Glossary of Important Terms

Keep in Mind...

This is not an all-exhaustive list of terms. If you think a term should be added and is good for other users to know, contact your Client Success Team!

• • Account Settings - Section within the Suitable app where specific user information is stored. Account Settings include a user's profile picture, scorecard information and specific institutional information. 
    
    
  • Activity - Engagement opportunities made available to your students through your student development program, whether that be a task or an event.
    
    
  • Activity Level - The level of engagement required of your students to complete an activity. Typically expressed as Levels 1 through 5 in the Suitable site.
    
    
  • Activity Wizard - Refers to the manual activity creation interface within the Suitable site. The Activity Wizard helps you to quickly create and add one-off activities without using the Curriculum Import Template.
    
    
  • Administrative Approval - A type of validation available for both event- and task-type activities. By enabling administrative approval on an activity, you are requiring that an administrator approve a student's completion of the activity before points are rewarded. To access your pending approvals, navigate to the Approvals tab in the Suitable site.
    
    
  • API - Application Programming Interface. APIs act as a software intermediary that allows two applications to talk to each other. Typically referred to when discussing integrations with your Suitable site.
    
    
  • Badges/Achievements - Acts as a container for activities that students can complete to earn a digital badge. Activities can be grouped together to form an achievable badge/achievement for students to work towards. Badge and achievement is used interchangeably. Learn more about badges and their purpose within Suitable. 
    
    
  • Changing Programs/Dashboards – It is possible that an institution may have multiple accounts within Suitable. In this case, it is important to always make sure you are operating in the correct account. You can change programs/dashboard by selecting the dropdown arrow to the right of your account picture.
    
    
  • Competency - Skillsets that are chosen by administrators for students to work towards within your student development program. A common example of competencies would be the NACE Career Readiness competencies.
    
    
  • Completion - Refers to when a student fulfills the requirements of an activity or a badge/achievement.
    
    
  • Curriculum - The activities that you pull into your student development program. In Suitable, this refers to the Curriculum tab under Settings, where you can access a list of the activities currently in your site or upload a bulk list of activities via the Curriculum Import Template.
    
    
  • Curriculum Import Template - The Excel spreadsheet that is used to bulk upload your activities to your Suitable site. This template can be found in the Curriculum tab under Settings in Suitable.
    
    
  • Dashboard - The first tab that you see when you sign into Suitable. This tab provides a high-level overview of your student development program's statistics, as well as contains shortcuts to other tabs, such as Student Management and Approvals. It is possible you may be enrolled in more than one program so it is important to be viewing the right dashboard at all times. 
    
    
  • Data Feed - A feed created with your institution's IT team to connect your institution's student information system (SIS) to Suitable. By creating a data feed, you are allowing a continuous feed of students and student changes to come into your Suitable site without manual upload.
    
    
  • Distribution List - A group of Push Notification recipients segmented by you, the administrator. You can read more about how to create a distribution list.
    
    
  • Event - Refers to a type of activity available in Suitable. Event-type activities will have a QR code validation and require a start and end date to be created. Event-type activities can be used for advising meetings, in virtual events, as well as at traditional in-person events.
    
    
  • Experience Categories & Tags - Used to tag activities with important information and for easily sorting your activity reports. Experience categories act as the shell for experience tags. For example, an experience category could be "Student Population," indicating which student population the activity is available for, while an experience tag within that category could be "Honors Program" or "Athletics." Experience categories and tags can be managed under the Data tab in your Settings in Suitable.
    
    
  • Experience Set - Acts as a smaller container for activities that students can complete to earn more points. Experience sets can be used to organize similar activities, as well as to create optional activities for completion of a badge/achievement. Experience sets can be comprised of both tasks and events where some can be optional and some can be required. 
    
    
  • Give Credit - Refers to giving credit to students after an event has passed its end date who may not have been able to scan the smart code/QR code at the event. This action can be done by navigating to the activity, clicking on the three dots on the right side, and choosing Give Credit. Credit can be given individually or in bulk.
    
    
  • Incentive - Motivation for students to complete an activity or badge/achievement. Incentives can be experiential, such as a 1-on-1 meeting with an employer, or tangible, such as a water bottle or laptop sticker.
    
    
  • Leaderboard - An area where students can see how many points they have earned and how they are generally progressing among their peers. The Leaderboard can be used for competitions among individuals or student groups, and can also be shared across campus to inspire engagement.
    
    
  • Levels - Refer to the degree of engagement that is required to complete a task. Levels range from Level 1 (the lowest level of engagement like simply attending an event or scanning a QR Code), to Level 5 (the highest level of engagement, which could be studying abroad and compiling a portfolio of experiences). Learn more about the different types of levels within Suitable.
    
    
  • LMS - Refers to Learning Management Systems, which is a software application for the administration, documentation, tracking, reporting, automation, and delivery of educational courses, training programs, or learning and development programs. The most common LMS systems are Canvas, Blackboard, D2L Brightspace, and Moodle.
    
    
  • LTI - Refers to Learning Tools Interoperability, which allows Learning Management Systems (LMS) or platforms to integrate remote tools and content in a standard way. Suitable is LTI 1.3 compliant, meaning it can integrate with other LTI 1.3-compliant platforms, such as Canvas, Blackboard, D2L Brightspace, and more.
    
    
  • Point Total Activity - Also known as PTA. A container of activities that requires a certain number of points to be completed in a level or competency. PTAs can have multiple level and/or competency requirements.
    
    
  • Pathway - Refers to the different sites students or administrators can access that are tied to their school/program. If your school/program has multiple pathways available, these can be accessed by clicking on the pathway logo in the top left corner of Suitable.
    
    
  • Points - The numerical value associated with an activity that students can earn when completing an activity in Suitable. Points are associated with each of the five (5) levels, with Level 1 activities earning 10 points, Level 2 activities earning 20 points, Level 3 activities earning 50 points, Level 4 activities earning 75 points, and Level 5 activities earning 150 points. Activities can be worth more points if they are paired with multiple competencies.
    
    
  • Portfolio - Used within a student's scorecard to display deliverables the student has submitted to activities, as well as independent work the student has completed that they've added to their portfolio. To view a student's portfolio, you can search for the student in Student Management, under settings, then click on the blue person icon. This will take you to the student's scorecard, where you can then navigate to the Portfolio tab at the top.
    
    
  • Production - Refers to the live version of your Suitable site. This is the version of your site that students are able to access and earn points in, and that you're able to pull reports in. This version of your site is located at app.suitable.co.
    
    
  • Push Notifications - A form of communication that is sent directly to students' mobile devices via the Suitable mobile application. Push notifications generally contain links or small bites of information to engage students with their program. Push notifications can be created by administrators in the Notification tab of their Suitable site.
    
    
  • Sandbox - Refers to the test version of your Suitable site. This is the version of your site where your program is built and different ideas are tested before being finalized and moved into the production, or live, site where students can access it. This version of your site is located at sandbox.suitable.co.
    
    
  • Scorecard - A feature within Suitable that acts as a co-curricular profile for students to display to employers or any other interested parties, showing the badges/achievements they have earned, how many points they have accumulated in each competency area, and any submissions or independent work items they have made displayable to the public via their Portfolio tab. To view a student's scorecard, you can search for the student in Student Management, under Settings, then click on the blue person icon. This will take you to your student's scorecard. Students also have the option to share their scorecard with users outside Suitable.
    
    
  • Smart Code/QR Code - A form of validation used for event-type activities in Suitable. Smart codes/QR codes are made available at events, where students can scan the code with their smartphone and automatically receive points. Smart code and QR code is used interchangeably. To retrieve a smart code/QR code for an event, navigate to the activity you need the code for, click on the three dots on the right side, and choose Get Smart Code. An unbranded code will be provided to you, but you can also obtain a branded code by choosing Download, then View.
    
    
  • Student Data Filters & Cohorts - Used to tag students with additional data and for easily sorting your student reports. Student data filters act as the shell for cohorts. For example, a student data filter could be "Student Population," indicating which student population a student is a part of, while a cohort within the student data filter could be "Honors Program" or "Athletics." Student data filters and cohorts can be managed under the Data tab in your Settings in Suitable. Student data filters and cohorts can also be imported via a data feed.
    
    
  • Suitable Mobile App - The Suitable mobile application made available for students on their smartphone. This app is essential to taking advantage of all of Suitable's functionalities. The app is available on both the App Store (Apple devices) and Google Play Store (Android devices).
    
    
  • Suitable Web App - The Suitable website made available for both students and administrators. The website is essential for administrators in managing their student development program, and students in submitting to certain activities, such as those with a submission-based validation. The Suitable website is accessible at app.suitable.co.
    
    
  • System Level - Refers to the level that students have achieved in completing activities. Typically reflected on the Leaderboard and on student scorecards. Students need to complete three (3) activities in every competency at each activity level to move up a system level.
    
    
  • Task - Refers to a type of activity available in Suitable. Task-type activities have the option of requiring a submission or reflection validation, or no validation at all. Task-type activities are typically used for asynchronous activities that do not require attendance to an event (such as watching a YouTube video), as an after-event reflection space, or for students to submit a deliverable from an experience (such as a resume or capstone paper).
    
    
  • Tiered Administrative Access - Refers to the multiple types of administrative access available in Suitable. There are currently four (4) administrative access levels, with Contributor being the lowest level of access, then Advisor, then Publisher, then ending with Global Administrator, the highest level of administrative access. You can read more about tiered administrative access levels. 
    
    
  • Validation - What students must do to complete an activity and earn points. There are four (4) validation types available for activities: written reflection, portfolio submission, administrator approval, and smart code/QR code validation (reserved for event-type activities only). You can read more about the different activity validation types.