An instructor is a contact with instructor details added. After you register the person as an instructor, you can schedule them to teach courses for one or more training providers. This article explains how to register an instructor, approve or remove their permission to teach a course, and understand which details Rhythm updates automatically.
What It Controls
Use the Instructors list to register the people who teach your courses and manage the details that course offerings show or use for them. These details include the instructor’s training provider, Portal biography and photo, and staff-only details such as a contract and pay rate.
Course offerings use this list when you assign instructors. You can also approve instructors for specific courses from the course record, and Rhythm updates the same instructor approval list.
An instructor approved for several training providers is different from a course offering that names several instructors. Approving an instructor for more than one training provider does not change how many instructors a single course offering can have. Allowing a course offering to name additional instructors also does not add training providers to anyone’s profile.
Where to Find It
Go to Certifications › Setup › Training › Instructors to see every instructor registered in your account. Select Create Instructor to register someone new, or open a row to edit an existing instructor.
Prerequisites
- The person you want to make an instructor must already exist as a contact.
- At least one training provider should exist if you plan to assign the instructor to one.
Register an Instructor
- Go to Certifications › Setup › Training › Instructors and select Create Instructor.
- Use Contact to search for and select the person. When you choose a contact, Rhythm fills in three details automatically: the contact’s organization becomes the instructor’s training provider, if one exists; the contact’s photo becomes the instructor’s photo, if one exists; and the contact’s notes become the instructor’s biography, if any exist.
- Confirm or change the Training Providers the instructor teaches for. You need at least one row, and you can add more with Add Training Provider.
- Optionally write a Bio, upload a Contract, and enter a Pay Rate. Use the Photo field for the instructor’s headshot instead of pasting an image into Bio, because images embedded in the biography text can display poorly. If the photo is missing because it has not been uploaded yet, add it to the linked contact’s photo instead of working around it in the biography.
- Optionally add rows under Courses for any courses the instructor is already approved to teach, each with an optional Valid from and Valid until date.
- Set Status to Active or Inactive.
- Select Save Changes.
Result
The instructor appears on the Instructors list and can be assigned to course offerings. Where the training provider allows it, the instructor can also be the instructor of record for a course.
The Settings
| Setting | Options | Default | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact | An existing contact | None; required | Sets the instructor’s identity. The instructor is tied to the contact, so a contact can have only one instructor record |
| Photo | An uploaded image | The contact’s photo, if the contact has one | Shows the instructor’s photo in the Portal. You can upload it only when you create or copy the instructor |
| Training Providers | One or more providers, each its own row | The contact’s own organization, if it has one | Lists the providers the instructor is approved to teach for |
| Bio | Rich text | The contact’s notes, if any | Shows the instructor’s biography in the Portal |
| Courses | Zero or more rows, each a course with optional Valid from and Valid until dates | None | Records which courses the instructor is approved to teach, and for how long. You can assign an instructor only to a course offering run by a training provider already listed in their own Training Providers; there is no way to add an instructor to an offering from a different provider, even temporarily |
| Contract | An uploaded file | None | Keeps the instructor’s contract on the record for staff reference |
| Pay Rate | A number | None | Keeps the instructor’s contracted rate with staff details |
| Status | Active, Inactive | Active | Controls whether the instructor is available when you assign courses. An inactive instructor can still remain on existing course offerings |
Approve or Remove an Instructor for a Course
You can approve or remove an instructor from the course record without opening the instructor form.
- Open the course from Certifications › Setup › Training › Courses and go to its Instructors tab.
- Select Assign Instructor.
- Choose an instructor and, optionally, a Valid From and Valid Until date.
- Select Save Changes.
Result
The instructor is added to the course’s Instructors panel, and the same approval appears on the instructor’s Courses list.
To remove an instructor’s approval for a course, select Remove next to their name on the course’s Instructors panel and confirm. You can also delete a course row directly from the instructor’s own Courses list while editing the instructor. This removes only that course approval, so the instructor’s other course approvals and training providers stay unchanged. If removing a course from the instructor’s own record does not work for you, remove the instructor from the course’s Instructors panel instead; it removes the same approval.
Tip
Rhythm allows the same instructor to be approved for the same course more than once. It also accepts an end date earlier than the start date without a warning. If you are not sure which approval is current, review the course’s Instructors panel.
Dependencies and Precedence
- The instructor's name and contact details are refreshed from the contact on every save. If you update the person’s name or contact information on their contact record, the instructor record picks up that change the next time anyone saves it.
- Editing an instructor can overwrite its photo. When an instructor does not have its own photo, Rhythm shows the linked contact’s photo instead. If you save any edit to that instructor, Rhythm stores the contact’s current photo on the instructor record permanently. You can upload a new photo directly only when you first create or copy the instructor, not when you edit one.
- The Training Providers list shown on the Instructors list is limited to the first provider. If an instructor is approved for several providers, the list still shows only one. Open the instructor to see all of them.
- Copying an instructor with an instructor row’s Clone option requires you to pick a different contact before saving, because each contact can have only one instructor record. The copy keeps the source instructor’s providers, course approvals, biography, contract, and pay rate.
- Keep an instructor's teaching history in mind when you change their training providers. Associations rely on an instructor’s course approvals to report on how often they teach, so review the instructor’s Courses list before adding or removing a Training Providers row for them.
- Cross-provider instructor use is not currently available. If an instructor needs to teach for a training provider they are not already approved for, add that provider to their own record first. There is no way to select an instructor for one provider’s course offering using an approval that belongs to a different provider.
Change Impact and How to Revert
Marking an instructor inactive does not remove them from courses they are already approved to teach or assigned to. It only stops the instructor from being offered for new assignments. To revert the change, edit the instructor and correct the field, or reactivate the instructor.
Deleting an instructor removes the record entirely. Rhythm will not delete an instructor that a course offering still names, either as its primary instructor or as an additional instructor. Remove those assignments first.
Permissions
Staff who can open Certifications Setup can register, edit, and delete instructors. They can also assign or remove course approvals from a course record.
Validation and Errors
| Message or behavior | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
This contact already has an instructor record. | You picked a contact who is already an instructor. This is only a warning, so saving still creates another instructor attempt for the same contact | Pick a different contact, or open and edit the existing instructor instead |
| The save is refused | Pay Rate was entered as something other than a number | Enter a numeric pay rate, or leave it blank |
| Unable to delete the instructor | A course offering still names the instructor | Remove the instructor from that offering, or mark the instructor inactive instead of deleting it |
Related
- Training Providers, Locations, and Programs covers registering the training providers an instructor can teach for.
- Create or Edit a Contact covers the contact record an instructor is built on.