Kuali Build: Approval Workflow Forms

Note: Kuali Build is specifically designed to create approval workflows. For more information on other tools available at Tufts for collecting data through electronic forms and how they compare, visit the Form Building FAQs page on AccessTufts.

Kuali Build is an online application designed for approval workflows. With Kuali Build, you can create forms to distribute. When users fill out and submit a Kuali Build form, the form is automatically routed to the appropriate individual(s) for approval. From the start of the workflow to the end, you can configure multiple automatic steps of email notifications, approvals, and integrations with other applications.

For example, you’ll use Kuali Build if your goal is to:

  1. Create a form where students can submit a research proposal.
  2. The submitted proposal will be sent to the department head for approval.
  3. If the department head approves the proposal, the department administrators should be notified and assigned a task to allocate the resources.

Important: Documents should not be kept and data should not be stored in Kuali Build. Kuali Build is designed only as an approval tool. If a form response has documents uploaded and associated with it, the documents and form responses should be exported from Kuali Build and stored in Box or SharePoint Online (See Viewing Kuali Build Form Responses / Documents).

If your goal is to:

  1. Create a form where students can submit a request for research
  2. When a student submits a request, the request is sent to the department head for approval.
  3. If the request is approved, you want a ticket to automatically be created in ServiceNow requesting resource allocation.

Your form might look like this:
 Form with questions asking about your research proposal

Then, you might configure a workflow like this:
 Workflow with, in order, form submission, sending form for approval, and connecting to servicenow

Step by step, what will happen is:

  1. A student wants research approval and submits the form.
  2. Kuali Build emails the head of the student’s department alerting them a request is waiting for their approval. The department head receives an email that looks like this:
     Email with Begin Review button
  3. Upon clicking Begin Review, the department head is taken to the form in Kuali Build showing the student’s completed form. The department head has options on the right of the form to Approve or Deny the request. They can also Save where they currently are and finish the approval at a later time or Send the form Back to the student with comments. 
     Form preview with Approval option on right
  4. If the department head denies the request, the student automatically receives an email alerting them the request was denied.
  5. If department head approves the request, a ticket is automatically created in ServiceNow.

Kuali Build is an online application. You can access Kuali Build by your web browser and other Internet-enabled devices.

  1. Open an internet browser (e.g. Chrome or Firefox) and go to https://tufts.kualibuild.com
  2. In the Tufts login screen that appears, enter your Tufts username (e.g. jjumbo01) and password, then click Login. You may also be asked to complete DUO two-factor authentication.
    The Tufts login screen is the normal blue screen
  3. The Kuali Build home page will load in your browser
    Kuali Build homepage has an app list and a menu with an action list and submissions

Kuali Build uses different terminology for common things than you may be used to.

  • In Kuali Build, submitted forms are called Documents.
  • A workflow is the series of steps that are taking after a form is submitted, such as sending it to a department coordinator for approval.
  • You will frequently see the term app. When you’re just getting started, it’s easiest to consider the terms app and form interchangeable. An app contains a form, the form’s approval workflow, and the submitted responses to that form (documents).
    An app contains documents, form, and workflow

When you want to create a new form and corresponding approval workflow in Kuali Build, you’ll create a new app, which will create a blank form, an empty approval workflow, and a space to access and export documents (completed forms).

When you distribute a link to your form and someone fills out and submits the form, in Kuali Build, we don’t say “A user filled out and submitted the form.” Instead, we say “A user created a document in the app” because submitted forms are called documents and they are stored in the app.

 

Please use the following color guide for your apps:

  • Green = Live
  • Red = Retired, inactive, demo purposes
  • Grey = Test
  • Yellow = Development


You can select any icons, but choose one of the four colors