Templates & Activities: What's Changing

A summary of changes for administrators, node administrators, and faculty

Note: Submission, review, scoring, and reporting are unchanged[cite: 1]. Templates created before this update remain fully operational[cite: 1]. Access requirements are unchanged: you need to be an administrator, a faculty member who is a node administrator, or an instructor on at least one section[cite: 1].

This document highlights what is changing in the way you build templates and create activities. It is not a how-to guide — it calls out only the differences from how the system works today, so you know what to expect and what to communicate to your users.

At a Glance

1. Workflow Assignment Has Moved to the Activity

This is the change with the widest impact. Templates and workflows are no longer coupled.

Workflow is selected when you send an activity, not when you build the template.

Previously: You chose a workflow as part of creating the template, and that template could only ever be used with that workflow.

Now: Workflow is selected at Step 2 of the Create Activity wizard. The same template can be sent with a different workflow each time.

The Create Template dialog no longer asks for a Template Type or a Workflow.

Previously: You selected “Activity” as the Template Type and then picked a workflow.

Now: You enter a template name (up to 90 characters); nothing else is required to start building.

Your existing templates keep working.

Now: Workflow associations are automatically removed from existing templates so they can be reused across any workflow. When you create an activity from an older template, Step 2 defaults to that template's original workflow — you can switch it if you want to.

Changing the workflow mid-setup resets field ownership.

Now: If you change the Activity Workflow after you have already configured field ownership, a confirmation dialog warns you that ownership settings will reset to the new workflow's defaults.

2. Field Ownership Is Now Configured Per Activity

Because workflow lives on the activity, so does everything that depends on it. Field ownership, scoring, and workflow settings are no longer configured on the template.

“Who Fills This Out” is set at Step 2 of the activity wizard.

Previously: Role assignment for components (including assessment components) was handled on the template.

Now: Once you select a workflow, every field's owner is filled in automatically from that workflow's defaults, and a role flow diagram shows the order responses move through.

Settings carry over between activities that use the same template and workflow.

Now: If you have already sent an activity using the same template and workflow combination, all of the ownership settings from that activity are applied automatically — there is nothing more to configure.

New tools available at this step:

• Customize — set visibility and editability field by field, by role and by status (“Awaiting Submission”, “Awaiting Assessment”, “Done”).
• Bulk Assign — apply one visibility, submission, or ownership setting to every field of a given type at once. Assessment panel fields are still set individually.
• Preview by Role — see exactly what the activity looks like for any role and status before you send it.
• Reset Field Ownership — revert to the workflow's defaults or to your most recently used settings. Resetting to defaults reverts only the ownership dropdown; submission settings are preserved.

Note: “Preview by Role”, “Bulk Assign”, and “Reset Field Ownership” become available only after a workflow is selected. “Reset Field Ownership” appears only if you have previously sent an activity with that template and workflow combination.

3. A New Activities Menu in the Side Navigation

There is now a single entry point for templates and activities.

Previously: Templates were reached through “Academics & Offices” > organization or program > “Templates” tab.

Now: An “Activities” option in the side navigation contains two tabs: “Activities” (every activity you have sent, with its workflow, template, and status badges such as “Required” or “Available for Withdrawal”) and “Activity Templates” (where you create and manage templates).

Your existing paths still work.

Now: The “Templates” and “Activity Scheduler” sub-tabs under “Academics & Offices” use the same new experience. Starting from either location opens the same wizard.

The standalone My Templates menu has been retired.

Previously: Templates not assigned to an organization lived in a separate “My Templates” side menu.

Now: Saving a template without assigning it to an organization keeps it private to you exactly as before, and it appears in your “Activity Templates” list. You can still transfer it to any node.

Classic Admin users will see redirect notices.

Now: In Classic Admin, the “Templates” and “Activity Scheduler” sub-tabs now display a notification pointing to the “Activities” menu or “Academics & Offices”. The “Templates” sub-tab is now dedicated exclusively to homepage templates.

Menu visibility.

Now: Administrators always see the “Activities” menu. Faculty see it if they are a node administrator or an instructor on at least one section. Students do not see it.

4. Creating an Activity Is Now a Four-Step Wizard

The single Create Activity form has been replaced by four guided steps.

Previously: All activity details were entered on one form and published from there.

Now: Step 1 Activity Template and Name · Step 2 Verify Response Ownership · Step 3 Activity Settings and Schedule · Step 4 Set Activity Destination. Step 4 ends with “Publish”.

Drafts work the same way but are easier to find.

Previously: “Save as Draft” on the activity form, and “Publish” offered a “Publish to Faculty as Draft” option.

Now: You can click “Save” at Steps 1 through 3 from any starting point — a course section, the “Activity Templates” tab, or a faculty “In Progress” section list. Drafts appear as cards on the “Activities” tab; click the Edit icon to resume and publish. Activities can also be edited or deleted directly from the “Activities” tab.

All activity settings and dates are gathered at Step 3.

Now: Step 3 covers submission withdrawal, whether the activity is required, grade return to your LMS gradebook, whether the assessment panel is displayed to students, and whether students can convert the activity to an ePortfolio — followed by the “Visibility”, “Submission Open”, and “Submission Due” dates.

5. New Ways to Choose Who Receives an Activity

Step 4 of the wizard lets you pick one or more destination types instead of sections alone.

Course and Course Sections — unchanged targeting, new flow.

Previously: You clicked “Add Sections” and selected sections from a list.

Now: A two-stage process for selecting the specific courses and sections to distribute to.

Placement Label — new.

Now: Send an activity to a subset of students based on a placement label, through a three-step wizard covering courses, sections, and labels.

Major — new.

Now: Distribute an activity exclusively to students in a particular major, through a four-step wizard covering major type, major value, course, and sections.

What Placement Labels require

• Placement Management now has a “Labels” tab alongside “Details” in the “Tags” area. Labels are created the same way tags are, using the “Add New” dropdown from either tab, and the “Labels” tab offers the same status filtering.
• A placement can carry one label, and a label can only be applied while creating or editing a placement — not from the “Labels” tab itself.
• The system automatically creates a matching student group in the “Membership” area of the section where the placement was created. Because it is managed automatically, this group cannot be renamed or deleted on the “Membership” page the way a custom group can.
• New labels start with a “Not in Use” status until they are assigned to a placement. You can rename or delete a label that is not in use, or archive it to remove it from your active list without losing historical data. Archived labels can be restored.
• If you remove a label from a placement before sending an activity, affected students are removed from the group. If you have already sent the activity, they are removed from that specific activity instead. The placement label also appears in placement history.

What Major targeting requires

• Your institution's major data must already exist in the system, and roles by major must be created in section membership.
• On the “Membership” page, select “Create Role”, set the Role Group to “Major”, choose the major from the Role Value dropdown, and select “Create Role”. Every student in that major is added automatically.
• Placement Label and Major role groups appear on the “Membership” page alongside your existing custom groups.

“Students Selected” will not always match the total.

Now: The total reflects everyone in that course section, placement label group, or major group. The selected count reflects only the students who currently qualify; others receive the activity once they meet the criteria, such as being placed or added to a label. An info icon next to the column header explains this.

Starting from inside a section shortens Step 4.

Now: If you begin Create Activity from a specific course section, Step 4 shows only the relevant steps — section or role for Course and Course Sections, the label alone for Placement Label, and major type then major for Major.

6. Activity Scheduler Changes

The scheduler now uses the same Create Activity wizard.

Previously: The Activity Scheduler had its own “Create Schedule” panel and settings screen.

Now: Selecting “Activity Scheduler” opens the Create Activity wizard, adjusted for the fact that you are already working inside a course.

The workflow restriction is gone.

Previously: Only templates built with the Standard, Observational, Form, Internship, Internship Observational, or Internship Form workflows could be used with the scheduler.

Now: Step 1 shows every template you have available to choose from.

The destination step is skipped.

Now: Because you are already in a course, you will see “Back” and “Schedule” buttons at Step 3 instead of continuing to Step 4. Scheduling from here sends the activity to your students exactly as it does today.

Due Date is optional in this path.

Now: The “Due Date” field is blank by default when scheduling, so you can schedule an activity without setting one. Step 3 otherwise carries over the same scheduling details you set today.

7. What Is Not Changing

• Submission, review, scoring, and reporting all work exactly as they do today.
• The components you use to build a template are the same — text fields, file uploads, questions, references, rubrics, and reference material.
• Editing components and settings on an activity you have already sent works the same way it did before, including activities sent through the Activity Scheduler.
• Templates created before this update remain fully operational.
• Saving a template without assigning it to an organization keeps it private to you, the same as My Templates did.
• Access requirements are unchanged: you need to be an administrator, a faculty member who is a node administrator, or an instructor on at least one section.

Suggested Communication Points

If you are cascading this to your own admins and faculty, these are the four points most likely to cause questions: