Accudemia: How do I troubleshoot appointments to find out why students can't meet with their tutors?
Introduction
Managing appointments is a major functionality in Accudemia, but sometimes it seems like you cannot create appointments with specific tutors. This is usually due to restrictions, rules, and associations that have been set by administrators. Sometimes it can also be due to misconfigured tutor schedules or integrations with Office 365 or Google Calendars, too. This article will run through a checklist of settings to find the reason why a student isn't able to connect with a tutor.
Step-by-Step
Check the Tutor and their Subject Area Assignments
1. Navigate to Administration > User Management > Users on the navigation menu at the top of the home page.
2. Using the filters on the left-side menu, search for the tutor by Name or User ID. Now, when you see them in the list, ensure that the tutor's status is set to Active (a green checkmark means "active" vs. a red x that means "inactive" on them).
3. Next, click on their name to view their Subject Area Assignments tab at the top of this user edit screen. A tutor can be assigned as "Available for All Subject Areas", for instance, if they are a writing tutor, where they could technically help with a writing assignment for any course. Or on this Subject Area Assignments tab, you can add their specific Subject Areas one by one that they should be able to help with, if they are a subject-matter expert in certain courses.
OR
Note: This information can be imported as well if you prefer not entering it manually. You'll need to create a list of the courses this tutor can help with in a CSV file. Click here for more information on the Tutor Assignment imports import CSV file format.
Check the Tutor's Schedule
1. Navigate to Centers > Tutor Schedule from the main menu and see whether the tutor's schedule is open at the time of the appointment.
2. Use the left-side filters to search for the tutor's schedule in a particular center. Remember to click Apply Filters when the filters are set.
3. Check the scheduled blocks to see whether the tutor is available or not.
4. Click and drag over the scheduled timeslots to open a detailed screen for that timeslot, and check whether the "Max Attendees" or maximum number of attendees that a tutor can meet with simultaneously with other students is set properly.
Note: If the maximum number of attendees is reached, additional students won't be able to make appointments. For example, if the maximum number of attendees was set to "1" and a student meets with the tutor for a scheduled appointment, then no one else can schedule that timeslot or perform a walk-in with the tutor during that timeslot. Additionally, check which Courses/Subject Areas and Services have been made available for that specific block in the schedule. By clicking on the "Custom" option, you can set specific options, but "All" will then help with all Courses assigned or Services at the center. Keep in mind, it could be that the tutors were not made available for certain Services or Subject Areas when the students are requesting to make appointments with them, so this is why we need this setting checked.
5. Finally, navigate to Centers > Appointments > Daily Viewer and check how many appointments have been set for that block.
Note: If the
maximum number of users per block was set to 1, and that limit was
reached, then other students applying for that time slot would be
blocked from doing so.
Check for Office 365 or Google Calendar misconfiguration.
Another issue we have seen is when the tutor has scheduled events on their Office 365 or Google Calendar account as "Busy" that are interfering with their availability in Accudemia. A simple way to check if this is occurring would be to do the following:
Admin Option (if the Tutor is not available)
1. As an Admin, navigate to the Administration > Advanced > External Calendar Integrations section from the main menu.
2. Once there, search for the tutor's email and click on the "Disconnect" option:
3. Try to schedule an appointment with the Tutor. If you can now schedule them, then this means they had appointments that were set as "Busy" on their calendars, so it was blocking off their available tutoring time. If not, you will need to let them know to reconnect their integrated calendar.
Tutor Option (to check what times are marked off)
1. Navigate to the Tutor's Name > Connect to External Calendar from their personal menu.
2. Click the View Synced Events button.
3. Check if there are any conflicting events set on the same day and time that the student wishes to meet with the tutor. Have the tutor mark these times as any status other than "busy" on their actual integrated calendar, so these times will not be blocked in Accudemia for Appointment scheduling.
Check to see if there is any issue with the student
1. Navigate to Administration > User Management > Users from the main menu at the top of the screen.
2. Ensure that the student's status is set to Active.
3. Search for the student, then click the Enrollment tab, to ensure they have enrolled in classes.
4. Ensure that the student is enrolled in the same courses that the tutor is assigned to from the previous steps.
5. Navigate to Administration > Control Panel > Appointments from the main menu and select the Center. Now, scroll down to check whether the student has met the cap for appointments under "Maximum Number per Week," ensuring that the student or tutor has not met this threshold.
6. Check whether the "No-show" limit has not been exceeded under the "No-show restrictions" section while in these settings. Maybe the Student has had multiple no-shows within the set time period.
NOTE: This will be right below "Maximum Number per Week" in Appointments.7. Navigate to Administration > Center Management > Restrictions/Associations section from the main menu and search for the student to ensure that no Student-to-Tutor Restrictions are preventing them from meeting with that student.
NOTE: The last thing to do is check
whether the student has any restrictions preventing their appointment
from happening. If they don't have any restrictions, double-check that
the Restrictions button on the top-right of the screen is set to "Disable Restrictions"
in red text. Otherwise, it will apply all general restrictions set by
admins to this student, and that may accidentally cause the student to
be blocked from setting appointments.Call Support for Assistance.
This is a pretty comprehensive checklist, but should you need further help, please reach out to support@accudemia.com or call our offices.
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