Define Equivalent Courses

Course equivalencies give learners credit for a previously completed course that contains redundant content.

You can define course equivalencies on the Compliance Content > Equivalent Courses page.

Set courses as equivalent by selecting the course, then selecting equivalent course(s), and the equivalency direction.

Any course with an associated equivalent course will display in the list on the Equivalent Courses page. When a course is set as equivalent to another, any user with an existing completion for either course will immediately receive an EQ for the second.

Courses may be equivalent to more than one course, and in those cases, a completion for any of the courses results in EQs for all others in the group. However, EQs assigned automatically by the system for a course which has other equivalent courses do not result in EQs for the additional courses. This prevents “cascading” equivalencies.

You can set courses as “equivalent.” When a user completes a WBT course or is granted a completion for a non-WBT, any “equivalent” course will be marked with a status of “EQ” and removed from the user’s Learning Plan.

Note: For equivalent courses to apply to a user, the user must have assignments for both courses. A user will not receive an equivalency automatically for any course not assigned to him, even if an equivalency relationship exists between the courses.

Equivalency Direction

Equivalency direction determines if the equivalency is one way, or both ways. One way equivalency sets course B as equivalent to course A, but does not set course A as equivalent to course B. Learners who complete course B receive an equivalency for course A. However, learners who complete course A will not receive an equivalency for course B.

Setting equivalency to both ways means course B is equivalent to course A, and course A is equivalent to course B. Learners who take either course will receive an equivalency for the other course.

Example:

Back Safety is equivalent to Ergonomics Awareness and Office Ergonomics. (Erg and Off both contain the back safety info)

Ergonomics Awareness is equivalent to Back Safety and Computer Ergonomics.

A user completes Back Safety. This user will receive an EQ for Ergonomics Awareness and Office Ergonomics, but not Computer Ergonomics.

An equivalency or exemption assigned manually by an administrator using the “Assign Exemptions/Equivalencies” in the Academy functions the same as a completion, and any course set as equivalent will also be marked with an EQ.

Example:

Back Safety is equivalent to Ergonomics Awareness and Office Ergonomics.
Ergonomics Awareness is equivalent to Back Safety and Computer Ergonomics.

An administrator grants a user an Exemption for Back Safety. This user will receive an EQ for Ergonomics Awareness and Office Ergonomics.

To create equivalent courses:

  1. Select the course title for which you want to create equivalent courses from the pick list.
  2. Click Add.
  3. On the Edit Equivalent Courses screen, select the equivalent course title from the drop-down list.  You may also use the context-sensitive search box to find a course title.
  4. Select the equivalency direction (uni-directional [->] or bi-directional [<- ->]), from the drop-down menu.
  5. Click Add. (Repeat steps 4 – 5 for all courses equivalent to the original title.)
  6. Click Done.

To Edit Equivalent Courses:

  1. Click Edit beside the course title
  2. Click Delete beside any equivalent course title you wish to remove.
  3. Click Done.
If an equivalent course is deleted, any users who have been granted an EQ for that course as a result of completing the equivalent course will retain his or her equivalency. To delete those equivalencies, follow the “Exemptions and Equivalencies” instructions under “User Information.”