Provider SOCCED Course Generation and Renewal User Guide July 2015 1 of 21 3353 Peachtree Road NE Suite 600, North Tower Atlanta, GA 30326 404-446-2560 www.nerc.com
Purpose The purpose of this guide is to provide instruction to NERC CE providers on how to generate a new course or renew an existing course in SOCCED (System Operator Certification and Continuing Education Database). Additional information is provided in response to frequently asked questions from industry providers. The program criteria outlined in the NERC CE Administrative Manual takes precedence over any information presented in this user guide. In order to generate a course, providers must have an active SOCCED account. To obtain an active SOCCED provider account, follow the instructions found in the Provider Application and Renewal User Guide found on the NERC Continuing Education webpage. For information on completing an ILA form, refer to the Provider User Guide for Completing an ILA Form. NERC 2 of 21
Purpose Contents Purpose... 2 Creating a Course in SOCCED... 4 SOCCED Course Wizard... 5 Course Generation by Uploading an ILA... 12 Course Shopping Cart and Checkout... 18 Unfinished Courses... 20 Renewing a Course... 21 3 of 21
Creating a Course in SOCCED This version of the SOCCED provider interface no longer requires Internet Explorer compatibility mode. 1. From the Provider Home page, select Courses, 2. All courses associated with this provider account can be searched based on the course status. 3. Click on the Add Course button. 4 of 21
4. Courses may be generated in SOCCED by either completing ILA data fields within the SOCCED course wizard or uploading version 5 or higher MS Word ILA form. Version 5 of the ILA form contains XML code which will populate the SOCCED data fields. SOCCED Course Wizard 1. Before completing the Course Wizard, review the Provider User Guide for Completing an ILA Form for information on the various fields. 2. Use the scroll bar to respond to all items. 3. The General Information tab contains contact information. The primary contact information will automatically be filled in. a. If the individual able to respond to a reviewer s questions is different from the primary contact, select Yes and complete the contact information. b. If the primary contact is the appropriate contact for course questions, select No. 5 of 21
4. Course Information a. The Course Name should be descriptive of the course content. i. Course Names can be re used as needed. ii. Course Names cannot contain special characters such as #, *, &, etc. b. The Course ID: i. Must begin with the Provider ID ii. Is a unique database identifier that cannot be reused. iii. Course IDs cannot contain special characters such as #, *, &, etc. c. Enter the start date for the course. i. Refer to the CE Program Administrative Manual for requirements on ILA submission time frames. d. Check the box if the course will offer Partial Credit. i. Refer to the CE Program Administrative Manual for requirements on awarding Partial Credit. e. Check the box if the course is Emergency Operations related. 6 of 21
f. Enter the number of hours for each category. g. The NERC Continuing Education Administrative Manual provides additional information on the categories of CEH: Operating Topics, Standards, and Simulations. i. The total CEH requested for the learning activity should equal the total Operating Topics hours on the ILA form. ii. Standards and Simulations hours cannot exceed CE hours. iii. Any time devoted to standards and simulations should be included in your total number of CE hours requested. iv. Example: An 8 hour class will include a 2 hour review of standards followed by a 2 hour exercise/drill applying the NERC EOP Standards. 7 of 21
5. Course Evaluation a. At least one item must be selected in each section. b. The comments boxes are optional. 8 of 21
6. Learning Objectives a. SOCCED provides for a maximum of 45 objectives per course. 7. Learning Activity 9 of 21
8. Course Data a. Course Type v. Select all course types that apply. b. Target Audience vi. Select the positions the course is designed to support. vii. All operators holding a NERC Certification may earn continuing education hours from the approved course. Selecting a target audience does not limit who can earn CEHs. c. Course Topics viii. Select all applicable course topics. ix. If the EOP Related box was marked in the Course Information section, ensure the Emergency Operations (EO) box is also marked in the Course Topics section. d. When all the sections are complete, click the Save and Continue button. 10 of 21
9. Attachments a. Refer to the Continuing Education Administrative Manual for information on additional documentation that may be required. b. To add an attachment, click Choose File. Navigate to the file location in your system. Select the file. Wait until the filename field turns green, then click Upload. c. Ensure the file names of attachments are clear. d. Avoid long filenames for attachments. e. Filenames should not contain any special characters, such as #, *, &, etc. f. While SOCCED accepts most MS Office files, such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and common graphic file formats such as GIF, JPEG, and PNG, due to differences in software between providers and reviewers, documents should be converted to PDF format before uploading. g. SOCCED does not accept ZIP files into the database. h. Large files, typically greater than 5 MB, may result in an upload error. These files should be separated into smaller files and named appropriately. 10. Click Add to Cart 11 of 21
11. Multiple courses may be added before proceeding to the checkout. a. To print a copy of the information entered into SOCCED for the course, click the Print link next to the course. b. Creating multiple courses before proceeding to the checkout will place all the courses on one invoice with the same Transaction ID. Providers may have internal accounting procedures that determines whether each course should have a separate invoice or have one invoice with multiple courses. Course Generation by Uploading an ILA 1. Click Choose File. a. Navigate to the local file location of the completed ILA form. b. Select the file and click Open. 12 of 21
2. Click Upload ILA. a. The ILA form must be version 5 or higher. If a version 4.4 ILA form is selected for upload, the system will return an error message. 3. The primary contact information from the account will populate the Contact fields on the General Information tab. a. Contact information on the ILA form is not transferred to SOCCED during the upload. b. If the individual able to respond to a reviewer s questions is different from the primary contact, select Yes and complete the contact information. c. If the primary contact is the appropriate contact for course questions, select No. 13 of 21
4. Verify the information uploaded correctly. Click Save and Continue. 14 of 21
5. Verify the objectives uploaded correctly. Click Save and Continue. 6. Verify the information uploaded completely and accurately. Click Save and Continue. 15 of 21
7. Complete the Course Data tab. c. Course Type x. Select all course types that apply. d. Target Audience xi. Select the positions the course is designed to support. xii. All operators holding a NERC Certification may earn continuing education hours from the approved course. Selecting a target audience does not limit who can earn CEHs. e. Course Topics xiii. Select all applicable course topics. xiv. If the EOP Related box was marked in the Course Information section, ensure the Emergency Operations (EO) box is also marked in the Course Topics section. f. When all the sections are complete, click the Save and Continue button. 16 of 21
8. The ILA uploaded at the start of this process can be found in the attachments tab. Refer to the NERC Continuing Education Administrative Manual to verify the requirements for additional attachments. a. Ensure the file names of attachments are clear. b. Avoid long filenames for attachments. c. Filenames should not contain any special characters, such as #, *, &, etc. d. While SOCCED accepts most MS Office files, such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and common graphic file formats such as GIF, JPEG, and PNG, due to differences in software between providers and reviewers, documents should be converted to PDF format before uploading. e. SOCCED does not accept ZIP files into the database. f. Large files, typically greater than 5 MB, may result in an upload error. These files should be separated into smaller files and named appropriately. 17 of 21
Course Shopping Cart and Checkout Course Shopping Cart and Checkout 1. The upper section of the shopping cart shows the current transactions. a. Item listed in the lower section are awaiting receipt of payment. 2. When all courses have been entered, click Check Out. a. Exiting this screen before completing the checkout, will leave the courses in your cart, but will not move them into the Pending queue for review and approval. b. Fees may be paid by either credit card through PayPal, or by check or wire transfer. 18 of 21
Course Shopping Cart and Checkout 3. If paying by credit card: a. Complete the credit card information. b. Complete the credit card billing address. c. Credit card payment are processed through PayPal and are secure transactions. d. No credit card information is retained in SOCCED. 4. If paying by check or wire transfer: a. Reference your Transaction ID/Invoice Number with your payment. b. Send payment to: North American Electric Reliability Corporation Attn: Accounts Receivable 3353 Peachtree Rd. NE Suite 600, North Tower Atlanta, GA 30326 c. Transactions paid by check or wire transfer will remain in Pending until the payment is received. 5. Click the Submit Request button to complete the transaction and move the courses to the Pending queue. 19 of 21
Unfinished Courses Unfinished Courses 1. If a course has been started in SOCCED and the Course Information tab has been saved, the course can be retrieved and completed at another time. 2. From the My Courses screen select Unfinished Courses. 3. A popup box will appear showing any unfinished courses. 4. Click on the Course ID hyperlink. a. The Course Information window will appear. b. Click Continue to proceed through the course generation process. 20 of 21
Renewing a Course Renewing a Course 1. Refer to the Continuing Education Administrative Manual for the criteria for renewing a course. a. Not all courses will qualify for renewal, the specific requirements are in the Continuing Education Administrative Manual. 2. From the My Courses screen, click the Renew Course button. 3. There is also a Renew Courses button in the Shopping Cart window. 4. A pop up window will display courses within the renewal window. a. Select all courses to be renewed. 5. Verify the Course Attachments are updated. Refer to the Course Attachments section of this document for instructions. a. NERC does not maintain pilot data on courses. It is the provider s responsibility to upload pilot data for any course for which CEH are requested. 6. Follow the instructions in the Shopping Cart and Checkout section of this document. 21 of 21