Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Provider Application and Renewal User Guide | July 2015 1 of 21
Provider SOCCED Course Generation and Renewal User Guide July 2015
3353 Peachtree Road NE Suite 600, North Tower
Atlanta, GA 30326 404-446-2560 | www.nerc.com
NERC | Provider Application and Renewal User Guide | July 2015 2 of 21
Purpose The purpose of this guide is to provide instruction to NERC CE providers on how to generate a new course or renew an existing course in SOCCED (System Operator Certification and Continuing Education Database). Additional information is provided in response to frequently asked questions from industry providers. The program criteria outlined in the NERC CE Administrative Manual takes precedence over any information presented in this user guide. In order to generate a course, providers must have an active SOCCED account. To obtain an active SOCCED provider account, follow the instructions found in the Provider Application and Renewal User Guide found on the NERC Continuing Education webpage. For information on completing an ILA form, refer to the Provider User Guide for Completing an ILA Form.
Purpose
Provider Application and Renewal User Guide | July 2015 3 of 21
Contents
Purpose ...................................................................................................................................................................... 2
Creating a Course in SOCCED .................................................................................................................................... 4
SOCCED Course Wizard .......................................................................................................................................... 5
Course Generation by Uploading an ILA .............................................................................................................. 12
Course Shopping Cart and Checkout ....................................................................................................................... 18
Unfinished Courses .................................................................................................................................................. 20
Renewing a Course .................................................................................................................................................. 21
Creating a Course in SOCCED
Provider Application and Renewal User Guide | July 2015 4 of 21
Creating a Course in SOCCED
This version of the SOCCED provider interface no longer requires Internet Explorer compatibility mode.
1. From the Provider Home page, select Courses,
2. All courses associated with this provider account can be searched based on the course status.
3. Click on the Add Course button.
Creating a Course in SOCCED
Provider Application and Renewal User Guide | July 2015 5 of 21
4. Courses may be generated in SOCCED by either completing ILA data fields within the SOCCED course wizard or uploading version 5 or higher MS Word ILA form. Version 5 of the ILA form contains XML code which will populate the SOCCED data fields.
SOCCED Course Wizard
1. Before completing the Course Wizard, review the Provider User Guide for Completing an ILA Form for information on the various fields.
2. Use the scroll bar to respond to all items. 3. The General Information tab contains contact information. The primary contact information will
automatically be filled in. a. If the individual able to respond to a reviewer’s questions is different from the primary contact,
select Yes and complete the contact information. b. If the primary contact is the appropriate contact for course questions, select No.
Creating a Course in SOCCED
Provider Application and Renewal User Guide | July 2015 6 of 21
4. Course Information
a. The Course Name should be descriptive of the course content. i. Course Names can be re‐used as needed. ii. Course Names cannot contain special characters such as #, *, &, etc.
b. The Course ID: i. Must begin with the Provider ID ii. Is a unique database identifier that cannot be reused. iii. Course IDs cannot contain special characters such as #, *, &, etc.
c. Enter the start date for the course. i. Refer to the CE Program Administrative Manual for requirements on ILA submission time
frames. d. Check the box if the course will offer Partial Credit.
i. Refer to the CE Program Administrative Manual for requirements on awarding Partial Credit.
e. Check the box if the course is Emergency Operations related.
Creating a Course in SOCCED
Provider Application and Renewal User Guide | July 2015 7 of 21
f. Enter the number of hours for each category. g. The NERC Continuing Education Administrative Manual provides additional information on the
categories of CEH: Operating Topics, Standards, and Simulations. i. The total CEH requested for the learning activity should equal the total Operating Topics
hours on the ILA form. ii. Standards and Simulations hours cannot exceed CE hours. iii. Any time devoted to standards and simulations should be included in your total number
of CE hours requested. iv. Example: An 8 hour class will include a 2 hour review of standards followed by a 2 hour
exercise/drill applying the NERC EOP Standards.
Creating a Course in SOCCED
Provider Application and Renewal User Guide | July 2015 8 of 21
5. Course Evaluation a. At least one item must be selected in each section. b. The comments boxes are optional.
Creating a Course in SOCCED
Provider Application and Renewal User Guide | July 2015 9 of 21
6. Learning Objectives
a. SOCCED provides for a maximum of 45 objectives per course.
7. Learning Activity
Creating a Course in SOCCED
Provider Application and Renewal User Guide | July 2015 10 of 21
8. Course Data
a. Course Type v. Select all course types that apply.
b. Target Audience vi. Select the positions the course is designed to support. vii. All operators holding a NERC Certification may earn continuing education hours from the
approved course. Selecting a target audience does not limit who can earn CEHs. c. Course Topics
viii. Select all applicable course topics. ix. If the EOP‐Related box was marked in the Course Information section, ensure the
Emergency Operations (EO) box is also marked in the Course Topics section. d. When all the sections are complete, click the Save and Continue button.
Creating a Course in SOCCED
Provider Application and Renewal User Guide | July 2015 11 of 21
9. Attachments
a. Refer to the Continuing Education Administrative Manual for information on additional documentation that may be required.
b. To add an attachment, click Choose File. Navigate to the file location in your system. Select the file. Wait until the filename field turns green, then click Upload.
c. Ensure the file names of attachments are clear. d. Avoid long filenames for attachments. e. Filenames should not contain any special characters, such as #, *, &, etc. f. While SOCCED accepts most MS Office files, such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and common
graphic file formats such as GIF, JPEG, and PNG, due to differences in software between providers and reviewers, documents should be converted to PDF format before uploading.
g. SOCCED does not accept ZIP files into the database. h. Large files, typically greater than 5 MB, may result in an upload error. These files should be
separated into smaller files and named appropriately.
10. Click Add to Cart
Creating a Course in SOCCED
Provider Application and Renewal User Guide | July 2015 12 of 21
11. Multiple courses may be added before proceeding to the checkout.
a. To print a copy of the information entered into SOCCED for the course, click the Print link next to the course.
b. Creating multiple courses before proceeding to the checkout will place all the courses on one invoice with the same Transaction ID. Providers may have internal accounting procedures that determines whether each course should have a separate invoice or have one invoice with multiple courses.
Course Generation by Uploading an ILA
1. Click Choose File.
a. Navigate to the local file location of the completed ILA form. b. Select the file and click Open.
Creating a Course in SOCCED
Provider Application and Renewal User Guide | July 2015 13 of 21
2. Click Upload ILA.
a. The ILA form must be version 5 or higher. If a version 4.4 ILA form is selected for upload, the
system will return an error message.
3. The primary contact information from the account will populate the Contact fields on the General Information tab.
a. Contact information on the ILA form is not transferred to SOCCED during the upload. b. If the individual able to respond to a reviewer’s questions is different from the primary contact,
select Yes and complete the contact information. c. If the primary contact is the appropriate contact for course questions, select No.
Creating a Course in SOCCED
Provider Application and Renewal User Guide | July 2015 14 of 21
4. Verify the information uploaded correctly. Click Save and Continue.
Creating a Course in SOCCED
Provider Application and Renewal User Guide | July 2015 15 of 21
5. Verify the objectives uploaded correctly. Click Save and Continue.
6. Verify the information uploaded completely and accurately. Click Save and Continue.
Creating a Course in SOCCED
Provider Application and Renewal User Guide | July 2015 16 of 21
7. Complete the Course Data tab. c. Course Type
x. Select all course types that apply. d. Target Audience
xi. Select the positions the course is designed to support. xii. All operators holding a NERC Certification may earn continuing education hours from the
approved course. Selecting a target audience does not limit who can earn CEHs. e. Course Topics
xiii. Select all applicable course topics. xiv. If the EOP‐Related box was marked in the Course Information section, ensure the
Emergency Operations (EO) box is also marked in the Course Topics section. f. When all the sections are complete, click the Save and Continue button.
Creating a Course in SOCCED
Provider Application and Renewal User Guide | July 2015 17 of 21
8. The ILA uploaded at the start of this process can be found in the attachments tab. Refer to the NERC
Continuing Education Administrative Manual to verify the requirements for additional attachments. a. Ensure the file names of attachments are clear. b. Avoid long filenames for attachments. c. Filenames should not contain any special characters, such as #, *, &, etc. d. While SOCCED accepts most MS Office files, such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and common
graphic file formats such as GIF, JPEG, and PNG, due to differences in software between providers and reviewers, documents should be converted to PDF format before uploading.
e. SOCCED does not accept ZIP files into the database. f. Large files, typically greater than 5 MB, may result in an upload error. These files should be
separated into smaller files and named appropriately.
Course Shopping Cart and Checkout
Provider Application and Renewal User Guide | July 2015 18 of 21
Course Shopping Cart and Checkout
1. The upper section of the shopping cart shows the current transactions.
a. Item listed in the lower section are awaiting receipt of payment. 2. When all courses have been entered, click Check Out.
a. Exiting this screen before completing the checkout, will leave the courses in your cart, but will not move them into the Pending queue for review and approval.
b. Fees may be paid by either credit card through PayPal, or by check or wire transfer.
Course Shopping Cart and Checkout
Provider Application and Renewal User Guide | July 2015 19 of 21
3. If paying by credit card: a. Complete the credit card information. b. Complete the credit card billing address. c. Credit card payment are processed through PayPal and are secure transactions. d. No credit card information is retained in SOCCED.
4. If paying by check or wire transfer: a. Reference your Transaction ID/Invoice Number with your payment. b. Send payment to:
North American Electric Reliability Corporation Attn: Accounts Receivable 3353 Peachtree Rd. NE Suite 600, North Tower Atlanta, GA 30326
c. Transactions paid by check or wire transfer will remain in Pending until the payment is received. 5. Click the Submit Request button to complete the transaction and move the courses to the Pending
queue.
Unfinished Courses
Provider Application and Renewal User Guide | July 2015 20 of 21
Unfinished Courses 1. If a course has been started in SOCCED and the Course Information tab has been saved, the course can be
retrieved and completed at another time.
2. From the My Courses screen select Unfinished Courses.
3. A popup box will appear showing any unfinished courses.
4. Click on the Course ID hyperlink.
a. The Course Information window will appear.
b. Click Continue to proceed through the course generation process.
Renewing a Course
Provider Application and Renewal User Guide | July 2015 21 of 21
Renewing a Course
1. Refer to the Continuing Education Administrative Manual for the criteria for renewing a course. a. Not all courses will qualify for renewal, the specific requirements are in the Continuing Education
Administrative Manual. 2. From the My Courses screen, click the Renew Course button.
3. There is also a Renew Courses button in the Shopping Cart window.
4. A pop‐up window will display courses within the renewal window.
a. Select all courses to be renewed.
5. Verify the Course Attachments are updated. Refer to the Course Attachments section of this document for
instructions. a. NERC does not maintain pilot data on courses. It is the provider’s responsibility to upload pilot data
for any course for which CEH are requested. 6. Follow the instructions in the Shopping Cart and Checkout section of this document.
