Calendar Integration: Google Calendar

Overview

The Meeting Scheduler module permits students to make appointments with advisors and other staff based on their institutional calendar and availability settings configured in Student Success & Engagement (SS&E) User Settings.

In order to use the Meeting Scheduler module it must be enabled by Watermark staff. If you have not requested the Meeting Scheduler module to be enabled, please contact your Customer Success Manager or Implementation Project Manager. Once enabled, Meetings must be configured within Student Success & Engagement Administration and integrated with the institution's calendar system.

More information/instructions: Enable Meeting Scheduler

Google Calendar Integration

Watermark staff will enable Meeting Scheduler within SS&E and configure the Google API on the Watermark side. The institution's Google Workspace Administrator and SS&E System Administrator should work together to complete the following steps:

In SS&E:

1. The institution's SS&E System Administrator should locate the Client ID needed for the Google Calendar integration within SS&E Administration.
   • Navigate to SS&E Admin > Meetings > Meetings Configuration > Edit
   • Locate the client_id item within Google Service Account Credentials JSON and save the id number (without quotes). The Google Workspace Administrator will need this to configure the integration.
     
     Note: If this field does not contain the JSON, contact your Implementation Project Manager or submit a request to Support to enable the Google Calendar Integration post-implementation.

In the Google Admin Console:

1. The Google Workspace administrator must access the Google Admin Console (https://admin.google.com) for their organization.
2. Configure API access.
   • On the dashboard, click Security > Access and data control > API Controls > Domain-wide Delegation > Manage Domain-wide Delegation
     • Select Add new.
     • For Client Name, enter the Client ID provided by Watermark staff.
     • For API Scopes, enter “https://www.googleapis.com/auth/calendar”
     • Click Authorize 
   • Navigate to Security > Access and data control > API Controls > Manage Third Party App Access and select Configure new app:
     • Watermark SS&E 
       • Select Add app 

       • Select Oauth App Name Or Client Id 

       • Search for 90397892676-q84it1s7oj1rqmaua633eefjedi1u0gs.apps.googleusercontent.com

       • Watermark SS&E should show up. Select that and select the only oauth client

       • Set an appropriate scope that covers all staff members that will be scheduling meetings with students

       • Give the app "Limited" Access
3. Create a Service Account (AccountName@school.edu) within your Google Workspace account 
   • This is the account whose calendar will "own" the meetings produced by the Student Success & Engagement Meeting Scheduler.
   • When meetings are created through Student Success & Engagement, they will be created on this calendar and the attendees (staff and student) will be invited to the meeting.
   • Meeting invites will be delivered from this account so it should be named appropriately, service account names like "SSE Scheduler" or "CollegeName Appointment Scheduler" are commonly used.
   • This Service Account allows for management of appointments without the need for API access to the individual calendar accounts.
   • The Service Account should have access to read the calendars (free/busy permission) of all staff at your institution, as well as the ability to invite users to meetings.
4. The institution's SS&E System Administrator should enter the service account email in SS&E Administration (Administrator access is required).
   • Navigate to SS&E Admin > Meetings > Meetings Configuration > Edit > Service Account Name
   • Enter the service account email address
   • Save 

5. The integration can be tested after these steps and the Meeting Scheduler Configuration/User Settings steps are completed. You can test by impersonating a test student and scheduling a meeting with a staff member. The staff member must have availability set up in their user settings.

   Note: If you are in implementation or a consulting project for this feature, you can let Watermark staff know that the calendar integration steps have been completed and which staff member you would like to be the test user. 

Meeting Scheduler Configuration

After the calendar integration is complete, the institution should verify that Meeting Type, Service Delivery Location, and Service Offering are configured completely and correctly in the Administration screens. More information on Meetings configuration can be found here.

User Settings

To use Meeting Scheduler, staff, faculty, and advisor users must choose to accept meetings by syncing their calendar and setting up their meeting availability in their individual User Settings. This can only be done after Calendar Integration and Meeting Scheduler Configuration steps are complete. See Advisor instructions for New Meeting Scheduler for instructions.

Additional Information

• If you have configured or used Meeting Scheduler in the past (prior to the Meeting Scheduler upgrades in Summer 2024), you will need to complete or verify the integration and configuration.
• If an institution has both Google and Microsoft Calendars on campus, they should integrate with the calendar system that staff users will be using for meeting availability.
• Instructions for Microsoft Calendar Integration can be found here.

Troubleshooting

If these steps have been completed but users are unable to schedule meetings as expected, review the Meeting Scheduler Troubleshooting article.