CAS to TargetX Integration

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Overview

CAS to TargetX is a batch data integration process that utilizes Informatica’s ETL capabilities. The process involves WebAdMIT’s export capabilities which assist in generating CSV files for applicant data and PDF files for attachments. Source data from WebAdMIT is exported to an SFTP, where Informatica picks it up and applies a transformation to match TargetX fields.

Liaison Documentation for setting up the integration

Annual Maintenance

The data integration will need to be reviewed and updated each cycle. WebAdMIT exports and the Informatica mappings must be reviewed to make the necessary cycle-over-cycle changes. Your data mapping document should highlight what fields need to be updated each cycle for the integration as it currently stands. For other changes, please review the general questions section to give you an idea of elements to look for when moving from cycle to cycle.

It's important to check in on your data integration before the start of a new admissions cycle to make sure that everything is working as expected and to accommodate any changes that may have occurred. Some regular maintenance is necessary to ensure that your data integration functions properly. Beyond that, your admissions processes will change over time, so the data integration built to serve those processes may need to change to keep up. Your local systems will also evolve over time to meet the needs of users on campus. Furthermore, each year, Liaison works to improve its products, regularly releasing enhancements to our existing products. These improvements may require adjustments to your data integration.

The required yearly maintenance falls into three categories:

What regular maintenance is needed to keep your data integration running properly?
What changes to your admissions process need to be accommodated?
What changes to the CAS application need to be accommodated?

Regular Maintenance

Regular yearly maintenance tasks center on making sure that your data integration extracts the correct CAS data in the appropriate format. You'll want to answer the following questions.

Do the tools needed to extract CAS data exist?
Are those tools set to extract applications from the correct admissions cycle?
Have any of the field names changed (e.g., "lastName" is now "last_name")?
Have any of the possible values changed (e.g., "Monday" is now "MON")?

You can find more detailed guidance on regular maintenance in Liaison's individual products here:

Admissions Process Changes

As your admissions process changes over time, your data integration may have to adapt to keep up. The most fundamental question here is whether you are changing what you are trying to do with the CAS data once transferred. Such a change would likely require a significant adjustment in your data integration. Consider also whether any changes downstream—Registrar, academic departments, institutional research—require changes to your data integration. You'll want to answer the following questions.

Has our intended use for CAS data in local systems changed?
Does that change require us to move applications earlier of later in the admissions funnel?
Do we need to transfer any additional data points to serve the new purpose?
Do we need to transfer any additional data points to meet the needs of downstream units on campus?

CAS Application Changes

Each year, there are likely to be changes to your CAS application. These changes may come from outside your institution: modifications to a CAS by the affiliated national association or enhancements to the underlying product by Liaison. They may also come from inside your institution: new custom questions added to collect additional information or new application requirements added to collect additional materials. Your data integration may need to change to accommodate these changes. You'll want to answer the following questions.

Has your institution added, removed, or changed any custom questions on your CAS application?
Beyond any changes made by your institution, have any questions been added, removed, or changed on the CAS application?
Has your institution added, removed, or changed any application requirements (materials required for review)?
Beyond any changes made by your institution, have any application requirements been added, removed, or changed?
Has Liaison made any changes to the CAS platform that might affect your data integration?

WebAdMIT Exports Custom Questions

Custom questions in WebAdMIT are represented on the export with a unique ID. When transfer settings are performed for cycle-over-cycle changes, it is important to remember that the unique ID of the custom question also changes cycle-over-cycle.
Your informatica setup must be adjusted for these custom questions' mappings and mapping tasks.
To avoid adjusting your informatica setup each cycle, you can also provide your custom header for these custom questions.
The settings transfer will carry the header forward for any question that transfers forward. A question will transfer forward if it can be linked to the question in the previous cycle. This happens when the user reuses the question from the previous cycle.

If the program and/or program questions are not in WebAdMIT at the transfer time, they will not transfer forward and must be added back to the export manually. This includes adding the custom header. This is especially true when you perform a settings transfer next cycle before program approval. For example, if you had two programs in WebAdMIT, one for Fall and one for Spring. When the new cycle begins, and only the program for the Fall term has been approved, then the settings transfer will bring the export forward with just the Fall program-specific fields. The Spring questions would have to be manually added to the export, and the Spring program's custom questions would need to be edited with the custom headers.

If Liaison set up your integration, the custom headers for the custom questions should be on the data mapping document.

Liaison's CAS to TargetX Integration Services

With Liaison's CAS to TargetX Integration services, we can supplement your team on these projects. Our team will handle the extraction of data from the CAS and configure the transformation and load of data into TargetX using Informatica. We'll still need your help to create an SFTP site on campus that we can use for file delivery, define where you want to put CAS data into TargetX and conduct acceptance testing, but our team does all of the heavy lifting. To take advantage of this service, contact your Client Success or Account Director.

Premier Services Clients

If you need assistance with cycle-over-cycle changes or update your CAS to TX integration, please open a Premier Services configuration case. If you do not have a Premier Services contract but are interested in purchasing this, please contact your TargetX Client Success Director.

Backup Plans

Be prepared for the unexpected by developing backup plans. You may encounter failures that might affect your data integration.

Informatica linear flows can be set up to send job status to a set of email addresses for job failures, warnings, and successes. Edit your organization's linear flow and set up custom email notifications for each status you would like to be notified about.

Ongoing Support

If you are experiencing errors with your integration or the integration has stopped working, please open a Support case. A Support Specialist will contact you. You may contact our Support team using the information below:

Phone Number: 888-812-7280
Hours of operation: Monday – Friday, 8 AM – 8 PM ET
You will find answers to many questions in our WebAdMIT Integration Help Center. We are also here to help you troubleshoot issues that arise as you maintain and update your data integration.

Contact our Client Support Specialist Team:
CAS API Questions: webadmitsupport@liaisonedu.com
Phone Number: 857-304-2020
Hours of operation: Monday – Friday, 9 AM – 5 PM ET
We typically provide responses to emails within two business days.