Grace Period and Auto-Renewal

A Complete status credential will automatically renew. The dates for the renewed credential will depend on the settings in the credential and when the final requirement was completed or submitted.

The examples below help explain how auto-renewed credential dates behave when grace period is turned on. Check out Credential Grace Period for more information about grace periods.

As a reminder, there are 2 types of automatic renewal.

Automatic Renewal Dates Explained

A completed course has a Complete date. A completed activity has both a Complete date and a Submit date; they can be the same or, if the activity has a Date Complete component, they can be different.

"On Expiration Date" Auto Renewal

If the final completion has a complete date OR submission date that falls within the user's start and expiration date OR within the grace period, the user's new dates are:

Start Date: the day after the original expiration date

Expiration Date: X months from the original expiration date

Exception: If both the completion date and the submitted date fall within the grace period, but neither fall within the original start and expiration date, the user's new dates are:

Start Date: the day after the final course/activity was completed

Expiration Date: X months from the original expiration date

"On Requirement Completion Date" Auto Renewal

If the final completion has a complete date OR submission date that falls within the user's start and expiration date OR within the grace period, the user's new dates are:

Start Date: the day after the final course/activity was completed

Expiration Date: X months from the day the final course/activity was completed

I'm Confused...

See the section below. The scenarios in this section explain the how and why of auto-renewal date behavior.

Scenario Based Help

This section is divided to explain each type of auto renewal. Make sure you're looking at the section that applies to the credential you're working on.

"On Expiration Date" Auto Renewal

Example for all scenarios below:

A credential is set to renew on the expiration date for 12 months, with a grace period of 90 days.

Scenario 1

Start and Expiration Dates: 3/1/19-3/1/20

Final Completion: A course or an activity with no Date Complete component

Date Submitted: 5/1/20

Date Complete: 5/1/20

Auto Renewal New Dates: 5/2/20-3/1/21

Both the submitted and completion dates are the same and fall within the grace period, so the credential is able to auto renew. But because he was late completing it, he misses out on the 2 months he delayed, making his new start date 5/2/20 and leaving his expiration date the same as it would have been if he was on time.

Note that this use case still holds true if the activity completed DID have a date complete component, but the date he entered was the same date he submitted it (5/1/20).

Scenario 2

Start and expiration dates: 3/1/19-3/1/20

Final Completion: An activity with a Date Complete component

Date Submitted: 5/1/20

Date Complete: 2/1/20

Auto Renewal New dates: 3/1/20-3/1/21

The submitted date falls within the grace period and the completion date falls within his original date parameters, so the credential is able to auto renew.

In this case, we assume he wasn’t late fulfilling the requirements of his credential, but rather just late filling out the paperwork, so to speak, to let his admin know he completed it. Because we assume by the date complete entered that he wasn’t late, his credential renews the same as it would have if he’d submitted on time.

Scenario 3

Start and expiration dates: 3/1/19-3/1/20

Final Completion: An activity with a Date Complete component

Date Submitted: 6/5/20

Date Complete: 2/1/20

Auto Renewal New dates: None, stays Expired status

The completion date falls within his original date parameters, but the submission date does not fall within the allotted grace period so the credential would not auto-renew.

Like the previous use case, we assume the user fulfilled his requirements on time, but he broke the rules by delaying his submission so much that fell out of the grace period. In this case, we want leadership to be aware of his infraction. So in this case, he’ll need a platform manager with permission to manually reset his dates.

This use case also applies if the final completion was a course or an activity without a Date Complete component and took place outside the grace period.

"On Requirement Completion Date" Auto Renewal

Example for all scenarios below:

A credential is set to renew on the expiration date for 12 months, with a grace period of 90 days.

Scenario 1

Start and expiration dates: 3/1/19-3/1/20

Final Completion: A course or an activity with no Date Complete component

Date Submitted: 5/1/20

Date Complete: 5/1/20

Auto Renewal New dates: 5/2/20-5/1/21

Both the submitted and completion dates are the same and fall within the grace period, so the credential is able to auto renew.

Because of the use case admins have for using this setting, the renewed dates work a little differently from scenario 1 for the other type of auto renewal. The user did indeed miss his date, but we want to make sure to keep him on the same compliance period of 12 months so he can try again during the next cycle to be on time.

Scenario 2

Start and expiration dates: 3/1/19-3/1/20

Final Completion: An activity with a Date Complete component

Date Submitted: 5/1/20

Date Complete: 2/1/20

Auto Renewal New dates: 2/2/20-2/1/21

See reasoning behind scenario 2 for the other type of auto renewal; it’s the same here. The difference being the new dates. Because of the credential auto renewal settings chosen, his renewed date parameters are based off his completion date and not original expiration date.

Scenario 3

Start and expiration dates: 3/1/19-3/1/20

Final Completion: An activity with a Date Complete component

Date Submitted: 6/5/20

Date Complete: 2/1/20

Auto Renewal New dates: None, stays Expired status

See reasoning behind scenario 2 for the other type of auto renewal; it’s the same here. If the submission date falls outside the grace period, only manual intervention can change the credential dates.