Get rid of your manual tracking system for substitutes! Use the Substitutes feature in the Class record to assign substitutes for absent instructors. Easily record, view, and manage substitutes for all of your classes.
Get Set Up to Use Substitutes
Before getting started with the Substitutes feature, there are some settings to review.
| User ID Permissions | The Substitutes feature is controlled by two User Permissions:
To edit User Permissions, go to the Gear icon > Settings > User IDs (left menu) > Select a User ID > User Permissions (left menu). Learn more about Permissions for Jackrabbit Users. |
| Notification Settings | Decide whether or not Jackrabbit should send a notification email to the instructor who is away and to the substitute taking their class any time the substitute record is assigned, edited, or deleted. The Send notification email to absent instructor and substitute instructor when a record is assigned, edited, or deleted setting defaults to ON for all Users. To edit the setting, go to the Gear icon >Settings > General > Organization Defaults (left menu) and scroll down to the Class Settings section. |
| Staff Requirements | Substitute instructors must be added to Jackrabbit (Staff menu > Add Staff). For the Substitutes feature, the Summary tab of all Staff records must have:
TIP: If you are using the Staff Portal, review the substitutes' Portal Settings tab in their Staff record. Ensure they have the proper settings to manage the classes they are assigned to as a substitute. Optional but super cool:
|
| Class Requirements | In order to assign a substitute to a class, the Class record must have:
If any of these fields are missing, an error message will display on the Instructors tab when attempting to assign a substitute. |
How the Substitutes Feature Works
Managing Substitutes (assign, edit, and delete) begins on the Instructors tab of the Class record.
Assign a Substitute
On the Instructors tab of the Class record, select the Assign Substitute button to open the Assign Substitute window.
- If there is more than one instructor, select the instructor who will be absent.
- Use the calendar to select the dates (From and To) of the instructor's absence. There is a substitute record created for every class the instructor will miss in the date range. Note: Days the class doesn't meet are disabled on the calendar.
- Options for assigning the substitute:
- Select Substitute - Use the drop-down menu to select the substitute. If you have many names in the list, use the Search All Substitutes field to look for a specific name (instructors already assigned to the class will not be available for selection).
TIP: Showing Staff Skills allows you to ensure you are selecting a substitute who is qualified to teach the class. - Assign Later - To record the instructor's absence but not select a substitute at this time, select Assign Later. Substitute records marked Assign Later will trigger an Alert icon in the Alerts section of the Executive Dashboard (see below).
- Not Needed - To record the instructor's absence but not select a substitute at all for the absence, select Not Needed. Doing this will have the instructor's absence reported on the Weekly and Daily View Calendars (see below).
- Select Substitute - Use the drop-down menu to select the substitute. If you have many names in the list, use the Search All Substitutes field to look for a specific name (instructors already assigned to the class will not be available for selection).
- Optionally add Comments (max 500 characters). These comments are included in the notification emails sent to the absent instructor and the substitute. They are also shown in the grid on the Instructors tab of the Class record and the Substitutes report.
Edit a Substitute Record
Edit individual substitute records using the row menu (
) in the Substitutes grid on either the Instructors tab of the Class record or on the Substitutes report.
Delete a Substitute Record
Delete individual substitute records using the row menu ( ) in the Substitutes grid on either the Instructors tab of the Class record or on the Substitutes report. Use the checkboxes to choose substitute records and then select the more menu (
) to delete several records at once (Mass Delete). Note: Once any checkboxes have been selected, the individual row menus are removed from the grid, and the Print and Export to Excel options are removed from the more menu.
Tracking and Reporting for Substitutes
Executive Dashboard
On the Executive Dashboard, in the Alerts section, the Substitutes next 30 days alert displays the number of records for substitution dates in the next 30 days.
- The link directs to the Substitutes report filtered for the next 30 days; this filter can be cleared to view all substitutes.
- An alert icon (
) indicates that one or more of the substitute records in the next 30 days are marked Assign Later, i.e., a substitute still needs to be assigned to the class.
) indicates that one or more of the substitute records in the next 30 days are marked Assign Later, i.e., a substitute still needs to be assigned to the class. Substitute Report
The Substitute report is accessed from either the Reports menu > Find Reports or from the link in the Dashboard alert for Substitutes next 30 days.
- Individual substitute records can be edited or deleted using the row menu (
). - Options to Print, Export to Excel, or Mass Delete are located in the more menu (
). - Use the search fields in each column to filter for specific records.
Calendars
Weekly View
Available on every Jackrabbit page (top right), click the
link, to access the Weekly Calendar.
- Hover over a class to view the absent instructor and the substitute if one has been assigned.
Day View
Available on every Jackrabbit page (top right), click thelink, to access the Weekly Calendar. Click the Day View (button), or a specific day/date in the calendar, to open a Day View.
- Staff Skills for each instructor are displayed on the Daily Calendar.
- Staff Availability is shown for staff members who have entered time off or availability for that day.
- The class block is added to the substitute's column on the Daily Calendar.
- The class block with the absent instructor is shown with a diagonal overlay.
- Hover over either class block to view class information, including the absent instructor and the substitute if one has been assigned.
Weekly Schedule
In a Staff record, select the Weekly Schedule button to open a calendar for the current week, filtered for that instructor. As well as their own classes, those they are assigned to as a substitute will display.
