IN THIS ARTICLE:
Learn how to mark staff members as being absent on a specific date/date range, and how to assign Substitute Instructors to fill in for them while they are out.

• Why would I need to mark a staff member absent?
• Marking a staff member absent/Assigning a substitute
  • From the CLASSES page
  • From the STAFF page
  • From the CALENDAR page
• Using the “Mass Actions” option
  • Editing Absences
  • Editing Substitutes

Why would I need to mark a staff member absent?

Life is unpredictable, and as much as we would like to have a set schedule for all employees, occasionally they are sick, need to attend jury duty or a funeral, need to be away for competitions or conferences, or just otherwise need some time off.

iClassPro makes it easy to record these absences, and at the same time assign one or more instructors to fill in for the classes/camps/parties to which they are assigned while they are out.

Once a substitute instructor has been assigned to a class for a specific date, this assignment will remain even if the permanent instructor is changed or removed.  It is highly recommended that you remove any substitutes linked to classes taught by the original instructor before assigning a new one. To remove a substitute instructor from a class, follow the instructions to "Cancel all substitutions" in the Editing Substitutes section below.

Marking a staff member absent/Assigning a substitute

From the CLASSES page

1. Navigate to the CLASSES page.
2. Use the page filters and/or search to locate the class(es) for which you wish to mark an instructor absent.
3. Select one or more of the classes.
4. Click the “Substitute Instructor” QuickTool from the toolbar at the bottom of the screen to launch the “Assign Substitutes” window.
   
5. In the “Assign Substitutes” window, set the date range for which you wish to assign a substitute instructor. (The window will default to the selected “Enrollment Date.”)
   
   • Click here for information about using the “Mass Actions” option.
6. The window will display a separate entry for each class meeting time during the selected date range.
   
7. For each entry, you can perform the following tasks in the drop-down menu:
   
   • Present - marks the Permanent Instructor “Present” for the selected date/time. (This is the default.)
   • No Substitute - marks the Permanent Instructor “Absent” for the selected date/time, but does not assign a Substitute Instructor.
   • Selecting a Staff Name - marks the Permanent Instructor “Absent” for the selected date/time and assigns the selected Staff Member as the Substitute Instructor for that specific date/time.
     
     • If 25 OR FEWER STAFF PROFILES EXIST IN THE ACCOUNT, all staff members will be listed and you can select one directly from the list.
     • IF 26 OR MORE STAFF PROFILES EXIST IN THE ACCOUNT, the menu will display an option to "Choose a Substitute."  Selecting this option will launch a pop-up window allowing you to select a staff member.
       • This extra step is to reduce loading time on the initial drop-down menu for accounts with large numbers of staff accounts.
     • NOTE: If there are any scheduling conflicts for the staff member selected as a Substitute, these will be noted below the drop-down menu.
8. If you have selected “No Substitute” or chosen to assign a Substitute Instructor, select the appropriate reason for the absence under the “Choose Reason” drop-down menu.
9. On this screen, you will also be given the following options:
   
   
   • “Send Email To Affected Families With Substitution Information.”
     If enabled, the system will send an email to families of students enrolled in the selected class(es) to notify them of the substitution(s). The system will use the email template under SETTINGS>SETUP>GENERAL SETTINGS>COMMUNICATION TEMPLATES>ICLASSPRO>"Instructor Substitutions (To Families)."
   • “Send Notification Email to Substitute.”
     If enabled, the system will send an email to notify staff members selected to substitute for the selected class(es). The system will use the email template under SETTINGS>SETUP>GENERAL SETTINGS>COMMUNICATION TEMPLATES>ICLASSPRO>"Instructor Substitutions (To Staff)."
10. After reviewing the summary, click “Process” to apply the changes if everything is correct.
    
    • If you need to make any corrections, click “Previous” to return to the “Assign Substitutes” window.

If you choose to cancel the Background Task after it has begun, it is strongly recommended that you also delete the entry from the Background Task window by clicking on the “Delete” button (trash) to the right of the Background Task entry. Deleting the Background Task entry is specifically recommended for tasks that both perform a task and send email notifications, such as generating makeup tokens, canceling classes/camps, assigning substitute instructors, and sending Statements.

From the STAFF page

1. Navigate to the STAFF page.
2. Use the page filters and/or search to locate the staff member(s) for whom you wish to create absences/assign substitutes.
3. Select one or more of the staff member(s).
4. Click the “Substitute Instructor” QuickTool from the toolbar at the bottom of the screen to launch the “Assign Substitutes” window.
   
5. In the “Assign Substitutes” window, set the date range for which you wish to assign a substitute instructor. (The window will default to the current date.)
   
   • Click here for information about using the “Mass Actions” option.
6. The window will display a separate entry for each class meeting time during the selected date range.
   
7. For each entry, you can perform the following tasks in the drop-down menu:
   
   • Present - marks the Permanent Instructor “Present” for the selected date/time. (This is the default.)
   • No Substitute - marks the Permanent Instructor “Absent” for the selected date/time, but does not assign a Substitute Instructor.
   • Selecting a Staff Name - marks the Permanent Instructor “Absent” for the selected date/time and assigns the selected Staff Member as the Substitute Instructor for that specific date/time.
     
     • If there are any scheduling conflicts for the staff member selected as a Substitute, these will be noted below the drop-down menu.
8. If you have selected “No Substitute” or chosen to assign a Substitute Instructor, select the appropriate reason for the absence under the “Choose Reason” drop-down menu.
9. On this screen, you will also be given the following options:
   
   
   • “Send Email To Affected Families With Substitution Information.”
     If enabled, the system will send an email to families of students enrolled in the selected class(es) to notify them of the substitution(s). The system will use the email template under SETTINGS>SETUP>GENERAL SETTINGS>COMMUNICATION TEMPLATES>ICLASSPRO>"Instructor Substitutions (To Families)."
   • “Send Notification Email to Substitute.”
     If enabled, the system will send an email to notify staff members selected to substitute for the selected class(es). The system will use the email template under SETTINGS>SETUP>GENERAL SETTINGS>COMMUNICATION TEMPLATES>ICLASSPRO>"Instructor Substitutions (To Staff)."
10. After reviewing the summary, click “Process” to apply the changes if everything is correct.
    • If you need to make any corrections, click “Previous” to return to the “Assign Substitutes” window.

If you choose to cancel the Background Task after it has begun, it is strongly recommended that you also delete the entry from the Background Task window by clicking on the “Delete” button (trash) to the right of the Background Task entry. Deleting the Background Task entry is specifically recommended for tasks that both perform a task and send email notifications, such as generating makeup tokens, canceling classes/camps, assigning substitute instructors, and sending Statements.

From the CALENDAR page

NOTE: Substitutions made from the CALENDAR page are date-specific.

1. Navigate to the CALENDAR page.
2. Use the page filters and/or search to locate the class for which you wish to mark an instructor absent.
3. Click on the class for which you wish to mark an instructor absent to launch the “What would you like to do?” window.
4. Click the “Edit Absences and Substitutes” link at the top right-hand corner of the window to launch the “Assign Substitutes” window.
5. In the “Assign Substitutes” window, set the date range for which you wish to assign a substitute instructor. (The window will default to the date selected from the Calendar.)
   
   • Click here for information about using the “Mass Actions” option.
6. The window will display a separate entry for each class meeting time during the selected date range.
   
7. For each entry, you can perform the following tasks in the drop-down menu:
   
   • Present - marks the Permanent Instructor “Present” for the selected date/time. (This is the default.)
   • No Substitute - marks the Permanent Instructor “Absent” for the selected date/time, but does not assign a Substitute Instructor.
   • Selecting a Staff Name - marks the Permanent Instructor “Absent” for the selected date/time and assigns the selected Staff Member as the Substitute Instructor for that specific date/time.
     
     • If there are any scheduling conflicts for the staff member selected as a Substitute, these will be noted below the drop-down menu.
8. If you have selected “No Substitute” or chosen to assign a Substitute Instructor, select the appropriate reason for the absence under the “Choose Reason” drop-down menu.
9. On this screen, you will also be given the following options:
   
   
   • “Send Email To Affected Families With Substitution Information.”
     If enabled, the system will send an email to families of students enrolled in the selected class(es) to notify them of the substitution(s). The system will use the email template under SETTINGS>SETUP>GENERAL SETTINGS>COMMUNICATION TEMPLATES>ICLASSPRO>"Instructor Substitutions (To Families)."
   • “Send Notification Email to Substitute.”
     If enabled, the system will send an email to notify staff members selected to substitute for the selected class(es). The system will use the email template under SETTINGS>SETUP>GENERAL SETTINGS>COMMUNICATION TEMPLATES>ICLASSPRO>"Instructor Substitutions (To Staff)."
10. After reviewing the summary, click “Process” to apply the changes if everything is correct.
    • If you need to make any corrections, click “Previous” to return to the “Assign Substitutes” window.

If you choose to cancel the Background Task after it has begun, it is strongly recommended that you also delete the entry from the Background Task window by clicking on the “Delete” button (trash) to the right of the Background Task entry. Deleting the Background Task entry is specifically recommended for tasks that both perform a task and send email notifications, such as generating makeup tokens, canceling classes/camps, assigning substitute instructors, and sending Statements.

Using the “Mass Actions” option

After selecting your date range, you can either select absence/substitution details for each class meeting date separately, or you can use the “Mass Actions” option to update the class Absence or Substitution details in bulk.

Editing Absences

1. After selecting your date range, select “Edit Absences” from the “Mass Actions” drop-down menu. This will launch the “Mass Editing Absences” window.
2. Set your options for how you wish to update all of the class meeting dates within your defined date range:
   
   • Who would you like to apply these changes to?
     
     • Choose Instructor - select the Instructor for whom you wish to update the Absence status for all of the dates.
   • What adjustments would you like to make? (Defaults to “Choose Substitute”)
     
     • Present - marks the Permanent Instructor “Present” for the selected date/time.
     • No Substitute - marks the Permanent Instructor “Absent” for the selected date/time, but does not assign a Substitute Instructor.
     • Selecting a Staff Name - marks the Permanent Instructor “Absent” for the selected date/time and assigns the selected Staff Member as the Substitute Instructor for that specific date/time.
       
       • If there are any scheduling conflicts for the staff member selected as a Substitute, these will be noted below the drop-down menu.
   • If you have selected “No Substitute” or chosen to assign a Substitute Instructor, select the appropriate reason for the absence under the “Choose Reason” drop-down menu.
   • Where would you like to apply these changes?
     • Apply to Classes Where Currently Present
     • Apply to Classes Where Already Absent
     • Apply to All Classes
3. Click SAVE to update the Absence status on all of the class meeting dates within your defined date range, or click CANCEL to return to the “Assign Substitutes” window.

Editing Substitutes

1. After selecting your date range, select “Edit Substitutes” from the “Mass Actions” drop-down menu. This will launch the “Mass Editing Substitutes” window.
2. Set your options for how you wish to update all of the class meeting dates within your defined date range:
   • Who would you like to apply these changes to?
     
     • Choose Instructor - select the assigned substitute you wish to update.
   • What would you like to do with these substitutions?
     
     • Cancel all substitutions - removes the selected instructor from being assigned as a substitute instructor for the class meeting times for which they have been assigned within the selected date range. This does not restore the original instructor to the class, so the class will not have a substitute instructor assigned.
     • Reassign to someone else - removes the selected instructor from being assigned as a substitute instructor for the class meeting times for which they have been assigned within the selected date range, and reassigns those class meetings to a different instructor. (Defaults to “Choose Substitute”)
       
       • Present - marks the Permanent Instructor “Present” for the selected date/time.
       • No Substitute - marks the Permanent Instructor “Absent” for the selected date/time, but does not assign a Substitute Instructor.
       • Selecting a Staff Name - marks the Permanent Instructor “Absent” for the selected date/time and assigns the selected Staff Member as the Substitute Instructor for that specific date/time.
         
         • If there are any scheduling conflicts for the staff member selected as a Substitute, these will be noted below the drop-down menu.
3. Click SAVE to update the Substitute status on all of the class meeting dates within your defined date range, or click CANCEL to return to the “Assign Substitutes” window.