Appendix E - USDA Professional Standards Training Tracker Tool User Guide

APPENDIX E – USDA Professional Standards Training Tracker Tool User Guide.pdf

USDA Professional Standards Training Tracker Tool (PSTTT)

Appendix E - USDA Professional Standards Training Tracker Tool User Guide

OMB: 0584-0626

⚠️ Notice: This form may be outdated. More recent filings and information on OMB 0584-0626 can be found here:

2023-08-23 - Extension without change of a currently approved collection

Document [pdf]

Download: pdf | pdf

Appendix E USDA Professional Standards Training Tracker Tool User Guide

OMB Number: 0584-0626

Expiration Date: xx-xx-2020

United States Department of Agriculture
Food and Nutrition Service

Administrator Role User Manual
for
Professional Standards Training Tracker Tool (PSTTT)
June 24, 2020
OMB Burden Statement:
This information is being collected to assist the Food and Nutrition Service as it helps local educational agencies and school food
authorities to meet the training requirements and assist in keeping track of training as required by the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act.
This is a voluntary collection and information entered into the free web-based application tool is solely for the benefit of the local
education agencies and school food authority’s staff for the tracking of training and storing staff training information. This collection
brings in personally identifiable information under the Privacy Act of 1974 via the user’s USDA eAuthentication account. According to
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection
of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is
0584-0626. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 1 hour and 12 minutes per response,
including the time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection
of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including
suggestions for reducing this burden, to: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, Office of Policy Support, 1320
Braddock Place, 5th Floor, Alexandria, VA 22314 ATTN: PRA (0584-0626). Do not return the completed form to this address.

FNS User Manual - PSTTT

Contents
GLOSSARY ......................................................................................................................................................... 4
INFORMATION ICONS: “I” ............................................................................................................................... 4
1

INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................ 5
1.1 ACCESSIBILITY ......................................................................................................................................................5
1.2 OVERVIEW ..........................................................................................................................................................5
1.2.1
Key Information .....................................................................................................................................5
1.2.2
Site Header.............................................................................................................................................5
1.2.3
Site Footer ..............................................................................................................................................6
1.3 USER CATEGORIES AND ROLES ................................................................................................................................6
1.4 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES OR ASSISTANCE ..................................................................................................................6

LOGGING IN AND CREATING A USER PROFILE ............................................................................................... 7
2.1 PSTTT PAGE (THE “ABOUT” PAGE) .........................................................................................................................7
2.2 PSTTT PAGE ELEMENTS ........................................................................................................................................8
2.3 LOGIN TO PSTTT - EAUTHENTICATION .....................................................................................................................9
2.3.1
Create a New eAuthentication Account ...............................................................................................10
2.4 CREATE YOUR PROFILE – FIRST TIME ENTRY ONLY ....................................................................................................10
2.4.1
Available User Categories, Roles, and Job Titles ..................................................................................11
2.4.2
Step 1: Create User Profile ...................................................................................................................13
2.4.3
Step 2a: Create User Profile – School User Category ...........................................................................14
2.4.4
Step 2b: Create User Profile – State User Category .............................................................................15
2.4.5
Step 2c: Create User Profile – USDA User Category .............................................................................15
2.5 ADDING A NEW SCHOOL (SCHOOL USER CATEGORY ONLY) ........................................................................................16

PSTTT HOME PAGE (DASHBOARD) .............................................................................................................. 17
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
3.6

PSTTT INTRODUCTION TEXT ................................................................................................................................17
CALENDAR COUNTDOWN .....................................................................................................................................18
TRAINING CERTIFICATE ........................................................................................................................................18
TRAINING BADGES EARNED ..................................................................................................................................19
RECENT TRAININGS .............................................................................................................................................20
EMAIL REMINDERS .............................................................................................................................................20

TOP NAVIGATION MENUS .......................................................................................................................... 21
4.1 HOME MENU ....................................................................................................................................................22
4.2 TRAINING MENU ................................................................................................................................................23
4.2.1
Training History....................................................................................................................................23
4.2.2
Training Details ....................................................................................................................................24
4.2.3
Enter Training ......................................................................................................................................25
4.2.4
Edit Training .........................................................................................................................................28
4.2.5
Upload Training Documents ................................................................................................................29
4.2.6
Delete Training.....................................................................................................................................30
4.2.7
Training Title List ..................................................................................................................................30
4.2.8
Training Title Details ............................................................................................................................32
4.2.9
Add New Training Title.........................................................................................................................33
4.2.10
Edit Training Title ............................................................................................................................35
4.2.11
Delete Training Title ........................................................................................................................36
4.3 REPORTS MENU .................................................................................................................................................36
4.3.1
Selecting the Report Type ....................................................................................................................37
4.3.1.1

Detailed Report .......................................................................................................................................... 37

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4.3.1.2
4.3.1.3

Summary Report ........................................................................................................................................ 38
Summary Reports by a Criterion ................................................................................................................ 38

4.3.2.1
4.3.2.2
4.3.2.3

Selecting Trainees – School User Category ................................................................................................ 39
Selecting Trainees – State User Category .................................................................................................. 40
Selecting Trainees – USDA User Category .................................................................................................. 40

4.5.2.1
4.5.2.2

The Current Video Catalogue ..................................................................................................................... 44
Training Video Controls.............................................................................................................................. 44

4.3.2

Selecting Trainees ................................................................................................................................39

4.3.3
Viewing Report Output ........................................................................................................................40
4.4 ONLINE RESOURCES ............................................................................................................................................41
4.5 HELP MENU ......................................................................................................................................................42
4.5.1
User Guide............................................................................................................................................43
4.5.2
Training Video ......................................................................................................................................43
4.5.3
Contact Us ............................................................................................................................................45
4.6 WELCOME USER ................................................................................................................................................46
4.6.1
User Profile...........................................................................................................................................46
4.6.2
Edit Profile ............................................................................................................................................47
4.6.3
Log Out.................................................................................................................................................48
5

MANAGER AND DIRECTOR-SPECIFIC FUNCTIONS ........................................................................................ 49
5.1 CHANGES TO STANDARD FUNCTIONS......................................................................................................................49
5.1.1
Enter a Training Record .......................................................................................................................49
5.1.2
Add Employees to an Existing Training Record ....................................................................................50
5.1.3
Remove Employees from an Existing Training Record .........................................................................50
5.1.4
Delete an Existing Training Record ......................................................................................................50
5.1.5
Training Details Page – Back to List Button .........................................................................................51
5.1.6
Managing Training Titles .....................................................................................................................51
5.1.7
Email Reminders ..................................................................................................................................51
5.2 EMPLOYEES MENU .............................................................................................................................................52
5.2.1
View Employee List ..............................................................................................................................52
5.2.2
Print Certificates ..................................................................................................................................53
5.2.3
Create User Profile ...............................................................................................................................54
5.2.4
Search Employees ................................................................................................................................55
5.2.4.1

From Employee Search: Employee User Profile ......................................................................................... 56

5.2.5.1

From View Logged Trainings: Training Details ........................................................................................... 57

5.2.5

View Logged Trainings .........................................................................................................................56

5.2.6
Deactivate Employees ..........................................................................................................................57
5.3 HELP MENU ......................................................................................................................................................58
5.3.1
Report an Issue ....................................................................................................................................59
6

ADMINISTRATOR-SPECIFIC FUNCTIONS ...................................................................................................... 60
6.1 CHANGES TO STANDARD FUNCTIONS......................................................................................................................60
6.1.1
Managing Training Titles .....................................................................................................................60
6.1.2
Deactivate Employees ..........................................................................................................................60
6.1.3
User Reports.........................................................................................................................................61
6.2 SITE ADMIN MENU.............................................................................................................................................61
6.2.1
Enter Required Hours ...........................................................................................................................61
6.2.2
Manage User Profiles ...........................................................................................................................62
6.2.3
Reactivate Employees ..........................................................................................................................63
6.2.4
Email Reminders ..................................................................................................................................63

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Glossary
Acronym
PSTTT
FNS
USDA

* (Use of the asterisk)

Description
Professional Standards Training Tracker Tool
Food and Nutrition Service
United States Department of Agriculture
On form pages within PSTTT, the asterisk character is used to
note that the field is required for the form shown on the page.
Information Icons: “i”

Some fields on some pages within the application have a small, blue circle icons labeled “i”
(in white italic text). These are information icons that, when clicked, provide information
relevant to the field to which they are associated.

Below is an example of the information that will pop up when clicking the “i” icon. This
page shows the Manager role’s Edit Training, pop-up text window:

This manual has sections dedicated to each page. We will be showing the specific wording
for each information icon with the page on which it appears.

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Introduction

The Web-based Professional Standards Training Tracker Tool (PSTTT) has been created by
the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), an agency of the United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA), to provide an easy and accessible way for school nutrition
professionals to keep track of their annually required training hours.
The web-based Professional Standards Training Tracker Tool (PSTTT) provides users with
many improved features, including:
•
•
•

•

•
•

1.1

Database of training titles which allow users to select the course information and
have additional elements such as length of the course (i.e. training hours) and
training provider to auto-populate.
User controls that allow them to add, edit, upload training documents, or delete
training records for themselves.
Manager controls that allow managers to inherit employees/staff based upon the
manager’s user profile settings, to maintain training records for their
employees/staff, including entering a training record for multiple people at the
same time.
Provide all users with information regarding:
o How many training courses they have logged,
o What types/categories of training were provided in the training course (i.e.
Key Area, Training Topic, and Learning Objectives),
o Length of the training for each course, and
o How many hours remain to be completed to fulfill the annual training
requirement.
Additional databases of schools built from the Department of Education
information, which will allow users to quickly select their school. If needed, schoolrelated users can also Add New Schools into this database.
There are other time saving features, such as: reports, and the auto-population of
school contact information, and making this tool more user-friendly and easy to
navigate.

Accessibility

Please report website accessibility problems to [email protected] via email or using the Contact
Us feature of the application (as described in section 2.4.6.3). In your message, include the page
address or URL and the specific problems you have encountered.

1.2

Overview

1.2.1

Key Information

Site URL: https://pstrainingtracker.fns.usda.gov/

1.2.2

Site Header

The site header is a collection of images showing the following:
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•
•
•
•

1.2.3

USDA Logo Image
USDA Department Name: U.S. Department of Agriculture
Site Title: Professional Standards Training Tracker Tool
Image of 5 smiling people representing the Nutrition Professionals who might be
logging their required training in PSTTT

Site Footer

The site footer contains 12 hyperlinks arranged at the bottom of the page. The links found
in the footer remain consistent throughout the application. There are no other objects in
the footer, except these links. Here are the links available:
• FNS (https://www.fns.usda.gov/)
• CNPP (https://www.cnpp.usda.gov/)
• USDA (https://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome)
• FOIA (https://www.dm.usda.gov/foia/)
• USDA Policies and Links (https://www.usda.gov/policies-and-links)
• Accessibility Statement (https://www.fns.usda.gov/web-accessibility-statement)
• Privacy Policy (https://www.usda.gov/privacy-policy)
• Information Quality (https://www.usda.gov/privacy-policy)
• No Fear Act (http://www.usda.gov/nofear/fns/indexfns.html)
• Nondiscrimination Statement (https://www.fns.usda.gov/usda-nondiscriminationstatement)
• USA.gov (https://www.usa.gov/)
• Whitehouse.gov (https://www.whitehouse.gov/)

1.3

User Categories and Roles

PSTTT has three User Categories:

1. SCHOOL: Any user belonging to school type organization. Refer to School Types

Guidance Chart for more information.
2. STATE: State Agency Personnel
3. USDA: USDA Staff.

Within each User Category, users are assigned a Role:

1. Director: responsible for tracking and recording training hours for all staff in the

district/organization
2. Manager: responsible for tracking and recording training hours for only staff you
supervise (ex. Supervisor for one or more schools, but not the entire district)
3. Employee or Staff: responsible for tracking and recording training hours only for yourself

1.4

Additional Resources or Assistance

This manual has been put together to walk users through the general usage steps. If there
are additional questions or concerns, please send an email to: [email protected].
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Logging In and Creating a User Profile

In order to log into PSTTT, the users must have an USDA eAuthentication account for
PSTTT. The USDA eAuthentication account allows the user to enter USDA Website portals
and applications using a login and password.

USDA eAuthentication accounts are created and managed outside of the Professional
Standards Training Tracker Tool (PSTTT). The chapter sections will walk you through the
user account creation and login steps.

2.1

PSTTT Page (the “About” page)

This is the page that will display each time you come back to the main site URL (see graphic
of the page below).

xx-xx-2020

OMB Burden Statement
This information is being collected to assist the Food and Nutrition Service as it helps local educational agencies and school
food authorities to meet the training requirements and assist in keeping track of training as required by the Healthy Hunger
Free Kids Act. This is a voluntary collection and information entered into the free web-based application tool is solely for the
benefit of the local education agencies and school food authority’s staff for the tracking of training and storing staff training
information. This collection brings in personally identifiable information under the Privacy Act of 1974 via the user’s USDA
eAuthentication account. According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a
person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB
control number for this information collection is 0584-0626. The time required to complete this information collection is
estimated to average 1 hour and 12 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, gathering and
maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this
burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to: U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, Office of Policy Support, 1320 Braddock Place, 5th Floor, Alexandria,
VA 22314 ATTN: PRA (0584-0626). Do not return the completed form to this address.

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It provides the user with:
• the site’s OMB Number 0584-0626 and Expiration Date xx-xx-2020
• a site summary text area, including a hyperlink for the Professional Standards site
• an USDA eAuthentication information text area (i.e. this section has a blue outline,
and starts with “PLEASE NOTE”)
o Includes a hyperlink to direct the user to create a new USDA eAuthentication
account
• a contact email for users needing login assistance
• a OMB Burden Statement:
o This information is being collected to assist the Food and Nutrition Service as
it helps local educational agencies and school food authorities to meet the
training requirements and assist in keeping track of training as required by
the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act. This is a voluntary collection and
information entered into the free web-based application tool is solely for the
benefit of the local education agencies and school food authority’s staff for
the tracking of training and storing staff training information. This collection
brings in personally identifiable information under the Privacy Act of 1974
via the user’s USDA eAuthentication account. According to the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995, an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person
is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a
valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this
information collection is 0584-0626. The time required to complete this
information collection is estimated to average 1 hour and 12 minutes per
response, including the time for reviewing instructions, gathering and
maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of
information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other
aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing
this burden, to: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service,
Office of Policy Support, 1320 Braddock Place, 5th Floor, Alexandria, VA
22314 ATTN: PRA (0584-0626). Do not return the completed form to this
address.
• The “Login with eAuth Account” button
• and the bottom navigation bar linking to other USDA, FNS, and government sites

2.2

PSTTT Page Elements

The tracking tool’s “About” page contains all the elements needed to access the tool.

All users who currently hold an eAuthentication account, can continue to enter the site by
clicking on “Login with eAuth Account” button at the bottom of the page. Please see Section
2.3 “Login to PSTTT” of this manual for more information.

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To create a new eAuthentication account the user would click the “Create Account” link.
Please see Section 2.3.1 “Create a New eAuthentication Account” of this manual for more
information.

The eAuthentication section, also contains two training video links. These videos will walk
users through creating an eAuthentication account and setting up their profile inside
PSTTT (required at when logging in for the very first time).

2.3

The user clicks the “Login with eAuth Account” button, on the “About” page. The user will
be sent to the eAuthentication Login page. This page provides User ID and Password fields,
links that will allow you to recover a forgotten ID or Password or to Change your Password,
and a “Register” and “Login” buttons. It also provides a lot of information regarding the
eAuthentication system.
To login the user should enter in their eAuthentication account User ID and Password and
click the “Login” button.

The “Register” button may also be used to create an account. Please see Section 2.3.1
“Create a New eAuthentication Account” of this manual. The eAuthentication section of the
“About” page, contains a link to the “Create a new eAuth Account” video. This video will
show how to create an eAuth Account.
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Please see the image of the eAuthentication Login page below. This manual does not cover
the function of the eAuthentication system, as it is separate from PSTTT.

2.3.1

Create a New eAuthentication Account

After the user clicks the “Create Account” hyperlink in the eAuthentication section of the
“About” page, or the “Register” button on the eAuthentication site, they will be brought to
the eAuthentication Account Registration page. The user will be asked to select type of user
(Customer or USDA Employee), enter in the email address, and submit.

A confirmation page will be displayed with a message stating that an email was sent to the email
address entered. Clicking the “Confirm email address” button provided in the email message will
redirect the user to the eAuth registration page to complete the registration process to enter in the
name and create a password. The email address will become the eAuthentication ID.

2.4

Create Your Profile – First Time Entry Only

Once you have created your eAuthentication account, you can return to PSTTT and use
your User ID and Password to login to the tool. For your initial account login, the tool will
prompt you to create a user account in PSTTT.

NOTE: If a non-eAuthenticated user account has been already created for you by your
manager with the email address, first name, and last name matching your

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eAuthentication account, the two will automatically be combined in the Training
Tool. In this case, you will not be asked to create a new profile when logging in for
the first time, and you will see training records if any were entered for you
previously.

2.4.1

Available User Categories, Roles, and Job Titles

It is important that you select the correct User Category, Role, and Job Title while creating your
account.
•
•
•

User Category will determine the organizational structure your account will be
associated with. For example, School users will need to select a school district and one or
more schools to be associated with.
Role will determine the functionality available to you, and the set of data you will be able
to view.
Job Title will determine your number of required training hours.

PSTTT has three User Categories:

1. SCHOOL: Any user belonging to school type organization. Refer to School Types

Guidance Chart for more information.
2. STATE: State Agency Personnel
3. USDA: USDA Staff.

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Within each User Category, users are assigned a Role:

1. Director: responsible for tracking and recording training hours for all staff in the

district/organization
2. Manager: responsible for tracking and recording training hours for only staff you
supervise (ex. Supervisor for one or more schools, but not the entire district)
3. Employee or Staff Role: responsible for tracking and recording training hours only for
yourself

Each User Category and Role combination gives user access to one or more Job Titles. See
the table below for the available User Category, Role, and Job Title combinations:
User Category

Role

DIRECTOR
SCHOOL
MANAGER
EMPLOYEE
DIRECTOR
STATE

USDA

PSTTT User Guide

MANAGER

Job Title
School Food Authority - District Director
School Food Authority - Assistant Director
School Food Authority - Staff Manager
School Food Authority - Staff Full Time
School Food Authority - Staff Part Time
School Food Authority - Staff Manager
School Food Authority - Staff Full Time
School Food Authority - Staff Part Time
State Agency – Director
State Agency - Assistant Director
State Agency – Staff
State Agency – Staff

STAFF
State Agency – Staff
MANAGER
FNS Manager
MANAGER with
FNS Manager
Admin flag

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2.4.2

Step 1: Create User Profile

The “Create User Profile” page will automatically open when user logs in to PSTTT for the
first time.

The first seven fields on the “Create User Profile” page will display for any user role.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

First Name – required, read-only; pre-populated from the eAuthentication system.
Last Name – required, read-only; pre-populated from the eAuthentication system.
Hiring Date – required; enter your date of hire for your current position.
Business or Work Email – required, read-only; pre-populated from the
eAuthentication system.
Category – required; select the most appropriate value from the list: SCHOOL,
STATE, or USDA.
Role – required; select the most appropriate value from the list of values based on
the Category you selected.
Job Title – required; select the most appropriate value from the list of values based
on the Category and Role you selected.

The set of fields displayed further on the “Create User Profile” page will depend on your
User Category, Role and Job Title selections. Please see Sections 2.4.3 – 2.4.5 for more
information.
The following actions are available:
• Create – save the data entered to create your user profile.
• Cancel – cancel all the changes and log out.
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When finished with all required fields, click “Create” button to create your user profile. You
will be able to edit your profile settings later using the “Edit User Profile” page as described
in Section 4.6.1.1.

2.4.3

Step 2a: Create User Profile – School User Category

The following fields are available for a user in the SCHOOL User Category:
•
•

State – required; select the most appropriate value from the list.
School District – required; select the most appropriate value from the list of values
based on the State you selected. Type the first letter of the school district name into
this field to have it jump to the closest match, then continue selection from the dropdown.
NOTE: If your School District is not in the list, please contact FNS staff at
[email protected] with the request to add it.

•

•
•

School – required for Manager (multiple selection) and Employee (single selection)
roles; select the most appropriate value from the list of values based on the School
District you selected. School name is followed by its zip code in parenthesis. Type
the first letter of the school district name into this field to have it jump to the closest
match, then continue selection from the drop-down.
“Add New School” button – not available for Director Role; click this button to add
a new school. For more information see section 2.5.
Manager – not available for Director Role; select the most appropriate value from
the list of values based on the School District you selected.

Press “Create” button to save your selections. See Sections 4.6.1 and 4.6.1.1 for information on
how to view and edit your profile.

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2.4.4

Step 2b: Create User Profile – State User Category

The following fields are available for a user in the STATE User Category:
•
•

2.4.5

State – required; select the value for your State Agency from the list.
Manager – not available for Director role; select the most appropriate value from
the list of values based on the State you selected.

Step 2c: Create User Profile – USDA User Category

The following fields are available for a user in the USDA User Category:
•
•

State – required; select the value for your USDA FNS Offices’ registered location
from the list.
Manager – select the most appropriate value from the list of values based on the
USDA FNS Office you selected.

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2.5

Adding a New School (School User Category Only)

Clicking the “Add New School” button opens Add New School pop-up. You will need to
select your State and School District on the “Create User Profile” page before clicking the
“Add New School” button because users are only allowed to add schools to their school
district, and the corresponding fields are not editable on the pop-up dialog.

The following fields are available on Add New School pop-up:
•
•
•
•
•
•

State/Territory*: Is automatically set to the State selected in the user profile.
School District*: Is automatically set to the School District selected on the user
profile.
School Type*: Please select the most appropriate value. Click the link to the School
Type Guidance Chart for more details.
School Name*: Please enter the full, official school name.
City*: Please enter the City from the School’s mailing address.
Zip*: Please enter the Zip Code from the School’s mailing address.

NOTE: The combination of the School Name and Zip is required to be unique.
The following actions are available:
• Save – save the data entered to create a new school record.
• Cancel – cancel all the changes and close the Add New School dialog.

Fill out the required fields and then click Save. You will return to the previous “Create User
Profile” page where you will be able to make the selection in the School(s) field.

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PSTTT Home Page (Dashboard)

After logging into PSTTT, the user will see the “Home” page displayed. This page can also be
accessed from the Top Navigation Menu by using the “Home” button.
The “Home” page displays the site header, top navigation menus, and a small introduction
paragraph on the purpose of PSTTT.
For each user, the “Home” page displays:
•
•
•

3.1

the training calendar countdown – how many hours are required and how many
days are left,
training badges earned (if any),
the list of up to 5 most recent trainings sorted first by the school year, and the by
Date Completed.

PSTTT Introduction Text

This section of text provides the user with a welcome statement, and a recap of the changes
that users can expect in the current version.

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3.2

Calendar Countdown

Each nutrition professional is required to meet a minimum training standard each year.
The actual value needed is determined by the job title of the user.

This function provides the user with the current date, the number of hours left to meet the
training requirement, and how many days are left in the school year - in order to meet their
goal. (The school year starts/ends on July 1st of a given year.)
Once a user has met the minimum training requirements, this message will change to a
Congratulations message, and will allow the user to print out a certificate for use in their
annual/periodic review by pressing the “Print/Save Certificate” button.

3.3

Training Certificate

After you click the “Print/Save Certificate” button, a PDF certificate will display with the
following information listed:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Your full name
Job Title
Required training hours
Completed training hours
Today’s date
School Year
Training Badges earned

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The Download and Print options appear as a floating bar towards the bottom of the page
containing the Save a Copy, Print (Ctrl + P), Page Up (grayed out), Page Down (grayed out),
1 (Go to a specific page) / 1 (Total number of pages), Zoom Out, Zoom In, Show Adobe
Acrobat Reader Toolbar symbol controls.

3.4

Training Badges Earned

Each of the trainings covers topics in one or more Key Areas:
•
•
•

Nutrition
Operations
Administration

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•

Communications and Marketing

To earn a badge for a particular Key Area for a school year, the user needs to take two
trainings covering topics from that key area:

At the same time, a user earns a cumulative badge, which reflects the number of Key Areas
covered: a Bronze badge for one Key Area covered, Silver for two, Gold for three, and
Platinum for four:

3.5

Recent Trainings

Recent Trainings are also displayed on the “Home” page. This data area displays the
Training Title, School Year, Date Completed, and Hours Completed for the last 5 trainings
logged - according to the Date Completed.
This data is displayed in a table format on the page.

3.6

Email Reminders

PSTTT sends out automatic email reminders for users to complete their required training
hours twice a year, on April 1st and October 1st. Personal emails are sent to users who have
not completed their required training hours. Users who have no required training hours
assigned based on their Job Title or have completed their required training hours do not
get a personal email.

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The emails are titled “Reminder to Complete the Required Professional Standards Training
Hours for the School Year” and have the following format:

The email will be sent from the [email protected] email address. Please do not reply to
this email.

Top Navigation Menus

PSTTT main menus are located at the top of the page. The menu items remain consistent
throughout the site.
•
•
•
•
•
•

Home - Returns the user to the site Dashboard, showing recent trainings and a
Calendar Countdown message.
Training - Provides access to view the user’s Training History and to Enter Training
(record a completed training).
Reports - Opens the reports area where a user may print reports.
Online Resources - This page holds links to other sites which may be of interest.
Help - The user will find the User Guide, Training Videos, and Contact Us in this
menu.
Welcome ‘User Name’ - Provides navigation to the user’s Profile and site Logout.
The user name field is customized for each user, in the menu header.

A user signed on will have the ability to track their own required training hours, print a
certificate once required hours are met, and run detailed or summary reports.

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The Manager User has expanded options available to them. For their own records, they
have access to everything that a school or state agency employee user would be able to
access. In addition, the Manager role has access to the Employees menu, which provides an
Employee Search feature, and a virtual roster. Managers may add, edit or delete training
records for any employee on their roster. Please see the Functions/Features of Manager
Users for more details on the additional privileges granted to Manager Users.
All pages accessible from the top navigation menu, will display the site header and footer
sections. As we go through the following pages, we will focus on the main content for each
page.

4.1

Home Menu

This top navigation bar and the buttons/menus on it are accessible from anywhere on the
site.

The “Home” top navigation button will take the user back to the “Home” page.

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4.2

Training Menu

From the “Training” dropdown menu, users can view their in-depth training history, enter
new trainings, and view training titles available by selecting the menu options as shown.

4.2.1

Training History

From the “Training” dropdown menu, users can view and search through their training
history. The “Training History” page is meant to be a quick view of the user’s training by
school year.

The User’s “Training History” page provides a selectable school year option, and a course
information area showing a hyperlinked Course Title, Completion Date, and Training Hours
for each course taken for the selected program year.

Clicking the hyperlink for a course will navigate the user to the “Training Details” page for
that training.

The following actions are available:
• View Profile – view your “User Profile” page.
• Click on each training title to view training details.

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4.2.2

Training Details

The “Training Details” page provides a view of all the details for the training.

The following information is shown for the training:
• Training Title
• Training Categories – combinations of Key Area, Training Topic, and Learning
Objective selected
• Training Provider
• Completion Date
• School Year
• Length of Training
• Comments
• Employees – a list of employees who participated in this training.

NOTE: Inactive employees who participated in the training, if any, will be listed in the
Inactive Employees section below the Employee section.

•

Training Documents – documents uploaded

The following actions are available:
• Back to List – returns the user to the User’s “Training History” page or “View
Logged Trainings” page.
• Edit Training – opens the “Edit Training” page.
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•
•

Upload Training Documents – opens the “Upload Training Documents” page.
Delete – allows the user to completely delete the training record and any
documents uploaded.

NOTE: A user may edit, upload documents for, or delete training records that
• are not older than the previous school year AND
• for which the user has proper authority over all the training attendees.

If even one attendee is not under the user’s authority and/or if the training is older than
the previous school year, then the “Training Details” page will display the message below,
and “Back to List” will be the only button available:
NOTE: This training record can’t be modified or deleted. Please contact
[email protected] for assistance.

4.2.3

Enter Training

From the top navigation “Training” button, users can access the Enter Training
functionality. This will allow users to enter in all the relevant information related to their
training that they are in the process of completing or have completed.
The “Enter Training” page has two groups: the training information and the Employee
selection.

The following training information will display for any user role: Training Title, Training
Categories, Training Provider, Training Format, Training Length (Hours and Minutes),
Completion Date, School Year, and Comments. Required fields are denoted with an asterisk
(*).

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•

Training Title* – a dynamic search field, required.
○ Enter a few letters or a word, and a drop-down populated with the training titles
matching the string entered will be displayed.

○ Training title information is displayed in the following format: Training Title
(Training Provider, Training Format)
○ Search is performed on Training Title and Training Provider values.
○ Enter more words to narrow down the selection until the best possible match is
found.
○ Click on the training title to select it.
○ If the training title you are searching for is not listed, click the “Add New
Training Title” button to create it (see Section 4.2.9).
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•

•
•
•
•
•
•

Training Categories* – a combination checkbox field that is populated once a
Training Title is selected, required.
○ Select all combinations that apply by clicking on checkboxes.
○ Use the “Select all Training Categories in the table below” checkbox to select all
rows.
○ The training categories available for a training are set when a training title is
created in the database. If there is a category needed for a training that is not
available, please contact the PSTTT help at [email protected].
Training Provider – a non-editable field that displays the provider of the selected
Training Title.
Training Format – a non-editable field that displays the format of the selected
Training Title.
Training Length (Hours and Minutes) – non-editable fields that display the
duration of the selected Training Title.
Completion Date* – completion date of the training, required. Use the calendar
option to select a date. The date can’t be in the future.
School Year* - the school year for the training, required. Use the drop-down to
select a value.
Comments – enter comments, if any.

The Employee selection field allows the user to select his name for the training to be
documented.
○ Employee Name and Role are listed for the employee, and for School User
Category employee their schools are listed as well.
○ This is a required field, so the checkbox must be selected.

The following actions are available:
• Record Training – save the data entered to save a new training record.
• Cancel – return to Dashboard.

After entering all the required information, press the “Record Training” button to save a
new training record.

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NOTE: Data entered will be checked for the employee selected to make sure no
duplicate training records are being created. Uniqueness of a training record is
determined by checking the combination of Employee, Training Title, Completion
Date, and School Year.
If duplicate trainings are found, user is notified by an error message:

Press the “Close” button on the dialog, and then correct the data and press the “Record
Training” button again.
Once the training is successfully saved, user is notified by a confirmation dialog:

Press the “Close” button on the confirmation dialog to go to the “Training Details” page (see
Section 4.2.2). Training information can be later edited if necessary – see Section 4.2.4.

4.2.4

Edit Training

To edit a specific training record, press the “Edit Training” button on the “Training Details”
page as described in the previous section. The “Update Training” page displays the same set
of fields as the “Enter Training” page (see Section 4.2.3), however, the Training Title field is
not editable.
The user can change the following information:
•
•
•
•
•

Training Categories* – a combination checkbox field that is populated once.
Completion Date* – completion date of the training, required. Use the calendar
option to select a date. The date can’t be in the future.
School Year* - the school year for the training, required. Use the drop-down to
select a value.
Comments – enter comments, if any.
Employee selected.

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The following actions are available:
• Save Training – save the data entered to update training records.
• Cancel – cancel all the changes and return to the “Training Details” page.

NOTE: Data entered will be confirmed for the employee selected to make sure no
duplicate training records are being created. Uniqueness of a training record is
determined by checking the combination of Employee, Training Title, Completion
Date, and School Year.
If duplicate trainings are found, user is notified by an error message listing all employees.
Press the “Close” button on the dialog, and then correct the data and press the “Save
Training” button again.

Once the training is successfully saved, user is notified by a confirmation dialog. Press the
“Close” button on the confirmation dialog to go to the “Training Details” page (see Section
4.2.2).

4.2.5

Upload Training Documents

Training classes often have informative handouts, and other elements that some people
would like to keep with their training records. Use the Upload Training Documents
functionality to upload documents for your training.

To upload documents for your training, press the “Edit Training” button on the “Training
Details” page to access the “Upload Training Documents” page.

The user needs to enter the following information:
•
•
•

Document Title – a descriptive title for the document.
Document Type – select a document type.
Choose Document – select a file in Adobe PDF, MS Word or MS Excel format, and
less than 2.5 MB in size.

The following actions are available:
• Upload – upload the document.
• Clear – clear out the document information.
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All files uploaded for this training will be displayed in the Uploaded Documents section of
the page. Click on the document title to open and view the document. Press the
corresponding “Delete” button to delete the document.

Use the “Return to Training” button to go back to the “Training Details” page.

4.2.6

Delete Training

The “Delete” button on the Training Details” page allows the user to delete an incorrectly
entered training record. To prevent accidental deletion, a succession of two confirmation
dialogs is displayed.
•
•
•

4.2.7

Step 1: Click the “Delete” button. The system will open the Delete Record
confirmation/dialog box. Click Yes to confirm or No to cancel.
Step 2: If Yes was pressed, the system will open the second confirmation/dialog box.
Click Yes to confirm or No to cancel.
Step 3: If Yes was pressed again, the training record and all associated documents
will be deleted.

Training Title List

From the top navigation “Training” button, users can access the Training Title List
functionality. This will allow users to search and view all training titles available in the
system and their information.

The “Training Titles List” page displays training titles in a table with the following columns:
Training Title, Training Provider, Training Format, and Training Length.

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You can narrow-down the list of training titles displayed by entering one or more
keywords in the Search field. Search is performed on Training Title and Training Provider
values.

You can re-sort the values by clicking on the table headers. You can also select the number
of entries displayed per page and use the pagination controls below the table to navigate
through all results found.
If the training title you are searching for is not listed, click the “Add New Training Title”
button to create it (see Section 4.2.9).
You can click on the training titles to view their full detailed information.

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4.2.8

Training Title Details

The “Training Title Details” page provides a view of all the details for the training title.

The following information is shown for the training title:
• Training Title
• Training Length (Hours and Minutes)
• Training Format
• Training Provider
• Additional Information
• Created Date (if available)
• Training Categories – combinations of Key Area, Training Topic, and Learning
Objective selected
The following actions are available:
• Edit – opens the “Edit Training Title” page.
• Delete – allows the user to completely delete the training title record.
• Enter Training – opens the “Enter Training” page (see Section 4.2.3) with this
training title selected.
• Back to List – returns the user to the “Training Title List” page.
NOTE: A user may edit training title records that
• are not older than the previous school year AND
• for which the user has proper authority.

NOTE: A user may delete training title records that
• are not older than the previous school year AND
• do not have corresponding logged trainings AND
• for which the user has proper authority.
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4.2.9

Add New Training Title

If the training title that you wish to enter is not present in the system, you may create a
new training title. This functionality is available via the “Add New Training Title“ button
available at the following locations:
•
•

On “Enter Training” page below the Training Title field, and
On top of the “Training Titles List” page.

After pressing the button, you will be taken to the “Create Training Title” page.

This page provides fields for entering the Training Title, Training Length (Hours and
Minutes), Training Format, Training Provider, Additional Information, and Training
Categories. Required fields are denoted with an asterisk (*).

•
•
•
•
•
•

Training Title* – enter a descriptive training title.
Training Length* (Hours and Minutes) – enter a numeric value for Hours and
select a value for Minutes from a drop-down.
Training Format* – select a value from a drop-down.
Training Provider* –enter the name or the provider organization or person.
Additional Information – enter additional information and/or comments, if any.
Training Categories* – click and drill in to select one or more values that apply:

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○
○
○
○

Click on category names to expand and view the available values
Click on checkbox(es) to select
Repeat with other categories as needed
The number of items selected for each parent category will be displayed next to
its name.

The following actions are available:
• Save Training Title – save the data entered to save a new training title record.
• Cancel – return to the “Training Title List” page.

After entering all the required information, press the “Save Training Title” button to save a
new training title record.

NOTE: Data entered will be checked to make sure a duplicate training title record is
not being created. Uniqueness of a training title record is determined by checking
the combination of Training Title, Training Provider, and Training Type.

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If an existing training title record with the same combination of the Training Title, Training
Provider, and Training Type is found, user is notified by an error message:

Press the “Close” button on the dialog to get back to the “Create Training Title” page.
Correct data if needed or cancel if you should be using the existing training title.

Once the training title is successfully saved, user is notified by a confirmation dialog:

Press the “Close” button on the confirmation dialog to go to the “Training Title Details”
page (see Section 4.2.8). Training Title information can be later edited if necessary – see
Section 4.2.10.

4.2.10

Edit Training Title

To edit a specific training title record, press the “Edit” button on the “Training Title Details”
page as described in the previous section. The “Update Training Title” page displays the
same set of fields as the “Create Training Title” page (see Section 4.2.9).
The user can change the following information:
•
•

•
•
•
•

NOTE: Training Categories can be edited only if there are no trainings logged for this
training title.

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The following actions are available:
• Save Training Title – save the data entered to save a new training title record and
return to the “Training Title Details” page.
• Cancel – return to the “Training Title Details” page.

If an existing training title record with the same combination of the Training Title, Training
Provider, and Training Type is found, user is notified by an error message.
Once the training title is successfully saved, user is notified by a confirmation dialog. Press
the “Close” button on the confirmation dialog to go to the “Training Title Details” page (see
Section 4.2.8).

4.2.11

Delete Training Title

The “Delete” button on the “Training Title Details” page allows the user to delete an
incorrectly entered training title record. To prevent accidental deletion, a confirmation
dialog is displayed.

4.3

Reports Menu

Selecting the “Reports” button on the top navigation bar will open the “Reports” page.

There are two types of reports currently available to the user: Detailed report and
Summary report. Both report types provide information on training logged for employees
that match the selected search criteria, with Detailed report allowing for more search
criteria to be entered and listing more data fields than the Summary report.

User needs to select the desired Report Type from the drop-down on top of the page:
• Detailed Report
• Summary Report
• Summary Report by a criterion: Summary Report by Key Area, Summary Report by
Training Topic, Summary Report by Learning Objective, and Summary Report by
Training Title
All reports require the user to select the set of trainees the report is generated for. See
section 4.1.3.1 for more information.

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The set of trainees available for a report depends on the access privileges of the user logged
in. See section 4.1.3.2 for more information.
The user then may enter other search criteria and press the “Generate Report” button to
generate the report. Press the “Reset Search” button to clear the search criteria.

The report results are displayed in a separate browser tab that allows for the report to be
printed, exported as a CSV file, exported as an MS Excel file, and exported as a PDF file. See
Section 4.3.3 for more information.

4.3.1

Selecting the Report Type

The report type chosen by the user can be determined based on the search criteria the user wants
to enter an on the information the user wants to see in the report. Please see the sections below
for report descriptions.
4.3.1.1 Detailed Report
The Detailed Report provides the most robust search criteria selection and displays the
most fields for the training matches found.
The Detailed Report allows the user to enter the following search criteria:
•
•
•
•
•

One or more Employees (see Section 4.3.2)
Job Title
Training Title
Key Area
Training Topic

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•
•
•
•

Learning Objective
School Year
Training Hours/Minutes
Document Uploaded (whether to list the document names)

The Detailed Report returns the following information for each training record that
matches the search criteria:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Trainee Name
Job Title
Hiring Date
Training Title
Key Area
Training Topic
Learning Objective
Training Hours
School Year
Document Uploaded (if this option is selected)

4.3.1.2 Summary Report
The Summary Report provides the abbreviated search criteria selection and displays fewer
fields for the training matches found.
The Summary Report allows the user to enter the following search criteria:
•
•
•
•

One or more Employees (see Section 4.3.2)
Job Title
School Year
Training Hours/Minutes

The Summary Report returns the following information for each training record that
matches the search criteria:
•
•
•
•
•

Trainee Name
Job Title
Hiring Date
Training Hours
School Year

4.3.1.3 Summary Reports by a Criterion
The Summary Reports by Key Area, Training Topic, Learning Objective, and Training Title are
similar to the Summary Report, but allow one additional search criteria to be entered (that
matches the report title).

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Key Area, Training Topic, Learning Objective need to be selected by the user from a dropdown.

Training Title needs to be entered using the Training Title field (same as on the “Enter
Training” page, see Section 4.2.3 for more information.
These Summary Reports allow the user to enter the following search criteria:
•
•
•
•
•

One or more Employees (see Section 4.3.2)
Job Title
Key Area or Training Topic or Learning Objective or Training Title
School Year
Training Hours/Minutes

These Summary Reports return the same following information for each training record
that matches the search criteria:
•
•
•
•
•

4.3.2

Trainee Name
Job Title
Hiring Date
Training Hours
School Year

4.3.2.1

Selecting Trainees
Selecting Trainees – School User Category

School Directors can select all, one, or several schools in their District. The Employees
field then is populated with all employees for the school(s) selected, and the user should be
able to select all, one, or several employees.
School Managers can select all, one, or several schools they are assigned to. The
Employees field then is populated with all employees for the school(s) selected, and the
user should be able to select all, one, or several employees.

School Employees can only generate reports for their own training records, so for them
the Employee field is hidden.
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4.3.2.2

Selecting Trainees – State User Category

State Directors and Managers can generate reports on State users in their state or on
School users in their state – the selection driven by the Category drop-down.

When the Category of State is selected, the Employees field is populated with all employees
for the State, and the user is able to select all, one, or several Employees.
When the Category of School is selected, fields to select the School District, School(s) and
Employee(s) are displayed as described in the previous section.
State Staff can only generate reports for their own training records, so for them the
Employees field is hidden.
4.3.2.3

Selecting Trainees – USDA User Category

FNS Managers can generate reports on all, one, or several Employees in their FNS Office.

4.3.3

Viewing Report Output

Report output is displayed in a separate browser tab with the Report Type listed on top.
For Summary Reports by a Criterion the selected criterion value is displayed under the report
type in parenthesis.
Report results are displayed in a table initially sorted by Trainee Name. The information
can be re-sorted by clicking on table column headings. The total number of records found is
displayed below the table.

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The following actions are available from the “Report Results” page:
•
•
•
•
•

Close Report – closes report browser tab
Print Report – brings up the system Print dialog
Export CSV – generates a delimited file of report results; the file will open in MS
Excel or other software installed on user’s computer based on its local settings.
Export Excel – generates a MS Excel spreadsheet of report results; the file will open
in MS Excel.
Export PDF – generates a PDF file of report results.

Close the browser tab to close the report results.

4.4

Online Resources

By selecting the “Online Resources” button on the top navigation bar, the user will be taken
to a page for resources on Professional Standards. This page displays Overview links and
Resources links:

Overview
•
•
•
•

USDA Professional Standards Web site (https://www.fns.usda.gov/schoolmeals/professional-standards)
Final Rule Summary
(https://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/cn/profstandards_flyer.pdf)
Learning Objectives
(https://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/cn/ps_learningobjectives.pdf)
Training Topics
(https://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/cn/ps_trainingtopics.pdf)

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•

Frequently Asked Questions (Memo SP05-2020)
(https://www.fns.usda.gov/cn/questions-answers-regarding-professionalstandards-state-and-local-school-nutrition)

Resources
•
•
•

Professional Standards- Find A Training
(https://professionalstandards.fns.usda.gov/)
Guide to Professional Standards for School Nutrition Programs
(https://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/tn/ps_guide-highres.pdf)
Team Nutrition (https://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/team-nutrition)

The links on this page all have pop-up messages letting the user know they are leaving our
site. The pop-up message is as follows:
“The links on this page will connect to FNS resources that are outside of the Professional
Standards Training Tracker Tool.”

Each internet browser adds their own formatting around pop-up messages, however, the function
will be consistent. If you click the “OK” button, the destination page will open in a new tab. If
you click ‘Cancel’, you will remain on the “Online Resources” page.

4.5

Help Menu

The Help dropdown menu has the following options:
•

User Guide - Provides a PDF of the current User Guide with step-by-step instructions
on how to utilize the tool,

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•
•

4.5.1

Training Video - Provides training videos with chapters and subchapters
demonstrating how to utilize the tool, and
Contact Us - Provides the generation of an email for additional assistance.

User Guide

The “User Guide” menu item opens the PSTTT user guide for the appropriate user role in
PDF format.

4.5.2

Training Video

The training video page provides a number of training videos. These videos will play
embedded in the screen or maximized and are closed captioned. There are multiple videos
which cover broad topics for our system. All published videos appear on this page. The first two
videos are also available via links on the Tool’s “About” page.

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4.5.2.1 The Current Video Catalogue
• Chapter 1.0: Create a New eAuthentication Account
• Chapter 2.0: Login for the First Time
○ Chapter 2.1: Start Your Profile
○ Chapter 2.2: Create a School Employee User Profile
○ Chapter 2.3: Create a School Manager User Profile
○ Chapter 2.4: Create a School Director User Profile
○ Chapter 2.5: Create a User Profile for a State User
○ Chapter 2.6: Create a User Profile for a USDA User
○ Chapter 2.7: Once You Are Logged In
• Chapter 3.0: Navigation, Help, and Home page
○ Chapter 3.1: Navigation Overview
○ Chapter 3.2: Help Menu
○ Chapter 3.3: Home Page
• Chapter 4.0: Adding, Editing, or Deleting Training Records
○ Chapter 4.1: Your Training Status
○ Chapter 4.2: Viewing Training Record Details
○ Chapter 4.3: Browsing Available Training Titles
○ Chapter 4.4: Adding a Training Record
○ Chapter 4.5: Managing a Training Record
○ Chapter 4.6: Adding a Training Title
○ Chapter 4.7: Managing a Training Title
○ Chapter 4.8: Manager and Director – More Trainings Functionality
• Chapter 5.0: Reports
• Chapter 6.0: Manager/Director Function: Employee List and View Logged Training
• Chapter 7.0: Manager Function: User Profiles
4.5.2.2 Training Video Controls
This page allows user to review all of the available training videos. There are multiple videos
which cover broad topics for our system. All published videos appear on this page. The first two
videos are also available via links on the Tool’s “About” page.
Each video has a chapter number and a title. The chapters that have a number that ends in a zero
(e.g. 3.0 or 4.0) are considered ‘main’ chapters. If a chapter number is displayed as a decimal
(e.g. 3.1 or 4.3), then they are considered sub-chapters.
Clicking on the main chapter link will play all sub-chapters, and any other content as a single
video. These videos might take a long time to finish. It is possible to only watch a portion of the
video by either clicking on a sub-chapter link, or by jumping to the sub-chapter section using the
built-in video controls.
To access the video controls, use your mouse to hover over a video. The controls will appear at
the bottom of the video screen. The most helpful controls are:
• “Play/Pause” button
• Volume Control
• Video Time Display/Bar
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•
•
•

Closed Captioning toggle
Settings
Full/Reduced Screen

In the center you will see the video time bar. Your current point in the video will show up
starting from the left as a bright colored line progressing to the right (towards end of video). If
you click and drag on the end of this, or click somewhere else in the timeline, the video will
jump to that point.
Your computer's video player software will also affect viewing videos. If there are any problems
that are not fixed with the displayed controls, please request your computer’s technical support
team to help you.

4.5.3

The “Contact Us” form page displays data entry fields for the user to allow them to submit a
request for assistance. The asterisks following the field names, indicate that the field is a
required field. The User Name and Email from the logged in user are populated by default
but may be changed by the user.

This form provides the following fields:
• Title* - The preferred title of address for correspondence.
• Name* - The name that should be used. By default, this value shows the logged in
user.
• Email Address* - The email address that should be used for correspondence. By
default, this value shows the logged in user.
• Phone Number - The user may choose to provide this method of correspondence.
• Message* - The details of the problem, observation, or suggestion. This is the
statement upon which the user would like assistance.
• Accessibility or Section 508-related Inquiry - A checkbox field. If this is an
accessibility assistance request, please check this box.
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The following actions are available:
• Send Message – submit the assistance request.
• Cancel – cancel the assistance request and return the user to the “Home”
(“Dashboard”) page of the tool.

4.6

Welcome User

4.6.1

User Profile

The two links in this dropdown menu will take the user to their “User Profile” page or log
them out of the site.

The “User Profile” page displays user profile information. Manager’s information is
displayed if available. For users with the School User Category, District information will be
displayed, and School information will be displayed if entered.

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From the “User Profile” page, the user may edit the profile by pressing the “Edit” button
and view training history by pressing the “View Training History” button.

4.6.2

Edit Profile

The “Edit” button on the “User Profile” page will open the “Edit User Profile” page and allow
the user to make selected changes to their own profile.
The functionality of the “Edit User Profile” page is the same as the “Create User Profile”
page that is described in Section 2.4. The fields displayed on Edit User Profile are the same
as the fields on the “Create User Profile” page with the following differences in field
population/content:
•
•
•
•

•
•
•

First Name – required, read-only; pre-populated from the eAuthentication system.
Last Name – required, read-only; pre-populated from the eAuthentication system.
Hiring Date – required; enter your date of hire for your current position.
Business or Work Email – required, read-only; pre-populated from the
eAuthentication system.
User Category – required, read-only; populated with your User Category.
Role – required; select the most appropriate value from the list of values based on
User Category you selected.
Job Title – required; select the most appropriate value from the list of values based
on User Category and Role you selected.

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•
•

State – required, read-only; populated with your State.
School District (for SCHOOL User Category only) – required, read-only; populated
with your School District.

NOTE: If your School District is not in the list, please contact FNS staff at
[email protected] with the request to add it.
•

•
•
•

School (for SCHOOL User Category only) – required for Manager (multiple
selection) and Employee (single selection) roles; select the most appropriate value
from the list of values based on the School District you selected. School name is
followed by its zip code in parenthesis. Type the first letter of the school district
name into this field to have it jump to the closest match, then continue selection
from the drop-down.
“Selected Schools” button (for SCHOOL User Category only) – not available for
Director Role; click this button to view your school(s) that are currently saved for
the user.
“Add New School” button (for SCHOOL User Category only) – not available for
Director Role; click this button to add a new school. For more information see
section 2.6.
Manager – not available for Director Role; select the most appropriate value from
the list of values.

The following actions are available:
• Update – save the changes and return to the “User Profile” page.
• Cancel – cancel all changes and return to the “User Profile” page.

4.6.3

Log Out

Selecting the Log out option will log the user out of PSTTT. For security purposes, the
eAuthentication tool will attempt to close the browser window. For IE users, the browser
window will close, but other browsers will continue to display the eAuthentication tool log
out page.

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Manager and Director-Specific Functions

5.1

Changes to Standard Functions

5.1.1

Enter a Training Record

There are many functions available to Employees that have been enhanced for use by
Managers and Directors. There are also functions reserved for Managers and Directors.
This section of the manual details those functions.

The Enter Training functionality for Managers and Directors is as described in section 4.2.3,
and they can select multiple participants for each training session.
The Employee selection field allows the user to select one or more names (including their
own), via checkboxes, for the training to be documented.
• The field is populated with the list of employees based on the user’s access level,
with the user’s own name on top.
• Employee Name and Role are listed for each employee, and for the School User
Category employee’s schools are listed as well.
• This is a required field, so at least one checkbox must be selected.
To make Employee selection process easier, School Manager and Director users can select
one or more schools to filter the employees shown in this area.

NOTE: If any of the employees previously assigned to this training are now inactive, their
names will be listed in the Inactive Employees section below the Employee selection field.
After entering all the required information, press the “Record Training” button to save a
new training record.

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NOTE: Data entered will be validated for each employee selected to make sure no
duplicate training records are being created. Uniqueness of a training record is
determined by checking the combination of Employee, Training Title, Completion
Date, and School Year.

5.1.2

Add Employees to an Existing Training Record

To add employees to an existing training record, use the “Edit” button on the “Training
Detail” page to edit the training. On the “Update Training” page check the checkboxes for
any additional employees and save as described in section 4.2.5.

5.1.3

Remove Employees from an Existing Training Record

To remove employees from an existing training record, use the “Edit” button on the
“Training Detail” page to edit the training. On the “Update Training” page uncheck the
checkboxes for any additional employees and save as described in section 4.2.4.
Use this functionality if:
•
•
•

5.1.4

The training class was correctly recorded.
The employee list logged for the training has one or more incorrect employees
listed.
The training should only be removed for some (not all) of the training attendees.

Delete an Existing Training Record

You can delete it and all associated information using the “Delete” button on “Training
Details” page. For more information see section 4.2.6.
Use this functionality if:
• The incorrect training title was selected for a class.
• All training records should be removed for all indicated training attendees.

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5.1.5

Training Details Page – Back to List Button

The behavior of the “Back to List” button on the “Training Details” page for Managers and
Directors depends on how you reached the “Training Details” page:
Coming From:
Clicking on a Training Title on YOUR “Training
History” page
Creating or Editing a training with you as the only
employee selected
Creating or Editing a training with you and other
employees selected
Creating or Editing a training with other employees
only
Clicking on a Training on the “View Logged Trainings”
page
Clicking on a Training on an employee’s “Training
History” page

5.1.6
•
•
•

5.1.7

Back to List Takes you to:
YOUR “Training History” page
YOUR “Training History” page
YOUR “Training History” page

“View Logged Trainings” page
(correct school year selected)
“View Logged Trainings” page
(correct school year selected)
Employee’s “Training History”
page

Managing Training Titles
School Directors can manage all training titles created by employees in their school
district.
State Directors can manage all training titles created by employees in their state.
Managers can only manage their own training titles.

Email Reminders

PSTTT sends out automatic email reminders for users to complete their required training
hours twice a year, on April 1st and October 1st. In addition to the Personal emails,
Managers and Directors will receive a summary status email when one or more of their
employees has not completed their required training hours. Employees who have no
required training hours assigned based on their Job Title or have completed their required
training hours are not included in Manager/Director emails’ employee table.

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The emails are titled “Status of Required Professional Standards Training Hours for the
School Year” and have the following format:

The email will be sent from the [email protected] email address. Please do not reply to
this email.

5.2

Employees Menu

5.2.1

View Employee List

From the Employees dropdown menu, managers can view the employees for which they
may log training, print training certificates, create user profiles, search for employees, and
view the training courses that they have logged for themselves and others.

This page lists the Employee Name, Job Title, Email, Badges (earned), Required (training
hours), and Completed (training hours).

This page determines the values to list by the Schools/School District/State Agency value
for the logged in manager.
NOTE: For Staff Managers, this page will show the names of employees at each school in the
manager’s profile (except their own name).

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NOTE: For District Directors, this page will show the employees and managers at each school
in the school district (except their own name).
NOTE: For State Agency Directors, this page will show the staff for their designated State
(except their own name).
This page has a page control that allows the manager to see training data for their current
employees, for different school years.

Clicking on an employee name on this page will take the manager to the employee’s
account profile and allows drill-down into that employee’s information and training
history.

5.2.2

Print Certificates

A manager can use the “Print Certificates” page to view and print completion certificates
for any employee who has met or exceeded their annual training hours. The certificates
printed are the same as would be printed by a single user, see Section 3.3 for more
information.

Only those employees who have met the requirements for the selected school year will be
shown. The checkboxes next to the employee name allow the manager to select one or
multiple names. The checkbox in the column header will select all employees in the table.
Each employee will be on a different page in the pdf output.

The training records are kept from year-to-year, so the manager may view the results of
previous years on the “Print Certificates” page.

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Here is an example of the page showing a test record:

5.2.3

Create User Profile

Some Managers will create Employee profiles using the Create User Profile utility in the
Employees menu. This gives the manager a way to track training for users who do not have
their own login accounts.

The functionality of the “Create User Profile” page used by Managers and Directors to
create employee profiles is the same as the “Create User Profile” page that is described in
section 2.5. The fields displayed on Create User Profile for an employee are as follows:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

First Name – required; enter employee’s first name.
Last Name – required; enter employee’s last name.
Hiring Date – required; enter your date of hire for the current position.
Business or Work Email – enter employee’s email address, if available.
User Category – required, read-only; populated with your User Category.
Role – required; select the most appropriate value from the list of values based on
User Category you selected.
Job Title – required; select the most appropriate value from the list of values based
on User Category and Role you selected.
State – required, read-only; populated with your State.
School District (for SCHOOL User Category only) – required, read-only; populated
with your School District.
NOTE: If your School District is not in the list, please contact FNS staff at
[email protected] with the request to add it.

•

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•

Manager – not available for Director Role; select the most appropriate value from
the list of values.

Press the “Create” button to save your changes or press the “Cancel” button to return to the
“Home” page without saving your changes. You will be able to edit your profile settings
later using the “Edit User Profile” page as described in Section 4.6.1.1.
NOTE: if a previously non-eAuthenticated user logs into the tool with
eAuthentication, and their email address, first name, and last name match, the two
will automatically be combined in the Training Tool. The user will not then be asked
to create a new profile when logging in for the first time.

5.2.4

Search Employees

Choosing the Search Employees option in the Employees menu, opens the “Employee
Search” page. This page allows the Manager to search for employees that are related to
them by either the School District or State Agency elements in both profiles.
This page contains:
• Search field - free text field,
• Data grid showing:
○ Name, and
○ School Name/State

School Manager/Director view:

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State Agency Manager/Director view:

5.2.4.1 From Employee Search: Employee User Profile
The employee “User Profile” page is the same as the “User Profile” page described in
Section 4.6.1. This page allows to perform the following actions for the employee selected:
• Viewing the summary data.
• Editing employee’s profile information by pressing the “Edit” button (see Section
4.6.1.1).
• Viewing employee’s training history by pressing the “View Training History” button
(see Section 4.2.3).
• Uploading training documents for this employee’s training records from the
“Training History” page.

5.2.5

View Logged Trainings

The “View Logged Trainings” menu item opens a page that displays a list of training classes
that have been created for any employee (including only themselves).

This page displays:
• School Year drop down - Changes the school year and the display of data on the page
○ Changing the value of this field, will change the data displayed on the page to
show only those courses that were logged for that school year.
• Data grid - shows information for each training title
○ Course Title - Name of the class. Hyperlinked to open the “Training Details”
page
○ Employee Name - Names of the employees who took the training
○ Training Hours – repeats the length of the class for each employee
○ Completion Date - the completion date logged with the class

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NOTE: Only employees who are currently active are listed for each training.
5.2.5.1 From View Logged Trainings: Training Details
Clicking on the Training Title for a training record shown on the “View Logged Training”
page, will take the manager to the “Training Profile” page for that training record. For more
information, please see Section 4.2.4.

5.2.6

Deactivate Employees

The “Deactivate Employees” menu item opens the “Deactivate Employees” page that allows
the user to select one or more employees to deactivate.
State Agency Manager/Director view:

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School Manager/Director view:

Select one or more employees in the Employees field and press the “Deactivate Selected
Employees” button. A confirmation dialog listing the selected employees will be displayed.

Press the “Deactivate” button to deactivate the selected employees. Press the “Cancel”
button to cancel.

5.3

Help Menu

The Help dropdown menu for Managers and Directors has one additional option – “Report
an Issue” which is used to submit an issue report or a data change request.

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5.3.1

Report an Issue

The “Report an Issue” form page displays data entry fields for the user to allow them to
submit an issue report or a data change request.

The asterisks mark the required fields. The User Name and Email from the logged in user
are populated by default but may be changed by the user.

This form provides the following fields:
• Summary* - The summary of the issue or a request.
• Description - The detailed description of the issue or a request.
• Name* - Requestor’s name.
• Email Address* - The email address that should be used for correspondence.
• Attach File – Any additional information can be attached as a file.

Press the “Create” button to submit your issue. A confirmation dialog will be displayed with the
buttons representing the following choices:
•
•

Return to Dashboard – press to go to the “Home” page
Report New Issue – press to return to the “Report an Issue” page and report another
issue.

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Administrator-Specific Functions

6.1

Changes to Standard Functions

6.1.1

Managing Training Titles

There are functions available to Managers and Directors that have been enhanced for use
by Administrators. There are also many technical system functions that have been reserved
for Administrators. This section of the manual details those functions.

Administrators can manage all training titles available in the system.

6.1.2

Deactivate Employees

Administrators have capability to deactivate employees from any user category. The
“Deactivate Employees” page accessible from the Employees menu allows administrators
to select a user category first and then proceed to select employees within it.

Select one or more employees in the Employees field and press the “Deactivate Selected
Employees” button. A confirmation dialog listing the selected employees will be displayed.

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Press the “Deactivate” button to deactivate the selected employees. Press the “Cancel”
button to cancel.

6.1.3

User Reports

Administrators can generate reports on School, State, or USDA users – the selection driven
by the Category drop-down. Once the Category is selected, the appropriate Employee
selections are displayed.

6.2

Site Admin Menu

The Administrator role allows access to the Site Admin menu option.
The Site Admin dropdown menu has the following options:
•
•
•
•

6.2.1

Enter Required Hours – manage the annually required hours for each job title
Manage User Profiles – manage employee accounts
Reactivate Employees – reactivate employee accounts
Email Reminders – view the status of semiannual training reminder emails being
sent.

Enter Required Hours

PSTTT job titles have a yearly number of required training hours assigned to them. For
those job titles that do not require training 0 hours is assigned. The assignment of required
training hours to job titles per school year is done on the “Enter Hour Requirements” page.

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Select a School Year from the drop-down and the list of job titles available for that school
year is displayed with the corresponding required hours values. You can change the
number of hours per job title.

Press the “Save” button to save the changes. Press the “Cancel” button to cancel.

6.2.2

Manage User Profiles

Administrators have capability to edit user profile information for employees from any
user category. The “Manage User Profiles” page allows administrators to select the user
category and then proceed to select employees within it.

Select an employee in the Employee field and press the “Edit User Profile” button to open
the ”Edit User Profile” page for the selected employee.
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6.2.3

Reactivate Employees

Administrators have capability to reactivate employees for employees from any user
category. The “Reactivate Employees” page allows administrators to select the user
category and then proceed to viewing employees within it. The administrator can either
page through the employee records or use the Search control to narrow down the selection.

Keywords entered into the Search control apply across all the fields represented in the
table: Employee Name, Role, State, District, and School names. The simplest way would be
to enter the employee name, and then enter additional keywords if necessary.

Click on the employee name to review employee profile and reactivate the employee from
the “Edit User Profile” page. You may need to adjust employee’s role, job title, etc. For
inactive employees, the “Update” button on the “Edit User Profile” page will be replaced
with the “Reactivate” button.

6.2.4

Email Reminders

PSTTT sends out automatic email reminders for users to complete their required training
hours twice a year, on April 1st and October 1st.
Reminders are sent only to the users who can log in to the PSTTT web application.
There are two kinds of emails:
•

Personal emails are sent to users who have not completed their required training
hours. Users who have no required training hours assigned based on their Job Title
or have completed their required training hours do not get a personal email.

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•

Emails to Managers and Directors are sent when one or more of their employees has
not completed their required training hours. Employees who have no required
training hours assigned based on their Job Title or have completed their required
training hours are not included in Manager/Director emails’ employee table.

Administrators can view the status or Email Reminder events on the “Email Reminders”
page. The page lists all past and future events set up through the database.

The events are triggered by a scheduler application. When an event is triggered, first text
for all emails and the list of recipients are generated, then the emails are sent in batches of
200 every 15 minutes (the settings are configurable). The audit log of the emails being sent
is saved to the database, so if you were to reload the “Email Reminders” page during the
send event, you would see the numbers change.

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The “Email Reminders” page displays the following information:
•
•
•
•
•

Event Date
Event Status
Emails in Queue – emails generated and remaining to be sent
Emails Sent – emails sent successfully
Emails Failed – emails not sent due to error

The Administrator should check the status of the scheduled jobs the day they are supposed
to run (or later), since the event will start shortly after midnight. A completed event will
have 0 Emails in Queue and will display the number of Emails Sent.

If after all Emails in Queue were sent the Emails Failed number is not 0, press the
corresponding “Resend Failed Emails” button for a retry. This action will move the failed
emails back into the queue, and the process of sending them will start on the next 15minute cycle of the scheduler.

NOTE: Pressing the “Resend Failed Emails” button for a future event or for an event that does
not have any failed emails will not result in a retry.
Contact PSTTT app support if there are failed emails after the resend.

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File Type	application/pdf
File Title	PSTTT User Manual
Subject	User Manual
Author	Alla Sharkova
File Modified	2020-06-29
File Created	2020-06-26