Overview
This article provides a step-by-step guide to creating and configuring a Sponsor-Driven program.
In a Sponsor-Driven program, sponsors take an active role in candidate selection. Sponsors or program managers submit opportunities, staff shortlist qualified candidates for each opportunity, and sponsors review shortlisted candidates and select who they'd like to place. Program or Placement Managers give final confirmation before a placement goes live.
Sponsor-Driven programs should be set up with candidate preference enabled, so candidates can view and rank approved opportunities during the application process.
Candidate rankings play an instrumental role in the staff shortlisting process that follows. Candidate preference is configured within the Application card of the Program Configuration page.
If you are new to Program Management, we recommend reviewing the Overview of Programs Module article for foundational context before proceeding.
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Key Terms Used in This Article
Key Terms Used in This Article
Sponsor:
An individual offering an opportunity for candidates, such as an internship, mentorship, or other hands-on learning placement. Sponsors may be external industry partners or internal staff members, as long as they serve as the sponsor of record. In a Sponsor-Driven program, sponsors also review shortlisted candidates and select who they'd like to place.
Opportunity:
A role or position created by a sponsor or program manager that outlines specific details and requirements.
Candidate Preference:
A configuration setting within the Application card that allows candidates to view approved opportunities and rank their preferred options during the application process.
Shortlist:
The action staff take to surface a specific candidate to the sponsor for review. Only shortlisted candidates are visible to the sponsor.
Placement:
The 1-1 match between one candidate and one opportunity slot. A placement encapsulates the tracking of timesheets, forms, evaluations, and conversations between the candidate and sponsor. Placements are not visible to candidates or sponsors until they are published. In a Sponsor-Driven program, the sponsor initiates the placement, and the Program or Placement Manager confirms it before it goes live.
Publish:
To make program details, opportunities, or placements officially visible to designated users, such as candidates and sponsors.
Publishing placements finalizes the matching process and notifies candidates and sponsors of their assignments.
Publishing a placement allows candidates and sponsors to complete Forms, Timesheets, and Evaluations.
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Application Structure
In a Sponsor-Driven program:
Sponsors or staff submit opportunity details
Candidates apply to the program and view and rank approved opportunities
Staff review candidates and shortlist qualified candidates per opportunity
Sponsors review shortlisted candidates and confirm who they'd like to place
Staff give final confirmation before the placement is published
Placements are not visible to candidates or sponsors until they are published
In all cases, sponsors and staff maintain final authority over placements.
Create a New Sponsor-Driven Program
To create a new sponsor-driven program:
Navigate to Engage in the side navigation, then select Program Management.
Click + New program in the top right.
Enter a Program name, select Sponsor-Driven as the placement method, then click Create program.
*Note: Once a program is created, you cannot change the program's placement method. The option to select a placement method is only available during the initial setup of a new program.
Upon creation, you will be directed through a series of program configuration tips. Click Next to read through each tip until taken to the configuration page.
⭐️ Best Practice - Program Name
Include semester and/or year in the program name for clarity and best process adoption. Example: Fall 2026 Sponsor-Driven Internship
Configure Sponsor-Driven Program
After creating your program, use the Program Configuration page to finalize required and optional workflow settings.
Configuration Page Overview
The Program Configuration page consists of required and optional workflow cards that together define the full program setup.
To make the program visible to Candidates and Sponsors, all required cards must be marked Complete, even if no changes were made within a card.
Click the Pencil icon or Configure on a workflow card to configure.
Review and update settings within the panel, then click Complete to mark the card as finished. Each required card must be marked Complete before the program can be made visible.
Once all required cards are marked Complete, make the program visible in the Candidate Access and Sponsor Access sections.
Required Configuration
The sections below are the required configuration cards that must be marked as complete in order to make the program visible to candidates and sponsors. Expand each to learn how to complete all required configuration:
Basic Details
Basic Details
The Basic Details section defines the foundational information for your program, including how it is labeled and who is responsible for managing it.
Program Name
Visible to Students, Sponsors, Staff, and Guardians. Use a clear and descriptive name, including the semester or year when applicable. Programs are typically duplicated year over year, so including the timeframe supports long-term organization.Program Mode
By default, this will be set to Sponsor-Driven placement. In this mode, sponsors or program managers submit opportunities, staff shortlist candidates for each opportunity, and sponsors place candidates into opportunities.
*Note: Program mode cannot be changed after the program is created.Program Types
Select the applicable program type(s). These options help categorize the program and clarify the type of activity involved.Contact Information
Enter the main point of contact for applicants who may have questions or need assistance during the application process.
*Note: This will appear on the candidate and sponsor application pages
After reviewing and finalizing all Basic Details settings, click Complete at the bottom of the panel.
If updates are needed later, reopen the section, make changes, and mark it Complete again.
Candidate Access
Candidate Access
The Candidate Access card determines who can view and apply to the program and how candidates are added.
Candidate-Facing Description
Enter a description that will appear at the top of the candidate application. Use this space to provide important details, expectations, or instructions for applicants.
Manage Candidates
Choose how candidates will be added to the program:
Manage manually (default)
Candidates complete an application to join the program, or staff can add candidates directly. The program can be available to both students and alumni, and enrollment can be adjusted at any time.When selected, you can:
Set an application deadline if desired
Select at least one candidate type (Students and/or Alumni)
Set candidate scope to All or by School, Grade, Tag or Staff roster
Sync by staff roster
Students are automatically enrolled based on selected staff rosters and bypass the program application process. Only students can be rostered into the program and enrollment updates nightly based on roster changes.To sync:
Select Sync by staff roster
Click Select rosters
Choose one or more rosters from the drop down
Click Sync # rosters
*Note: Switching from Manage manually to Sync by staff roster will remove any unplaced candidates from the program.
☝️ Reminder: Mark the card as Complete once all fields are configured
Sponsor Access
Sponsor Access
The Sponsor Access card determines which sponsors can view and complete the program application.
Sponsor-Facing Description
Enter a description that will appear on the sponsor application. Use this space to outline expectations, responsibilities, or key program details.
Program Exploration & Deadline
Use the Program exploration section to control who can access the application.
Application deadline (optional): Set the date by which sponsors must complete the application. If a due date is selected, the application remains editable until 11:59 PM on that date.
Sponsor Type: select at least one of the following to make the program visible:
District staff users
Members in my partner database – Contacts in your Industry Partner Database added by district staff
Members outside of my partner database – Any SchooLinks members not currently in your database. Select this option to share the application link broadly on your website, newsletter, or social media.
Auto-approve internal opportunity submissions - when disabled, any opportunities submitted by district staff will need to be manually approved by the Program Manager
Sponsor Review of Candidates
Customize the instructions sponsors see when reviewing their shortlisted candidates for an opportunity, using the Sponsor Review Instructions field. This text displays directly to sponsors on their Candidate Review page.
By default, this includes:
Step 1 - Review candidates: Review each candidate shortlisted for this opportunity by clicking their name to view their application details.
Step 2 - Screening and interviews: Reach out to candidates directly to complete your own screening and interview process.
Step 3 - Send candidate offers: When you're ready to move forward with a candidate, send them an offer.
Step 4 - Place candidate: Once a candidate has accepted your offer and will be taking the role, click Place next to the candidate name to confirm the placement.
☝️ Reminder: Mark the card as Complete once all fields are configured
Application
Application
The Application card controls how sponsors submit opportunities and how staff and sponsors interact with candidate applications for shortlisting and review.
Application Questions
Allow sponsors to edit opportunities after placement
When enabled, sponsors can edit opportunity details after a placement has been made. However, sponsors cannot edit opportunity details once the placement has been published.Candidates and sponsors can edit their applications after submitting
When enabled, candidates and sponsors can edit their applications after they have been submitted.Required application questions are optional for program managers
When enabled, program managers are not required to answer required application questions.
Create and Manage Questions
Create matching questions for candidates and sponsors in order to use application comparison tools.
Example matching questions:
Candidate: "Are you looking to work in-person, remote, or hybrid?"
Sponsor: "Are you looking for in-person, remote, or hybrid interns?"
Manage sponsor-facing and candidate-facing question phrasing in the question table. Default sponsor fields include Sponsor/Employer email, first name, last name, job title, and phone number.
Create a New Question
Create a New Question
To create a new question:
Click + New Question at the bottom of the Application card.
Select who the question applies to (Candidate, Sponsor, or Both), then enter the question phrasing.
If Sponsor-facing two additional options are available:
Show sponsor response to candidates post-placement: if enabled, the response to this question will appear for placed students on their placement details page.
Show on opportunity: Displays the question and sponsor response on the opportunity card visible to candidates. *Note: this is only an option when Opportunity transparency and preference mode is enabled. See the Additional Application Sections below on enabling.
Select a question type:
Single choice
Multiple choice
Single line response
Multi-line response
Yes/No
File upload
Date
Configure additional settings:
Required question – Enabled by default to make the question required. Disable to make it optional.
Staff-facing only – If enabled, the question is visible only to staff and does not appear in the candidate or sponsor application.
Export name – Optional field used as the column header when exporting application data. If left blank, the question text will be used.
Click Save.
Edit Existing Questions
Edit Existing Questions
To edit an existing question (including the default sponsor fields already listed in the table), click the pencil icon next to the question.
*Note: Not all fields of a default question can be edited.
Additional Application Sections
There are four additional application sections that can be enabled for a sponsor-driven program. Expand the sections below to learn more about each:
Opportunity Transparency & Preference Mode
Opportunity Transparency & Preference Mode
Once enabled, the following settings become available:
Require opportunity ranking
When enabled, candidates must rank their preferred opportunities.Allow opportunity-specific questions
When enabled, questions can be configured for individual opportunities for students to answer during the application process
Number of available preference slots
Set how many opportunities a candidate can rank.Candidate preference explanation
Provide additional guidance for candidates on how preferences will be used in the placement process.
"Recommendation Letters" Application Section
"Recommendation Letters" Application Section
Enable this option to include a Recommendation Letters section in the candidate application.
Recommendation letters function as a co-requisite, meaning they do not prevent candidates from submitting their application or moving forward in the process, even if requested.
When enabled, configure the following:
Optional recommendations:
Set the number of recommendation letters a candidate may request. Candidates can submit their application without reaching this number.Required recommendations:
Set the number of recommendation letters a candidate must request before submitting their application.Recommendation letter explanation:
Provide instructions that will appear to candidates when requesting letters. Use this space to clarify expectations or submission details.
If this setting is disabled, the recommendation letter section will not appear in the application.
Opportunity Competencies
Opportunity Competencies
Enable this option to include a "Competencies" section in the sponsor application and to provide sponsor-specific instructions on how to complete this section.
*Note: this option is only available if Opportunity-Level Competencies have been enabled in Competencies and Evaluations page of the program configuration. See related section below.
Application Signatures
Application Signatures
Enable this option to require candidate and sponsor signatures when submission program applications.
Candidate Statement: Customizable attestation text.
Default: "By submitting this application, I confirm that the information I have provided is accurate."Sponsor Statement
Customizable attestation text (same default).
☝️ Reminder: Mark the card as Complete once all fields are configured
Placements
Placements
The Placement card controls placement notifications and how placement progress is tracked within the program.
Sponsor Publish Placement Emails
Send "publish placement" emails to sponsors, even if they do not have a SchooLinks account.
Disabled by default. When enabled, sponsors without a SchooLinks member account will still receive the publish placement email notification.
Placement Stages (Optional)
Placement stages help track where placements are within the program's unique workflow. It can serve as a place to house overall outcome statuses.
For example, students with a stage of "Complete," meaning that all required steps in the program are satisfied, can be sent to the Registrar to indicate credit completion.
Default stages include:
Preliminary
Finalized
Active
Pending Final Eval
Completed
Stage actions include:
Edit default stage names and descriptions
Delete a stage
Reorder stages by dragging the six-dot icon next to the stage name
Click + New stage to create a custom stage
Stages update automatically as they are created and reordered.
☝️ Reminder: Mark the card as Complete once all fields are configured
Optional Configuration
After all required cards are configured, you can choose whether to set up additional optional cards that Candidates and Sponsors will use after placements are published. These optional items include:
Staff Access & Scoping
Staff Access & Scoping
Use the Staff Access & Scoping card to assign program & placement managers and scope opportunity access with groups.
Opportunity Groups
Create Opportunity Groups to organize a program's opportunities by building, pathway, or partner. Assigning a placement manager to one or more groups scopes that manager to only the opportunities in their assigned groups — across the opportunities list, filters, Experience Tracking views, and exports.
Show ungrouped opportunities to scoped managers – When enabled, managers scoped to a group can also see opportunities that haven't been assigned to any group. Disabled by default.
To create a new Opportunity Group:
Click + Add group.
Enter a Group name.
Optionally add a Description.
Optionally choose an Emoji — search by description (e.g. "hospital") or select Choose your own. A leading emoji helps admins scan groups faster.
Select a Tag color.
Click Save.
All created groups will display a total number of scoped opportunities and staff. Click the pencil icon at any time to edit.
*Note: Programs with no groups created are unaffected — placement managers without a group assignment keep full visibility across all opportunities. Group-scoped managers also keep visibility into an out-of-group opportunity while one of their students holds an active placement there.
Staff Access
Each row sets a staff member's role and candidate access.
Enable placement notifications for program managers – Toggle this setting ON if Program Managers should receive placement notifications in addition to Placement Managers.
To add staff users:
Click + Add staff user.
Search for staff members or paste a list of emails, then check the box next to each staff member to add. Click Next.
Choose the settings to apply to everyone selected:
Role: Program manager or Placement manager
Candidate access: Program-wide, Student scope, Staff rosters, Synced rosters, or Selected rosters
Opportunity groups: select one or more groups to scope a placement manager to, if any have been created.
Click Add [#] staff users.
Use the search bar on the Staff Access table to find and edit or delete an existing staff member by name or email.
*Note: District staff with the Program Management capability have full access to all programs automatically and don't need to be added individually.
☝️ Reminder: Mark the card as Complete once all fields are configured
Forms
Forms
Use the Forms card to add and manage required documentation within a program. Forms can be assigned to candidates, sponsors, guardians, or program managers and are completed within an active placement.
To begin, click Configure on the Forms card.
Form Types
Every form is assigned as a sequence — a single form is simply a one-step sequence, and adding more than one form creates a multi-step sequence completed in order. Forms themselves come in two types:
Standard forms — built and managed in the Form Bank; can be used alone (as a one-step sequence) or as one step within a multi-form sequence.
eFill forms — fillable PDF forms with configured fields and e-signature support; can also be used alone or as one step within a sequence. See Configure & Manage eFill Forms for detailed eFill configuration steps.
Form Assignments
One of the questions you will encounter when configuring forms is, "Who is responsible for completing this form?" You can then choose from the following options:
Candidates
Sponsors
Guardians
Program Managers
When Form recipients log into an active SchooLinks placement, they will complete the assigned Forms.
For more information about how to complete forms, please review the following articles:
Configure Standard Forms
Click + Assign form (or the pencil icon on an existing sequence to edit it).
Enter a Sequence name and Start date — the start of the completion window for the form or sequence.
Select a Deadline type:
Static (placements follow a similar schedule) – Set specific start and end dates to apply to every placement. Choose this option if placements run on a fixed timeline.
Rolling (placements start at different times) – Due dates are calculated a set number of days after a placement becomes active, either when published to the candidate (staff-managed and sponsor-driven programs) or when approved (student-sourced programs).
Optionally, turn on Allow file upload to satisfy form completion to let the responsible party upload a scan of the form instead of completing it online. This must be approved by the Program Manager.
Under Form Selection, click + Add form.
Click + New Form to create a new form or select an existing program form from the list.
For step-by-step instructions on creating a new form, see Staff: Overview of Form Bank Management
Select the Responsible party — who is filling out the form — and either set the Due date (static deadline) or Days Until Due (rolling deadline)
Optionally, toggle on Prerequisite required to unlock form if this form should stay locked until a different form elsewhere in the program is completed first. This is not for ordering forms within this sequence — it points to a separate form/sequence in the program.
For all responsible parties other than Program Manager, you can optionally toggle for allowing the Program Manager to complete form of behalf of the responsible party.
Repeat to add as many forms as needed, and drag the 6-dot icon to reorder them. Adding more than one form automatically makes this a sequence.
*Note: Forms in a sequence unlock on their due date, even if the previous responsible party in the sequence has not completed their form.
Click Save changes.
Configure eFill Forms
Use eFill forms to configure fillable PDF documents with assigned fields and e-signature support.
For detailed eFill configuration steps, refer to 👉 Configure & Manage eFill Forms
Competencies & Evaluations
Competencies & Evaluations
Evaluations are used to track progress in your program and serve as a great way to collect feedback from Candidates and Sponsors.
Competencies and evaluations can now be configured directly in the platform. For step-by-step configuration instructions, see Configure Program Competencies & Evaluations... coming soon!
Time & Experience Tracking
Time & Experience Tracking
Add at least one experience type to enable logging and tracking of hours or experiences for this program.
Click the pencil icon on the Time & Experience Tracking card, then select an experience type from the Search experience types to add dropdown.
*Note: Experience types are configured in the Experience Tracker module. If the experience type you need hasn't been created yet, click the blue Experience Tracker link to go to the Experience Tracker dashboard and create it there.
Once an experience type is added, optionally toggle on Prerequisite required to unlock experience type if it should stay locked until a prerequisite is met. Then choose between:
Forms completed: select the form that must be completed to unlock this experience type.
Hours logged: select the experience type whose logged hours will unlock this one, and set the minimum number of hours required.
Experiences logged: select the experience type whose logged entries will unlock this one, and set the minimum number of entries required.
*Note: Use Hours logged when the required commitment is measured in total time (e.g. "20 hours of job shadows"); use Experiences logged when it's measured in number of occurrences (e.g. "3 job shadows completed").
Optionally, toggle on Show Check in/Check out buttons and functionality on placement card on the student's homepage to let candidates log their time directly from their student dashboard.
Under Instructions, you can customize the Candidate Instructions and Sponsor Instructions shown on the time/experience tracking tab of their placement dashboard.
Additional Notes
If an experience type is removed from this program, any student entries that were submitted under that experience will no longer appear in the program.
Submitted entries will not be updated if experience type selections are changed after they've already been linked to the program. All experience types configured in your Experience Tracker module will be visible in this dropdown, and you can select multiple experience types if necessary.
☝️ Reminder: Mark the card as Complete once all fields are configured
Notifications
View a full list of notifications enabled for this program.
Click View Notification Catalog to see all notification types associated with this program.
The catalog displays one row per notification and includes the notification name, category, recipients, trigger, description, method (email or in-app), and frequency.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can the Program or Placement Manager create a placement?
Can the Program or Placement Manager create a placement?
No, in the Sponsor-Driven Program Type the Sponsor is the only party who can create the Placement.
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