What is it?

When a user has completed all requirements of their credential within their credential start/expiration dates, the status of that credential becomes Complete.

Once a user's expiration date has passed, if they have not completed their requirements, their credential status is Expired. Expired status credentials can never move to a Complete status, even if completions toward that credential are backdated to fall within the user's credential dates.

The grace period allows administrators to give their users a buffer in which to complete requirements that will count toward their credential even after it has expired, allowing it to achieve a Complete status.

For example, if my credential expired on 12/31/2019, but had a 30 day grace period, the completions I made in January 2020 would still count toward my Expired status credential. If all of my requirements were met in January before the grace period was over, my credential would still become Complete status.

 Why is Complete status important?

One, complete status makes reporting easy. You can use the Status column and filter in Credential reports to get a quick view of who has completed their requirements and who has not.

And two, a user's credential must be Complete status in order to successfully auto-renew. To learn more, check out Credential Grace Period and Auto-Renewal.

How do I turn it on?

When creating a new credential in Manage Credentials or editing the settings of an existing credential, the Grace Period setting appears directly above the Auto Renewal setting.

Choose the "Yes" option to enable and then enter the length of your desired grace period.