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Guide to Electronic Signatures

Page history last edited by Jasmine Rangel 6 years, 7 months ago

Front Page / NJ Bonner AmeriCorps Page /Guide to Electronic Signatures 

 

   

Powered by the Bonner Program BWBRS Electronic Signatures


going Green | going Electronic

Instructions for setting up electronic signatures & electronically signing hour logs for:

Members, Site Supervisors and Campus Admins.


eSignature Hot Button Issue

When adding positions and site supervisors, be sure not to create multiples. Duplicate positions and site supervisors can cause major road blocks in the eSigning process.

  1. You will need to designate a # to the title of the position and the Supervisor's Last name.
    1. This will allow you to determine who is assigned to which position and CLA.  
  2. You will also need to make sure that the duplicated Site Supervisor has separate passwords for the duplicated accounts.

Why electronic signatures?  By giving community partners and their specific site supervisors access to BWBRS, you can enable them to review and approve students' reports of their service performance/ hour logs electronically.  If your program can integrate this option, it will eliminate the need for students to print and bring logs to your office (and to send the Bonner Foundation, if the student is enrolled in AmeriCorps).  Instead, your program and the foundation can rely on the electronic records, eliminating the need for paperwork and files.

 

Of course, you should think about how you explain and engage your committed community partners in this process (as there may be some whose lack of computer/Internet resources make it not feasible to use this system).  If you have partners with these constraints, make a list of them to discuss with your staff contacts at the Foundation; there may be some alternative solutions.  

 

So, ready to go green and eliminate all those cumbersome files?  Below are instructions for setting up your site supervisors in BWBRS.  The process is very user-friendly!  Once a site supervisors has been entered in the system, you won't have to repeat this process.

 

 

 

Frequently Asked Questions: 

 

Question: When the site supervisor logs in, they are not seeing the Members who are serving at their site. Why is this happening and how can it be fixed?

 

ANSWER: Make sure you have properly linked the Site supervisor to the Position as well as the CLA (see steps above). A Member will not show up for a Site Supervisor to approve the student's hours until the student has logged hours linked to a CLA. Once the Site Supervisor is correctly linked and the Member has logged hours, the hours that should be reviewed (and hopefully approved!)  should show up when the Site Supervisor logs in to approve hours served at their site.

 

Question: If a Member electronically signs their hour log, can they still sign the hard copy?

ANSWERYes. Even if a Member signs their log electronically, when the log is printed, it will print with signature lines for the Member, Site Supervisor and Campus Admin. So the electronic signatures in BWBRS should not affect those instances in which a supervisor is not able to sign electronically but must sign a hard copy of a log which the student prints out at the end of each month after the student has signed electronically.  Remember: Students must always sign each log electronically before entries are approved either electronically or via a dated signature in ink from their site supervisor(s). Signed hard copy originals must be returned to the student's Campus Administrator for retention on campus after the Campus Administrator approves the hours electronically.
 
Question:  What if a member approves their hours for the entire semester? Can they still log hours in that semester?  

ANSWER: Approving hour by month is our strongly recommended best practice to keep Members on track and up to date with their hours. Although, if a Member approves hours for the entire semester, they can still add hours during that semester. We have this feature because being able to view the hours by semester can be useful to see how many hours a member served that semester so that monthly totals do not need to be added up. It is also there because when we review a Member's hours logs at the end of the term it is useful to see an entire semester all at once.

Question:  Some people seem to be electronically signing multiple times—some maybe even every time they log some hours, why does this happen?

ANSWER:  The multiple signatures are necessary because members will need to eSign hours that might be added after previously logged hours that have already approved. Helpful Hint: Students do not need to "SAVE" or "Approve" their hours each time they log their hours. Hours served should be entered daily or weekly and then approved monthly. To make this clear for the Members, the following reminders are in the Member section of the wiki:

  • Be sure to log your hours frequently so that you are accurately recording your service time. It is best if you make a habit of logging your hours weekly.
  • You do not need to approve your hours every time you log them. Approve your hours Monthly.
  • To approve your hours: 
    • After reviewing hours, type in your name exactly as shown in BOLD in the Electronic Signature box.
    • Click SAVE.

 

Question: My inbox has been crammed with emails about people signing hours right and left! Is there anything that can be done about this?

ANSWER: The e-mail alerts are automatic. All we can do is talk with the programmers and see if it is possible to have a menu where you can choose your settings and the e-mail alerts that you wish to receive. This feature could take time to develop.

Question: Hour logs are printing with a line for CLA and Non-CLA position signatures. Why is this happening? Can it be changed back to just being the CLA position that shows up for a Site Supervisor Signature?

ANSWER:  All CLA sites must be signed by the direct Site Supervisor. T&Es and NON-CLA service sites may be signed off on by the Campus Administrator. For Spring Break Trips, the Campus Administrator May sign the hours if they were on the trip with the Member or if it is unreasonably difficult to obtain the signature (electronic or hard-copy) of the Site Supervisor who was on the trip.

 

Question: If a Member "pre-signs" hours and the hours are inadvertently approved by the Campus Administrator, can this eSignature error be corrected so that hours that have been eSigned before the end of a Member's service shift on a particular day can be counted toward the fulfillment of an AmeriCorps Member Contract?

 

ANSWER:  Hour log entries that have been "pre-signed" by a Member (for example, if the Member has eSigned hours before the end time noted for their service shift on the last day of the month) and the site supervisor and/or campus administrator has approved the hours in question, the campus administrator should request that their AmeriCorps Enrollment Manager at the Foundation un-approve the hours.  Then, the hours must be re-signed in the required order (student, site, campus) before the hours are approved at the Foundation. Helpful hint: When eSigning and approving hours, always be sure that the eSignature time and date will be after the conclusion of the service hours!