Customize Student Profiles

Admins shape student profiles for their program: add your own fields, decide how each one behaves at rollover, turn on the federal APR fields your program collects and arrange the profile layout.

The Three Kinds of Field

Go to Settings, then the Participants tab, and find the Profile Fields section. It holds three groups, and they follow different rules:

• Your Fields, at the top. Anything your program tracks that TRIOPilot does not already collect. These are the only fields you can rename or remove.
• Federal APR Fields for your program type (for example Federal APR Fields for Upward Bound), in the middle. The federal report defines these, so their names and answers are fixed. You choose which ones you collect.
• Built-in Fields, at the bottom. Every profile already has these. They cannot be renamed or removed, and the only decision is how each one carries into a new program year (on an EOC program, whether a field that offers both holds one value or a value each year). The built-in end-of-year outcome fields, such as HS Diploma / GED Received, are listed only on EOC programs (and Institution Type on Talent Search programs too), because other program types record outcomes in their own APR fields.

The last two open when you click them, and each says how many fields it holds.

Add a Field of Your Own

1. In the Your Fields group, choose Add Field.
2. Enter a Name. This is what your staff sees on the profile. TRIOPilot keeps a separate internal name that never changes, so renaming a field later is safe.
3. Pick a Kind of Answer: Short Text, Long Text, Number, Date, Yes or No, Choose One, or Choose Several. The last two need Choices, entered one per line: up to 200, each listed once. A Choose Several choice cannot contain a comma, because its answers are kept as a list separated by commas.
4. Optionally add Hint Text, check Required Field, and set How Often It Is Answered (see below).
5. Choose Add Field to save.

Two fields cannot share a name, so if you already have one called Intake Notes, TRIOPilot asks you for a different name rather than creating a second one.

If the field should feed your APR, pick a target under Feed This Into Your APR. Each APR field takes one kind of answer, and the form says which: Yes or No for Low-Income, First-Generation, Hispanic / Latino and Limited English Proficiency; Number for Age at First Service; Choose Several for Race and Other Federal Programs; and Choose One for the rest. A field of another kind cannot feed it, because the APR would miscount its answers. For Choose One and Choose Several the form also lists the values your program's APR accepts and warns you about any of your choices that will not reach it, so match them exactly. Each APR field can be fed by only one of your fields. The list holds only the targets your program's APR uses: the end-of-year outcome targets (Diploma / GED Received to Institution Type) are on EOC programs (and Institution Type on Talent Search programs too); Limited English Proficiency is on EOC, Talent Search, Upward Bound and UBMS programs; Military Connection, Other Federal Programs and Age at First Service are on EOC and Talent Search programs; and Educational Status at Entry accepts your program type's own statuses, which for programs other than EOC are its federal codes. A field saved earlier that feeds a target your APR does not use says so in the form and on its row in Your Fields. On a Talent Search program, Military Connection accepts veteran and none, because its APR counts veterans only. The form lists each code with its label (for example 9: 9th grader on an Upward Bound program); enter the code as the choice. For an EOC program that records the separate diploma answers, Diploma / GED Received lists those answers.

When you change the choices of a field an application question saves to, the question offers the new choices in the same save, in your program's languages, and keeps any wording you changed in the Application Builder. A new choice shows in English until its translation arrives. If another question shows only when this question has a particular answer, that answer cannot be removed or reworded until you change that question's Show Only When. If you change the Kind of Answer instead, the page names the question that needs Save and Publish in the Application Builder.

Use Edit to change a field later, including its name. Once a field holds answers, two edits are refused, because the answers already recorded would no longer show: changing its Kind of Answer (except between Short Text and Long Text), and removing or rewording a choice that students already have. The message names the choice; keep it on its own line and add any new wording as another choice. Delete asks you to choose Confirm Delete first, and it removes the field from every student profile, so anything already recorded in it stops appearing. A field that feeds your APR cannot be deleted while it holds answers, because your APR would stop counting them for every program year. To remove one, first choose Edit and set Feed This Into Your APR to Not an APR field. When a field holds answers, any change to its Feed This Into Your APR asks first, and says how many students it reaches, because your APR reads the current setting for every program year, past years included: Not an APR field blanks that APR field for those students, and another target moves their answers to it. Choose Yes, Save This Change to go ahead, or Go Back to keep the field as it is. A field that an application question saves to cannot be deleted either: the message names the question, so change its Maps to field in the Application Builder (or remove the question) first. A new field always starts empty, even when it has the name of a field you deleted. If a change cannot be saved, the field says so instead of reporting success.

How Often a Field Is Answered

This one picker decides both where a value lives on the profile and what happens to it at rollover. EOC programs do not use rollover, so on an EOC program it only offers One value, the same every year and A value each year: a new year starts empty there, and a participant joins it when your program serves them. On every other program type, choose one of:

• One value, the same every year: a single value for the student, shown once in the reference cards beside the record. Best for identity and demographics.
• A value each year, carried forward from last year: a separate value each program year, copied from last year at rollover. Good for things that usually stay the same.
• A value each year, starting blank: cleared at rollover, so each year starts blank. Good for things you re-collect every year.
• A number each year, going up by 1: a number that increases by 1 each new year, like a grade level.

Your own fields get all four choices, except that a Choose One or Choose Several field cannot go up by 1, because a choice from a list has no next value. Under Built-in Fields, each row offers only the choices that apply to that field:

• Most built-in per-year fields, such as status, the education fields, and the end-of-year outcomes, live only in the program year. Those rows offer the two per-year choices, and there is no one-value option to pick.
• A few, such as Low-Income, First-Generation, Assigned Advisor, and Other Federal Programs (not on Upward Bound or UBMS), can go either way, so those rows also offer One value, the same every year.
• A number each year, going up by 1 appears only on the fields TRIOPilot counts. Age at First Service is the one you will see it on. This choice applies only at rollover, where it adds 1 to last year's age. For EOC and Talent Search, Age at First Service shows A value each year, calculated from the date of birth instead, with no other choice. On Talent Search, rollover calculates the new year's age from the date of birth as of the first day of the new program year. On EOC and Talent Search, TRIOPilot calculates it again when the student's first contact in that year is logged. Age at First Service is a value each program year: for a new application or a student added with Add New Student, TRIOPilot fills it in from the date of birth. For EOC and Talent Search, whose APR counts the age at first service in each program year, it also fills it in when a returning student's record for a new year is created, for example with Add to the current year, as of their first contact in that year, or the day the record is created if there is no contact yet. See How Age at First Service Is Calculated.
• Military Connection and Limited English Proficiency follow your APR form. Military Connection shows on EOC and Talent Search profiles. Limited English Proficiency shows on EOC, Talent Search, Upward Bound and Upward Bound Math-Science profiles. On any other program type the row appears only on a student who already has a value recorded, so a recorded answer never disappears.
• Only EOC and Talent Search profiles show Age at First Service. Their APR counts each participant's age at first service. The Upward Bound, Upward Bound Math-Science, Student Support Services, McNair and Veterans Upward Bound APR files report the date of birth instead, so their student profiles do not show an age; any age already stored is kept. Those programs still list Age at First Service in this group, where you choose A value each year, carried forward from last year, A value each year, starting blank or A number each year, going up by 1.
• The remaining built-in fields, such as name, address, and race, always keep one value for the whole record. They have no picker at all and are named in a sentence at the bottom of that group, so you can confirm none is missing.

The group heading tells you both numbers: how many fields it holds in total, and how many of them let you make this choice. On an EOC program, a row whose only choice is a value each year has no menu, and the heading counts only the rows that let you choose.

One caution the page repeats: once a field holds answers, it can no longer move between one value and a value each year, because the answers already recorded would no longer show. This applies to your own fields and to the built-in fields that offer both. On every program type but EOC, you can still switch between the per-year choices at any time.

For how rollover uses these choices, see Roll Students Into a New Program Year.

Turn On Federal APR Fields

Open Federal APR Fields for your program type. Every field in this list is about one participant. The heading shows how many are in use out of how many your program type can collect. If you have turned on any field from another TRIO program, it counts those too, so nothing you switched on can go unreported.

Tick a field to collect it. Most fields then appear on student profiles and become available as a Maps to target in the Application Builder. A few, such as Eligibility Category (derived), are calculated for the report from other answers, so they add nothing to a profile. These show Calculated for the report in place of a tickbox, and the heading does not count them. Fields your staff observe rather than ask about, such as end-of-year outcomes, are deliberately kept off the public form.

To stop collecting a field, untick it. TRIOPilot refuses in three cases, and says why on the row: your program is required to report the field, the field already holds answers, or an application question still saves its answers to the field. For the last one, the message names the question: in the Application Builder, change that question's Maps to field or remove the question, then untick the field.

A field in use that holds a value each year also says what happens to its answer when a new program year starts: it starts blank, is carried forward from last year, or goes up by 1. On an EOC program it says nothing about this, because nothing happens to an answer when a new year starts. A federal field that is a choice from a list and set to go up each year moves one step along its choices where they have an order (for example, McNair Current Year Graduate Study moves from 1st year to 2nd); otherwise it is carried forward and flagged in the rollover review, because its answer has no next value. For example, on Upward Bound and UBMS programs, Rigorous Secondary School Program of Study Completed and Postsecondary Remediation start blank, because the federal form asks about them for one reporting year. On those programs, Participant Status, Deceased or Incapacitated and Grade Level at Beginning of Reporting Academic Year say how rollover sets them for a current participant and for a prior-year participant (see Roll Students Into a New Program Year). On SSS, McNair, and VUB programs, Participant Status (and on VUB, Deceased or Incapacitated) says the same, and Date of Last Project Service (and on SSS, Reason for Withdrawal) carries forward: the VUB instructions say Date of Last Project Service does not change in later years, the SSS instructions say the same of Reason for Withdrawal, and the SSS retention rule for cohort 99 reads Date of Last Project Service in later years. When someone is served again, change their Date of Last Project Service to Not applicable, still participating in project, or to the new date when they leave.

Target School is not in this list either: on EOC, Talent Search, Upward Bound and UBMS programs it is a built-in field for each program year (see Run Your APR). On Upward Bound and UBMS programs, Target School at Entry (the record file's field #23) is a built-in field in the Eligibility & Program card that keeps one value for the whole record.

Facts about your whole program are not in this list. Record your PR/Award Number, project director, address, Number Funded to Serve, objective targets, and the choices your grant fixes for the cycle, such as the EOC enrollment option or the Talent Search attainment choices, in Settings, on the Reporting tab.

A few things the page enforces:

• A field your program is required to report is marked Always on, its tickbox is disabled, and the row says which program requires it.
• Turning off a field that already holds student answers is refused, and the reason appears under that field. Clear the responses first.
• Choose Show Fields From Other TRIO Programs if you want to track something outside your program's standard list. That button says how many such fields exist and, once you have turned any on, how many are in use.

Arrange the Profile Layout

Go to Settings, then the Participants tab, and find the Profile Layout section.

The editor shows the profile as your staff will see it, with placeholder values instead of a real student. You rearrange it by moving cards and fields. A small tab band in the middle of the surface mirrors the profile's tabs and tells you which tab each zone fills: the per-year cards fill the PY xx-xx Details tab, and the activity stream fills the Activity Feed tab.

• Drag any card to move it, and drag any field from one card to another or up and down within a card.
• Click a card's name to rename it. Add Card creates a new one, empty and ready to receive fields.
• Every card and every field also has a Move button beside it. It does the same moves with plain menu choices: move up, move down, move to a named card, or take the field off the profile. Use it when dragging is awkward or when you work by keyboard. You can also press space on a drag handle, move with the arrow keys, and press space again to drop, or escape to cancel.
• Not on the Profile, underneath, holds the built-in fields nobody has placed. Drag one onto a card to start collecting it, or drag a field down there to take it off. Fields you created yourself always appear somewhere, so they never land here.
• Each field shows a Persistent or Per-Year badge, and that badge decides where the field appears on the profile, whichever card holds it: persistent fields render in the reference cards beside the record, and per-year fields render in the cards on the PY xx-xx Details tab, which is named for the program year an advisor is viewing. The editor draws the same split, with persistent cards in the band at the top and per-year cards below the tab band, so a per-year field you drop into a card in the top band still shows below, under that card's name.
• The activity stream has a fixed home, the Activity Feed tab, so there is no position to choose. To choose which kinds of entry it shows, use the Activity Feed Display card on the same Participants tab.

Some fields are shown as one block because that is how the profile draws them. The five address parts are one Address field. The end-of-year outcomes are one APR Outcomes group, and TRIOPilot hides the ones that do not apply to a student's education status. If your program type is not EOC, those outcome fields are not offered at all, because your program captures outcomes in its own Program Outcomes panel instead. Talent Search records Institution Type on that panel, for Section IV.D. A block like this moves as one unit.

A card with nothing in it says so and does not appear on student profiles. It stays visible here so you can drop fields into it.

Nothing you drag or rename applies until you choose Save Layout. An "Unsaved changes" note sits beside the button until you do. Once it is saved, "Saved." shows beside Save Layout until your next change. TRIOPilot asks before you leave with changes pending, including when you open a notification, sign out, or switch programs. Your browser's Back button does not always ask, and browsers on an iPhone or iPad do not ask when you close or reload the page, so save first.

Reset to Default is the one thing that does not wait. It restores the standard arrangement and saves right away, so it asks you to confirm first, and the arrangement you had cannot be brought back.

Two more things to know: a built-in field you leave in Not on the Profile does not appear on profiles at all, with two exceptions, because your APR counts them: Target School (EOC, Talent Search, Upward Bound and UBMS) always returns to the Status & Education card, and on Upward Bound and UBMS, Target School at Entry returns to the Eligibility & Program card. The editor shows only the built-in fields your program type reports: Target School does not appear on SSS, McNair or VUB programs, and Target School at Entry appears only on Upward Bound and UBMS programs. Custom fields always appear even when you do not place them: at-risk and academic-need fields snap into the At-Risk Factors card, and everything else snaps into the Additional Information card, so removing a field from a card moves it there rather than hiding it. On the student profile these cards stack in a narrow column on the left, and the Demographics, At-Risk Factors, and Additional Information groups start collapsed to a single header line: click a header to open or close it, and the profile remembers your choice on that computer. Tags is pinned at the top of the reference cards and is not configurable here.

Related

• Build Your Application Form
• Run Your APR
• Find Your Way Around Program Settings
• How Age at First Service Is Calculated

If a Federal Field Seems to Be Missing

If a federal field shows as in use in the list but never appears on student profiles, choose Repair Missing Fields under the federal fields list. TRIOPilot re-creates anything that failed to set up, and adopts any federal fields added since your program was created. Nothing you have set up is changed or removed, and running it when nothing is wrong does nothing.