NursingCAS Dispatch
Welcome to the NursingCAS Dispatch – a monthly newsletter intended to keep you up to date with current happenings at NursingCAS. The newsletter will feature:
- User Updates to keep you in the loop, so you can keep your team and applicants in the loop.
- NursingCAS by the Numbers, a metric to showcase application statistics and other relevant data.
- NursingCAS Know-How, an in-depth examination of a NursingCAS feature.
- Social Beat, which will feature nursing and admissions news from around the web.
User Updates
PTE Status Viewable in WebAdMIT
You will now be able to quickly identify if an applicant has chosen to use the Professional Transcript Entry (PTE) service, where a PTE specialist enters the applicant’s completed coursework for an additional fee. The PTE Status field appears for all applicants under the Applicant Header on the Applicant Details page; it won’t appear in the full application PDF. It can be used in the List Manager, Export Manager, and Email Templates as a merge field. The possible values for this field include:
- Awaiting Transcripts: the applicant has not submitted all required, official transcripts to the CAS.
- Ready for Work: the applicant is in queue to have their coursework entered by a PTE specialist.
- Pending Approval: the applicant must approve the entered coursework before their application is given a Complete date and placed in line for verification. Note that the applicant may have to meet additional CAS requirements, such as a minimum number of evaluations completed, before being given a Complete date.
- Approved: the applicant has approved the entered coursework.
If an applicant did not elect to use the PTE service, their PTE status is blank. See more details. This enhancement will be turned on next week for NursingCAS users.
New Canadian-Inclusive Language
With the addition of Canadian-based programs, some areas of the application have new text to clarify our questions as a result of language and culture differences. These areas include:
- Updated Language Proficiency question to “What is your Native Language?” (previously, “What is your First Language?”)
- Updated State/Province drop-downs (previously, State drop-downs).
- Updated Colleges and Universities Attended section (previously, Colleges Attended section). Any references to colleges in this section have also been updated to “colleges and universities.”
- Updated Transcript Entry section. Any references to colleges in this section have been updated to “colleges and universities.”
- New Felony question block that includes “Indictable Offense” language.
- New Misdemeanor question block that includes “Summary Offense” language.
Organization Name in Updated Add Program Page
We’ve made the Add Program page even easier to read. It now lists the Organization Name field as a row with its programs grouped below it, instead of as a column. The Organization Name also remains at the top of the table until the next organization and program grouping appear.
Updated Transcript Entry Video
The “Need help with Transcript Entry? Watch this video” link available in the Academic History section now goes to this new page.
Check Status Definitions
New definitions for transcript, letter of evaluation, and official test score statuses are now included in the NursingCAS help center. This will help clarify to applicants the processing and posting of their application materials.
Search by “Any Value” and “None”
You can now search by “Any Value” and “None” in the following WebAdMIT search pages:
- Search Applicants
- Search Assignments
- Search Interviews
“Any Value” works the same as the “Is Not Null” search operator in the List Manager, and “None” works the same as the “Is Null” search operator.
Note that “Any Value” and “None” are not available in following drop-downs:
- Organization
- Program Name
- Application Status
- Designation
New Fields in Applicant Header
The following fields are now available in the Applicant Header Manager:
- Citizenship Status
- Holds Visa Status
PDF Manager Templates Shared by Work Groups
PDF Manager templates can now be shared with other users by Work Groups. All existing PDF Manager templates will automatically be shared with the WebAdMIT Administrators Work Group; you can edit your templates if you need to adjust these sharing rights. Additionally, you can copy PDF Manager templates that have been shared with you.
Local Status and Decision Code Details in Designations Panel
The following fields are now included in the Details button under the Designations panel on the Applicant Details page:
- Local Status Last Changed By
- Local Status Last Changed On
- Decision Code Last Changed By
- Decision Code Last Changed On
This data is already available in the History panel and accessible in the List Manager and Export Manager.
Multiple Choice Questions Configured with One Answer Option
You can now configure multiple choice questions to include only one answer option. This is helpful if you want to create confirmation statements or questions with only one possible answer (i.e., “I accept the above statement”).
Reminder: Organization-Level Custom Questions – Respond by May 1
If your school would like to use the Organizational-Level Custom Questions Configuration option then please notify Caroline Kane (ckane@aacnnursing.org) by May 1, so we can activate this option for your school in time for the opening of the Configuration Portal for the 2019 – 2020 Cycle. Note, program-level custom questions will remain an option and is the best configuration choice for schools that ask different questions for each program offered.
By the Numbers
For the previous five weeks verification has only taken one day, the longest streak for such a short verification time since 2017.
NursingCAS Know-How
From the Archive: GRE Integration
One of the top reasons schools decide to join NursingCAS is to be more efficient. Services offered by NursingCAS allow you to direct your staff hours to more productive pursuits, such as nurturing the applicant to student pipeline.
One such service is GRE integration. NursingCAS has a partnership with ETS to allow applicants to submit their GRE scores directly to their chosen programs in NursingCAS. Before this partnership, schools who utilize the GRE for their admissions process had to manually enter official scores into WebAdMIT. Now, with the integration, ETS will automatically send applicant GRE scores to WebAdMIT where you can view and download them when convenient. And programs can incorporate the GRE data into scoring rubrics and the review process.
Utilizing this feature is easy, simply fill out the GRE Score Reporting Order Form and return to ETS. You will then receive your Designated Institution (DI) code and the NursingCAS team will update this information on the Website instructions. There is no cost to schools to add the GRE scores and the code for your school/NursingCAS will be different than your normal GRE code. Once you receive the new code from ETS you can communicate that information to applicants via your Website, materials, and program homepage(s).
Increase your NursingCAS knowledge and know-how by utilizing the Liaison Academy resources. Several Webinars will be offered this spring:
- Making WebAdMIT Work for You – 4/11
- Exploring Emails in WebAdMIT – 4/23
- Building Your Review Process: What You’ll Need Early in the Cycle – 4/25
- Getting Started with WebAdMIT – 5/7
- Analyzing Applicant Data – 5/9
- Evaluating Your Applicant’s with WebAdMIT’s GPAs – 5/21
- WebAdMIT Configuration Portal Training – 5/23
- Introduction to CAS – 6/11
- Making WebAdMIT Work for You – 6/13
- Working in WebAdMIT as a Reviewer or Interviewer – 6/18
And as a reminder, the Liaison User Conference which is designed for all CAS/WebAdMIT users, will be held in Boston, MA on June 27-28.
Social Beat
Navigating the Never-Ending Online Course Cycle
Creating a system for developing and revamping online courses can be challenging — but is increasingly essential — for institutions with growing programs.
More colleges are ending requirements that applicants submit SAT or ACT. It’s not the admissions scandal, but about diversity concerns and may be a Chicago impact.