Hour Status Definitions

Draft
A student has saved (Save button) the information but has not submitted (Save and Submit button) the log for verification.

Pending
A student has submitted (Save and Submit button) their log (to an employer for their placement; to a parent/guardian and organization) but it has not been verified or declined yet.

NOTE: Students and teachers/coordinators can re-send the hour log as a reminder to verify hours by clicking the Save and Submit button again. Teachers/coordinators can also Decline a log to turn it back into a Draft log to re-submit for verification.

Declined
Student hours were declined by the placement supervisor or by a teacher/coordinator. Possible reasons: the information submitted by the student was not accurate, there was not enough detail, and/or the student forgot to mention a task or project.

Verified
Student hours were verified by placement supervisor or by their teacher/coordinator (Save and Approve button).

How do I add a Volunteer or Placement Opportunity/Position?

What is a position?

For work placements, this is the position of the student at placement (e.g. Automotive Assistant).

For community service, these positions represent volunteer opportunities (e.g. Food Bank Sorter).

Access the Positions / Opportunities section

1. Click  on the left toolbar

2. Search and select the desired employer, then click on the Positions  icon

Create Positions / Opportunities

3. On the Positions page, click the icon to create a new position, or select  to generate a pre-existing position

4. Fill out the following fields to create a position

  • General
    – *Position Name (Required)
    – Type (Placement or Volunteer)
    – Date Range
    – *Contact person (Required)
    – Address
    – Description (i.e Tasks and Activities)
    – Publication Dates
    – Mark the opportunity Published to keep private, or Published for all students to view. If you would like to learn more about Published and Public positions/opportunities, please click here

NOTE:

To learn more about Published and Public positions/opportunities, please click here

  • Expectations
  • Goal & Benefits
  • Qualifications & Training
  • Scheduling (add the time commitment duration, and timeslots for the position)
  • Demographics (Age, Gender, etc..)
  • Required Skills
  • Developed Skills (Which skills are developed in this opportunity?)
  • Once all the skills are filled out, click  to see how students view the position/opportunity

How do I add contacts to an Organization/Employer?

1. To add a new contact to an Organization/Employer, click the  button on the left toolbar

2. Click on the desired Organization/Employer’s name such as Canadian Tire, Best Buy, etc.

3. Select the Contacts button in the left toolbar under the icon

4. Click the button to add new supervisors to an Organization/Employer

5. A drop down will appear and you can begin to fill out all of the contact information

6. Once you have filled out the fields, click to finish creating the contact

How do I add new Organizations/Employers?

KEY INFORMATION

When adding a new Organization/Employer to Hour Republic, it is important that you fill in the following information. This information will show up for students when they track hours.

1. Organization/Employer name (eg. Best Buy, Walmart)
2. Contact name (i.e. Name of supervisor; make sure to include their email address)
3. Position name (i.e. the position of the student at placement such as Cashier or Kitchen Assistant)

LETS BEGIN ADDING AN EMPLOYER

1. To add a new Organization/Employer, click the  button on the left toolbar

2. Select theicon in the top right corner

GENERAL

1. Fill out the general fields including: Organization/Employer, sector, a description, website link, and School Board/Institution

2. Choose to add a start and end date the Organization/Employer is available

LOGO

1. Click the logo tab to add an image for the Organization/Employer

ADDRESS

1. Select the Address tab and fill out the following fields to generate a location

2. Once you have filled out the address, it will mark the location on a map

3. You can click ‘Remove Address’ to detach the location from the organization/employer or select ‘Add Address’ to create a new one

CONTACTS

1. Click the Contacts tab to add new supervisors to an Organization/Employer

2. Along the top of the Organization/Employer page you will find 3 icons
– Use this icon to add notes private/shared notes
–   Add attachments such as PDF, pictures, word documents
–   Create new positions by clicking the icon

POSITION

1. On the Positions page, click theicon to create a new position, or select  to generate a pre-existing position

2. Fill out the following fields to create a position

  • General
    – Position Name
    – Type (Placement or Volunteer)
    – Date Range
    – Contact person
    – Address
    – Description (i.e Tasks and Activities)
    – Publication Dates
    – Mark the opportunity Published to keep private, or Published for all students to view
  • Expectations
  • Goal & Benefits
  • Qualifications & Training
  • Scheduling
    – Add the time commitment
    – Duration (i.e. September-February or 3 months)
    – Daily timeslots for the position
  • Demographics (Age, Gender, etc..)
  • Required Skills
  • Developed Skills (Which skills are developed in this opportunity?)
  • Once all the skills are filled out, click  to see how students view the position/opportunity

How do students submit a Reflection/Journal?

Q: How Do I Submit a Reflection?

1. On the left toolbar, Click the  button

2. On the Reflection page, select  the  icon in the top right corner

3. Begin by selecting a topic from a list of Reflection topics available from your teacher/coordinator

4. Once you select a topic, the question and attachments added by your teacher/coordinator will appear

5. Use the Reflection/Journal box to answer the Reflection

6. Select to upload any documents, pictures or PDFs to your submission

7. Choose to Save and Approve or Save your response as draft.

How do Teachers/Coordinators add new Reflection/Journal topics?

Q: How do Teachers/Coordinators add new Reflection/Journal topics?

A: To begin adding a new topic, click   on the left toolbar

1. Click theicon in the corner

2. Enter a Topic name and Description

topic

3. Input the Start Date and End Date (the dates your students can view topics e.g. one week or over a period of 4 weeks).

4. Choose whether to add the topic as a School Reflection. Selecting this will allow for all teachers/coordinators at the school to access the topic

5. Add any attachments (i.e. PDF, Word Documents, Excel, Pictures, etc..)

6. To finish, select the  button in the top right corner

NOTE: Once the end date has passed, students will no longer be able to see the Reflection.

Q: How do I modify the order that students view Reflection/Journal topics?

A: To change the order of how students view the topic:

1. Click   on the left toolbar

2. Hold and drag the toggle icon in on the left hand side to rearrange a topic above or below another topic

3. This will automatically move the topic in place and save in the new order that you would like it to appear for students

Student Profiles

To begin managing students, click the  tab in the left toolbar

STUDENT LIST

1. Once students sign up, you will be able to view all your students on your dashboard. Teachers/coordinators are able to use the search bar and filters to sort how they see students

2. You can filter students by:

– Status (Active, Inactive, Pending)
– Semester
– Hour type (Extracurricular, Peer Tutor, Placement, Volunteer)
– Hour Status (Draft, Pending, Verified, Rejected)
– Classes (i.e. AM/PM classes, or streams)

3. Click any of the headers to sort the order of students (i.e. A-Z or Last Login)

4. Use the on the right side of the student row to email a student directly, or send them a password reset

STUDENT HOURS

1. Click anywhere along the student row to go to a specific student’s profile

2. On the student dashboard, teachers/coordinators are able to manage students individually

3. On the main dashboard, you can view the student’s progress bar, add hours for them, view their weekly logs and use the icons to manage the student’s profile.

STUDENT PROFILE

1. Click the  icon to manage a student profile

2. Under the General tab teachers/coordinators and students can edit/input basic information including:
– Name, Preferred Name, ID/OEN, School Board/Institution, School/Program, Parent/Guardian’s Email, Year Started, Email, Status, Semester, Sign Up Date, End Date, Associated Course, Username, Login Code

3. Click Profile Picture to upload a photo

4. Under the Demographics tab indicate the Student Type (i.e. Co-op, SHSM, Placement), Gender, DOB, Age Group, Keywords

5. Add Employers

6. Add Emergency Contact

7. Add Contacts

8. Add Addresses

9. Add Volunteer Interests

10. Add Career Interests

11. Add Classes

12. Add Settings (here is where you can set up the total number of hours for each progress bar)


Tip

Scroll down to the bottom of the General tab to see the username and email linked to the student’s account

ORGANIZATIONS/COMPANY

1. Click the  icon to manage student’s Employer/Company

2. To attach an Employer/Company to a student click thein the top right corner

3. Once you have chosen a Client from the drop-down, you can add the Start and End Date, Notes and Save.

TIP:

You must add Organizations/Employers first before assigning them to students. Click here for instructions.

AVAILABILITY

1. Click the  icon to manage a student’s Availability

2. Click thein the top right corner to begin

3. Under the General tab, add the Date Range of the student’s availability, mark whether the student is available during that date range, and add a description

4. Under the Time Slots tab, a teacher/coordinator or student can mark which days and times the student is available then save


NOTES

  • Click the  icon to add or manage Notes for a student
  • Select the in the top right corner to begin
  • Add a subject line, check off the Public box if you would like the student to also see the comment, add a note and click Save

ATTACHMENTS

1. Click the icon to add attachments to a student’s profile

2. Select the in the top right corner to begin

3. Upload the image or document you would like to attach and add a description (optional)

4. Click Save

REFLECTION/JOURNAL TOPICS

1. Click the  icon to add a Reflection

2. Select the in the top right corner to begin

3. Pick a Topic and a question and any attachments relating to the topic will appear

4. Fill in the Reflection/Journal Field

5. Once finished, Save or Save and Submit the Reflection

For more details on how to add a Reflection, Click here

ACHIEVEMENTS

1. Click the icon to add an Achievement such as First Aid Training

2. Select the in the top right corner to begin

3. Under the General tab, select the Achievement Type from the drop-down [or teachers can create their own by clicking ]. Next, fill in the name of the achievement (e.g. Safety Training Workshop) or use the default selected, the completion date, expiry date, and/or a description of the achievement.

4. Next, fill in the information on the Issuer’s name, email, and phone

5. Lastly, add attachments relevant to the achievement

6. Once finished, click Save.

How do I clear my cache in Chrome, Firefox and Microsoft Edge?

To speed things up and conserve communications bandwidth, browsers (e.g. Chrome, Firefox) attempt to keep local copies of pages, images, and other content you’ve visited, so that it does not need to be downloaded again later. Occasionally this caching scheme goes awry (e.g. the browser insists on showing out-of-date content) making it necessary to bypass the cache and force your browser to re-download a web page’s complete, up-to-date content.

➡️ Before proceeding with the steps below in your Settings, try pressing Ctrl+F5 to clear the cache on your page. Or, some browsers such as Chrome will automatically clear cache when the browser is closed (i.e. close all tabs & windows, then re-open Chrome). This could be all that is necessary to clear your browser's cache. If not, please review the other options below.

In Chrome

On your keyboard, press the Ctrl button and F5 key at the same time

or,

  1. On your computer, open Chrome.
  2. At the top right, click More More.
  3. Click More tools and then Clear browsing data.
  4. At the top, choose a time range. To delete everything, select All time.
  5. Next to “Cached images and files,” check the box.
  6. Click Clear data.
  7. Close Chrome completely (all tabs), and re-open Chrome again to notice the effects of clearing your cache.

NOTE: There is no need to check off the Cookies and Browsing History boxes when clearing our cache. That could remove saved content and passwords from your computer.

Reference: Google Account Help; Wikipedia

In Firefox

1. On your computer, open Firefox

2. Click on the  icon in the top right corner

3. Next, Select the Privacy & Security settings on the left side of the screen

4. Scroll down until you find the Cookies and Site Data then click on Clear Data

5. A menu will pop up with 2 options, make sure to uncheck the Cookies and Site Data option or else your saved login information will be deleted.

6. Select  then exit your settings, any changes you make are automatically saved

Reference: Support Mozilla

In Microsoft Edge

1. On your computer, open Microsoft Edge

2. Click on the … icon in the top right corner

3. Next, Select the Privacy, search, and services settings on the left side of the screen

4. Under Clear browsing data, select the  button

5. Set the Time Range to the desired setting

6. A pop-up menu will appear, uncheck Browsing history, Download history, and Cookies and other site data. Make sure Cached images and files is checked.

7. Click on the  button then exit your settings

Reference: Lifewire

e-Signature of Volunteer Hours

Students can obtain e-signatures for volunteer hours. Simply present your smart phone (or any device that has a touch screen), and your supervisor or parent/guardian can sign with their finger on the spot.

1. Add Hours button, volunteer hours (or, Edit for existing hours)

2. Complete volunteer hour and activity fields, and Save.

3. Select the Verify by Signature button near the bottom of a Draft or Pending log (select Edit link to view).
*Remember to check the box indicating that the hours are eligible and meet the school board’s community hour requirements

Verify by Signature button

4. Present the signature pad screen to your volunteer supervisor or parent/guardian.
They can sign off using their finger or a mouse (if it’s a touchscreen computer). Then, click Confirm.

Parent signature field

5. Volunteer hours will show as Verified Verified signature button

or Pending if you are still waiting for a signature Pending signature button

6. An email confirmation message will be shared with the person who verified the hours (volunteer supervisor or parent/guardian), indicating that they verified the hours on that day, with an image of their signature. They can edit the verification status if necessary.

NOTE: Students are still able to use the e-mail verification option if preferred [FAQ].