Contents

• Overview
• What is Program Owner Reassignment?
• ⚠️ Important Notes
  • Program Owner Rules
  • What Happens to Your Access After Reassignment?
• Before You Begin
• Step-By-Step Instructions
  • Access Program Settings
  • Change Program Owner
• What Happens After Changing the Program Owner?
• Next Steps

Overview

This article shows Organization Owners, Client Admins, and Program Owners how to change (reassign) the Program Owner for a program in Next, and what happens to the previous Program Owner's access afterward. 

What is Program Owner Reassignment? 

In Next, the Program Owner has more permissions than any other role in the program. This includes changing program settings, managing program members, and making final award decisions. You can reassign the Program Owner role in a program to another member of your organization — for example, when staff change or a program's leadership shifts. The new Program Owner takes over responsibility for the program. 

To learn more about Program Owner permissions, see ➡️Roles & Permissions: Program Owner

• Who can change the Program Owner in a program?
  • Organization Owners
  • Client Admins (in partner-managed accounts)
  • The current Program Owner
• Who can you reassign the Program Owner role to? 
  • Organization Members (e.g., Program Manager, Program Staff)
  • Organization Owners

⚠️ Important Notes

Program Owner Rules: 

• Each program can have only one Program Owner: A program can only have one Program Owner at a time. Limiting each program to one owner helps prevent errors, such as over-awarding or conflicting award assignments. 
   
• The Program Owner role is required: You cannot remove or disable the Program Owner role. You can only transfer it. 

• A person can be a Program Owner for multiple programs: One person can be the Program Owner for multiple programs in an organization at the same time. 
   
• If no Program Owner is selected during program creation, defaults to creator: If no Program Owner is assigned during program creation, the person creating the program automatically becomes the Program Owner.  This is always an Organization Owner or Client Admin. Ownership can be transferred later. 

What Happens to Your Access After Reassignment? 

• If you're also an Organization Owner or Client Admin: You keep your high-level Organization Owner or Client Admin permissions across the organization, including inside this program. Within the program itself, your listed role changes to Program Manager (PM) on the Program Members list.

• If you’re NOT also an Organization Owner or Client Admin: You keep access to the program, but your role automatically changes to Program Manager, and your permissions in the program update to match. 
  
  For a full breakdown of what each role can and cannot do, see ➡️Understanding Member Types: Roles & Permissions

Before You Begin

⚠️ You can only assign the Program Owner role to someone who's already a member of the organization. 

• If you have program-level access only, see ➡️ Add New Program Members to add someone to this program. If you have Organization Owner or Client Admin access, see ➡️ Invite New Members to Your Organization to add someone at the organization level — this is also how you'd add a new Organization Owner.

Step-By-Step Instructions 

Access Program Settings

1. Log in to your account. From the Programs page, click View Program to open the program you want to work in. 
    
    
2. In the program, click Program Settings in the left-hand menu. 
   
   
    

Change Program Owner

1. Click the dropdown arrow on the far-right of the Member Types section to expand it. 
   
   
    
2. In the Member Types section, click Change Owner in the upper-right corner. 
   
   
    
3. Click the dropdown menu, and select a new Program Owner from the options. 
   
   

Reminder: The new Program Owner must already be a member of the organization. If they aren't a member yet, they won't show up in the dropdown. Need to invite someone first? See the section above: Before You Begin.

4. Click Save Changes in the bottom-right corner of the pop-up. 


 

5. You'll automatically return to the Program Settings page. Click Save Changes in the upper-right corner of the screen to save your assignment. 


 

• A confirmation message appears in the bottom-left corner of the screen: “Saved member types!” 
   

What Happens After Changing the Program Owner?

• The new Program Owner: 
   
  • Takes on new permissions: If they're already signed into Next, they must sign out and back in to access their new privileges. 
     
  • Receives an automatic email: The email below is automatically sent to the new Program Owner, notifying them of the change. 
    
    
    
     
• The previous Program Owner: 
   
  • Maintains access to the program, but their resulting permissions depend on whether they are also an Organization Owner or Client Admin. If so, those high-level permissions carry over. If not, they'll have Program Manager permissions. See more in the section above: What Happens to Your Access After Reassignment?
     

Next Steps & Related Articles

• Need to remove a member completely? Reassigning ownership changes the previous owner’s role to Program Manager – it does not remove them from the program. To completely remove someone from the program, see ➡️Remove Program Members.
   
• Need to change a member’s role? Only Organization Owners and Client Admins can change member roles. For more info, see ➡️How to Change a User’s Role (coming soon).
   
• Want to update available member types for the program? This is also managed in Program Settings > Member Types. For more info, see ➡️Set Up Program Member Types.

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