Upload and Download Documents

Keep a student's paperwork, such as consent forms and transcripts, on the Documents tab of their profile. Only staff in your program can see these files. If your program turns on the Student Portal, a participant who activates an account can also see and download their own.

Upload a Document

1. Open the student's profile and choose the Documents tab. See Find and Filter Students.
2. Choose Add Files and pick one or more files. Each file can be up to 25 MB, and PDFs, images (JPG, PNG, GIF, WebP, HEIC), Word, Excel, and plain text files are accepted. Anything too large or of another type is named in a red Rejected: message and is not queued.
3. Your files appear in a ready-to-upload list. In an EOC, Talent Search or VUB program each has a Supports Outcome (optional) dropdown. Set it if the file is the proof of an outcome (see Tag a Document to an APR Outcome), or leave it blank.
4. Choose the upload button. It counts what you queued, for example Upload 2 Files.

TRIOPilot reads each file as soon as you choose it, so the file uploads as it was then, even if you close, move or change it on your computer before you upload. Once 256 MB of files are waiting to upload, any more files are read when you upload instead, so keep those in place until then. A file that takes a while to read, such as one stored only online or on a network drive, says Preparing File until it is ready, and the upload button waits for it.

If a file cannot be read when you choose it, a red message says "This device could not read" and names the file, which is not queued. This happens when the file is still being saved, is open in another program that locks it, or is stored only online (a cloud folder file that is not downloaded). Wait until it is saved, or download it, then choose it again.

If you choose a file with the same name as one already in the list, TRIOPilot asks Replace the earlier copy? Choose Replace to keep only the file you just chose, for example after you edited it, so the old version is not uploaded. Choose Keep Both when they are different files.

On a phone you can also photograph a signed form while you log the meeting: Take Photo on the Log Contact page opens the camera and attaches the picture to the contact and the student's documents. See Log a Contact.

Each file is attached to that student and appears in the Documents tab with the uploader's name, the upload date, and the file size. Once a student has files, the document count also shows in the profile header; click it to open this tab. On a phone, the count is on the Documents tab instead.

If a file does not upload, it stays in the list with the reason in red and the button becomes Retry Failed Upload (Retry Failed Uploads when more than one file is waiting). Fix or remove that file, then press it to upload the rest. Files that did upload are already in the Documents list and are not sent again.

Viewing, opening and downloading a document follow the Open Student Documents permission: admins always have it, and advisors and assistants have it by default (your admin can change that in Settings, on the Team tab). Guests and observers see each student's list of documents but cannot open the files. If your role cannot edit students, Add Files, the edit pencil and the delete controls do not appear. If a document fails to open, the page says so and TRIOPilot records the problem.

Tag a Document to an APR Outcome

In an EOC program, when a file is evidence of an outcome (a diploma, a FAFSA confirmation, an acceptance letter, enrollment proof), pick the matching Supports Outcome choice while uploading. The four choices are the EOC APR's Section IV outcomes:

• High School Diploma/GED
• Financial Aid Application (FAFSA)
• Apply for College Admission
• Postsecondary Enrollment

Tagging does two things:

• It sets that outcome to Yes for the current program year, as if you had answered it on the profile's outcomes card. It always writes the current year, even when you are viewing an earlier one. The change appears in the Activity Feed under your name, with the outcome's answer before and after, and in the Audit Log as Edited Student. An outcome that was already Yes adds no line.
• If that answer completes the outcome questions the student's educational status at entry calls for, TRIOPilot moves the student to Reportable. A tag never moves a status backward. See Understand Student Statuses and Run Your APR.

Talent Search, Upward Bound, UBMS, SSS, McNair and VUB record outcomes in the profile's APR Outcomes panel, because their federal reports ask for different outcomes. Two of them also offer one tag each, for the records their federal instructions ask you to keep. The tag records that the document is on file and sets no outcome, so record the outcome in the panel too:

• Talent Search: Postsecondary Attainment, for proof of a certificate or degree a student in the Postsecondary Attainment cohort earned. The instructions say "grantees must retain thorough documentation on postsecondary attainment of each participant."
• VUB: Academic Improvement on Standardized Test, for the pre and post test records of a student whose Academic Improvement on Standardized Test (#29) is 1 or 2.

Upward Bound, UBMS, SSS and McNair show no Supports Outcome choice: upload the file, then record the outcome in the panel. The Needs Attention report lists a missing Talent Search or VUB document as a red chip.

The tag shows as a badge on the file, so you can see which documents are outcome evidence. Leave the dropdown blank for anything else. To add, change or remove a tag later, see Rename a Document or Change Its Tag.

The profile updates as soon as the upload finishes: the matching red evidence chip beside Needs Attention at the top of the profile (for example FAFSA evidence) clears, and the outcome shows a paperclip that opens the file. Deleting the file, or removing its tag, brings the chip back when no other file supports that outcome. If the file saves but the outcome cannot be recorded, the Documents tab says so: set the outcome to Yes on the profile's outcomes card.

View a Document

See a file without downloading it.

1. Open the student's profile, choose the Documents tab, and find the file.
2. Hover over the row and choose the eye icon (View), beside the download icon. On a phone or tablet the icons are always showing, so tap it.
3. The file opens over the page, fitted to your screen. A PDF opens in your browser's PDF viewer.

View appears for images (JPG, PNG, GIF and WebP) and PDFs. Other files, including HEIC photos from an iPhone, Word, Excel and text files, have only the download icon.

While a file is open:

• Download saves it to your device, the same as the download icon, and is recorded the same way.
• When the student has more than one file you can view, the arrows beside the count (for example 2 of 5) move to the previous or next file. The Left and Right arrow keys do the same.
• If a PDF shows only its first page (an iPhone or iPad does this), choose Open in New Tab to read the whole file.
• On a phone the file fills the screen. Pinch to zoom in on a photo.
• To close it, choose the X, press Escape, or click the dark area around the file.

If the file cannot be shown, the viewer says so and TRIOPilot records the problem. You can still choose Download. Each file you view is recorded in the Audit Log as Viewed Document, with your name and the file's name. See See Who Changed What.

Files attached to a contact open the same way from the activity feed: choose the file's name under the contact. See Log a Contact.

Download a Document

1. Open the student's profile, choose the Documents tab, and find the file.
2. Hover over the row and choose the download icon. On a phone or tablet the icons are always showing, so tap it.
3. The file saves to your device under its original name.

Each download is recorded in the Audit Log as Downloaded Document, with your name and the file's name. That includes Download in the viewer, the paperclip beside an APR outcome, and a contact attachment that opens in a new browser tab. See See Who Changed What.

If the download link cannot be created, an error message says so. Wait a moment and try again.

To download every document your program holds at once, an admin can use Export All Program Data in Settings, on the Account tab. It saves every file in ZIP files with one folder per student, and a list of every document with who uploaded it and when. See Export All Your Program Data.

Rename a Document or Change Its Tag

1. Hover over the file in the Documents tab and choose the pencil (Edit). On a phone or tablet the icons are always showing, so tap it.
2. In the Edit Document box, change Name or Supports Outcome, then choose Save Changes. The file itself stays as uploaded, and so does its file type.

In Upward Bound, UBMS, SSS and McNair programs you can change only the name. In a Talent Search or VUB program you can also set or remove the program's one tag, which records that the document is on file and sets no outcome. In an EOC program, choosing a new outcome marks it Yes for the current program year, the same as tagging at upload. Removing a tag, or changing it to another outcome, never removes the Yes the old tag recorded; change that answer on the profile's outcomes card.

Delete a Document

1. Hover over the file in the Documents tab and choose the trash icon. On a phone or tablet the icons are always showing, so tap it.
2. The Delete this document? box explains what happens next. Choose Delete Document to delete it, or Keep It to stop.

What deletion does:

• The file is removed from storage and cannot be brought back. There is no undo.
• A recovery record of the document is kept, so an administrator can still see what was deleted, by whom, and when.
• If the delete fails, nothing is changed: the file stays in the list and a red message explains why.
• An amber notice after a delete means the record went but the file itself was kept, for example because another document record still points at the same file. Nothing was lost.

Files That Arrive Automatically

Not everything on the Documents tab was uploaded by staff:

• Applicant uploads. If your application form includes file upload questions, whatever the applicant attaches lands here, listed as uploaded by Student (self-submitted).
• The application PDF. When TRIOPilot saves a submitted application, it also makes a PDF of the answers and files it here, named like Firstname_Lastname_Application_MMDDYY.pdf. It is listed under Student (self-submitted) for an online application, or under your name when you add a student by hand. If your form includes a signature question, the drawn signature is part of the PDF. Option answers show their labels, not stored codes, and the date is your program's. When two answers of a question store the same status, the PDF shows both wordings joined by "or", because the record keeps the status, not the wording. Treat it as the record of what the applicant submitted. The same PDF is attached to the student's starting entry at the bottom of the Activity Feed.
• Contact attachments. Files attached while logging a contact land here too, with a line such as "Attached to a FAFSA Guidance contact" naming the contact type. Attachments save only when the contact is for one student.
• Portal uploads. If your program has turned on the Student Portal, a participant who activated an account can upload files there. They land here, listed as uploaded by Participant (via portal).

If the Application PDF Is Missing

TRIOPilot makes the application PDF on its own servers while it saves the application, so the PDF does not depend on the applicant's connection. If making the PDF fails, TRIOPilot records the problem and tries again every hour for the next seven days. A PDF made this way is listed under TRIOPilot.

If an application submitted through TRIOPilot still has no PDF, the Documents tab says so: "No application PDF is on file for the application submitted on" and the date. If your role can edit students, choose Create Application PDF to make it from the saved answers. The new PDF is listed under your name, and the Audit Log records it as Created Application PDF. If the PDF was made in the meantime, the button adds that PDF to the list instead. If the application has no saved answers, TRIOPilot cannot make its PDF and says so; the problem is already recorded.

A PDF made after the fact is marked "Recreated from the saved answers on" and the date it was made, and it keeps the original submission date. It lists every answer the applicant saved, each under the question as it was worded when they applied, including a question that has since been deleted from your form. Because your form may have changed since then, it does not hide questions the way the live form does.

The notice never appears for applications brought in from another system: they were not submitted through TRIOPilot, so no PDF is expected. Any PDF you uploaded yourself stays as it is; a recreated PDF is added beside it. If you delete the application PDF, the notice comes back so you can make it again. If the application was submitted in the last seven days, TRIOPilot also makes the PDF again by itself within the hour, listed under TRIOPilot, so delete it only if you mean to replace it.

Keeping Records Safe

• Documents belong to one student in one program. Staff outside your program cannot see them.
• If your program has turned on the Student Portal, participants who activate an account can download their own documents there with each document's Download button. Each download is recorded in the Audit Log as Downloaded Document, with the participant as the user. The portal stays off unless an admin turns it on. See Find Your Way Around Program Settings.
• These files can be part of a student's education record. Handle them under your program's FERPA practices, and upload only what you need to keep.