This article will address how to:
- Find and edit events created by Travel and Intercultural Education staff in the Activity Module.
- Record attendance for host families, inbound and outbound participants, and/or volunteers
- Add your Team’s own activities
Staff will create an Activity Shell for each orientation in your team, including the Departure Logistics Webinar (DLW), so that volunteers only need find the relevant activity, enter the details of the event and who attended.
Creating the activity shells for teams, ensures accurate name standardization making it easy for volunteers to find and edit their events. The activity names are created using the following naming conventions:
- Departure Logistics Webinar:Area team name (HDS*) DLW** 2022
- Arrival Orientation:Area team name (HDS) Arrivals NH22***
- Post Arrival Orientation: Area team name Post Arrival Orientation NH22
- Mid-Stay Orientation: Area Team name Mid Stay Orientation NH22
- End of Stay Orientation: Area team name EOS Orientation NH22
- Pre-Departure Orientation: Area team name PDO NH22
- Host Family Pre-Arrival Orientation: Area team name HFO NH22
Note: *HDS = Host Distribution Site
**DLW = Departure Logistics Webinar – (Note: for this event the year in which the event takes place is noted in the name rather than the cycle eg., 2022 rather than NH21)
***Shells are created for all teams in the NH cycle, and for only those teams hosting or sending students abroad in the SH cycle
Please note: Volunteers with certain affiliations can create an activity such as an orientation and assign participants to that orientation. If you do not have access and would like it, please contact AskAFS@afsusa.org
Below you will find instructions with screenshots guiding you in how to enter attendance at an activity. If you prefer watch this short video explaining how to link students and record attendance in the Activity Module.
How To Find an Event
1. To search for an Orientation or DLW in your Area Team, click on Activity (USA) on the left side of your screen in Global Link.
2. Select the magnifying glass next to Area Team. Scroll down until you find your team’s name. Click "OK.”
3. Now that you have selected your Area Team, your screen should look like this:
4. Several records will appear. Make sure the activity name includes the current cycle, or year in which the activity will take place. To find the most recent activity entered, simply click on the Activity Ref. title until the list is in chronological order. To open the Activity click on the “Activity Ref” Number:
5. Once you are in the selected activity, enter in the missing information including date, location, time, and responsible name.
Note: If you have more than one date for an orientation, for example, more than one Arrival Orientation you do not need multiple activities. Use the same event shell and just make sure you record the appropriate date each person attended. The Notes box can be used to describe the different events.
Assigning People to the Activity and Recording Attendance
It is a two-step process in order to successfully record a person's participation in an event.
The first step is to assign the person to the activity, and the second step is to record the date the person attended the event.
- To assign a person to the activity, once you have selected the activity, find the Assigned Persons section toward the bottom of the screen and click on Assign Persons to this Activity. In the pop-up box that appears choose the kind of person you need to assign and click Next.
To view the list of people in the category you selected, click Search. Change Max Result if you need to view more than 50 records.
- Choose the people you want to assign by marking the checkbox to the left of their record and click Assign Selection at the bottom.
If you wish to add people from a different category (Host Family, Staff and Volunteer, Educator), repeat these steps.
PLEASE NOTE: It is not sufficient to simply assign people to the activity. You must also indicate the date they attended to complete the process.
At the bottom of your activity, you will see the list of participants you added from the steps above. To record the date a person attended an event:
1. Click the checkbox to the left of their records. When you check one or more checkboxes, the Attendance Update button will be enabled. If you wish to add the same attendance date for more than one person, you can check the check-boxes next to all those people and move to the next step. (Note that if you wish to select everyone assigned you can mark the checkbox in the row of headers, and all the boxes will be checked.)
2. Click Attendance Update. In the pop-up that appears, select their Role at Activity and their Attended Date. Then click Save.
3. The Role and Attended Date will then appear in the Assigned Person’s section:
Adding the Responsible Volunteer and Location
- Fill in the Responsible Name. Clicking on the icon next to the field will open a new window where you can look for your name or the name of a different volunteer coordinating the activity:
2. To add Activity Location, click the icon next to that field as shown below. To search for a location already saved into Global Link, enter the location’s name or address into Location Name and/or filter your results by Location Type. The address detail will appear next to the Location Name results. After searching, click on your desired location to highlight it and click OK to select.
3. If you wish to add a New Location click the button. Then fill out the appropriate fields under Location Detail and click Save.
4. Click Save at the bottom of the main Activity Detail screen to create the new activity
How to Create a new Activity, Orientation, or Training in Global Link
If you need to create a new activity, orientation, or training that a shell has not already been created for, please complete the following steps:
1. Click Activity (USA)in the left menu.
2. To add a new Activity, Orientation, or Training, click the New button under all the search fields (see below how to check if an activity is already in Global Link).
3. At the top part of the screen, fill in all the fields that have a red asterisk next to them (Activity Name, Activity Type, Activity Mode, Activity Level, Event Area Team Gateway, Area Team Region, Activity Focus, and Activity Sub-Focus). If the activity didn’t require a “gateway”, select “No Territory Assigned”.
Make sure your activity name includes your area team, the orientation/training/activity, and the cycle and year. For example: NYC Metro & Hudson Valley Volunteer Development Day NH22.
It should look like the example below.
4. Click the blue save button at the bottom right of the page to save your progress!
5. To link your Area Team to the orientation, click on the New Activity Organization section that is below Activity Detail.
6. Enter in the Year, Cycle, Organization Name, Status, and click Save.
7. Any paperwork (sign in sheets, etc.) that you want to go in the file can be scanned to your computer and attached at the bottom where it says Upload New File.
If you have any questions about this process, please contact AskAFS@afsusa.org. Thank you!