Under the path item assignment section, select the Path to which this item should be assigned, as well as the domain(s) and category (or categories) to which you wish to assign the item. A Path Item can be assigned to as many domains or have as many categories as you wish, but only to one Path.
Additional Information
If you choose, under the Additional Information section, enter a contact name, contact e-mail, and/or other additional information. The purpose of these fields is to provide the student with a contact or details on how they can get help, assistance, more information, or ask questions about the item. This information is shown on the pop-up window displayed when the student clicks on the details link for the item.
When you're finished, hit Create to complete your item!
Creating an Event Attendance Item
Event Attendance Path Items allow you to set requirements for students to receive credit based on their attendance at certain events within your community. The qualifications within this path item can be based on Event Name (a particular event instance), Event Category (events within a particular category), or Sponsoring Organization (events from a certain organization). To receive credit, the user must attend an event based on one of those three qualifiers.
Whichever criteria you choose, that qualification must be created before you create the Event Attendance Item. This means that if you are using "Event Name," that specific event must already be posted and published in order to be connected to the item. If you are using "Event Category," the corresponding event category must have already been created. Lastly, if using "Sponsoring Organization," that organization must already exist before you start.
Select the Create Item drop-down menu and choose the Event Attendance option.
Name, Description & Requirement Status
Enter a name, a short name if desired, and a public description for the Path directory. The public description will be shown on the Path directory, but is also visible to the student if they click the details link next to any Path item on the Path map page. Next, determine if the Path item is required or optional (Required is selected by default). Note that "optional" items are generally not truly optional, but provide flexibility in which items a participant completes in order to progress through the path. The number of required optional items per domain is configured in the path's domain settings.
Self-Report Options
Next, you can choose if you would like to allow participants to self-report their completion of the item. This means that a participant can gain credit in this item either by attending a qualifying event or by marking the item as complete/submitting a self-reported experience. Should you choose to enable this option, follow the same instructions as as within the Self-Reported Item section above to determine which of the two available self-report types is right for your item.
Path Progress Report Description Settings
Below that, you can enter a default description for the Path progress report. This description is exclusively shown on the Path progress report. Select one of the description options: If the nature of the Path Item is one that would require students to give a personal account of what they did to fulfill the intended requirements behind the Path item, then it is advised that you allow them to edit the description; however, in cases where completing the Path item represents a very specific task, perhaps of an administrative nature, then it may be best to keep a standardized description for all students' Path progress reports. If you do not plan on utilizing the Co-Curricular Path Progress Report on your campus, you can leave this section blank.
Reflection Settings
Optionally require a reflection within this item. Enabling this requirement means that a participant who attends a qualifying event will only have partial credit until they have also submitted a reflection for the item. Partial credit is not included in calculating a participant's overall progress, but does display to the participant when reviewing their own path progress. These reflections appear on the participant's Co-Curricular Paths Progress Report and are not otherwise exportable. If enabling, enter instructions for participant self-reflection. The instructions are intended for the administrators to provide specific details on what they want the student to reflect upon related to the item.
Item Assignment
Under the path item assignment section, select the Path to which this item should be assigned, as well as the domain(s) and category (or categories) to which you wish to assign the item. A Path Item can be assigned to as many domains or have as many categories as you wish, but only to one Path.
Participant Completion Criteria
Next, determine the participation completion criteria of the item. Set the conditions of the item by toggling between Any and All. All will require attendance of every criteria specified, while Any refers to attending at least one of the criteria specified. Enter the number of events that need to be attended and select if the criteria for this item will be a specific event, any event that falls within a specific category, or any event that falls under a sponsoring organization. You can add additional criteria as necessary by clicking +Add Criteria.
Remember that all criteria you combine under the item will add up to be worth just one item. In the example above, a participant can attend one Cultural Event or one event hosted by the Center for Civic Engagement. If instead "All" had been selected, a participant with no other path progress who attended one Cultural event but not an event hosted by the Center for Civic Engagement would show as 0% progress.
Additional Information
If you choose, under the Additional Information section, enter a contact name, contact e-mail, and/or other additional information. The purpose of these fields is to provide the student with a contact or details on how they can get help, assistance, more information, or ask questions about the item. This information is shown on the pop-up window displayed when the student clicks on the details link for the item.
When you're finished, hit Create to complete your item!
Creating a Organization Participation Item
Organization Participation Path Items allow you to set requirements for students to receive credit based on their active or past organization membership participation. The qualifications within this item can be based on the Organization Name, Organization Category or Organization Type. To receive credit, the user must become a member of an organization based on one of those three qualifiers.
Select the Create Item drop-down menu and choose the Organization Participation option.
Whichever criteria you choose, that qualification must be created before you create the Organization Participation Item. This means that if you are using "Organization Name," that specific organization must already exist in order to be connected to the item. If you are using "Organization Category," the corresponding category must have already been created. Lastly, if using "Organization Type," that organization type must already exist before you start.
Name, Description & Requirement Status
Enter a name, a short name if desired, and a public description for the Path directory. The public description will be shown on the Path directory, but is also visible to the student if they click the details link next to any Path item on the Path map page. Next, determine if the Path item is required or optional (Required is selected by default). Note that "optional" items are generally not truly optional, but provide flexibility in which items a participant completes in order to progress through the path. The number of required optional items per domain is configured in the path's domain settings.
Self-Report Options
Next, you can choose if you would like to allow participants to self-report their completion of the item. This means that a participant can gain credit in this item either through membership in a qualifying organization or by marking the item as complete/submitting a self-reported experience. Should you choose to enable this option, follow the same instructions as as within the Self-Reported Item section above to determine which of the two available self-report types is right for your item.
Path Progress Report Description Settings
Below that, you can enter a default description for the Path progress report. This description is exclusively shown on the Path progress report. Select one of the description options: If the nature of the Path Item is one that would require students to give a personal account of what they did to fulfill the intended requirements behind the Path item, then it is advised that you allow them to edit the description; however, in cases where completing the Path item represents a very specific task, perhaps of an administrative nature, then it may be best to keep a standardized description for all students' Path progress reports. If you do not plan on utilizing the Co-Curricular Path Progress Report on your campus, you can leave this section blank.
Reflection Settings
Optionally require a reflection within this item. Enabling this requirement means that a participant who is a member of a qualifying organization will only have partial credit until they have also submitted a reflection for the item. Partial credit is not included in calculating a participant's overall progress, but does display to the participant when reviewing their own path progress. These reflections appear on the participant's Co-Curricular Paths Progress Report and are not otherwise exportable. If enabling, enter instructions for participant self-reflection. The instructions are intended for the administrators to provide specific details on what they want the student to reflect upon related to the item.
Item Assignment
Under the path item assignment section, select the Path to which this item should be assigned, as well as the domain(s) and category (or categories) to which you wish to assign the item. A Path Item can be assigned to as many domains or have as many categories as you wish, but only to one Path.
Participant Completion Criteria
Next, determine the participation completion criteria of the item. Set the conditions of the items by toggling between Any and All. All will require a membership in every organization specified, while Any refers to holding at least one of the organizations specified. Enter the number of memberships required and specify if the membership needs to one that they currently hold, or if a past membership within the criteria will count toward completion. Finally, determine if the criteria for this item will be a specific organization, any organization that falls within a specific category, or any organization that falls under a specific organization type. You can add additional criteria as necessary by clicking +Add Criteria.
Additional Information
If you choose, under the Additional Information section, enter a contact name, contact e-mail, and/or other additional information. The purpose of these fields is to provide the student with a contact or details on how they can get help, assistance, more information, or ask questions about the item. This information is shown on the pop-up window displayed when the student clicks on the details link for the item.
Creating a Group Item
A Group Item allows you to select several different items of different item types and group them together. The items to be grouped must already exist before beginning the process of creating a Group Item. Group items could be used to create multiple different paths within one domain, or to showcase multiple options for one item. With a Group Item, you can also specify exactly how many individual items from that group need to be completed to fulfill it. Group items will count as just one item in the path, so if the group's criteria require multiple items to be complete in order to fulfill the item, participants must complete all of those items before their progress will increase.
The grouping feature allows you to create options for students, allowing them multiple paths to complete the same domain or item requirements. For example, you might say that one domain is complete when a student completes either "three items in group A" or "four items in group B." Group Items allows you to accomplish these alternate paths.
Select the Create Item drop-down menu and choose the Group option.
Name, Description & Requirement Status
Enter a name, a short name if desired, and a public description for the Path directory. The public description will be shown on the directory, but is also visible to the student if they click the details link next to any Path item on the Path map page. Next, determine if the item is required or optional (Required is selected by default). Note that "optional" items are generally not truly optional, but provide flexibility in which items a participant completes in order to progress through the path. The number of required optional items per domain is configured in the path's domain settings.
Self-Report Options
Next, you can choose if you would like to allow participants to self-report their completion of the item. This means that a participant can gain credit in this item either by completing the sub-items in the group or by marking the group item as complete/submitting a self-reported experience. Should you choose to enable this option, follow the same instructions as as within the Self-Reported Item section above to determine which of the two available self-report types is right for your item.
Path Progress Report Description Settings
Below that, you can enter a default description for the Path progress report. This description is exclusively shown on the Path progress report. Select one of the description options: If the nature of the Path Item is one that would require students to give a personal account of what they did to fulfill the intended requirements behind the Path item, then it is advised that you allow them to edit the description; however, in cases where completing the Path item represents a very specific task, perhaps of an administrative nature, then it may be best to keep a standardized description for all students' Path progress reports. If you do not plan on utilizing the Co-Curricular Path Progress Report on your campus, you can leave this section blank.
Reflection Settings
Optionally require a reflection within this item. Enabling this requirement means that a participant who has completed the corresponding sub-items will only have partial credit until they have also submitted a reflection for the group item. Partial credit is not included in calculating a participant's overall progress, but does display to the participant when reviewing their own path progress. These reflections appear on the participant's Co-Curricular Paths Progress Report and are not otherwise exportable. If enabling, enter instructions for participant self-reflection. The instructions are intended for the administrators to provide specific details on what they want the student to reflect upon related to the item.
Item Assignment
Under the path item assignment section, select the Path to which this item should be assigned, as well as the domain(s) and category (or categories) to which you wish to assign the item. A Path Item can be assigned to as many domains or have as many categories as you wish, but only to one Path.
Participant Completion Criteria
Next, determine the Participation Completion Criteria of the item. Choose whether all items under the group should be complete to mark the group complete, or if only a certain number of items within the group need to be completed for the group to mark complete. Then, specify the path items to be included in the group. Once you've added an item, you can click and drag to rearrange their display order, or click the red "X" to remove it from the list.
Additional Information
If you choose, under the Additional Information section, enter a contact name, contact e-mail, and/or other additional information. The purpose of these fields is to provide the student with a contact or details on how they can get help, assistance, more information, or ask questions about the item. This information is shown on the pop-up window displayed when the student clicks on the details link for the item.
When you're finished, hit Create to complete your item! For a group item, be sure to double check your domain settings after creating the group item. If any of the items you included in the group were also attached to the domain, you should remove those items from the domain to avoid them double-counting in the path, unless that is your intent.