Create a Custom Student ID Field in EDA

Learning Objectives

After completing this module you’ll be able to:

• Explain the benefits of using a Student ID Field in EDA.
• Create a custom field on the Contact object in EDA.

This module provides information about the managed package version of Education Cloud. As of March 2023, new or migrated customers use Education Cloud integrated platform solutions instead of managed packages. For information about the integrated platform solution, go to our Education Cloud Documentation.

Education Data Architecture (EDA) is a foundational data model. It gives educational institutions of all shapes and sizes access to the core CRM functionality they need to get started quickly, while allowing them to take advantage of the flexibility of the Salesforce platform by making customizations like adding additional fields, objects, and automation. An example of a simple yet powerful EDA customization is the creation of the Student ID Field, which is done through the addition of a custom field.

Create a Custom Field: Student ID Field

The Student ID Field is a custom field you can add to the Contact record page in EDA. Creating a Student ID Field allows you to keep the student ID as the central identification tool across all of your campus systems. This allows you to create data consistency and synchronize with your Student Information System (SIS) and other applications.

Creating a custom Student ID Field is a low-complexity customization, which means it’s not difficult to build. However, using this field in an integration involves some additional complexity that's best handled by an integration specialist.

Follow these steps to create a custom Student ID Field in EDA.

1. In EDA, click the Setup gear icon and select Setup. This launches Setup in a new web browser tab.
2. In Setup, click the Object Manager tab.
3. In the Quick Find box, search for Contact, then select Contact from the search results list.
4. Click Fields & Relationships in the left-hand panel.
5. Click New.
6. On the New Custom Field record, select Text as your Data Type, and click Next.
7. Fill in the custom field details:

8. Click Next.
9. Click Next again.
10. Click Save.

You can also select the External ID button to set this field as the unique record identifier from an external system. For example, if you have an SIS that links with Salesforce, create consistency by referring to the SIS ID of contact or account records from within Salesforce. To learn more, check out the article, Differences between the ‘External ID’ field and the “Unique ID” setting, linked in the Resources section.

Next, you’ll update the Cloudy College Student ID field’s security and check to make sure it’s on your page layout.

1. Scroll to find and select Cloudy College Student ID from the Fields & Relationships picklist.
2. Click Set Field-Level Security.
3. At the top of the Read-Only column, tick the checkbox to make this field read-only for all users if you don’t want end-users to change this field.
4. In the profiles list in the Read-Only column, de-select only System Administrator, then click Save.
5. From the menu on the left, click Page Layouts.
6. Select HEDA Contact Layout.
7. In the Quick Find box, search for Cloudy College Student ID, then click on the Cloudy College Student ID field name.
   1. If the Cloudy College Student ID field is on the page layout, it will momentarily be highlighted in yellow where it appears in Contact Details.
   2. If the field is not on the page layout, you can drag and drop the Cloudy College Student ID field into the Contact Details section of the page layout.
8. Reorder the Cloudy College Student ID field in Contact Details by dragging and dropping it to your preferred location.
9. Once you have the Cloudy College Student ID where you want it, click Save.

Now that the Student ID Field is on your page layout, you can see your new custom field in the Contact Details on any student’s contact record.

Sometimes, a newly added custom field might not be visible on the record page right away. If you experience this, try these troubleshooting options: refresh the page or log out of your org and log back in.

What’s Next?

Since it’s common for multiple students at the same institution to have similar or even the same names, you can update your search layout to search by each student's unique student ID. If you’d like to practice this search layout customization, and get hands-on with the custom Student ID Field steps in this module, head to the Resources section and click the link to the Saleforce.org Hands-On Training website.

Resources

• Article: Differences between the 'External ID' field and the 'Unique ID' field setting
• Website: Salesforce.org Hands-On Training (Education Cloud - Customize a Contact in Education Data Architecture)
• Trailhead: EDA Configuration and Data Import