Award Reference Process Setup

You can require award applicants to obtain references from personal, academic, or professional contacts to support their application. Within the award application process, you can add a reference requirement and specify the reference type, the reference process that will be used, and the number of required references. To get started, open the Awards & Nominations app and click Setup on the left.

Reference Types

Reference types are used to specify the relationship between the award applicant and the contact providing the reference. Some examples are personal, professional, and academic, but you can create types as needed.

1. Click on References on the left menu
2. Click on Types
3. Click Create Reference Type
4. Enter a name
5. Save your changes

Reference Custom Fields

You can create custom fields to collect information on the reference form.

1. Click References on the left
2. Click on Custom Fields
3. Click Create Reference Custom Field
4. Select the type of custom field
5. Enter a name 
6. Enter the necessary values
7. Save your changes

Helpful Hint: You can use the Help Text and Forms Prompts features to let users know what they should be inputting into the custom field. 

Reference Forms

References will be asked to submit their reference using a specified reference form that you configure.

1. Click on References on the left menu
2. Click on Forms
3. Click Create Reference Form
   1. You can either start from a blank form or use an existing form
4. Name the form
5. Add components to collect the desired information including name, contact information, and reference type
6. Save your changes

Helpful Hint: Please see Create a Form to learn more about the forms engine. 

Now that you have configured References in the global setup, it is time to set up your specific award. To begin, open the award that you would like to edit and click Setup on the left.

Reference Processes

Configure a reference process to require applicants to submit references that must electronically verify their application. The reference process must be configured before the References can be enabled on the award application process.

1. Click References on the left
2. Click on Processes
3. Click Create Reference Process
4. Enter a name (the ID will populate automatically and cannot be modified once your changes are saved)
5. Select a reference form
6. Enable the Reference Notification Email to send an email to the reference with instructions on how to fill out the online reference form 
7. Optionally, you can add the direct URL a reference would use to complete their reference
8. Enable the Applicant Notice Email to send an email to the applicant once a reference has been completed
9. Save your changes

Enabling References on the Application Process

Once you have saved the reference process, you can enable it in an application process within the award setup.

1. Click Applications on the left
2. Click on Processes
3. Edit the application process for which you would like to enable References
4. Toggle the button next to the References feature
5. Specify a reference type, a reference process, and a required number of references
6. Save your changes

Helpful Hint: You can create multiple reference requirements if you want to require more than one reference type. For example, one personal reference, one professional reference, and one academic reference.