Creating Programs

Programs organize various learning activities into a structured schedule. This schedule is guided by the program's agenda, which acts like an academic syllabus. It details the activities planned throughout the program. This syllabus-style agenda is beneficial for different types of training, including academic training, event-based training (such as orientation for new hires), and self-paced learning.

For instance, you can design a month-long onboarding program for new employees. The agenda can be organized by week, with different learning activities planned for each week. Additionally, you can include tasks that employees need to complete outside of SAP SuccessFactors Learning, such as obtaining a security badge or having a meeting with HR. The learning activities can include internal training materials or external resources, like a link to a welcome video on the company intranet. You can also incorporate Open Content Network (OCN) courses into the program.

Learners can view programs that have been assigned to them by their manager or an administrator. These assignments can be made directly or through an Assignment Profile. Learners can also search for programs in their library and, if their role allows, recommend programs to other users. When a program is assigned to a learner, it appears as a card on their learning plan. The content of the assigned program becomes available to the learner once they open the program.

As the learner progresses through the Program, a completion percentage bar reflects progress accordingly. 

When a learner completes an item from the Program agenda, the completion status will be annotated in their history record. Non-item-based activities will have to be physically marked complete by the learner to receive credit. When the entire Program has been successfully completed, its status will appear in the learner’s history record. 

Programs created by administrators can be accessed by learners or managers. Watch this video to learn the different ways learners and managers can access programs.

Although both Programs and Curricula are useful ways to assign learning, it's important to know that they're fundamentally different. The choice between a Curriculum or a Program will depend on the needs of your organization for deploying learning events. In the system, they're seen as competing entities. This means you cannot add a Curriculum to a Program, and vice versa.

As an administrator, you can create a new Program by combining various types of learning activities into a schedule of learning. Consider the purpose of the new program and design the agenda accordingly.

1. Add the program in Learning Administration and define its properties.
2. Modify the sections such as agenda and settings in the program.
3. Publish the program to make it available to learners.

You can create a new Program from Learning Administration by navigating to Learning Activities → Programs → Add New.

You can add the following information when creating a new Program:

1. Locale: The language we will use for the text of this Program. Additional locales may be added later for text descriptions.
2. Program ID: A unique identifier of a Program. As a best practice, create a descriptive naming strategy so that administrators can identify the Program more easily. This is a required field.
3. Title: A name for the Program that displays in the user interface. As a best practice, enter a title that helps users identify the Program.
4. Description: Information displayed to learners to help them understand what the Program is about.
5. Security Domain: This is where administrators choose where the Program is saved.
6. Assignment Type: This field defines whether the Program will be assigned as Required, Optional, or a customized assignment type.
7. Type: Programs deliver learning over time, and the Type field defines the time frame for the Program. The type is a required field and there are three types to choose from:
   1. Scheduled: This type of Program has fixed start and end dates. Classes can only be added to this type.
   2. Duration-based: This type of Program has a fixed time limit.
   3. Open-ended: This type of Program is self-paced with no time limitations.

• Status: The Active checkbox is checked by default to allow Programs to be added to libraries so that they are assignable to users.
• Completion Status: This is the completion status users will receive upon successful Program completion.
• Progress Restriction: Controls how a user works through the sections of an agenda. Selecting the By Completion checkbox will require the user to complete each section before continuing to the next one.

Watch this video to learn how to create a Program entity.

After creating the program, it will be displayed in a tile-based format. There are several tiles that allow you to modify the program and its contents.

The Settings tile allows the administrator to configure how the program behaves from the learner’s perspective.

Configurable settings include:

• Hours: This is the amount of time that a user should expect to spend on the program. Users can see the hours and use them to decide if they have enough time to complete the program.

• • User can Rate: This option allows users to rate the program in the library.
  • Certificate Template: This option allows you to associate a template for completion certificates.
  • Source: The source identifies the entity where the training originated. Learners can filter their course search results by sources.
  • Image: Thumbnail Images can be added to help learners orient themselves to the program.
  • Contact’s Email: Enter the email address of the administrator responsible for the program.
  • Comments: Use the Comments box to identify the purpose or intent of the record. All comments are intended for administrators only and cannot be viewed in the user interface.
  • Grading Options: Defines the course completion status.