What it does
Assignment rules automatically create form assignments when scheduled activities happen, so administrators don't hand out evaluations one by one. A rule defines who fills out the form, who it's about, and which event triggers it — such as a rotation ending or a course starting. Once active, the platform generates the right assignments on its own.
Who it's for
Program administrators and coordinators configuring rules for their program's forms, and institution administrators doing the same for institution-level forms.
How it works
Rules are configured in the final step of the form builder. Learners, supervising faculty, and other recipients don't interact with rules directly — they just see assigned forms appear in their personal forms list. You define three things:
Subject — is the form about a person, about the responder (self-assessment), or about the form type's exact entity (Rotation, Course, Session, Event, Program, or Shift)? The entity option only appears when the form type supports it.
Responders and recipients — pick roles, groups, group tags, group-local roles, or direct users. Set who completes the form and, when it's about people, who it's about. Rotation rules can add Rotation Supervisors and Block Directors; event rules can add Event Speakers.
Trigger — the event that creates assignments. Choices include rotation start, midpoint, and end; course start and end; session start and end; event start and end; shift start and end; a specific date; a recurring cadence for rotation rules; or manual/on-demand.
Scope and cadence. Narrow a rule to specific programs, rotations, courses, session types, event types, or shifts. Allow and deny lists work for individual sessions and events. Restrict to same group only pairs responders and recipients who share a group; Prevent duplicate assignments per schedule keeps one assignment per responder for each schedule block. For rotation rules, Weekly and Biweekly ask for one day of the week. Monthly, Quarterly, Biannually, and Annually repeat from the trigger date while each targeted rotation stays active.
Simulation. Before turning a rule on, run a simulation to see which assignments it would create, confirming the audience without sending anything. Recurring rotation rules use the real occurrence dates from the assignment engine in this preview.
The engine. The assignment engine checks every hour and creates assignments from active rules. Administrators watch it work on the automation monitor at Forms → Automation (/forms/automation) — last check, next check, per-check run sheets, and retries for a failed run. That monitor is covered in the system settings automation article; this article is about building the rule itself.
Before you start
You need edit permission on the form template; rules live inside the builder.
Pick the subject first (about a person, a self-assessment, or the form type's entity) — it decides which responder and trigger options appear next.
Know your trigger event (rotation end, course start, a specific date, and so on) before you open the step, since the fields on the card change to match it.
Do this
Open Forms → Templates (
/forms/templates) and open the template you want to automate, or start a new one — you should see the Basic Setup step.Move through the builder to Set Assignment Rules (step 3) — you should see the Evaluation Subject card at the top.
Choose the subject, then set Responders on the Responder Config card and, if the form is about people, Recipients on the Recipient Config card → the chip pickers show the roles, groups, or users you selected.
Open the trigger card and pick the event (for example rotation end, course start, or a specific date), then narrow it with program, rotation, or course filters if needed on that same card → the card shows only the options for that trigger type.
Select Simulate to preview the pairs the rule would create → the Simulation Results panel lists them without creating anything.
Select Complete Setup (or Finish, if this is the last builder step) → you return to the Form Templates page and the rule is active for the template.
You're done when
The rule shows in the template's assignment configuration with its subject, responders, and trigger.
A simulation run lists the audience you expect, with no unexpected names.
New assignments appear on the automation dashboard after the trigger event next occurs.
Boundaries and limits
Rules belong to a form template. Configuring them needs template edit permission.
The entity subject option shows the form type's real label — Rotation, Course, or Session. It stays disabled unless the form type supports it; a tooltip explains why instead of letting you pick an invalid option.
Triggers are limited to the supported list: rotation, course, session, event, and shift start/end, plus rotation midpoint, a specific date, recurring rotation cadence, manual, and on-demand. There are no custom triggers.
The hourly check creates assignments from rules you saved in the builder and records each check in the automation monitor. It does not add or change those rules.
A rule only reaches its own scope — its programs and selected activities. It never spills into other programs unless you target them.
Turning a rule off stops future assignments. It does not remove assignments already created.
Common questions
Q: Can I test a rule before it goes live? A: Yes. The builder includes a simulation step that lists the assignments the rule would create, without creating them.
Q: Can one form have several rules? A: Yes. A form can carry multiple rules — for example, one triggered at rotation end and another available on demand.
Q: Why did a learner get two copies of the same evaluation? A: Check whether multiple rules target the same audience. Turn on Prevent duplicate assignments per schedule so only one assignment per responder is created for each schedule block.
Q: When do assignments actually appear? A: The engine checks every hour; the automation monitor at Forms → Automation shows last check, next check, and each check's results. You can run a check now if you need assignments before the next hour.
GME programs
Applies to: gme. Differences from the base article only.
Who it's for
In GME programs, the typical rule pairs faculty as responders with residents or fellows as recipients: attendings evaluate residents at the end of each rotation, and residents evaluate the rotation or their attendings in return. Program coordinators usually own rule setup; the program director reviews the resulting evaluations.
How it works
The trigger vocabulary maps directly onto the GME block structure. The most common GME configurations are:
End-of-rotation evaluations — trigger at rotation end, faculty responders, resident recipients, scoped to the relevant rotation templates.
Mid-rotation feedback — the rotation midpoint trigger supports formative feedback required by many programs.
Rotation and faculty evaluations by residents — trigger at rotation end with residents as responders; these are often configured as confidential forms with a reveal threshold so faculty see feedback only after several responses accumulate.
For milestone-based assessments, forms can use milestone-style questions where the evaluator selects a level on a slider with descriptive level cards (including half-step "between" levels). Aggregated results feed competency reports used in Clinical Competency Committee preparation.
Common questions
Q: Can we automatically assign an evaluation to every attending a resident worked with on a block? A: Configure the rule with faculty responder roles and enable the option to include supervisors from the scheduled activity; assignments are generated per pairing on the rotation schedule.
Q: Do resident-on-faculty evaluations stay confidential? A: Yes, when the form is built as confidential. Identity stays hidden until the form's reveal threshold (minimum responses, and optionally a waiting period) is met.
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