Notes offer an additional mechanism to jot down information about a student, collaborate across Care Units, and create a record of information provided directly to the student. Unlike Appointment Summary reports, notes are not tied to specific appointments, nor are they formatted specifically for specific Care Units.
Because of their flexibility, institutions take advantage of notes in a variety of ways. Some institutions view the capability as a sticky note and allow faculty and staff to document any important information that should be visible to anyone working with the student.
Some institutions use Notes to track very specific information about students, such as their degree plans. In these scenarios, faculty and staff can attach the student’s degree plan directly to the Note, make the note visible to the student, and label the note with a searchable Note Reason, such as Academic Planning. Note reasons vary depending on configurations. Staff can then report on degree plans by generating a Notes Report, as shown below. Staff can also use the Notes Report search for text included in notes.
Creating a Note
To show a Note to a student, check the box next to their name in the Visibility field. If you choose to make a Note visible to the student, it appears on the Reports page Bulldog Connect the Reports tab on the Student Home.
On the student profile, Notes can be found on the History tab along with other documentation, such as Appointment Summaries or Progress Reports. To view only Notes, you have two options:
Click on (Student Name)'s History and filter to view only Notes. This view is helpful if you have the right permissions, as this is where you are able to delete Notes. To delete a Note, select that Note, open the Actions menu and then click Delete Note.
Frequently Asked Questions
If I add a note to a student profile, can anyone see it?
Only users with the permission to view student notes will be able to see your note. However, if users have this permission, they can see all notes, regardless of Care Unit. For Care Unit-specific documentation, we recommend creating Appointment Summaries instead.
Can I add notes for multiple students at once?
Yes! Notes can be added to more than one student at the same time. There is a cap of 100 students for whom notes can be added at once. This can be done by selecting students in your queue (e.g. Advanced Search) and selecting the “Actions” menu. With the proper permissions, users can click “Note” to add a note to anywhere from 1 to 100 students. If more than one student is selected, the same note scripting will apply to each student record. If more than 100 students are in your queue and selected, the “Note” option will no longer appear within the “Actions” menu.
Why can’t I add an attachment to a note?
Some institutions restrict the ability to include attachments in notes in order to streamline document storage. Talk to your Application Administrator for more information.
What should I do if I can't delete notes?
Click the toggle that says [Student First Name]'s History and change it to Notes About [Student First Name]. The delete button should be an option once you do this. You may also use the Notes Report to delete notes.
What happens to private notes if my institution turns off this option?
Your private notes remain private; however, you will no longer be able to create private notes.
What is the Notes URL field for?
It is a place to copy and paste a URL. For example, if you spoke with the student about the FAFSA, you can copy and paste in a URL to the FAFSA website to share with a student.
Can my institution import Notes with HTML?
Yes. It is possible to import notes with HTML formatting through the CSV import. The last column (after note reasons) can be used to tell us that the note is rich text by setting it to "Y". This will allow HTML in the note bodies to be rendered with proper formatting in the site.
What's the attachment size limit for Notes?