Who this is for
College Administrator
Force Complete, Drop and the other workflow actions are not always available, and the interface greys them out without saying why. The cause is almost always a Workflow Action Policy, a permission you do not hold, or the state the registration is already in.
For the steps once the option is available, see Force complete a workflow. For abandoning one instead, see Abandon a registration.
Symptom |
What you'll see |
|---|---|
The option is greyed out and no reason is given |
The menu item is visible but disabled |
The workflow has already finished |
Neither action appears on a complete or abandoned workflow |
Abandon is missing on an enrolled student |
Abandon is gone while other actions remain |
Force Complete is missing on this workflow |
Force Complete is absent but Abandon is present |
You see fewer actions than a colleague |
Options differ between roles on the same workflow |
A Workflow Action Policy is blocking the action
The issue
A policy can prevent an action while the workflow sits in a particular state, for example while an application approval is still in progress. Policies are set at three levels: DualEnroll platform-wide, your college system, and your own college. A policy always disables the option rather than hiding it, and it does not display its reason anywhere in the menu, by hovering, by keyboard, by touch, or to a screen reader.
How to fix it
- Check your own college's policies. See Understanding Workflow Action Policies and Manage Workflow Action Policies.
- If nothing there accounts for it, the block may come from a college system policy. Those apply to every college in the system and are not listed on your college's own policies screen, so submit a request to the Help Desk to have the applied rule read back to you.
- Wait for the workflow to move past the blocking state, or adjust your college's own policy.
The workflow is already complete or abandoned
The issue
Both actions apply only to workflows that are still active. If the workflow has already finished, or was abandoned earlier, the options do not appear at all.
How to fix it
Check the workflow's current state in its history before looking further.
Abandon only: the student is enrolled, or the registration is talking to your SIS
The issue
This is the most common reason Abandon disappears. Once the student is enrolled in the course, or while the registration is actively exchanging data with your student information system (SIS), abandoning is blocked unless your college has been opted in to allow it.
How to fix it
- Confirm whether the student is already enrolled.
- If you need to abandon enrolled registrations as a matter of course, ask your DualEnroll representative about enabling that.
Force Complete only: this workflow type has no completion step
The issue
Force Complete appears only on workflow types that have a completion step defined, and only while such a step is present on the workflow itself. That is the real rule: it is not a per-release restriction, and it is why the option shows on some workflows and not others.
How to fix it
Check whether the workflow type has a completion step. Abandon has a wider reach, covering registrations, per-term workflows, course reviews, instructor reviews and ongoing requirements.
Your role does not allow it
The issue
Force Complete is a college-staff action. High school staff and students never get it, and not every college role does either. Abandon reaches more roles, and a student can abandon their own registration, which no college setting turns off. A student seeing an option you cannot is expected behaviour for Abandon rather than a fault.
How to fix it
- Check the role on your own account before assuming a policy is involved.
- To restrict Abandon on registrations, use a Workflow Action Policy, because policies are evaluated whoever is acting.
- Policies do not reach course reviews, instructor reviews or ongoing requirements. A policy saved against one of those is stored but has no effect, so submit a request to the Help Desk if you need abandoning restricted there.
Still stuck?
One policy can disable six actions in that menu: Abandon, Force Complete, Drop, Withdraw, Undrop and Unwithdraw, so a greyed-out Drop or Withdraw is the same cause and the same fix. Force Drop and Force Withdraw are the exception, and depend only on your role. If none of the above explains it, submit a request to the Help Desk and include:
- the college, the student and the course section
- which action is unavailable, and whether it is greyed out or missing entirely
- what state the workflow is currently in
- the role on your own account