Before you can track a school’s standing, phase, and reports in a program, the school needs an accreditation record in that program. Adding a school creates that record.
When to Use This
Use this when you need to start tracking a school that is not yet accredited in the program you’re working in. If the school already has a record in the program and you only need to update its status, phase, or dates, see Edit a School's Accreditation instead.
Prerequisites
- The school must already exist as an organization in Rhythm. If it does not, create the organization first.
- You need a current program set because Rhythm creates the new accreditation in the program you’re currently working in.
- Your program needs at least one phase defined because you must choose a phase before you can save.
Add a School
- Go to Accreditations › Schools and select Manually add a School/Accreditation. You can also start from an existing school’s page by opening its options menu and choosing Manually Add Accreditation, which fills in the school for you.
- Choose the School:.
- Choose a Status: and, if you use them, a Status Reason:.
- Choose a Current Phase:.
- Choose how the school should move to its next phase: use the current phase’s advancement rules, choose a specific phase, or turn off automatic advancement.
- Optionally set any of the six dates: Term Start Date, Expiration Date, Renewal Date, Reinstatement Date, Termination Date, and Lapse Date.
- Optionally add Notes and complete any custom fields your account has defined for accreditations.
- Select Save Changes.
Result
Rhythm creates the accreditation, assigns the next available number automatically, and takes you to the school’s record.
Warning
A school can have only one accreditation per program. If you choose a school that already has an accreditation in the program you’re working in, Rhythm shows a message below the School: field and blocks the save button. You cannot add a second record for the same school in the same program from this form.
What Rhythm Fills In for You
- The accreditation's identifier comes from the program and the school, so you never type one.
- The name is copied from the school’s own name in Rhythm’s contact and organization directory, so Rhythm does not save what you type in the Name: field.
- The number is assigned automatically and sequentially, giving you a simple way to refer to the record besides its full identifier.
Why a Save Might Be Refused
- The school already has an accreditation in this program. Pick a different school, or open the existing record from the school’s own page instead.
- A required field is missing. School, current phase, and the target phase for a specific-phase advancement must all be filled in.
- No phase exists yet in the program. The phase list is empty, so there is nothing to choose. Set up phases for the program first.
Related Reading
Once a school has an accreditation, you can change its standing at any time; see Edit a School's Accreditation. To review the record afterward, see View a School's Accreditation on Its 360 Page. Custom fields on the form come from your account’s custom field setup for accreditations.