Users can add Service Participation manually and through an import. This PDF covers adding service participation via import. See How to Add Participation Manually on the SCRIBE Help Desk.
Before participation can be added for a service, the service must exist in SCRIBE. See How to Create a Service Manually and How to Create a Service via Import for more information on creating services.
Create the File to Import
1. Determine the required and optional fields for a Service Participation import. There are two ways:
a. Look at the Import Template in your grant’s Google Drive folder. Every import template has a tab that has the field headings and a tab that describes each field, whether the field is required, the type of data needed for that field and where to find that data.
Note: Remember to download the Import Template from the Google folder and save it on your desktop before editing it. Click File > Download > Microsoft excel.
b. The second way to determine the required fields: In SCRIBE click Tools > Import. Click Add Import. Select the Import Type. Click the View Specification button.
The Import Specification list will appear in a popup box. The fields with a red asterisk are required, the other fields are optional.
Note: SCRIBE will consider any fields included in the import that are not listed on the Import Specification list as “unknown” fields during the import process. See the Importing Data folder and Troubleshooting Imports tutorial for more info.
Fields
Fields are the different data categories you can include in the Participation import file (e.g., SchoolYear, SchoolNumber, etc.) listed as separate columns in the spreadsheet. Some fields are required, meaning SCRIBE will not import your file without them. Some are optional, meaning it is up to you whether or not to include them in the import file.
TIP: Fields (columns) can be in the import file in any order. Field headings must be spelled correctly but capitalization does not matter (e.g., SchoolYear = schoolyear = SCHOOLYEAR = sChOOlyEaR). There are no spaces in the field headings (e.g., SchoolYear is not the same as School Year).
Fields in a Service List Import (* indicates a required field)
a. ExternalServiceID*: unique identifier for each service using recommended naming conventions.
In SCRIBE, click Services > View All Services.
Click View next to the service for which you want to add participation.
Copy the External ID and paste it in the ExternalServiceID field in the Service Participation import spreadsheet.
b. StudentID*: unique identifier for each student used in SCRIBE.
In SCRIBE, click Schools > View All Schools.
Click View next to the school the students attend.
Under the Students Tab, the students enrolled at the school will be displayed. Copy the student’s Student ID and paste it
in the StudentID column in the Service Participation spreadsheet.
c. PersonTypeID*: indicates what group of people participated in the service.
Codes: 1 for students
2 for parents/guardians
3 for staff
Note: Best practice recommends assigning one PersonType per service. If a service caters to more than one person type (e.g., financial aid night for parents and students), create one service for students and another service for
parents/guardians.
d. SchoolNumber*: unique identifier for each school used in SCRIBE.
In SCRIBE click Schools > View All Schools.
The list of School Numbers are displayed in the School list. Copy the School Number of the school the students attend
and paste it in the Student Participation Import spreadsheet under the SchoolNumber field.
e. DateofParticipation*: the date the students/parents/staff participated.
Note: You can enter multiple different dates in the same Participation import, if applicable. For recurring services, it may be useful to include multiple dates of participation for the same service in the same import file. Be sure to only include students who actually participated on each date.
f. TimeofParticipation: the time the participation occurred. Military and non-military time are both acceptable (e.g., 1:00 and 13:00).
g. HoursofParticipation or MinutesofParticipation: time each student/parent/staff spent at the service.
One of the fields* must be in the file. If one field is included, the other field should NOT be included (e.g., if the HoursofParticipation field is included, do not include the MinutesofParticipation field).
Note: 1.5 in the HoursofParticipation field means the same as 90 in the MinutesofParticipation field.
h. FirstName: student first name. This field is optional and for ease of reviewing the participation file only. During the import process, SCRIBE will flag this field as unknown which means it will not import data in this field. It will not interfere with the import process.
i. LastName: student last name. This field is optional and for ease of reviewing the participation file only. During the import process, SCRIBE will flag this field as unknown which means it will not import data in this field. It will not interfere with the import process.
Sample Participation List Import File
Import Participation file
1. Save the Participation import file following best practice naming conventions: include the school year, type of import, other necessary details like service details, school/district name or abbreviation (e.g., 19-20_participation_FAFSA_Aug2019_WBHS).
2. In SCRIBE, click Tools > Import.
3. Click Add Import.
4. Select the Import Type: Service Participation.
5. Make sure the School Year is correct. Click Browse to select the import file from your computer. Click Upload Import File. Follow the import process.
See the tutorials in the Importing Data folder, Troubleshooting Imports and the Import webinars from June, 2020 on the SCRIBE Help Desk for more info on importing files in SCRIBE.
Additional Resources:
How to Create a Service Manually
How to Create a Service via Import
How to Add Participation Manually
How to Add Participation Manually using a Student Group
How to Run a Student Participation Export
Download this tutorial as a PDF below.