ChoiceU.com Student User Guide

CHOICE HOTELS INTERNATIONAL

Revised: 5/07/2015

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Welcome to the new ChoiceU.com! This guide is to serve as our introductory student guide for LMS8. Please use the following link to access the site www.ChoiceU.com. The core functions of the site: Training, Search, Class & Webinar registration remain the same. Otherwise, this is an entirely new interface. As well, the site and a number of the modules will now function on any tablet / mobile device. Use your current student and password to login. If available, use your tablet or mobile device to navigate the site in addition to using your desktop.

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The NEW ChoiceU.com All of the past functions and training resource available on ChoiceU.com remain the same. However, the site layout, the location of training content and resources have been redesigned. Login details remain the same as does the URL; www.ChoiceU.com. Multiple language options are available to choose from on this screen. Selecting one of the four options will translate the site interface only – content will not be translated.

Logging On: As an employee on property, you have unlimited access to volumes of information on hospitality topics ranging from guest service, general industry training, and day-to-day operations of a hotel. To begin, you will need a ChoiceU.com student account. This account must be created for you through the User Group Administrator (UGA) account provided to the General Manager at your property. Once your student account has been created, you are ready to begin! Your Choice University journey will begin with logging in. If you are not already there please go to www.ChoiceU.com. Now that you are at the login screen, you will need your student Username and Password. If you have misplaced your password simply enter your username and click on the Forget Password link. Enter the same email address entered with your profile and click on Reset Password. A password reset link will be emailed to the address on file for that account. Enter your information then select “Log In.” Revised: 5/07/2015

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Welcome Page: You are now at the ChoiceU.com Welcome Screen. In the center of the screen is the Icon Bar with five links: My Badges & Leaderboard, My Certificates, My Training Programs, and Where I Left Off. From here you can access all of your training, link directly to previous sessions, and print your student certificates. While navigating ChoiceU.com, if you want to return to this Home Page, click on the Home button in the upper left corner of the tool bar.

Explanation of each button will follow in this document. First, let’s address the new banner. This is referred to as a Smart Banner, as it displays content recommendations specific to each student based on brand, job type, and completion records. Revised: 5/07/2015

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Smart Banner: On the left side of the banner there are ten topics. These topics are identical to those located within the My Training Programs tabs. Clicking on any of these tabs will populate specific training module recommendations on the right side that are unique to your student account.

In this example, clicking on Revenue & Channel Management displays only four of the 10 Revenue Management modules. Note the icons next to each module title. The Smart Banner displays only content that your student account has not completed entirely. For this demonstration, of the four listed modules, three have been started and one yet to begin. The other completed Revenue Modules will not display in this banner as they have been completed. Click on any of the module listings and you will be redirected to the content. The banner should be used as an additional tool for recommending exactly which modules should be taken by the student. New content is loaded to ChoiceU.com the banner will also be updated.

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Badges & Leaderboards The latest addition to ChoiceU.com includes our very own Badging and Leaderboard functionality. There are numerous new features on ChoiceU.com accessible throug the “My Badges & Leaderboard” icon. The first, your profile summary page, is shown below.

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When you select My Badges & Leaderboard, you may want to change your avatar image. To choose a new avatar, click on the “Change Image” link which will open a window with multiple image options. Click on your selected image once and the window will close; your selected avatar will now display on your profile. On the My Badges & Leaderboard homepage, you will also find both a Bio and My Rank section. Under My Rank, your personal engagement with ChoiceU.com is rated against other ChoiceU.com students by Job Type, Brand, Country and your specific hotel.

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Leaderboards As you scroll down you will see ChoiceU.com leaderboards categorized by job type, property code, brand and country. Leaderboards rank your engagement with ChoiceU.com against other students’ engagement with the site. Ranking positions are determined based on the number of ChoiceU.com training completions associated with your account. For the Job Type leaderboard, if you are General Manager, your leaderboard will only show accounts of other General Managers. If you are a Housekeeper, the leaderboard will show only accounts of other Housekeepers, etc… Under the Property Code leaderboard, your account is ranked against peers and colleagues from your own property. Brand and Country leaderboards operate the same way. Each board lists the top 10 student accounts followed by where your student account ranks if not within the top 10. (See Top Ranked by Country – the account 24910 is listed as #147.) At the top of your My Badges & Leaderboards page you can find the total number of student accounts in each leaderboard. In this instance, there are 46,807 student accounts in the United States. (The ‘out of’ number will change frequently. *Ranking is compiled nightly and will not reflect additional completions until the following day.

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Badges Directly under your avatar, Bio, and MY Rank is the My Badges section (shown in the left image.) Here you can find the badges you have already earned based on your training completions. Badges displaying a tan image represent badges that can be earned by any student on ChoiceU.com through various actions when interacting with the website. Badges displaying a gold image are content specific. These are earned by completing either a single piece of training on the site or multiple inter-related modules. Click on the “View all available badges” link to see all badges available on ChoiceU.com and their descriptions.

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On this screen you will find all of the badges available to earn on ChoiceU.com and their requirements. Most of the badges will be based on completion of a single training content, collection of training content or in some instances the combination of multiple actions and content completions. Once a badge is earned a green check mark will appear next to the badge title. Next to the description for each badge is the number of times that badge has been awarded to ChoiceU.com students. In this instance there have been 6,000 students awarded the Vanity badge for having updated their Profile/Avatar image. Some badges will be viewable immediately; other badges will only display the following day after the content and or requirements have been completed. If you have already completed content required for a content badge, you will receive the badge and will not be required to complete the training again. *New badges will be added so check back often to see which new badges you can earn!

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Where I Left Off:

This icon will link you to the most recent training module you were working on during your last session. If this is your first time logging into ChoiceU.com it will redirect you to all of the available content.

The NEW My Training Programs:

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For now, click on (in your student account) C.U. Learning Programs. Selecting any one of the window menu 1 options will open a second window menu. Selecting a topic, all of the training materials stored within C.U. Learning Programs will be displayed. In order to restrict the selection to more specific material – click on one of the window menu options. For this example click on C.U. on the Road, this will display a new order of training.

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Continue clicking through the different options to explore how content is displayed. As each subsequent window menu expands, the content displayed below becomes more specific to the topic being selected. In the example to the left, only C.U. on the Road on the topic of Fall Regional Clinics will be displayed.

Explore the content group tabs on your own. Notice that not every topic category has the same volume of content, so they will not have the same number of expanding window menus.

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Backing Out of Content Groups: Once a window is open, in order to go backwards and display new information – click on any one of the previous tabs. For example, with Fall Regional Clinics highlighted, clicking on HOST or Trainer Development or any other previous listing will update the content being displayed. OR click on the X to reset the content being displayed. Place the cursor at the end of this box for the X to display.

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Launching Content:

Using the windows already discussed to locate your desired training materials, you can open the content by clicking on the blue “Launch this content” button. As before, the module will open in a new window and you can proceed as normal.

Content guidelines related to each module have also changed in display. When a training module is completed, it will display (Completed) and the entire title will display yellow. The duration of each module and your progress details will also be displayed.

Prerequisites, when applicable, display below the content description. In this instance indicating the prerequisite (Introduction to Sales) has been completed.

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My Certificates:

Many of the modules on ChoiceU.com are part of a required training regimen. These modules, once completed, will generate a certificate of completion for you. To access the certificates and print, click the above My Certificates icon. The screen below will open next. Scroll through your available certificates and click Download. The document will export as a PDF through Adobe.

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Messages: One of the communication methods available through ChoiceU.com is the News & Messaging function. This feature allows Choice University to notify you of new programs, content updates or requests for your input on new ideas. When a message is waiting in your inbox, the icon below will display the quantity of messages. Click on the ChoiceU envelope to access your message.

Available messages will display as shown below. The details will appear after clicking on the blue News Title button.

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Learning Wire Sessions:

To search for live online learning webinars click the red Learning Wire Sessions button. This will open the following window where each of the topics will be presented. Search options are available if seeking a specific course.

Available webinar sessions will display below your search criteria.

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Once you have located the webinar you would like to attend, all of the currently scheduled sessions will be displayed as well.

Click on the Register button for the session you wish to attend.

Your selected session will turn green, and a confirmation email will be sent to the address on file with your ChoiceU.com student account. To access your webinar, click the Launch button.

To cancel your registration, simply click on Drop Out. Another confirmation email indicating cancellation of your attendance will be sent.

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Classroom Workshops:

To search and register for Choice University workshops, click on the red C.U. on the Road Workshops button. This will open the follow in window where each of the topics will be presented. Search options are available if seeking a specific course.

All Choice University workshops have a cost associated with them. Details of the materials and topics discussed along with pricing information are included in the description. Also, when applicable, prerequisites will be listed indicating if they have been met or not.

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Below the session description, all currently scheduled sessions will be listed by date, time, city, and instructor. Click on ‘Register’ to confirm your attendance. An email will be sent to your student email address on file. When there is a cost involved the fee will be generated and posted to the following cycle’s franchise billing statement. Both classes and webinars can be found lasses and webinars can be found (once registered) under “My Training Programs” click on “Download Class Schedule” to access your currently scheduled sessions.

After registering for the class, you can cancel attendance if you are unable to attend. Click on “Details” next to Drop Out to identify the cancellation date. This will be noted as “Register By” date. Any cancellations after this date will not go through and a charge will still occur.

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MY Account: This tab provides access to your profile preferences, activity report, transcripts, and printing your certificates. Clicking preferences will allow you to update your password and contact information. Activity Report will show any training modules or other resource material you have launched. Transcript will only show training records of modules/programs that have a quiz or test associated with them. Clicking on Certificates will allow you to access the certificates you have acquired, and print them.

Contact Us: Training Hotline Phone: 888-550-6345 Email: [email protected] Fax: 301-592-5012

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ChoiceU.com F.A.Q I cannot remember my password, how can I reset it? o Located on the login screen at www.ChoiceU.com you will find a link below to Log In that says “Forgot Password.” Where do I go to sign up for classroom workshops? o Go to ChoiceU.com and login to your student account with your username and password. Click on C.U. on the Road within the first window menu. A list of available classes will be displayed. Scroll through the posted classes, click Details for additional information, and Register when ready. If prerequisites have been met click on “Register,” then confirm your registration. I signed up for a class, but now I cannot attend. Where can I go to cancel? o From the home page, for classes click on “C.U. on the Road Workshops” and for webinars click on “Learning Wire Webinars” and find the class or webinar you are registered for. Once you see it listed, click on the Drop Out button next to the class or webinar and it will cancel you from that session. I completed a module with a passing score, but it is still showing incomplete, why? o Check to make sure you have viewed all sections of the module – launch the module and check the menu to see if there is a dark gold dot in front of each section which indicates that it is completed. If there is not a dark gold dot, it needs to be completed. I completed a module, but it is not showing up in my transcript! o Activity and Transcript reports are updated at midnight of each day. Modules will not reflect completion on these reports until then. I’m no longer at the same property, do I have to retake everything or can my records be changed to the new hotel. o All your records go with you and do not need to be taken again. Send an email to [email protected] providing the old and new property code and the brand and we can update your property information.  If another account is created at the new property, Choice University is NOT able to merge the records. My account was deleted, can it be restored? o Unfortunately, accounts that have been deleted CANNOT be restored. Some of my modules are missing! o Check to see if they were archived. Next to the Search box, click on the pick list and select Archived. If it is there, hover at the end of the gray bar & click on the box icon. If not, contact Choice University for additional support. How do I print my certificate? o If the module has a certificate and you have met the criteria for completing the module, the certificate link will display after the module information. Click this link to generate the certificate.  Certificates are also accessible under “My Account” and “Certificates Icon”

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Required ChoiceU.com Training by Brand

Required ChoiceU.com Training by Job Type General Manager Revenue Management / Room Condition (as applicable) Breakfast Attendant Training (as applicable) ChoiceADVANTAGE Training / Choice Privileges Front Desk & Night Audit Staff ChoiceADVANTAGE Training Choice Privileges Commitment to Your Satisfaction Housekeeper Room Condition Breakfast Attendant Breakfast Attendant Training (as applicable)

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