ATCAS Program User Guide

Cycle Timeframes

Applicant Portal

The Applicant Portal opens in early July and closes in mid-June. You can view the specific cycle dates, including final processing dates (e.g., last date to submit transcripts, last date to request letters of recommendation, etc.), on the ATCAS Application Cycle Dates page.

Configuration Portal

Between mid-April to mid-June, configurations are entered into the prelaunch environment. The account team reviews submitted configurations during this period.

WebAdMIT

You can view new applicants and initiate a transfer settings shortly after the new cycle opens in early July.

Program Participation Requirements

To participate in ATCAS, your program must do the following:

• Submit their Notification of Intent (NOI) for level of degree change to the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE).
• Pay the substantive change fee to the CAATE.
• Programs seeking initial accreditation can utilize ATCAS once they submit an application via eAccred and pay the fee.

CAATE requires all programs to designate one contact at your institution who will receive all communication from CAATE and ATCAS, including the configuration, application, and WebAdMIT launch notifications.

Applicant Portal

The first three sections of the ATCAS application (i.e., Personal Information, Academic History, and Supporting Information) compose the core application. They contain questions that are commonly asked of applicants across all participating programs, such as an applicant's biographic information, standardized test scores, and experiences. The fourth section of the application is Program Materials, which is customized by you through the Configuration Portal (discussed in the next section).

You can access the ATCAS application and ATCAS Applicant Help Center to review the applicant experience. You can also create a test application in the Applicant Portal; we recommend creating a new account and adding "test" to your name (e.g., TestJohn TestDoe).

For a general overview of the applicant experience, review the following documents:

• Applicant Processing Reference Guide: learn how applicants move through the application and Liaison processes applicant materials, such as transcripts and official test scores.
• Application Statuses Reference Guide: review what each application status means and how you can interact with applicants at different stages.
  • Review the requirements for the ATCAS Complete application status.
• ATCAS Quick Start Guide and FAQs: a suggested timeline for completing and submitting the application, links to important pages including cycle dates and fees, and a FAQ section.

Review the topics below for additional information about the ATCAS application:

• Sending Official Transcripts: all required official US and English Canadian transcripts must be sent from the institution's registrar's office to ATCAS either electronically or by mail. You will receive a high-resolution PDF of each transcript in WebAdMIT.
• Sending Official Test Scores: applicants can report official GRE scores through ATCAS and you can receive them in WebAdMIT. You will need to obtain an ATCAS GRE Code (unique to your program and separate from your university code) to do this. See the WebAdMIT section below for more information.
• Evaluations: applicants must submit at least 2 evaluation (i.e., letters of reference) requests and may submit up to 4. All evaluations are shared with every program the applicant applies to.
• Personal Statement: applicants must upload a Personal Statement in the application, and it is shared with every program the applicant applies to. The Personal Statement asks applicants to describe their professional goals, including why they have chosen Athletic Training as a career.
• CV/Résumé: applicants can choose to upload an optional CV/Résumé for your program in the application, if you request it.

You can direct any applicant inquiries related to the application to ATCAS Customer Service.

Configuration Portal

Use the Configuration Portal Quick Start Guide to make sure you configure your program(s) efficiently and completely in the prelaunch environment. Be sure to check out your CAS's configuration options and review the best practices found throughout. If any optional sections of the application are required for your program (e.g., CV/Résumé, Experiences, Observation Hours, official GRE scores, etc.), you'll want to note this on your program home page.

Once you've configured your program, you'll need to have it approved by the account team before it is available to applicants.

WebAdMIT

Review the WebAdMIT Manual for any questions related to working in WebAdMIT. The Reference Guides and WebAdMIT Training and Support sections are additional resources as you configure WebAdMIT for your needs. Documents commonly requested include:

• Application Coupons Reference Guide: learn how to request coupons to offset application fees and disperse them to applicants. To purchase coupons, use the Coupon Code Payment Gateway.
• Application Coupon Codes FAQ: view answers to frequently asked questions about offering coupon codes. 
• Data Dictionaries and Master Code Lists: a comprehensive list of all fields available in the Export Manager and Report Manager, including associated lookup tables.
• Deferring Applicants via Transfer Settings: learn how to transfer deferred applicants from one cycle to the next.
• Integration Help Center and WebAdMIT API: learn how to set up an API and schedule automatic data exports from WebAdMIT into your SIS/ERP.
• Requesting Official GRE CAS Codes: a guide on how to create CAS-specific codes in order to receive official GRE scores in WebAdMIT.
• Transfer Settings Guide: a review of how programs and templates built in WebAdMIT are carried forward each cycle.

The Release Notes feature new enhancements in the Applicant Portal, Applicant Gateway, Configuration Portal, Liaison Letters, and WebAdMIT, in addition to upcoming training opportunities.

For any questions, contact the Client Support Specialist Team.

Cycle Enhancements