How to Configure Drop-In Appointments

Drop-in appointments allow students to check in and meet with career services staff without scheduling an appointment in advance. 

To offer drop-ins, enable the option on an Appointment Type, then optionally use Appointment Blocks to control when that type is available for drop-ins.

Enable drop-ins for an Appointment Type

1. Click your name in the upper-right corner of Handshake, then select School settings.
2. Select Appointment Types from the menu on the left.
3. Create a new Appointment Type or edit an existing one.
4. On the Details step, toggle on Enable drop-in. This allows students to select the Appointment Type when checking in for a drop-in appointment.
5. Complete the remaining steps, then save the Appointment Type.

For complete instructions on creating and editing Appointment Types, refer to School Settings: Appointment Types.

Configure a drop-in Appointment Block

Create a drop-in Appointment Block when you want an Appointment Type to be available only during designated dates and times. When creating or editing the block:

• Select Reserve for drop-in.
• Enter the dates and times during which you are available.
• Select the Appointment Types offered during the block.
• Configure the remaining block settings, then save the block.

Students cannot schedule appointments in advance during a block reserved for drop-ins. If you want to offer scheduled and drop-in appointments during the same period, create separate Appointment Blocks for each.

For complete Appointment Block instructions, refer to Configure Your Personal Appointment Availability (Appointment Blocks & Types).

How drop-in availability works

The Check-In Kiosk evaluates whether an Appointment Type has Enable drop-in toggled on and whether the student meets the applicable qualifications and label restrictions. Appointment Blocks are optional and affect availability in the following ways:

• If a drop-in-enabled Appointment Type is associated with one or more active or future drop-in Appointment Blocks, students can select it only while a matching block is active.
• If a drop-in-enabled Appointment Type is not associated with any active or future drop-in Appointment Blocks, students can select it whenever the kiosk is open for drop-ins.

As a result, students may not be presented with every drop-in-enabled Appointment Type at a given moment.

Troubleshoot a missing Appointment Type

If a student cannot find an expected Appointment Type at the kiosk, confirm that:

• Enable drop-in is toggled on for the Appointment Type. 
• The student meets the Appointment Type’s qualifications. 
• The student meets any applicable label restrictions. 
• If the Appointment Type should be available whenever the kiosk is open for drop-ins, confirm that it is not associated with an active or future drop-in Appointment Block.
•  If the Appointment Type should be available only during designated times, confirm that a matching drop-in Appointment Block is active. 
• Allow drop-in appointments was selected when the kiosk was launched. The office location and career center selected when launching the kiosk match the intended appointments.

If the Appointment Type is associated with an active or future drop-in Appointment Block, review the block’s start and end times, start and end dates, time zone, selected days, and associated Appointment Types.

Additional resources 

• Launch a Check-in Kiosk
• Manage the Appointment Waiting Room