Counselor Dashboard Help Guide

This guide covers the features available to counselors in the Career Bridge dashboard. Use it as a reference for managing students, assigning tasks, tracking progress, importing records in bulk, and more.

1. Getting Started

Dashboard Layout

When you log in, you will see the counselor dashboard with two main areas:

• Sidebar navigation on the left with two sections: Students (your primary workspace) and My Account (your profile settings). You can collapse the sidebar using the hamburger menu icon to give yourself more screen space.
• Main content area on the right, which displays the student list, student details, or account information depending on what you have selected.

Switching Organizations and Roles

If you are assigned to more than one organization or hold multiple roles, you can switch between them using the dropdowns in the welcome banner at the top of the page. Changing your organization will update the student list to show students from that organization. Changing your role will adjust the features available to you.

You can also hover over the organization info icon (next to the organization dropdown) to see details about the selected organization, including its type, grade levels served, address, and district or region.

Welcome Banner

The welcome banner at the top displays a helpful tip and a live count of your active students (for example, “You have 2 active students”). The tip changes based on your organization type to provide relevant guidance. This count updates automatically as you add, import, or inactivate students.

2. Managing Students

Viewing Your Student List

By default, the Students view shows all active students assigned to you. The table displays each student’s name, email, organization, grade (for school organizations), progress percentage, and the date their record was last updated. You can sort any column by clicking its header, and search for a specific student using the search box above the table.

Adding a New Student

To add a new student:

1. Click the Add Student button at the top of the student list.
2. Fill in the student’s information:
   • First Name (required) — the student’s first name (up to 100 characters).
   • Last Name (required) — the student’s last name (up to 100 characters).
   • Email (required) — the student’s email address. This is entered manually and is not automatically verified.
   • Graduation Date (required for students, not shown for adults seeking training) — enter in MM/yyyy format (for example, 06/2026). The system will alert you when a student’s graduation date has passed.
   • Grade (school organizations only) — select the student’s current grade level from the dropdown. The available grades depend on your organization type (elementary schools show K–6, middle schools show 5–9, high schools show 9–12).
3. Optionally assign counselors using the multi-select dropdown.
4. Click Save to create the student record. New students are automatically set to Active status.

Editing a Student

To edit a student’s information, click the student’s name in the student list. This opens the student detail form where you can update their email, graduation date, grade, guardian information, and counselor assignments. Click Save to apply your changes, or Cancel to discard them and return to the student list.

Guardian Information (School Organizations Only)

For School District organizations, the student detail form includes a Guardian Information section where you can record the full name of up to two guardians (Guardian Name and Guardian Name 2). Both fields are optional and do not appear for Regional Workforce Board organizations.

Student Status: Active and Inactive

Each student has an Active or Inactive status. You can toggle this by clicking the status button on the student detail form.

• Active students appear in your default student list, can have tasks assigned to them, and count toward your active student total.
• Inactive students are hidden from the default view (use the “Show Inactive Students” filter to see them). You cannot assign new tasks to inactive students, and their existing tasks cannot be edited.

Assigning Counselors

On the student detail form, the Counselor Assignment section shows a multi-select dropdown with available counselors from your organization. Select or deselect counselors as needed, then save the form to apply the changes. Currently assigned counselors are pre-selected when you open the form.

3. Student Filters

Above the student table, you will find a row of filter buttons (chips) that let you quickly narrow down the list. Each filter shows a count badge indicating how many students match that filter. The available filters are:

• Show All — displays all active students assigned to you. This is the default view.
• Needs Review — shows active students who have completed tasks that you have not yet reviewed. Use this to stay on top of student progress.
• All Complete & Reviewed — shows active students where every assigned task has been completed and reviewed. These students have finished all their work.
• Has Incomplete Tasks — shows active students who still have tasks that are not yet completed.
• No Tasks Assigned — shows active students who do not have any tasks assigned to them. This helps identify students who may need tasks set up.
• Pending Registration — shows active students who have records in the system but have not yet created a Career Bridge account. These students were added by a counselor but have not completed registration.
• Pending Approval — shows active students who have registered but are awaiting approval. This filter is only available for Regional Workforce Board organizations.
• Show Inactive Students — shows only inactive students in your organization.
• All Organization Students — shows all students in your organization, not just those assigned to you. This includes students assigned to other counselors.

Click any filter to apply it. Click a different filter to switch. The student list updates automatically.

Grade Filter (School Organizations Only)

For School District organizations, a row of grade chips appears below the main filters. These let you narrow the student list to specific grade levels.

• Click one or more grade chips to show only students in those grades. Active chips are highlighted in blue.
• Click a highlighted chip again to deselect it.
• The available grades depend on your organization type: elementary schools show K–6, middle schools show 5–9, and high schools show 9–12.
• The grade filter works in combination with the main filters above. For example, you can view “Has Incomplete Tasks” for grade 7 students only.

4. Task Management

Assigning a Task

To assign a task to a student:

1. Open the student detail form by clicking the student’s name.
2. In the Assigned Tasks section, click the Add Task button.
   

   The Assigned Tasks section on the student detail form. Click the Add Task button to open the task assignment modal.

3. A modal window will appear. Fill in the task details:
   • Task Name (required) — a descriptive name for the task.
   • Task URL (optional) — a web address related to the task.
   • Instructions/Notes (optional) — additional guidance for the student.
   • Mark as Required — checked by default. Required tasks count toward the student’s progress percentage. Uncheck this for optional tasks.
   

   The Add Task modal showing the task fields: Task Name, Task URL, Instructions/Notes, and the Mark as Required checkbox.

4. Click Assign Task to save.

Using Task Templates

When adding a new task, the modal shows a Task Templates section at the top. Templates are pre-defined tasks that have been created for your organization. To use a template:

1. Browse or search the template list.
2. Click Use next to the template you want.
3. The template’s name, URL, and required status will be automatically filled into the task form.
4. You can modify any of the pre-filled values before assigning the task.

Required vs. Optional Tasks

Required tasks count toward the student’s overall progress percentage. When all required tasks are completed, the student’s progress reaches 100%. Optional tasks are still tracked but do not affect the progress calculation.

Quick Toggles: Required and Reviewed

You can quickly change a task’s Required or Reviewed status directly from the task table without opening the edit modal:

• Click the Required badge (blue) to toggle it to Optional (grey), or vice versa.
• Click the Reviewed badge (green) to toggle it to Pending (orange), or vice versa.

The change is saved immediately and the “Last Updated” date refreshes in the table. This is the fastest way to review completed tasks or adjust required status.

Editing a Task

To edit an existing task, click the pencil icon in the task’s row. The task modal will open in edit mode, allowing you to change the task name, URL, instructions, required status, and reviewed status. Click Update Task to save your changes.

Deleting a Task

To delete a task, click the trash icon in the task’s row. A confirmation dialog will appear. Click OK to permanently delete the task, or Cancel to keep it.

Marking Tasks as Reviewed

When a student completes a task, it appears with a “Pending” review status. As the counselor, you can mark it as Reviewed by clicking the review badge in the task table. This toggles between “Reviewed” and “Pending” with each click. Reviewing a task indicates that you have verified the student’s completion of that task. Students in the “Needs Review” filter are those who have completed tasks you have not yet reviewed.

Task Organization Filter

If a student belongs to multiple organizations, the task section provides two filter tabs:

• Current Organization (default) — shows only tasks assigned within your currently selected organization.
• All Organizations — shows tasks from all organizations the student belongs to. Tasks from other organizations where the student is inactive will have their edit and delete controls disabled.

5. Importing Students in Bulk

The bulk import feature lets you add multiple new students or update existing student records all at once by uploading a spreadsheet file. This is especially useful when onboarding a large group of students at the start of a term or when transferring records from another system.

Overview

• Supported file types: CSV (.csv) and Excel (.xlsx).
• Maximum file size: 5 MB.
• The system uses the email address as the unique identifier. If a student with that email already exists in your organization, their record will be updated. If the email is new, a new student record will be created.
• Each row must include a CounselorEmail column specifying which counselor the student should be assigned to. The counselor must be an active counselor in your organization.

Downloading the Import Template

Before preparing your file, download the official import template:

1. Click Import Students at the top of the student list to open the import screen.
2. Click the import template link in the instructions area.
3. An Excel file will download with the correct column headers for your organization type. Required columns are marked with a red asterisk (*).

The template includes the following columns:

Column	School Orgs	Workforce Orgs	Description
Email	Required	Required	Student’s email address. Used as the unique identifier.
FirstName	Required	Required	Student’s first name (max 100 characters).
LastName	Required	Required	Student’s last name (max 100 characters).
MiddleName	Optional	Optional	Student’s middle name.
Grade	Required	N/A	Grade level: 0 for Kindergarten, 1–12 for grades 1–12. Must be within your org’s grade range.
GraduationYear	Required	N/A	Four-digit graduation year (e.g., 2027). Must be between 2000 and 2100.
GraduationMonth	Required	N/A	Graduation month as a number: 1 (January) through 12 (December).
CounselorEmail	Required	Required	Email of the counselor to assign the student to. Must match an active counselor in your organization.
GuardianName	Optional	N/A	Guardian 1 full name.
GuardianName2	Optional	N/A	Guardian 2 full name.

Step 1: Upload Your File

1. Click the Import Students button at the top of the student list.
2. On the upload screen, drag and drop your file onto the dashed upload area, or click to browse and select a file.
3. The system begins validating your file automatically — there is no separate “Upload” button to click.

Step 2: Review and Validate

After your file is uploaded, the system checks every row and displays a review screen with the results.

Summary cards at the top show counts for each category:

• Total — the total number of rows in your file.
• Valid — rows that passed all validation checks and are ready to import.
• Invalid — rows with errors that cannot be imported. See the Details column for specific issues.
• New — valid rows that will create new student records.
• Updates — valid rows that match an existing student (by email) and will update their record.
• Skipped (Match Found) — rows that match an existing student but have no changes to make.

Click any summary card to filter the table to just those rows. For example, click “Invalid” to see only the rows with errors.

The results table shows each row from your file with:

• A Status badge: New (green), Update (blue), Skipped (grey), or Invalid (red).
• A Details column explaining what will happen or what went wrong.
• Your file’s data columns, with invalid cells highlighted in red and changed fields highlighted in blue (for updates).

You can sort the table by clicking any column header.

Downloading the Validation Error Report

If any rows failed validation, a Download Error Report button appears in the review screen alongside the Import button. Click it to save a CSV file of every invalid row together with the specific errors that blocked each one. The file is named student-import-validation-errors.csv (or import-validation-errors.csv for workforce organizations) and contains:

• Row — the row number in your original file.
• Email, Name, and (for school organizations) Grade — the values from your file, so you can locate each row quickly.
• Errors — every validation issue for that row, joined with semicolons (for example, “CounselorEmail not found; Grade out of range; Email already in file”).

Use this report as your worksheet: open it alongside your original import file, fix each flagged row, save the updated file, and re-upload it. The system re-validates fresh on every upload — no state carries over between attempts.

Handling Column Mapping

If your file uses column headers that the system does not recognize, a column mapping panel appears between the summary cards and the data table.

• Each unrecognized column is shown with a dropdown menu listing the available system fields.
• The system automatically suggests matches based on similar names — check that the suggestions are correct.
• Once you have mapped the columns, click Save Mappings & Re-validate. The system saves your mappings and re-checks the entire file with the new column assignments.

Missing required columns: If your file is missing one or more required columns entirely, a red error banner will appear listing the missing columns. You must either map unrecognized columns to the required fields or update your file and re-upload it.

Step 3: Import

1. After reviewing the validation results, click the Import N Row(s) button to begin the import. Only valid rows with actual changes are imported — invalid rows and unchanged matches are automatically excluded.
2. A progress bar shows real-time progress as records are created and updated.
3. When the import is complete, you will see the results screen with four summary cards:
   • Created — new student records that were successfully created.
   • Updated — existing student records that were successfully updated.
   • Skipped — rows excluded because there were no changes.
   • Failed — rows that encountered an error during import.

If any rows failed, a table will display the row number, email, name, and specific error for each. These failures are a different class of problem than validation errors — the rows passed validation, but the system could not save them. Import-time errors usually indicate data conflicts (for example, another user editing the same record at the same time, or a constraint violation from live data) and typically need investigation rather than a simple file fix. If you see many failures, note the row details from the table and contact your system administrator.

Click Import More Students to start a new import, or use the back arrow to return to the student list.

Tips for Successful Imports

6. Bulk Actions

You can perform certain actions on multiple students at once using bulk actions.

Selecting Students

Each row in the student table has a checkbox on the left. Check the boxes next to the students you want to include. When one or more students are selected, a Bulk Actions Bar appears showing the number of selected students and the available actions.

Bulk Task Assignment

To assign the same task to multiple students at once:

1. Select the students using the checkboxes.
2. Click Add Tasks in the bulk actions bar.
3. The task assignment modal will appear, showing how many students will receive the task.
4. Fill in the task details (or select a template) and click Assign Task.
5. The task will be assigned to all selected students.

Bulk Mark as Reviewed

To mark all tasks as reviewed for multiple students at once:

1. Select the students using the checkboxes.
2. Click Mark as Reviewed in the bulk actions bar.
3. All pending (unreviewed) tasks for every selected student will be marked as reviewed at once.
4. A confirmation message will appear when the operation is complete, and the student list will refresh.

Bulk Counselor Assignment

To change counselor assignments for multiple students at once:

1. Select the students using the checkboxes.
2. Click Assign Counselor in the bulk actions bar.
3. A modal will appear with a multi-select dropdown of available counselors.
4. Select the counselor(s) you want to assign and click Assign.

7. Graduation Date Notifications

The system automatically checks for active students whose graduation date has passed (is earlier than the current month and year). When such students are found, a notification banner appears at the top of the student list.

What the Notification Shows

The notification banner displays a warning icon and a list of student names whose graduation dates have passed. Each name is clickable and will take you directly to that student’s detail form for review.

Inactivating Expired Students

You have three options when graduation date notifications appear:

• Inactivate All — click this button to set all listed students to Inactive status at once. A progress indicator will show while processing. After completion, a message confirms how many students were inactivated and the student list refreshes automatically.
• Review individually — click a student’s name to open their detail form. From there, you can update their graduation date if it was entered incorrectly, or manually toggle their status to Inactive.
• Dismiss — click the X button to close the notification. It will reappear the next time the student list loads if the expired students are still active.

8. Student Portfolio and Saved Items

When viewing a student’s detail form, the Saved Items section shows what the student has bookmarked during their career exploration. This section is read-only for counselors — students manage their own saved items. The saved items are organized into four collapsible categories:

• Institutions and Learning Opportunities — schools and training programs the student has saved. These are grouped by institution, with individual programs listed under each school.
• Career Descriptions — specific careers the student has explored and saved. Each card links to the career description page.
• Career Groups — broader career categories the student has saved. Each card links to the career group exploration page.
• Quiz Results — results from career exploration quizzes the student has taken. Each card links to the quiz results page.

Each category header shows a count of saved items. Click the header to expand or collapse that section. All saved item links open in a new browser tab.

9. My Account

Click My Account in the sidebar to view and manage your own profile information.

Viewing Your Information

The My Account page displays your first name, last name, username, email, and phone number in a read-only format.

Editing Your Profile

To make changes:

1. Click the Edit button to switch to edit mode.
2. Update the fields you want to change.
3. Click Save to apply your changes, or Cancel to discard them.

Validation rules apply when saving:

• Username is required and must be 3 to 50 characters long, containing only letters, numbers, underscores, or hyphens. The system checks in real time whether your chosen username is already taken.
• Email is optional but must be a valid email address if provided. The system also checks for duplicate emails in real time.
• Phone number is optional but must be a valid US phone number format if provided.
• First and last name cannot exceed 100 characters each.