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Creating Excel Files (Partial Course Credit)

Martha Chastain
  • Updated

Easy Excel Upload (Partial Course Credit)

This Excel upload method of awarding credit to licensees is used when some or all participants are receiving partial credit for the course being reported. If partial credit is not available for your course, check out the full credit guidelines.

 

Pro Tip: You can also award full credit on the same Partial Credit Excel Sheet. This method can be used when either awarding just partial credit or a mix of full and partial credit to participants.

 

Follow the guidelines below to properly format your Partial Credit roster:

  1. Create a brand new Excel file with a ".xls" extension. (Example: CourseCompletions.xls)

    Please note that in order to help ensure a successful upload, a new excel sheet is required each time you report new course completions. Please make sure that you do not include any licensee information that has already been reported.

  2. Input your provider tracking number (without the 50-) into Column A

  3. Input your course tracking number (without the 20-) into Column B
    OR
    Input your own course ID in Column C

  4. Input a CE Broker-issued publishing number into Column D (optional, this will be blank for most providers)

  5. Input the attendee's license number into Column E

  6. Input the course completion date into Column F using the Excel date format (Example: 12/3/2008)

  7. Input the licensee's state using the format "State=[abbreviation]" into Column G (Example: State=FL)

  8. Input the licensee's profession code using the format "Profession=[profession code] into Column H. (Example: Profession=RN)

  9. Input the subject area code for partial credit into Column I and input the number of hours earned in Column J

You will add two columns for each subject area in which the licensee earned credit. If you put a subject area in one column, the next column must contain the hours earned for that subject. Up to 8 subject area codes may be entered.

 

View examples and detailed explanations of each column below;


File Samples

Here is a sample file when one participant is receiving full credit and another is receiving partial credit. Notice Column I contains the subject area code. Column J displays the number of Partial Credit hours the licensee earned.

 

 

Here is a sample file when the CE Broker Publishing Number is used in Column D. The advantage of using a Publishing Number is that your Roster History will be grouped by the publishing (Date, Time, Location)

 


Here is a sample when you’ve elected to use your own course numbers in CE Broker. Column C would contain your own course ID number if you choose not to use the CE Broker-provided Course Tracking Number. You can only use one or the other, not both.

 


The following is a sample when one participant is receiving full credit and another is receiving partial credit in more than one subject area. Note that Row 1 contains no Subject Area codes. This indicates to the system that the licensee has received full credit.

 


The following is a sample when a licensee has multiple licenses and is receiving partial credit for both. 

 


The following is a sample when licensees are receiving partial credit in different subject areas.  

 

Pro Tip:  Different Boards sometimes have different Subject Area Codes for the same type of subject area.  Be sure to review the Subject Area Code list for the codes that correspond to different professions under different Boards. 

 


Do's and Don'ts

❌ Don’t have any blank rows between rows of data. When the system encounters an empty Column A in any row, the system interprets that blank cell as the end of the file.

 ✅ Do feel free to include multiple courses and publishing numbers in any one file

 ✅ When the licensee is not receiving full credit, do include two extra columns (subject area code and number of hours) for each subject area the licensee receives credit.

 

❌ When there is partial credit on a row, don’t leave any cells blank starting with Column I until all partial credit subject areas and hours have been reported for the row. When the system encounters a blank in Column I or any column after it, the system interprets that blank cell as the end of the entry for that row.

 

❌ Don’t leave blank the following columns: Column A, E, F, or G.

 

✅ Do include a course number in either column B or C, but not both.

 

❌ Don’t include “50-" in front of your educational provider number nor the “20-" in front of your course number. Only include the suffixes.

 

✅ Do use the Excel date formatting in Column F. Don’t use dashes or any other date format.

 


File Columns Explained

The following is a description of each column of data in the Excel Upload format:

 

Column A - CE Provider number issued by CE Broker

  • Required? Yes
  • Only enter the suffix of the CE Provider number issued by CE Broker. For example, if your CE Provider number is 50-2486 you will enter 2486 in Column A.
  • The CE Provider number in Column A must match the number on your CE Broker organizational profile or else the file will reject.
  • Column A tells the system how many rows to read. The first column A cell that is blank indicates the end of the file.

 

Column B - Course number issued by CE Broker

  • Required? B or C is required

  • Only enter the suffix of the course number issued by CE Broker. For example, if your course number is 20-12056 you will enter 12056 in Column B. The only exception is you will leave this column blank if you have elected to use your own course IDs in CE Broker. Most educational providers use the CE Broker issued course number.

  • You may report any number of courses in one Easy Excel file.

 

Column C - Own Course ID

  • Required? B or C is required

  • If you’ve elected to use your own course IDs in CE Broker, enter your course IDs in Column C. Do not use Column B.

 

Column D - Publishing number issued by CE Broker

  • Required? No

  • This is an optional field. The advantage of a publishing number is that your roster history will be grouped by the publishing (date, time, location).

  • Only enter the suffix of the course publishing number issued by CE Broker. For example, if your publishing number is 10-5892 you will enter 5892 in Column D.

  • You may report any number of publishings in one Easy Excel file.

 

Column E - License Number

  • Required? Yes

  • Enter both the alpha and numeric portions of the attendee’s license number. For example, RN9999.

  • See the list of the profession codes (alpha portions of license numbers)

 

Column F -  Course Completion Date

  • Required? Yes

  • Report the date each attendee completed the course. Use the Excel date formatting in Column F. Example: 12/3/2008. Don’t use dashes or any other date format.

 

Column G - State Indicator

  • Required? Yes

  • Example: Enter “State=FL” for the Florida Department of Health and the Florida Statewide Public Guardianship Office or “State=DC” for the District of Columbia Department of Health.

 

Column H - Profession Indicator

  • Required? Yes

  • Example: Enter "Profession=OT" for an Alabama Occupational Therapist or "Profession=CC" for a Clinical Chemistry Diplomate.

  • You can find a list of the profession codes here: Profession Codes


Column I, K, M, O, Q, S, U, W - Subject Area Code

  • Required? Yes, if the licensee is receiving partial credit

  • If the attendee is receiving full credit for the course, this cell should be blank.

  • If the attendee is receiving partial credit, each subject area code should be entered.

  • For instance, an RN enrolled in an 8-hour course providing 7 hours of General and 1 hour of Medical Errors credit. The RN left after 2 hours. As the educational provider, you decide to award 1 hour of General and 1 hour of Medical Error credit. You would enter GN in Column I and ME in Column K.

  • See a list of Subject area codes.

  • Up to eight subject area codes may be entered.

 

Column J, L, N, P, R, T, V, X - CE Credit Hours Completed

  • Required? No
  • If the attendee is receiving full credit for the course, this cell should be blank.
  • If the attendee is receiving partial credit, the number of hours for the subject area code should be entered.

  • For instance, an RN enrolled in an 8-hour course providing 7 hours of General and 1 hour of Medical Errors credit. The RN left after 2 hours. As the educational provider, you decide to award 1 hour of General and 1 hour of Medical Error credit. You would enter 1 in Column J and 1 in Column L.

 

Here is an article for instructions on how to Reporting Course Completions Using Excel after you have created your Excel Roster File.

If you encounter a Validation Error upon uploading your file, here is the list of file Validation Errors.

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