ResidencyCAS Program Materials

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Evaluations

Before You Begin

Evaluations (sometimes called Letters of Evaluation, Letters of Reference, or Letters of Recommendation) are submitted by the evaluators themselves; they cannot be completed or submitted by the applicant. We are not responsible for verifying evaluators' identities. If a discrepancy is found, we reserve the right to contact the appropriate individuals to investigate and to share the discrepancy with all programs.

Before getting started, consider the following:

All evaluations are submitted electronically by evaluators using the ResidencyCAS's Liaison Letters, the Recommender Portal.
Research each program’s requirements. You should determine whether your programs have specific requirements regarding evaluator roles or relationships before listing evaluators on your application. Many programs have strict guidelines and completed program evaluations cannot be removed or replaced.
Prepare your evaluators. Once you choose your evaluators, be sure to inform them about the process and that they will be completing the evaluation electronically. We recommend getting their preferred email address and asking that they monitor that inbox for your evaluation request (which will come from applicantsupport@residencycas.com), including any junk or spam folders.

Requirements

You can request as many evaluations as you want, but you can only assign and submit a maximum of 4 evaluations per program. It is highly recommended you request a Standardized Letter of Recommendation (SLOE) as one of your evaluations.

Note the following:

The SLOE should be completed by the person or persons who best know you. Ideally, this would be an OBGYN, preferably from a Sub Internship.
Your SLOE writer cannot also write a separate narrative letter of recommendation; their SLOE serves as their letter.
Resources for the SLOE are available on APGO's Right Resident, Right Program, Ready Day One: Applicant Resources site.
Some programs may request a chair's letter; be sure to review each program's website for their evaluation requirements.

The Evaluation Process

When you request evaluations, your evaluator receives an email request with a link to ResidencyCAS's Liaison Letters. Evaluators review your requests, and then accept, complete, or deny them.

Once your evaluator completes your evaluation, you'll be notified via email. You can check the status of your evaluation requests in the Statuses section of your application at any time.

ResidencyCAS also saves your evaluator information. After you add evaluator information once, you can select those evaluators from your list and add them for other programs.

Submit a Request

Navigate to the Program Materials section. In the Evaluations section, click the plus icon for the desired evaluation.
Enter the evaluator's full name and email address.
Select the date by which you would like this evaluation completed. This date should be before your program(s) deadline.
Enter a brief message or note for the evaluator.
Select whether you want to waive your right of access to the evaluation. See Waiver below.
Click the checkboxes to indicate your permission for us (and programs) to contact your evaluators.
Click the Assign checkbox if you want to assign the evaluation to a program immediately. You can also assign evaluations after you save them.
Click Request to submit it. Once you do so, an email is immediately sent to the evaluator.
Confirm with your evaluators that they received the email notification.
Use the Check Status tab to monitor the status of your evaluations. Completed evaluations are marked as "Complete" and have a Complete Date listed. Follow up with your evaluators if their evaluations are still marked as "Requested" or "Accepted." It is your responsibility to ensure that evaluation requests are received and completed on time. We will not notify applicants about missing evaluations.

Assign the Evaluation to Programs

You can specify which evaluations can be sent to specific programs. To assign:

In the Evaluations section, click Assign Evaluations.
Use the tab icons at the top to navigate to the desired evaluation.
If desired, use the search field to locate your program.
Click on the program.
Click Done.

Resend the Evaluation Request

If you need to resend a request:

In the Evaluations section, locate the request you wish to resend.
Click the pencil icon to edit the request.
Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Re-send.

Change the Evaluator's Email Address

If you entered an incorrect email address for any evaluators (or if any evaluator asks that you send the request to a different email address), you must delete these requests and then re-add them with the correct email.

Waiver

The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) gives you the right to access evaluations unless you choose to waive your right of inspection and review. Prior to requesting any evaluations, you are required to indicate whether you wish to waive your rights. ResidencyCAS will release your decision to waive or not waive access to your evaluators and designated programs. Your waiver decision serves the same purpose as a legal signature and is binding.

Selecting Yes indicates to programs that your evaluator completed their evaluation with the understanding that you would not be able to view it. This means you will not be able to see the content of the evaluation. Programs may view this type of evaluation as a more accurate representation of an applicant's qualifications.

Selecting No indicates to programs that your evaluator completed their evaluation with the understanding that you may choose to view it in the future. Selecting this option does not allow you to view your evaluation via the application. If you do not waive your right to view the evaluation, you may ask your evaluator for a copy of the evaluation. Programs may view this type of evaluation as a less accurate representation of an applicant's qualifications.

Once you make a selection, you can't change it, so consider the choices carefully.

Uploading Letters – Frequently Asked Questions

Faculty Members

I'm a faculty member and have received requests from several students to upload letters/evaluations for them. Previously, I forwarded these to the person in my department that does all uploads for us. How do I do this in CAS?

To allow someone else from your institution to upload letters/evaluations on your behalf, you must add them as a Delegate in the Liaison Letters Portal. Once added, any requests sent to you will also be sent to your designated delegates. Delegates can then log in to Liaison Letters and perform the upload. When your delegate performs the upload, your name will appear as the author to programs – the delegate’s name will not appear. You can add or deactivate delegates at any time.

Delegates

I perform the uploading of letters/evaluations on behalf of the faculty and staff at my school. How do I do this in CAS?

Faculty members can add you as a Delegate in the Liaison Letters portal. Once added, any requests sent to that faculty member will also be sent to you. You can then log in to Liaison Letters and perform the upload. The faculty member’s name will appear as the author to programs – your name as the delegate will not appear.

Students

I’m a student and I need to have a letter/evaluation written by my school. Who should I send this request to in CAS?

You should request letters/evaluations from the faculty member who will be the primary author of the letter. If that individual wants to involve others in the process or have someone else at the institution upload the letter for them, they can use the Delegate feature in the Liaison Letters portal. Regardless of who uploads the letter/evaluation, the individual you initially requested it from will appear as the author to programs.