Creating Enrollment Materials

Materials are documents stored in Slate. In Student Success, materials can collect and manage documents connected to a student's enrollment, academic term, program, or student experience.

Use an enrollment material when a document belongs to a specific enrollment context. Enrollment-scoped materials are useful when the same type of document can be collected more than once and each submitted version must stay connected to a different term, program, placement, or experience.

Common examples include:

A Financial Responsibility Agreement collected each term.
A Study Abroad Course Approval form for a specific study abroad program.
A Clinical Clearance document for a particular placement.

In each example, the material type can remain the same, while the submitted document belongs to a specific enrollment context.

🏗️ Feature under development
Please note that Enrollments is under active development, with new features being rolled out over time. Check What’s New for release notes.

When to use enrollment-scoped materials

Use enrollment-scoped materials when the document should be associated with a particular academic term, program, cohort, placement, or student experience.

Example material	Why enrollment scope can apply
Financial Responsibility Agreement	The agreement can be collected each term.
Registration Clearance Document	The document applies to a specific registration period.
Academic Plan	The plan can change by term or academic year.
Study Abroad Course Approval	The approval applies to a specific study abroad term or program.
Study Abroad Travel Itinerary	The itinerary applies to a specific trip or program.
Internship Agreement	The agreement applies to a specific internship term.
Clinical Clearance	The clearance can apply to a specific placement or semester.
Athletic Eligibility Form	Eligibility can be reviewed each term.
Graduation Review Attachment	The document can relate to a specific expected completion term.

Planning question: Should this document be saved with a specific enrollment, or should it follow the student generally?

If the document belongs to the student overall, a person-scoped material can be more appropriate. If the document belongs to a specific term, program, or enrollment experience, use enrollment scope.

Before creating materials

Before creating material types, identify the documents that students or staff upload, review, or use as checklist fulfillments.

For each document, determine the following information:

Material name: The name staff see in Slate.
Scope: Whether the material should be person-scoped or enrollment-scoped.
Student upload label: The label students see if they upload the material through a portal.
Access: Whether the material is available for student upload or admin-only use.
Owning office: The office responsible for reviewing or managing the document.
Checklist use: Whether the material fulfills an Enrollment Checklist item.
Permissions: Whether access should be limited because the document contains sensitive information.
Export values: Whether the material needs values for an import, export, integration, or report.

This planning step helps prevent duplicate material types and ensures that materials are created with the correct scope before checklist items are configured.

Creating an enrollment-scoped material

To create an enrollment-scoped material:

Go to Database -> Materials.
Select Insert.
Configure the material settings.
Set the appropriate Scope for the material.
Select Save.

The exact settings available can vary by database configuration. The following sections summarize fields commonly reviewed when creating Student Success materials.

Material settings

Status

The Status setting determines whether the material type is available for use.

Set the material to Active when staff or students should be able to use it. Inactive materials can remain in Slate for historical purposes, but they are generally not used for new uploads or new configuration.

Key

The Key is the internal value Slate uses for the material type. Use a short, consistent key with no spaces.

Material name	Suggested key
Financial Responsibility Agreement	`fin_resp_agreement`
Study Abroad Course Approval	`sa_course_approval`
Travel Itinerary	`travel_it`
Internship Agreement	`internship_agreement`
Clinical Clearance	`clinical_clear`
Academic Plan	`academic_plan`

Rules, exports, imports, queries, and integrations can reference material keys, so choose values that are short and consistent.

Name

The Name is the material name staff see in Slate. Use a clear name that describes the document and its purpose.

Examples include:

Financial Responsibility Agreement
Study Abroad Course Approval
Study Abroad Travel Itinerary
Internship Agreement
Clinical Clearance
Graduation Review Attachment

For student-facing materials, avoid internal shorthand that can confuse students.

Scope

The Scope determines the type of record the material can be associated with.

For materials tied to a specific enrollment, select the enrollment-related scope available in the database. Use enrollment scope when the material should be saved with a specific academic term, program, cohort, placement, or enrollment experience.

Scenario	Recommended scope
A student submits the same agreement each term.	Enrollment
A document applies to one study abroad program.	Enrollment
A clinical clearance applies to one placement or semester.	Enrollment
An internship agreement applies to a specific internship term.	Enrollment
A general document applies to the student overall.	Person

Choosing the correct scope is important because scope affects uploads, display, reporting, and checklist fulfillment.

Access

The Access setting determines whether a material is available only to administrative users or can also be uploaded by students through a student-facing experience.

Use Admin Only when the document should be uploaded or managed only by staff. Use Available for upload through student self-service website when students should be able to upload the material through a portal or self-service process.

Material	Possible access
Internal graduation review attachment	Admin Only
Staff-reviewed clinical clearance	Admin Only or student upload, depending on process
Study abroad passport copy	Student upload
Travel itinerary	Student upload
Internship agreement	Student upload
Financial responsibility agreement	Student upload or generated through a form process

Student upload label

The Student Upload Label controls how the material appears to students when the material is available for student upload. Use clear, action-oriented language.

Internal material name	Suggested student upload label
Study Abroad Passport Copy	Upload a copy of your passport
Study Abroad Course Approval	Upload your approved course plan
Travel Itinerary	Upload your travel itinerary
Internship Agreement	Upload your signed internship agreement
Clinical Clearance	Upload your clinical clearance document
Financial Responsibility Agreement	Upload your signed financial responsibility agreement

Clear labels help students understand what to provide and reduce incomplete or incorrect uploads.

Student upload restriction

The Student Upload Restriction setting can limit a material upload option to a specific population. For enrollment processes, restrictions help ensure that students see only the upload options that apply to their enrollment.

Population	Upload options shown
Study abroad students	Passport copy, visa documentation, travel itinerary, course approval
Clinical placement students	Clinical clearance, site agreement, compliance documentation
Internship students	Internship agreement, employer confirmation, evaluation form
Graduation candidates	Graduation review attachment or supporting documentation

Use restrictions when a student-facing upload option should not be available to every student.

Checklist display label

The Checklist Display Label controls how the material appears in a checklist context. If the material fulfills an Enrollment Checklist item, use a label that matches or closely aligns with the checklist item language.

Material name	Checklist display label
Study Abroad Passport Copy	Passport Uploaded
Travel Itinerary	Travel Itinerary Submitted
Internship Agreement	Internship Agreement Submitted
Clinical Clearance	Clinical Clearance Complete
Financial Responsibility Agreement	Financial Responsibility Agreement Submitted

Consistent language between materials and checklist items makes the student-facing experience easier to understand.

Group

The Group setting helps organize material types. For Student Success, groups can be based on office, process, or student experience.

Group	Example materials
Advising	Academic Plan, Advising Agreement, Registration Clearance
Student Success	Success Plan, Tutoring Referral, Midterm Progress Review
Study Abroad	Passport Copy, Visa Documentation, Course Approval, Travel Itinerary
Clinical Placement	Clinical Clearance, Site Agreement, Supervisor Form
Internship	Internship Agreement, Employer Confirmation, Evaluation
Graduation	Graduation Application Attachment, Degree Audit Documentation
Financial	Financial Responsibility Agreement, Balance Resolution Documentation

Material groups help staff find and manage related materials more easily.

Export values

Export values can be used when materials need to be referenced by another system or included in imports, exports, or integrations.

Use export values when the material needs to align with values from another system, such as a student information system or document management process.

Material	Possible export value
Financial Responsibility Agreement	FIN_RESP
Clinical Clearance	CLIN_CLEAR
Study Abroad Course Approval	SA_COURSE_APPROVAL
Internship Agreement	INTERNSHIP_AGREEMENT

Use export values consistently, and document how they are used.

Custom permission

Custom permissions can limit which users view or manage a material. Review custom permissions carefully for sensitive documents, including:

Financial documentation
Health or immunization records
Compliance documents
Accessibility documentation
Conduct-related documentation
Private program review documents

Before making a material available, confirm which staff should be able to view, upload, edit, or report on it.

Material metadata

Associate a Material-scoped form with a material using the Material Metadata dropdown. This lets the form be completed when editing or uploading a material of this type through Batch Acquire.

The Material-scoped form can include form fields mapped to system fields, such as person, enrollment, and material-scoped destinations. For enrollment processes, metadata adds context to the document without requiring separate material types for every variation.

Metadata field	Example use
Term	Identifies the academic term connected to the document.
Review Status	Tracks whether the document is pending, approved, denied, or needs follow-up.
Reviewed By	Identifies the office or staff member that reviewed the document.
Expiration Date	Useful for passports, certifications, clearances, or compliance documents.
Program	Identifies the program, placement, internship, or study abroad experience.
Notes	Stores staff comments about the uploaded document.

Metadata can help staff review materials more efficiently and support reporting on document status.

Example enrollment-scoped materials

The following examples show how enrollment-scoped materials can support common Student Success processes.

Material	Enrollment context	Possible checklist item
Financial Responsibility Agreement	Current academic term	Financial Responsibility Agreement Submitted
Academic Plan	Current advising term	Academic Plan Updated
Registration Clearance Document	Registration period	Registration Clearance Complete
Study Abroad Passport Copy	Study abroad term	Passport Uploaded
Study Abroad Course Approval	Study abroad program	Course Approval Submitted
Study Abroad Travel Itinerary	Study abroad program	Travel Itinerary Submitted
Internship Agreement	Internship term	Internship Agreement Submitted
Clinical Clearance	Clinical placement term	Clinical Clearance Complete
Graduation Review Attachment	Expected graduation term	Graduation Review Complete

Connecting materials to Enrollment Checklists

Many Enrollment Checklist items are fulfilled when a related material is received.

Checklist item	Material fulfillment
Passport Uploaded	Study Abroad Passport Copy
Travel Itinerary Submitted	Study Abroad Travel Itinerary
Internship Agreement Submitted	Internship Agreement
Clinical Clearance Complete	Clinical Clearance
Financial Responsibility Agreement Submitted	Financial Responsibility Agreement
Graduation Review Complete	Graduation Review Attachment

When checklist fulfillment depends on a material, create the material before configuring the checklist item. Creating the material first lets you select the correct material type when setting up checklist fulfillment logic.

Recommended build order

When materials will be used with Enrollment Checklists, use the following build order:

Identify the enrollment process or student population.
List the documents students or staff need to upload.
Decide whether each document should be person-scoped or enrollment-scoped.
Create the required material types.
Confirm access, upload labels, restrictions, permissions, and metadata.
Create related forms, if needed.
Create the Enrollment Checklist items.
Configure checklist fulfillment using the appropriate material.
Test with sample enrollment records.

Testing enrollment-scoped materials

Before launching student-facing uploads or checklist fulfillment, test the material configuration.

Confirm that:

The material can be uploaded to the correct enrollment record.
The material does not appear on the wrong record type.
Staff can view and manage the material.
Students see the upload option only when appropriate.
The student-facing label is clear.
Permissions work as expected.
Metadata fields appear when needed.
Checklist fulfillment works when the material is received.
Reports and exports return the expected values.

Troubleshooting

If an enrollment-scoped material is not working as expected, review the following settings and related configuration:

The material is active.
The material has the correct scope.
The user has permission to view or upload the material.
The student meets any upload restriction criteria.
The material is being uploaded to the intended enrollment record.
Checklist fulfillment references the correct material type.
The related checklist item is assigned to the enrollment.
The material's student-facing label is configured as expected.

Unexpected checklist behavior often comes from one of three issues:

The material was created with the wrong scope.
The material was uploaded to the wrong record context.
The checklist item is not configured to use the intended material as its fulfillment.

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