Programs and Sessions

This article provides definition around programs and sessions in LCvista. Learn more about how to create, how to modify and get more detail on the additional actions available for each.

 

What Is a Program in LCvista

Create a program

Locate and modify a program

Reapply Program Credits

What is a Session in LCvista

Delivery Methods

Certificates and Evaluations

Content Type

Enrollment, Unenrollment and Start/End Times

Waitlists

Instructors, Notes and Venues

Accreditation

Locate and modify a session

Reapply Session Credits

 

What Is a Program in LCvista

In LCvista, think of programs as a way to define the ‘what’ for an event:

  • what is the purpose of the program (description)
  • what can participants expect to learn (learning objectives)
  • are there suggestions or required programs that should be taken in advance of participating in this event (prerequisites)
  • who sponsors the event (sponsor)
  • what type of credit will be issued (CPE Field of Study and Credit values)

Create a program

To create a program, navigate to Manage Training located on the left sidebar menu. Click on the Add button located on the top right of this form. Selecting Program will take you directly into the program creation form.

The only required field on the program form, will be the program’s name.

Take note of the other optional fields available:

  • Sponsor: choose the sponsor for this event, from the list of available sponsors. If a sponsor does not exist, return to the Sponsor menu to create a new sponsor.
  • Level: choose from the list of NASBA program levels: Basic, Intermediate, Advanced, Overview and Update.
  • Length: define the length of the event, where relevant.
  • Revision Date: use this field to denote the revision date for the content, where relevant.
  • NASBA ID 
  • Technical Reviewers: specify the technical reviewer(s) associated to the program.
  • Technical Review Date: use this field to capture the date when a technical review was last completed, where relevant.
  • Jurisdiction: commonly used for populating specific program IDs issued with a jurisdiction such as IRS EA, California Regulatory Review, and CFP.
  • Program Qualifications: choose from the available list. Selecting a Program Qualification will allow credits to apply to qualifying jurisdictions when the field of study allows. For Jurisdiction-specific ethics requirements, such as IRS EA or CFP, the State-specific ethics qualification should be selected.
  • Fields of Study: choose from the list of NASBA Fields of Study, representing all available subject matter areas. Fields of Study must be provided to accredit jurisdictions.
  • Catalogs: assign your program to a specific catalog(s). By doing so, professionals with access to the catalog(s) will have the option to view and enroll, where available.
  • Tags: by associating a custom tag, professionals will be able to utilize the filter for Tags on their Program Catalog, to narrow down the search for events they are interested in. To create a new custom Tag, return to the Custom Tag menu.
  • Prerequisites: refer to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors, or your governing body, for guidance on best practices for Prerequisites.
  • Description: refer to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors, or your governing body, for guidance on best practices for Descriptions.
  • Learning Objectives: refer to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors, or your governing body, for guidance on best practices for Learning Objectives.
  • Advanced Prep: refer to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors, or your governing body, for guidance on best practices for Prerequisites.
  • Admin Notes: this is a space for administrators to leave notes for a specific program. These notes will only be visible to administrators with the necessary permissions.

At the bottom of this form, you have access to upload any relevant documents. At the time your documents are uploaded, you can define whether the documents should be:

  • Public (and available to Professionals), or
  • Private (for administrators, with the necessary permissions, to review only)

After completing the form, Save your changes.

After defining your program details, you can then determine how this event will be delivered to your participants. That next step, is the step of creating sessions.

 

Upon selecting save, a modal will appear confirming your submission. At this time, the success modal will include links to do one of the following:

  • Edit Program/Manage Sessions: this option takes you directly into the editable program form to review the program and/or add/modify sessions.
  • View: this option takes you directly to the Program Preview form.

If you choose to not select any of the options above, you will automatically be navigated back to the main Manage Programs menu.

Locate and modify a program

To locate an existing program, access the sidebar menu Manage Training. Utilize any of the filtering options to narrow down your results. Take note of the program type filters:

  • Internal Programs: those programs created by your firm and offered for enrollment to your professionals.
  • External Programs: events taken outside of your firm, documented within LCvista to track participation and count credit towards jurisdiction requirements. See more about External Programs, here.
  • Learning Plans: a collection of programs organized within required and optional milestones. See more about Learning Plans, here
  • Activities: non-compliance or credit worth tasks that professionals can either self-attest to or complete by passing a quiz. See more about Activities, here.

Once your program of choice has been identified, use the row action menu to expose the actions available for this program. Select Edit Program to access the editable program form, to review and make modifications.

Additional actions available from the Manage Programs page, and the row actions menu, are:

  • Preview: Navigates you to the program’s preview page where all relevant data on the program is visible along with any sessions created.
  • Edit Sessions: Provides quick access to edit a session of the program, taking you directly to the session editable form.
  • Manage Attendees: directs you to the Manage Attendees form where a user(s) session record can be modified, where evaluations can be sent and where certificates can be issued.
  • Program Actions: this menu allows administrators to assign user(s) or user groups(s) to a specific program. Within this menu, program invitations can also be sent.
  • Duplicate Program: this action will duplicate the program in question, on this editable form modifications can be made before saving.
  • Duplicate Program & Sessions: this action will duplicate both the program and the program’s sessions.

Reapply Program Credits

If you have chosen to modify an existing program, and after your changes have been submitted, a modal will appear prompting you to determine whether credits should be reapplied based on the modifications you are attempting to save. Select yes to reapply if you wish for the changes to cascade down to the sessions and session records for that particular program.

 

What is a Session in LCvista

In LCvista, think of sessions as a way to define the "where" and the "when". When creating a session, you will first be prompted to define how the content will be delivered by choosing the session’s delivery method.

  • Will the event be live and thus scheduled for a specific date and time?
  • Will it be taking place virtually, or in person (group internet based vs group live)?
  • Or, alternatively, will this be an on-demand program that can be launched at the professional’s convenience (self-study)?

Delivery Methods

  • Group internet based
  • Group live
  • In Firm
  • Independent study
  • Interactive self study
  • Nano
  • Non-approved group live
  • Non-verifiable
  • Pass Exam
  • Peer Review
  • Publication
  • QAS self study
  • Trade Conference

In addition to the session’s delivery method, you can provide additional detail related to the following areas.

Certificates and Evaluations

  • Certificate Location
  • Certificate Template: select from a drop down of certificate templates available for your site. When a user is passed with credit, they will be issued this certificate.
  • Evaluation Template: select from a drop down of evaluation templates created by your organization in LCvista.

Content Type

Specify the content (if any) that should be accessible to the user upon enrollment:

    • SCORM/AICC: exposes file search to upload a SCORM or AICC package
    • URL: exposes new field to input a URL; upon enrollment and launch, a professional is navigated to the URL added. 
    • Media: exposes file search to upload compatible file types (MP3, MP4)
    • Group Live Check-in: this content type is part of the LCvista Integrated Provider framework. This option exposes fields required for Group Live Providers. Professionals upon enrollment will have access to a button for ‘Check-in’. To learn more about Integrated Providers, review our article here.
    • Webcast: this content type is part of the LCvista Integrated Provider framework. This option exposes fields required for Group Internet Based Providers. Professionals upon enrollment will have access to a button for ‘Launch’. To learn more about Integrated Providers, review our article here.

Enrollment, Unenrollment and Start/End Times

  • Timezone: defines the timezone the session is taking place in
  • Enrollment Start Datetime: The start date of the period in which a user can enroll in this session.
  • Enrollment End Datetime: The end date of the period in which a user can enroll in this session.
  • Unenrollment Close Datetime: The final date in which a user can unenroll in a session.
  • Session Start Datetime: The start date of a session. For launchable events, professionals will have access to a launch button one hour ahead of the session start time.
  • Session End Datetime: The end date of a session. After this date has passed, professionals will no longer have access to the content.

Waitlists

  • Enrollment Limit Minimum: designate the minimum number of seats available for this session. Note, this is for reporting purposes only. The system does not take further action if enrollment is above or below this number.
  • Enrollment Limit Maximum: designate the maximum seats available for this session before professionals are added to a waitlist. When a value is added to this field, it will expose additional waitlist functionality, including:
    • Waitlist Type: Auto or Manual. Choose Auto if you wish for professionals to be automatically enrolled as seats become available in this session. Choose Manual, if you wish for administrators to have full control on enrolling professionals in this event, via Manage Attendees.
    • Waitlist Alert Message: this message appears when a user chooses to join a waitlist.

Instructors, Notes and Venues

  • Instructors: specify the instructors associated to this event.
  • Comments: comments added will be visible to administrators and professionals from the Program Preview form, within the session card available.
  • Admin Notes: this is a space for administrators to leave notes for a specific session. These notes will only be visible to administrators with the necessary permissions.
  • Venue: select from a drop down of venues created by your organization. To add additional venue options, access the sidebar menu titled Venues.

Accreditation

  • Program Info: this section will highlight any program qualifications which were added at the program level. This section will also highlight the Fields of Study and Credit applied at the program level.
  • Fields of Study: choose from the list of NASBA Fields of Study, representing all available subject matter areas. Fields of Study must be provided to accredit jurisdictions. By default, this area will pull from the Fields of Study defined at the program level.
  • Update Jurisdiction Credits: Click this button if you wish to review how credit has been applied to all available jurisdictions in your organization. Credit visible per jurisdiction is based on the jurisdiction rules and Fields of Study and Credit assigned at the program, or session, level.

After defining all relevant session details, click Save to submit your changes. A success modal will appear confirming the changes were accepted.

Locate and modify a session

From the Manage Programs menu, locate the program in question and select the row action menu. Use the Edit Session option to review the desired session.

From the Program Preview form, select the Session-Enroll/Launch tab to locate existing sessions. Administrators with Program Read/Write access will see options to Edit a session.

 

Reapply Session Credits

Once modifications have been submitted for a session, a modal will appear prompting you to determine whether credits should be reapplied based on the modifications you are attempting to save. Select yes to reapply if you wish for the changes to cascade down to the session records for that particular session.