Once you have created an SLM user group (course), you can begin adding students and instructors. This article is for site managers and covers the following topics:

Note: The terms SLM, user group, and leader can be overridden as requested. In this article, leader has been overridden by instructor.

Adding Members to an SLM User Group (Course)

Members can be added to a user group in several ways:

  • You can add them individually from your site manager panel.
  • They can click a link to join the group.
  • User groups can be imported into your Connect site, complete with user group members.

This article covers adding members individually and accessing the "join link" to send to students. To learn more about importing courses and user groups, click here.

Note: Before a member can be added to a user group (course), they must first have an account on your site. Users are not automatically notified when they have been added to a user group.

Adding Members Individually

From your site manager panel, user group members can be added from the Manage User Groups area and from individual user profiles.

Manage User Groups

To add a member to an SLM user group:

  1. From your site manager panel, go to Volunteerism > User Groups. Note that in the Manage User Groups table displayed, you can see how many members are in each user group, as well as the user group leaders' names, in the table.
  2. Click on the course to which you want to add users.
  3. Scroll down of the Update User Group page until you get to the User Group Members heading.
  4. In the text box to the left of the Add New Member button, begin typing the name of the instructor or student. If they already have an account on your site, their name will be displayed, and you can select it.
  5. Once you have selected the student's name, click Add New Member. The new member's name will now be added to the User Group Members table.

Note: If you have created User Group Join Questions, those questions will be bypassed if you manually add users to the group.

From this table, you can:

  • Click on a user's first or last name to access their profile.
  • Click on an individual's email address to email them directly.
  • Make them a leader/course instructor.
  • Click the X under the Options heading to remove them from the course.

Individual User Profiles

You can add an individual to a user group directly from their user profile:

  1. From your site manager panel, go to Volunteerism > Users.
  2. Click on the user's name to open their profile.
  3. Once the user's profile opens, click User Groups.
  4. Select a user group from the dropdown.
  5. Click Add User Groups.

The user has now been added to the user group.

Sending Out a "Join Link"

You or an instructor can send students a link to join a course. In the site manager panel, this link is located on the Update User Group page:

  1. Go to Volunteerism > User Groups.
  2. Click on a user-group name to select it.
  3. Click the Copy Join Link button in the top right-hand corner of the Update User Group page.
  4. Now that the link has been copied to your clipboard, you can make it available to the course instructor or the students, or both.

When a course member clicks a join link, they're taken to a page with information about the user group and a button to join the user group.

Notes: (1) If no description was added for the user group by the site manager, then the user will be added to the group automatically, without first viewing the group description. (2) The course instructor also has access to this link via their SLM Leader Portal, so you are not required to provide it to them.

Assigning a User Group Leader

The user-group leader is the course instructor. To give a user-group member instructor status:

  1. If you aren't already in the Update User Group area, go to Volunteerism > User Groups and click on the name of the user group.
  2. Scroll down to the User Group Members table.
  3. Add the user group leader, if you haven't already.
  4. Click the applicable box under the Leader column of the User Group Members table, as shown below.

Note: In previous screenshots, the term leader has been overridden by instructor. Contact our Customer Care team if you want to request this override.

User Groups: The Student/Instructor View

Anyone who belongs to a user group will have two group-related options in their profile dropdown:

  • My User Groups - Students and instructors can view all of their user groups (SLM and non-SLM), view the needs assigned to the user group, view user-group reports, and remove themselves from a user group. To learn more about this area, click here.
  • SLM Hours Overview - Students can view their progress within those user groups that are associated with SLM (courses). To learn more about this area, click here.

If an individual is a user-group leader (instructor or teaching assistant), they will have a third option: SLM Leader Portal. They can use this area to manage their courses in the SLM, approve hours, access the join link to send to students, and more. Click here to learn more about the SLM Leader's roles and abilities in the SLM.

Related Articles

Check out these articles to learn more about user groups and how they relate to the SLM.