Availability

Google Calendar sync should only need to be completed one time for each individual. Calendar sync enables Navigate to automatically look at your Google Calendar (associated with your FSMail account) to avoid double-booking with meetings that were not scheduled in Navigate and allows Navigate to automatically place any appointments scheduled in Navigate directly onto your Google Calendar.

Google (FSMail) Calendar Sync Instructions (One-Time Setup for Each User)

After logging into Navigate, follow these instructions to sync it with your professional Google Calendar (FSMail).

1. Click the Calendar icon in the red menu on the left side of the screen.

2. Click the Settings & Sync button under the Bradley University logo toward the right side of the screen.

3. Click Setup Sync...

4. Click Google Calendar.

5. Sign in with Google using your Bradley University email & password. You will see a prompt asking to give EAB access to read and write on your Google Calendar. You will need to enable this access in order for Navigate to find potential meeting conflicts on your Google Calendar to prevent double-booking (read) and to add meetings scheduled in Navigate to your Google Calendar (write).

6. Select Two-Way Sync or Free/Busy Sync. We strongly recommend using Two-Way Sync.

Two-Way Sync: All calendar items sync back and forth between your Navigate calendar and your professional calendar (i.e., Navigate calendar ↔ professional calendar). Events from your professional calendar will display as Busy in your Navigate calendar. Limited details from Navigate will display in your professional calendar.

Free/Busy Sync: Choose this option if you only want events from your professional calendar to display as Busy on your Navigate calendar (i.e., professional calendar ↔ Navigate calendar). Meetings scheduled in Navigate will not be added to your Google Calendar.

You must add your Availability in order to allow any students to schedule appointments with you or see your available times in Navigate. This includes drop-in availability (commonly used for faculty office hours), individual appointments, or Appointment Campaigns (a tool used to invite a group of students, such as advisees, to schedule meetings with you within a specific time frame).

Adding Availability

After logging into Navigate, follow these instructions to add your Availability. All faculty/staff should automatically have the ability to add Availability.

Note: Different individuals will have access to different types of Availability based on different roles (advisor, instructor, department chair, etc.). These roles are automatically updated overnight after an individual is assigned to teach a class, advise at least one student, or serve as department chair. If you are missing features you believe should be available with your role, please send details of the issue to navigate@bradley.edu.

1. Click the My Availability tab from your Staff Home screen. If you see the Professor Home screen after logging in, simply click Professor Home and select Staff Home to view additional options.

2. Click Actions under Available Times to view your Availability options. From here, you may copy or delete existing Availability or add new time.

3. When the Add or Modify Availability form opens, make your selections as appropriate. Descriptions of each option are below. In many cases, it may be best add multiple blocks of Availability. For example, if the times you would be available on Tuesdays & Thursdays would be different from the time you would be available on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, you will create one block for Tues/Thurs and a separate block for Mon/Weds/Fri.

Days: Select the days you will be available.

Times: Set the times you you will be available. If you set your end time to 5pm, students will not be able to schedule 30 minute appointments after 4:30pm.

Note: These days and times must be empty or Free on your Google Calendar if you are using calendar sync; otherwise, the times will appear as Busy and students will be unable to schedule.

COMMON MISTAKE: Employees block time on their Google Calendar to hold for advising, office hours, or other student meetings. If calendar sync is enabled, Navigate will see this block and prevent students from scheduling.

• SOLUTION 1: Delete the calendar block

• SOLUTION 2: Keep the block, but edit the Event Details on Google Calendar to make the time appear Free instead of Busy. Other Google Calendar users with access to your calendar will still see the event, but Navigate will not prevent appointments from being scheduled during this time. See here.

How long is this availability active? Set how long this Availability will work. This can be bound to an academic term, a range of dates, or set to be available permanently (a simple option for individuals who may be available to meet with students 12 months/year).

Add to your personal availability link? The Personal Availability Link (PAL) is a unique URL that brings students to your specific scheduling options quickly. Only leave this box unchecked if you do not want students who click that link to see this option when using the student scheduler.

TIP: Add your PAL to your email signature, to your profile on the Bradley University website, and/or to your syllabus to make finding your Availability quick and easy for students!

What type of availability is this?

• Enabling Appointments means students will see this Availability in the Student Scheduler.

• Enabling Drop-ins means students will see this time as available for drop-ins, but individual appointments are not able to be scheduled (Note: if you select both Appointments and Drop-ins, students will see the time as available for drop-ins, but they will also be able to schedule individual appointments during that same time).

• Enabling Campaigns means this time will be available for anyone you invite to schedule with you through Appointment Campaigns.

Meeting Type: Choose the format(s) you are available to meet during this time.

TIP: You can make sure students receive specific instructions (See URL / Phone Number and Special Instructions for Student below) based on the Meeting Type if you only include one Type for each block of Availability. See more on this under Special Instructions for Student below.

For example, you may be available to meet virtually or in-person during the same time frame. If you create one block of availability with the Virtual type, you can include your meeting link in the URL / Phone Number field and details in the Special Instructions for Student that are specific to the virtual meeting format. After saving this Availability, you can use the Actions menu from Step 2 above to copy the time, then change the Meeting Type, URL / Phone Number, and Special Instructions for Student to be specific to any other format (In-Person meetings can be sent with instructions for where and how to check-in and what specific guidelines or policies are being enforced in your physical location).

Care Unit: Choose the category of Availability you are creating. This is the first item students select in the Student Scheduler to begin finding available meeting times.

• Academic Advising is the appropriate selection for time that you are available to meet with students for academic advising purposes. You are able to limit this availability to only your assigned advisees in a later step (See Services below).

• Faculty Office Hours should be selected for any time being made available during office hours (for course-related discussions, research, etc.).

NOTE: While your advisees may visit during your regular office hours, the Student Scheduler will drive your assigned advisees to your Academic Advising blocks of Availability, and students looking for office hours will be driven to your Faculty Office Hours blocks of Availability.

You can direct students to you at different times based on your preferences by setting up different blocks of Availability. You should always use Academic Advising for any and all academic advising related interactions/availability. If this time overlaps with your Faculty Office Hours, simply save your first block of Availability once you finish the form, then use the Actions menu from Step 2 above to copy the time and change the Care Unit and Services.

• Other Care Units may be availble depending on your role. If you have questions or would like to explore adding options, please contact your Navigate administrator at navigate@bradley.edu.

Location: This should always be your department, office, or unit name. If your department, office, or unit is not listed, please contact your Navigate administrator at navigate@bradley.edu.

Services: Services are the specific reasons students would select for meeting with you. These are based on your Care Unit and your Location.

• Meeting with Assigned Advisor will limit this Availability to only students who have you as their assigned advisor. No other students will see this Availability.

• Major/Minor Exploration is available to any students who wish to schedule this meeting. We recommend that every academic department identify at least one faculty/staff member to create this Availability for students who might want to learn more about the majors/minors in the department as an internal recruitment tool.

NOTE: Additional Services can be created within specific Locations. If your area would like to add options to the Services list for more specific/detailed tracking and reporting of specific meeting reasons, please contact your Navigate administrator at navigate@bradley.edu.

URL / Phone Number: If you are adding Virtual or Telephone Availability, you should add your meeting link (see resources for Google Meet and Zoom) or phone number to this field. This will automatically be sent to students in the confirmation and reminder emails they receive.

Special Instructions for Student: Add any additional info, including how/where to check-in upon arrival, expectations for the meeting, items students should bring/prepare, etc. This will automatically be sent to students in the confirmation and reminder emails they receive.

EXAMPLES

You have selected to meet in-person.

Office Location: YOUR OFFICE LOCATION

You should arrive a few minutes early for your appointment.

Please check-in at OFFICE LOCATION upon arrival.

Masks are optional when meeting with me. If you would prefer that I wear a mask for your meeting, please notify the front desk staff when you check in for your appointment. (Update this line to reflect your own mask preference/policy)

You have selected to meet virtually.

Please use the Zoom link included in this confirmation to sign in to your appointment.

We prefer to meet with video enabled. We also realize this is not always possible. If you are unable to access the meeting via Zoom, a phone number is available after clicking the Zoom link.

Please do your best to ensure you are in a private space with minimal distractions for your meeting.

Max Number of Students per Appointment: Use this option to enable group advising/meetings. If you exclusively provide individual appointments, leave this number at "1." If you allow group advising/meetings, select the maximum number of students that should be permitted to schedule during the same meeting time. This refers only to the number of students who can book during the exact same appointment slot (e.g., 1:30-2pm) within your Availability.

When adding and using Availability, there are several things everyone should keep in mind:

1. Availability can overlap. You can add multiple different blocks of availability that occur at the same time, making yourself available to different students, for different reasons, or over different formats at the same time. Availability will always look at other appointments scheduled in Navigate before allowing another to be scheduled. Only Special Instructions for Students and URL / Phone Number associated with the specific availability used to schedule an appointment will be sent to the student upon booking.

2. If you are creating an Appointment Campaign, you will be given the option to pull your Appointment availability into the campaign instead of having to create separate Campaign availability. See What type of availability is this? in STEP TWO above for more information.