L&S STS and Student Hiring Application
A note on terminology: The terms ‘form’ and ‘document’ may be used interchangeably throughout the instruction manual. Both terms refer to the same thing. However, ‘Document List’ refers to a specific dashboard.
A link to the pdf version of the instruction manual will be provided when finalized. Please use this KB to navigate the app in the interim.
For information related to the STS and Student hiring process visit: L&S STS and Student Hiring Tools and Process
Table of Contents
TIP: To search the entire page, click Expand All then Ctrl + F to search
App Background
Reason for the App
The L&S STS and Student Hires App will aid in the collection, processing, and approval of semester short term instructional staff (STS) and student assistant (SA) hires. The adoption of the app was driven by the need to continue to standardize processes and procedures, bring more automation into the process, allow for change control, and factor in the new budget approach.
About the App
Kuali Build is a powerful form-building software that UW-Madison has purchased to help convert existing paper and/or email-based form approval processes to a digital, guided experience to help streamline and consolidate workflows. L&S is using Kuali Build for a variety of L&S administrative processes to help guide established workflows, enable notifications for timely approvals and processing, and establish integrations with other systems to address workflow needs.
What the App Does
This application is our long-term technology solution for cyclical hires over the academic year. Some benefits of moving the hire requests pre-approval process into an application include:
- Change control
- Automated routing of reviews/approvals to individuals/teams
- Checkpoints for all L&S administrative teams (Finance, HR, Research Administration, Teaching, Learning and Academic Planning (TLA)) to finalize information before entry into Workday
- Data integrity
- A single location for all hire requests
Specific App Features
Several features embedded in the app help streamline the process. It is important to know what these are so that you feel confident when using the app. The app includes the following:
- Fields that show based on real-time selections
- Fringe calculation
- Tuition remission
- Budget aggregation
- Automatically applies Graduate School-approved pay rates for STS and Student Assistants by unit
- Calculation of the total cost of an appointment based on appointment start and end dates
Who will use the App
- Specified unit staff
- ART staff
- TLA staff
- HR SME staff (Staff and Student+ teams)
How to Access the App in Kuali Build
Kuali Build can be accessed by navigating to the following link:
https://wisc.kualihub.com/build/space
When you enter Kuali Build, you will see this homepage:
Reviewing the page layout, starting from the top and working down:
- Action List
- Clicking Action List will pop up a screen that contains all required actions (tasks, approvals, etc.) awaiting your action. The Action List acts as your “To Do” list for any processes within Kuali Build.
- The KB contains more information about the Action List.
- My Documents
- Clicking My Documents will pop up a screen that contains all your form submissions (documents) and documents that you started but have not yet submitted (drafts).
- The KB contains more information about the My Documents page.
- Applications (square tile with a distinct name, color, and logo). Each tile represents a Kuali Build app to which you have access.
- The sidebar on the left of the screen contains filters that help organize and sort applications.
- Each tab (e.g. Home, Letters & Science, Sandbox) represents a space where a Kuali Build app can live. Letters & Science is where the L&S STS and Student Hiring App is located. Your options may vary from the sample screenshot provided.
- Direct link to L&S Kuali Build home screen
App Use - For Reviewers
Information for: HR ART Support, Teaching, Learning and Academic Planning (TLA), CCMs, RA Support, HR Subject Matter Expert (SME) teams
Action List
When a document is ready for review, the reviewer will receive an email notification. Click the link in the email to go directly to the document or track the documents that need attention in your Action List dashboard. The Action List will show the documents that you need to approve.
TIP: Consistently use your Action List as your to-do in the app.
- Reviewers can edit information in the document when it is at their approval step.
- Funding information is locked after the document is approved by the CCM (and/or RA Support). This protects the integrity of the budget calculation.
- Fringe rates automatically change when employee class is changed.
- Fringe rates automatically calculate with the new fiscal year 2027 rates.
Comments Section
Each round of review will have a comments section available at the bottom of the form.
- Use this section to make detailed comments that will be helpful to other reviewers along the way.
- The comments section is a rich text field, so bold, italics, hyperlinks, and images can be added.
- By leaving comments in the location shown directly below, others viewing the document will easily see your notes, which helps to paint a comprehensive picture of the rounds of approvals.
The comments section that you see may have other fields specific to your role. An example of a comments section is below:
Note: When you are ready to approve a document and click Approve, a small comments box will appear.
It is NOT necessary for a comment to be added here.
- Comments in this box will NOT be easily accessible unless a viewer goes to the History button.
- It is NOT recommended to put important information in this box.
- This box is a feature within the software which can’t be turned off.
Send Back
Individuals with reviewer permissions can send a document back to any earlier step in the workflow.
- Reviewers are the only roles with the ability to Send Back
- Send Back automatically routes the document to the necessary person
- It is NOT possible to specify a particular person to send the document back to. Pre-determined routing does not allow this.
- Leaving comments when using Send Back is very important.
- Please provide information in the Comments section at the bottom of the document about who requested the Send Back, why, and other details to give the reviewer context.
When to use Send Back
When an approver from a previous step needs to revisit any step that the form was previously on.
How to Send Back
- Navigate to Action List.
- Locate your document.
- Click into the document.
- In the upper right corner of the document, select Send Back.
- Select the step which the document should return to.
- Add comments about who is requesting the send back, why, and any other details to give the reviewer context.
- Click Send Back.
- The document will appear in the reviewer's Action list as a to-do.
Making Changes to a Submission
A reviewer can change a selection on the form at any point before it has gone through Finance and/or Grant Funding approval.
- After Finance and/or Grant Funding approval, any fields tied to cost cannot be changed.
- Hire names and attachments can be edited at any point by a reviewer.
To make changes, click on the form and change the current selections.
- This will enable the fields you may need if you aren’t readily finding them.
- The form relies on answers given in real time to guide the next field(s) that appear.
History
The History button shows workflow activity for a document, including a log of edits.
- When expanded, you can see the specific changes, who made them, and the comment (if enabled).
- Use Show Changes Only to highlight only changed fields
- History view also supports filtering/printing, Show Future Workflow Steps, and Show Time Machine (jump to the form as it was after a workflow action).
How to see the History
- Navigate to the Action List.
- Locate the document you're looking for.
- Click into the document.
- Click the button in the upper right corner of the screen.
- The History will appear.
Click the carrot to expand to see comments at each stage.
- Click view to filter further. You can choose to see future steps, the time machine (what happened previously), or both.
TIP: In the History, you can also see which person the task is with.
App Use - For All Users
Documents
What is a document?
In the Kuali Build platform, each individual form created is a “document” that’s assigned a unique Document ID. Each time a user clicks into the platform (or on the 'New' button), it generates a unique draft document to be filled out and submitted. This new document will be available in the user’s “My Documents” and accessed from the “Submitted” or “Draft” tabs.
Document Workflow Statuses
When initially created, a document has a status of “Draft.” Through the lifecycle and review of a document, it may be updated to one of these statuses:
- Draft - A document has been initiated and is currently being filled out. It has not yet been submitted for review.
- In Progress - A document has been submitted and is currently being reviewed, or it has been returned to the creator for editing.
- Complete - The document has been fully reviewed, and the workflow within the app has been completed.
- Denied - During the workflow, a reviewer can deny a request, and a document will not continue in the workflow. The only option for the document is to duplicate it if you want to start again and resubmit it.
- Withdrawn - If you have submitted and you want to pull back the document from review, you can withdraw the document. The only option for the document is to duplicate if you want to start again and resubmit it.
- Error - If an issue occurs with the document while enroute, IT will be notified of the error so they can troubleshoot and get it back into the workflow successfully.
Document Actions
Within the document, you can fill out the form fields and take the actions below.
- Discard - To delete the document entirely and remove it. My Documents > Drafts > trash can. Note: You cannot undo a discarded action.
- Save - As you fill out the document, you can click the save button to make sure your progress is saved in the form.
- Submit - If you have completed the form and are ready to submit it, use “submit.”
- Duplicate - If you want to duplicate a document, use the duplication option within the document to create a new one with the data copied over as a starting point. Or, in the list of documents in My Documents > Submitted > Duplicate. See here for step-by-step instructions.
Dashboards in the App
There are various dashboard lists in Kuali Build to organize information in a friendly way. A user’s permissions will determine which lists they have access to. Each is covered in more detail below.
- Action List
- My Documents
- Submitted
- Drafts
- Documents List
Action List
- Contains ALL actions assigned to you within Kuali Build
- You may see expense reports if they’re a part of your role.
- You may not have any items in your Action List if your role doesn’t need to complete reviews or approvals.
My Documents
- Only visible if you have submitted a form
- Submitted tab – Lists all forms that you have submitted. You can withdraw or duplicate forms here.
- Drafts tab – Lists all forms that you have started but not yet completed. You can delete drafts here.
Documents List
- Contains ALL the form submissions related to fall hiring
- Visibility is based on the access level granted to your role in the app
- You can tell you are on the documents list because the bar at the top is black
- It’s best to use this list as a high-level glance
- Click on a document to drill into its details
How to See the Documents List
- Navigate to the L&S STS and Student Hiring App with this link, or by going to the Kuali Build Homepage, selecting the Letters & Science tab on the left of the screen and then the L&S STS and Student Hiring app.
- Upon entering the app, the Documents tab should open by default. If it doesn’t, select Documents in the top-right corner.
The document looks like this:
Document List Features
Search
Look for specific documents or specific fields within documents based on keywords.
- When searches are enclosed in quotes, only exact matches are returned.
- Text fields with over 100 characters or those populated through integration are not indexed and will not appear in the search results.
Views
Allows users to create custom Views with desired filters, columns, sort, etc. that can be accessed again. IT staff configured the Default View for the app.
- To see a particular view, click on the
button.
Export
Use the three vertical dots on the upper right of the Documents List screen.
Export data into a CSV file with these options:
- Current view - exports only the current selected columns and filtered results in the generated CSV.
- All Data - exports ALL data and all fields in the generated CSV regardless of columns and filters selected.
- Single document - to export the data for one document in a plain text file, go to the document's page and click Export on the right side of the page.
Share
Provides a shareable link to allow other users to view your saved filters in the Document List. In the upper right corner of the screen, click the three vertical dots.
- Users will see the view, the columns, and the filters you're seeing at the time you use the share link.
- Only people who have access to the app and the data will be able to view the content, and they will only see the content allowed by their permissions within the app.
Document List - Default View
When entering the Document List, you may see documents for numerous hiring departments.
- This means that you are using the Default View
- The Default View is a pre-made standard set of columns. It does not contain filters.
- Users see all STS and Student Hiring submissions
Document List - Custom View (for individual units)
The Solutions, Development & Innovation team (SDI) has created a custom view for each department in the STS and Student Hiring Application. Each department's custom view:
- Has a standard set of columns
- Is filtered to only show records submitted by or for the department
To use a custom view:
- Click the Views button.
- Click an option/name for a specific unit.
- The view should populate in real time.
How to Create a Custom View
At the top of the Documents List screen, you’ll see the fields in the screenshot below. You may manipulate the Sort, Hidden Columns, and Filter fields to create a custom view.
Sort
Sorts Document List according to the criteria, or in ascending or descending order. Users can add multiple criteria to setup hierarchical sort order as needed.
Hidden Columns
Allows you to select columns from the submission form and workflow that are not exposed in the current view. Some columns are dependent on other columns, so they will automatically populate if selected (this is expected behavior).
Filter
Allows you to narrow down the results in the Document List based on entered filter criteria. More information is in the Document List Filter article.
- Make your selections within each of the fields.
- When you are satisfied, click the Views button.
- Give your new view a name.
- Save.
- Your saved custom view will show in alphabetical order in your Views dropdown list.
How to Duplicate an Existing Entry
Why duplicate a form?
To repurpose existing work rather than starting a new form each time. For example, if you have two positions whose hiring information is the same except for the name of the individual, you can duplicate the form, change the name, and save the new version.
Quick steps:
Open the previous submission > Duplicate > Edit > Submit
Detailed steps:
- Navigate to the home screen: https://wisc.kualihub.com/build/space/
2. Click "My Documents" at the top of the screen.
3. Select the Submitted tab.
4. Locate the form that you would like to duplicate. Then click on the ellipses on the right.
Zoomed in:
5. Click Duplicate.
6. Click "here".
7. A duplicate version of the form will populate. Edit as needed (be sure to update the name of the submission and any hire names in the form) and then click “Submit.”
An Alternate Method to Duplicate an Entry
- From the My Documents screen:
2. Click on an entry. It will open the form. In the right corner of the screen, click “Duplicate.”
3. A duplicate version of the form will populate. Edit as needed and then click “Submit.”
How to Withdraw a Submission
Why withdraw a submission?
Withdraw a document (submission) anytime you want to remove it from the process and review phases as though it was never submitted.
Steps:
- Access Kuali Build. Click My Documents.
2. Find the submission you want to withdraw.
3. Click the three vertical dots under the Actions column.
4. Select Withdraw.
5. Your selection will be withdrawn from the workflow. You will still have a record of the submission under My Documents > Submitted.
An Alternate Method to Withdraw a Submission
1. Click into the document.
2. In the upper right corner, click Withdraw.
Your selection will be withdrawn from the workflow. You will still have a record of the submission under My Documents > Submitted.
Enter Multiple Submissions at Once (Multi-hire) - for TA positions only
This option is currently only available for TA positions. If you have multiple hires that are the EXACT same (all the same job category, FTE, compensation basis, funding type, etc.), you may use the following procedure to submit them together at one time. If there are ANY differences, this method should NOT be used, and submissions should be entered individually.
When multiple hires are submitted at once, they become a package that goes through the rounds of reviews. Thus, funding for all hires in the submission is approved/denied at once.
- Navigate to a Document Draft in the application.
2. Fill out the Submitter section.
3. Complete the Submission Type section. Give the submission a name to note that multiple hires are being entered (e.g., Multiple Submissions – Position – Unit – Semester – Year). This will make it easier to locate in the future.
4. In the “How many roles of this exact type are you requesting?” field, enter the number of positions that you are submitting. Remember, only submit a group of them if ALL hiring details are the EXACT same.
5. Complete the Hire Information section.
6. In the Multi-hire Details field, select the option for how you will provide the names of the hires.
If you select “Add a table on this form,” you can enter first and last names in the fields below, adding rows as needed.
If you select “Upload a complete list of names,” a place to attach the list will populate. There are no restrictions on the type of document that is uploaded here, but it should be easily understood for Workday entry purposes.
If you select “Upload a partial list of names,” a place to attach the list will populate. There are no restrictions on the type of document that is uploaded here, but it should be easily understood for Workday entry purposes. If funding is approved as the submission goes through the workflow, the app will send you a task via email to enter or upload a complete list of names. Workday entry cannot be completed by ART HR Support staff without the list of names.
If you select “I have no names to enter yet,” and the funding is approved as the submission goes through the workflow, the app will send you a task via email to enter or upload a complete list of names. When you receive the task, change your selection to “Add in a table on this form” or “Upload a complete list of names.” Otherwise, the task will return to you again. Workday entry cannot be completed, and therefore the workflow, will not be completed without the list of names.
7. Continue completing the form (Appointment Details, Compensation & Funding, Submitter comments).
8. Submit the form.
How to Export a PDF of the Form
To export a form as a PDF, navigate to the completed form using these steps.
- Navigate to the home screen.
2. This will take you to the Documents List.
3. Click the form you’re looking for so that it opens.
4. Click on the three vertical dots in the upper right corner of the screen.
An Export option will pop up. Click it.
5. You can select which information you would like to export.
6. A notification at the top of the screen will prompt you to download your document.
7. The PDF will download to your computer and will look similar to the form itself:
Additional reference information from Kuali Build about Exporting a document as a PDF
Frequently Asked Questions
A: After the submission has gone through Finance and or Grant Funding approval, all fields that impact total cost are locked. Submission name and comments left in approval step are locked as they move through the workflow.
A: The hire has been entered into Workday and the L&S STS and Student Hires App workflow is complete.
A: The app is not meant to handle split funding in a single submission. However, split funding can be done by completing a submission for each appointment. (Two appointments = two separate submissions)
A: No. Withdraw the form and resubmit.
A: FTE can be changed if the document hasn’t yet gone through the funding approval stage. After a document has had the funding approved, FTE can be changed by having the document sent back to the Finance team to make the change.
A: The original submitter is the only one who can edit the name of the submission. This is by design, so that their records make sense to them. The name of the submission can only be changed if the form is sent back to the submitter to add the name(s) of the hire(s).