Create an Automated Assignment

Automated Assignments offer more flexibility since the way learners are added to the assignment is based off learner criteria, such as Custom Categories, Locations, and previously completed learning activities. Every night, Foundry will search through the users in your account and pull in all learners who fit the specified criteria.

Before creating an assignment, we recommend having all the necessary components already set up so you can quickly apply them to the assignment. That includes having Training Periods created, learners correctly categorized, and platform Communications drafted.

1. Click Assignments in the left navigation to see the Manage Assignments page

2. If you manage more than one learner audience, make sure to select the appropriate audience from the dropdown in the upper left

3. Click Create Assignment in the top right corner of the screen

4. Complete the following fields:

    

   Assignment Name	This is internal only and learners will not see this. Be specific and clear so you and other administrators know what the assignment is used for. You can include the time frame, the courses, or learner group this assignment is for. This cannot be adjusted after the Automation Begins date.
   Training Period	Training Periods help you manage assignments by ensuring learners only receive content once per training cycle. We recommend naming each Training Period to represent a meaningful timeframe so you can easily use them when reporting on training progress. This cannot be adjusted after the Automation Begins date.   Examples: New Hire Training Q1 2025, Annual Training 2025
   Learning Activities	Select the courses to include in this assignment. This option is multi-select, but we do not recommend assigning more than 3 learning activities per assignments. This cannot be adjusted after the Automation Begins date.   Note: Some of our courses have a “Part 2,” which typically consists of a follow-up survey taken 4-6 weeks after a learner completes Part 1, which is the main course. If you selected a learner activity that has a Part 2, you’ll automatically see the Part 2 added to your assignment. *Note: you can modify the template being used for the automatically generated Part 2 after the assignment has been made.
   Selection Criteria*	Instead of picking a set roster of names to add to the assignment, Automated assignments require you to specify the criteria for selecting learners. The system will check for eligible learners and assign them daily. This cannot be adjusted after the Automation Begins date.   Filters are: Must be added this year or… Must have one of these roles… Must be in one of these locations… Must be in one of these custom labels… Must have already completed all of… Content completed ever Content ever actively assigned Must have never before been assigned any of… checking for people who are not in an active activity status in an active assignment For the Custom Labels filter, there is some logic to be aware of to ensure you are actually including all learners you want. If 2 Labels are selected within the same Category, then OR logic applies. If 2 Labels are selected across 2 Categories, then AND logic applies. For example, in this case learners who have both Gryffindor and Gryffindor Captain Labels will receive this assignment. Additionally, learners who have both Gryffindor and Hufflepuff Captain Labels will receive this assignment. Set an intersession: The Completed filter includes an option to set an intersession between the pre-requisite learning activity that must be completed and the learning activity in this assignment. If you are manually assigning a Part 2 followup survey, we recommend using this filter to set the same intersession for all users.
   Invite Template	This is the email that will be sent to learners on the Assignment Start Date and how they will access Foundry to complete their assignment. Invitation emails from Foundry can be turned off per assignment, but we recommend having an alternative alert to learners that something has been assigned.   The invite template cannot be adjusted after the Automation Begins date. The option to turn/off invitation emails can be adjusted after the Automated Begins date.
   Automation Begins*	The date when Foundry begins looking through your learner list to find those who match the criteria and will send invitations. This cannot be adjusted after the initial date has passed.
   Automation Stops*	The date when Foundry stops sending invitations to new learners who meet the criteria to the assignment. On this date, the assignment will close and no new learners can be invited to train. Those who were already assigned can continue progress. This can be adjusted after the Automation Begins date up until the day the Automation Stops.
   Due Duration*	The number of days after a learner receives the assignment invitation before it is due. Because invitations are sent out on a rolling basis, the due date can vary per learner. This can be adjusted after the Automation Begins date.
   Archive Date	The date when the assignment moves from Active to Deactivated and no learners will be able to continue progress in the courses assigned. This can be adjusted after the Invites Start date up until the set Archive Date.
   Reminder Template	This is the email that will be sent to learners who have not completed the full assignment. This can be turned off completely and can be adjusted after the Automation Begins date.
   Reminder Schedule	The next four options allow you to determine if and when reminders go out before and after the due date. This can be turned off completely and can be adjusted after the Automation Begins date.
   Advanced Settings	Surveys and supplemental question sets (which are dependent on the learning activity) can be disabled in this section. If a survey is disabled, learners will still be directed to take the in-course quizzes and assessments. Administrators will not receive an Impact Reports if surveys are disabled.   Administrators can also force Close or Archive the assignment. Note: In the course Equity, Acceptance, and Respect: Global Harassment and Discrimination Prevention, if you are trying to disable surveys upon setting up your assignment, and receive the error message "Contents cannot be a survey or have a survey within a group if it is skipped", it is because surveys are built into this course and you cannot disable them.

   * = Different for Quick Assignments