The Graduate Admissions project prepares for the Phase 1 launch of Slate for most university graduate programs.
WashU is consolidating and unifying many of its graduate admissions systems and related processes by implementing a new admissions tool called Slate. This project supports Student Sunrise’s larger mission to enhance operations, improve how we manage data, and better support students during their time at WashU.
Applications will open in Slate for most university graduate programs – 158 in total – on September 1 as part of Phase 1 of the project. Additional programs will transition to Slate in fall 2023 for Phase 2.
The project team began configuring Slate in March 2022 and will transition most graduate programs to the new admissions system by fall 2023.
Graduate programs in Phase 1 include:
- Arts & Sciences
- Brown School
- Includes integration with SOPHAS for Public Health programs
- McKelvey School of Engineering
- Except dual-degree programs, which are in Phase 2
- Olin School of Business
- Doctoral programs only
- Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts
- Select School of Medicine programs:
- Applied Health Behavior Research: MS and Graduate Certificate
- Audiology & Communication Sciences: Doctor of Audiology, MS in Deaf Education, and PhD in Speech & Hearing Sciences
- Bioinformatics & Data Sciences: Certificate in Biomedical Informatics, Certificate in Biostatistics and Data Science, Certificate in Genetic Epidemiology, Master of Science in Biomedical Informatics, Master of Science in Biostatistics, Master of Science in Biostatistics and Data Science
- BJC Goldfarb School of Nursing: PhD in Nursing Science
- Program in Genetic Counseling: Master of Science
- Medical Physics: MS, PhD and Post-Doctoral Graduate Certificate
- Occupational Therapy, Rehabilitation & Participation Sciences programs: PhD (Phase 1 does not include OT Masters or ODT)
- Physical Therapy & Movement Sciences: PhD (Phase 1 does not include DPT)
“It’s exciting to see how the schools and divisions are learning from one another through this project and coming into alignment for the greater good of the university,” says Jessie Runiewicz, Graduate Admissions Slate functional lead. “Slate will provide many opportunities for our schools and divisions to improve graduate recruitment, admissions and institutional reporting to meet strategic goals.”
Preparing for September 1 launch
The project team is conducting extensive testing, developing training materials, and engaging key campus community members to prepare the university for the Phase 1 launch of Slate this fall.
Slate training for admissions staff will begin later this summer, but others, such as faculty and other application reviewers, will be trained in the fall. Training materials will address the diverse needs that Slate users have to complete tasks in the system. The delivery of training and self-help assets will take place leading up to and following the system go-live this fall.
The project’s working group, which includes representatives from each school, completed the first round of system testing earlier this summer, reviewing each unique graduate program application in Slate. Additional sessions will test program application reader capabilities, integration functionality, admissions decisions, queries and reporting needs. The project team plans to test Slate with graduate admissions staff later this summer.
In addition to engaging graduate admissions staff, the team has begun working with the Student Sunrise Communications Advisory Group to ensure details about system changes and training reach all affected members of the campus community. The advisory group, which is composed of communications team members from each of the schools and affected academic units, will advise and, as needed, support communications and engagement strategies in their areas. In preparation for the Phase 1 launch of Slate, communications advisory group members will partner with their graduate admissions teams to update any existing channels or materials their team uses to communicate with applicants.
Phase 2
The project team will begin work on Phase 2 in November 2022. Phase 2 includes integrations to Slate from Salesforce, used by Olin’s master’s programs, and centralized application systems (CAS) used by Law, the MS and OTD in Occupational Therapy, and Physical Therapy’s DPT. CAS systems allow applicants to apply to multiple institutions using a single set of application materials. This project will not replace those systems but instead integrate with Slate to enhance functionality and enable better data and reporting.
We will also develop new applications in Slate for Population Health Sciences, Clinical Investigation, and McKelvey’s dual degree programs during Phase 2.
The MD program and University College are out of scope at this time.