use cases for non-goal categories

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• What are Non-Goal Hours? 
• What are the use cases? 
• How do I tell them apart? 

What are Non-Goal Hours? 

Think of Non-Goal Hours as a separate pot of time. These are activity categories you want to track, but you DON'T want these hours to count towards official Goal Hours; you'd like them to split off separately from Segal Education Award time.

Let's use the example of Lunch Breaks, a common Non-Goal Hour type. Many programs need to track that their reporters took a documented lunch break, but that time should not count towards AmeriCorps time. With Non-Goal Hours, we can make sure reporters track their lunches through an official category, but that category is tracked separately and doesn't total alongside other AmeriCorps Categories (e.g. - Service, Training, and Fundraising Hours). 

Here's this looks like on the Reporter Dashboard:

What are the use cases? 

Here are some use cases where Non-Goal Categories have been helpful for programs:

• Lunches and Breaks: Many programs have a policy that reporters must take documented lunches and breaks throughout the day, but these mandatory breaks cannot count towards their AmeriCorps time.
  
  Here's how this could look on a timesheet (non-goal category highlighted for this example):
  
  
• Teaching Time: Some teaching programs have teachers splitting time between AmeriCorps teaching time and other teaching time they'd like to document, but that does not count towards their AmeriCorps Service.
  
  Here's how this could look on a timesheet (non-goal category highlighted for this example):
  
  
• Vacation Days or PTO: Many programs (and VISTA) stipulate that reporters have a set number of PTO days each program year. PTO can be tracked as a non-goal category, where reporters add 8 hours to each day they take off. This category is set to non-goal so that these reporters aren't getting AmeriCorps Service credit for their PTO days, but the time is still tracked.
  
  Here's how this could look on a timesheet (non-goal category highlighted for this example):
  
  
• Other Grant Time or Accreditation Time: There are scenarios where a program is managing multiple grants, and a service member is serving hours both in both AmeriCorps and another grant at the same time. Non-Goal Categories effectively split those hours, so it's very clear what time was spent within each funding source.
  
  Here's how this could look on a timesheet (non-goal category highlighted for this example):
  
  
• Accreditation Time: Similar to above, some programs have their reporters gaining an accreditation through and alongside their AmeriCorps Service. In these scenarios, there are often times activities that are not allowable or counted through AmeriCorps, but the program still needs to track on the reporter timesheet.
  
  Here's how this could look on a timesheet (non-goal category highlighted for this example):
  
  
• Paid Time - Some programs pair AmeriCorps Service with other paid opportunities for their reporters. Since these hours cannot be combined, Non-Goal Categories allow the tracking to be split. 
  
  Here's how this could look on a timesheet (non-goal category highlighted for this example):
  

How do I tell them apart? 

It's easy to tell these categories apart because they total time in two distinct pots. Here are the three places where Non-Goal Categories will appear.  

1. When You're Building the Timesheet Template: 
   In your timesheet category settings, you'll be asked this question to indicate if hours in this category qualify as Goal Hours:
   

   
   

   Indicating No for the question, "Should hours in this category qualify as Goal Hours?"
   
   You will then be able to update the name for the Non-Goal Hours Type:
   
   The labels will default to Goal Hours and Non-Goal hours, but you can customize these to meet your program language. Maybe it is Lunch Hours you're tracking separately, or Teacher Accreditation Hours. You have the flexibility to name these in a way that makes sense for you and your reporters.
   
   

2. In the Reporter Dashboard: 
   Because you've indicated a category is Non-Goal in the Timesheet Template Settings, it will separate this time from AmeriCorps Time in the Reporter Dashboard, with your customized language around the label. Here's an example with PTO Time used for the hours type label:
   
   
3. In the Timesheet 
   This will appear in the Totals for the Period area of the timesheet where reporters see total time entered before submitting. Here is an example:
   
   
   Reporters will also see non-goal time separated in the daily summaries. Here is how it looks from the Reporter view:
   Once submitted, here is how it looks from the Admin view:
   

Feeling excited about taking advantage of Non-Goal Categories? Check out this article on how to set them up.