The content of this page is intended for Kuali Curriculum Management (CM) users who have access as approvers with specific roles during the approval workflow process.
Kuali CM has automatic built-in email notification functionality for approval steps. When a proposal is submitted to workflow, the approver(s) at that step will receive an automated notification. The University of Waterloo does not control the content of these automated approval emails.
User Settings contain user account information where notification frequency can be changed. Two options are available for Action List notifications:
- All Notifications (default) – Action List email notifications are delivered in real time. This means each request for approval will be sent as a separate email.
- Daily Summary – all Action List notifications are compiled and delivered into a single email for the day, with a total number of actions and a link to access those actions.
Note: Other notifications, such as comments, will still be delivered in real time.
How to change your email notification frequency
- Select your username in the top-right corner of the page.
- Select User Settings from the drop-down menu that appears.
- Select the EDIT button, located below the Account Info table.
- Select the arrow in the pull-down menu next to Action List Notifications.
- Select your preferred Action List Notifications option and select SAVE.
To return to Curriculum Management from User Settings:
- Select the bento menu (grid of nine dots) on the lower-left side of the screen.
- Select the Curriculum tile.
Once a proposal has been submitted for approval, the approver(s) at that step will receive an email notification with a link to the proposal. The proposal will also appear in the approver's Action List within Kuali Curriculum Management (CM).
Approvers should review the proposal thoroughly, review the defined workflow path, determine the next steps, and choose one of the available actions from the right navigation panel.
Approve
Approve will move the proposal to the next step of the defined workflow. Approvers should select Approve if no edits are necessary (or have already been made) and the proposal is ready to move to the next step in the defined workflow.
An approver comment is optional to proceed with approving a proposal, and if added, will be recorded in the Audit Log and Workflow Status. Best practice is to always add a comment (e.g., date of committee approval).
To approve a proposal:
- Select Approve.
- Choose to include a comment, or not, then select the Approve button.
Send Back
The approver can opt to send the proposal back to any previous step in the workflow. This option should be used if the proposal needs edits and needs to go back through one or more approval steps. Note: A comment is required when sending back a proposal.
Once the proposal has been sent back, the proposer or approval delegate for the selected step will receive an email notification.
- If the proposal is sent back to an approval step, that individual will need to edit as necessary and Approve the proposal again. The proposal will then proceed through all stages of approval again (from the sent back point that was selected).
- If the proposal is sent back to the first step in the workflow (i.e., Form Submission), the original proposer will need to edit as necessary and Re-Submit.
Tip: Selecting Form Submission from the list of workflow steps will send the proposal back to the original proposer. The proposal remains in Under Review state, it does not revert to Draft state.
To send back a proposal:
- Select Send Back.
- Select the desired previous step from the options available
Note: Affiliated and Federated Institutions of Waterloo (AFIW) steps will be visible in all workflows. However, those steps are not populated with users from faculties and so will always be "skipped" unless an AFIW is selected in the Faculty/AFIW Path(s) for Workflow field. Review the Workflow Status to see if AFIW committees are part of the actual workflow (if so, names will appear next to those steps). - Add a Comment (required), then select the Send Back button.
Deny
The approver can opt to deny the proposal. A denied proposal will be removed from the defined workflow and will not be editable by any user. In this scenario, the original proposer will need to start a new proposal, as they will not be able to edit and re-submit the version that was denied.
Caution: Deny is to be used only when the proposal should be permanently stopped (permanently denied). Withdraw, edit, send back may be better options to consider.
To deny a proposal:
- Select Deny.
- Provide a Comment (required) explaining why the proposal is being denied.
- Select the Deny button.
The proposal will now show a denied message, and the action will be recorded in the proposal's Audit Log.
Edit
Approvers have access to make edits to the proposal while it is in their step of the defined workflow, unless the workflow step has been designed to exclude this ability. Use this function to make editorial changes or to reflect amendments made at committee meetings.
To make an edit:
- Select Edit to make a change.
- The proposal form will become available in an editable format. Make changes in the proposal form as needed.
- Select Save and Exit.
- The edit(s) will be automatically recorded in the Audit Log. Note: The proposer or users that approved the proposal earlier in the workflow will not be notified. If the edit is not trivial, the recommended practice is to notify key stakeholders using the Comments feature.
View previously approved version
If there is a desire to compare the current proposal to the previously approved version, approvers (and other users) can see the current record by selecting the Return to 'Record' link (depending on which type of proposal they are viewing).
Grant edit access to other users
Approvers can use the Comment feature to send a written message to another user with editing permissions (i.e., users with proposer permissions) and grant them access to edit while the proposal is at a given step. Reminder: If granting editing permissions to a user in the system who does not have proposer permissions, that user will not see the Edit button.