A Placeholder (formerly called a Planning Position) is a way you can indicate a planned change for an unspecified faculty member. Most commonly this is a new hire (who isn't in your department yet), or it is some other change (e.g. a departure) for which you are not yet sure for whom it is associated.

To use a Placeholder, click the Add a Planned Change button in the Activity Bar header on the List page. There are two paths here:

• Selecting "New Hire" will automatically create a placeholder for you, since Med Finance prefers that New Hires are not attached to existing faculty. This streamlines the prior process of having to create a Planning Position first.
  
  
  
  
• Selecting any other planned change type will show you a list of faculty, with an "Add to a New Placeholder" button at the top. Selecting this button will then create the new placeholder for you.
  
  
  

Once automatically created, the Placeholder will have the blank planned change form ready for you to complete. It will also be untitled, and have other empty attributes. Again, there are two paths here:

• Completing a New Hire planned change form will automatically update the Placeholder's name, track/rank, and compensation with whatever you entered in the planned change. You may still edit this afterward.
• Completing any other planned change form on a Placeholder will still require you to manually add the Placeholder's attributes (name, track/rank, and compensation).

To add or edit the Placeholder's name, track/rank, or compensation, click the Edit Placeholder button at the top and make your changes in the small window that appears. 

You may also delete a Placeholder by clicking the Delete Placeholder button. This is only recommended if you no longer need the placeholder; if the planned change has occurred, you should use the Reconcile button instead.

• NOTE: if one or more of a Placeholder's New Hire plans have been PCN Approved or associated with an active Hiring workflow, you will be unable to delete the placeholder.

Finally, you may also add/edit/delete Locations for this placeholder, by using the Locations drawer in the header area. See more information about this feature on the Detail page instructions.