Cohort clocks: shared vs individual
Every cohort has a clockThe rule that decides which of the six weeks a student is currently in.. It is what answers the question the whole product runs on: for this student, right now, which of the six weeks is it? You choose how that is worked out per cohort, and you can change it at any time.
There are two modes.
Shared clock
Everyone moves through the six weeks together, measured from the cohort's intake date. Week 1 starts for the whole cohort on the same day, and everyone reaches Week 4 together.
Use it for a single intake that starts on one day, the classic Semester 1 "everyone arrives in O-Week" shape. It is the default, and for most cohorts it is the right answer.
Individual clock
Each student's six weeks run from their own start date. Two students who started a fortnight apart are in different weeks on the same calendar day: one might be in Week 2 while the other is in Week 4.
Use it for rolling or staggered intakes, where students begin on different days rather than all at once (common for online, mid-year, and continuous-enrolment programs).
Start dates arrive in bulk on the student import
with a start_date column, and one student's date can be changed or removed at any
time from their profile (see below). Anyone in the cohort without a start date keeps
riding the shared cohort clock, so a mixed roster is fine: dated students run on
their own timeline, undated students run on the cohort's.
Changing one student's start date
Open the student from the cohort browser, the cohort tree, or search (Cmd-K). On an individual-clock cohort their profile carries a Their start date field: pick a new date and Save, or press Clear to remove the date entirely and put them back on the cohort clock. It takes a staff member with the manage-students permission.
Clearing is the case worth knowing about. A student who deferred a week, or whose date came through wrong from your student system, used to be unfixable without re-running a CSV import at them, and a date once set could not be removed at all. Both work now.
Changing a start date changes which of the six weeks that student sees next time they open First Six. It does not move events, and it does not move census or the other key dates, which stay on the real calendar for the whole cohort.
Setting or changing the clock
You pick the clock when you create a cohort, and you can change it later from the Cohort clock panel: open a cohort, then choose Cohort clock. Pick Shared or Individual and save.
Changing the clock does not move students who have no start date, and it never touches your content. Events and key dates (like census) always stay on the real calendar, whichever clock you use, so switching cannot accidentally shift a census deadline.
What the clock does and doesn't move
- It moves: which week a student sees as "this week", and therefore which week-scoped briefings, blocks, and check-in they land on.
- It does not move: events and fixed key dates. Census, semester start, and semester end sit on the real calendar for everyone (see Term and key dates). An individual clock changes a student's week number, not the date their census falls on.
Whichever clock a cohort is on, a student's current week is shown on their profile in the console, under Currently. On an individual clock their own start date is shown next to it, so it is always clear why two students in the same cohort are on different weeks.
Which one should I use?
- One intake, everyone starting together on a set day: Shared.
- Students trickling in on different dates (rolling, staggered, online): Individual,
with a
start_dateon each student's import row. - A mostly-shared intake with a few late starters: Individual, and give only
the late starters a
start_date. Everyone else stays on the cohort clock.
Common questions
Is it safe to switch a live cohort's clock?
Yes. Switching is non-destructive: it re-reads which week each student is in, but it doesn't move content, and it doesn't move students who have no start date. Events and key dates stay on the real calendar either way.
What happens to a student with no start date on an individual clock?
They keep riding the shared cohort clock, measured from the cohort's intake date. That is why a mixed roster works: dated students run on their own six weeks, undated students run on the cohort's.
Does an individual clock move census or other key dates?
No. Census and the other fixed key dates are real calendar dates for the whole cohort. The clock only changes which week number a student is in, never the date a deadline falls on.
How do I see which week a particular student is on?
Open their profile from the cohort browser, the cohort tree, or search (Cmd-K). The Currently row reads "Week 3 of 6", and on an individual clock their start date is shown directly beneath it. It is worked out by the same rule the student's own screen uses, so the two always agree.
How do I set each student's start date?
Two ways. In bulk, add a start_date column to the
student import: rows with a date run on their
own clock, rows without one stay on the cohort's. For one student, open their profile
and use the Their start date field.
A student's start date is wrong. Can I change it, or take it off?
Yes, both. Open their profile and either pick a new date and save, or press Clear, which removes the date and puts them back on the cohort clock. You need the manage-students permission. Note that a re-import never wipes an existing date (a file without the column leaves every anchor alone), so clearing is done on the profile.
Related
The fastest answer is usually one question away.