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ATCAS Program User Guide

This guide provides you with documentation, reference guides, videos, and direct links that answer common admissions questions about the ATCAS Applicant Portal, Configuration Portal, and WebAdMIT. It also contains resources that may help you work more efficiently throughout your admissions process. If you have additional questions or need further assistance, please contact your Account Manager and Client Success Manager.

Cycle Timeframes

Applicant Portal

The Applicant Portal opens in late June 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 early June, configurations are entered into the prelaunch environment. The Account Manager and Client Success Manager review submitted configurations during this period.

WebAdMIT

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

Program Participation Requirements

To participate in ATCAS, your program must meet the following criteria:

  • Offer an accredited (or candidate status) professional and/or post-professional graduate degree program, and
  • Be located at a regionally accredited institution and authorized by your state.

Programs seeking accreditation can participate in ATCAS, but must include the following statement on the program Home Page:

"_______ is currently seeking accreditation for their new Athletic Training program and is not accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE). The institution will be submitting a self-study to begin the accreditation process on _____, 20__. Submission of the self­-study and completion of a site visit does not guarantee that the program will become accredited. Students that graduate from the program prior to accreditation will not be eligible to sit for the credentialing examination for athletic trainers and will not be eligible for licensure in most states."

There is no cost for you to participate in ATCAS.

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:

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 Manager and Client Success Manager 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:

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

For any questions, contact the Client Support Specialist Team.

Cycle Enhancements

2022-2023

The table below contains enhancements for ATCAS for the cycle timeframes noted at the top of this page. Note that some sections have multiple enhancements. If an action is required by participating programs to use the enhancement, click the links under Enhancement Details to learn more. Additional enhancements may have been automatically released; review the Release Notes to learn more.

Portal

Section

Enhancement Details

Implementation

Availability

Applicant Portal

Personal Information – Biographic Information

The Gender question was renamed to Sex

No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.

Available at cycle launch

Applicant Portal

Academic History – Colleges Attended

If an applicant selects Unlisted French Speaking Canadian or Other Foreign Institution, they must complete a new required field for the college’s country.

If you created exports to pull a college's country data, you must edit and select the new college country fields. Review the Country Field for Manually Entered Foreign Institutions release note for more information.

Additionally, when applicants enter their colleges attended, they can now identify if they paid in-state or out-of-state tuition for each college or university.

No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.

Available at cycle launch

Applicant Portal

Fee Waivers

If an applicant is eligible for a fee waiver but the fee waiver fund is depleted, then applicants can be alerted that they qualified for the fee waiver even though they could not be awarded one.

No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.

Available at cycle launch

Applicant Portal

Fees

The application fee has increased to $93 for the first program an applicant applies to. The additional program fee remains $55.

No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.

Available at cycle launch

Applicant Portal

Supporting Information – Experiences

Applicants can edit in progress experiences after they submit their application.

No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.

Available at cycle launch

Configuration Portal

Organization Details and Program Details

You can preview your programs in the application using the Preview feature and continue making edits as necessary.

Action required by participating programs choosing to use this enhancement.

Available now

Configuration Portal

Organization Details

Instead of rebuilding your program in the prelaunch environment, you can import your program from a previous cycle's production environment into the prelaunch environment. You can access the Import from Previous Cycle button in the Configuration Portal prelaunch environment. Visit the Import Your Programs page for more information.

Action required by participating programs choosing to use this enhancement.

Available now

Configuration Portal

Organization Details

You can only access the Add Program and Copy Program buttons in the Configuration Portal prelaunch environment.

Action required by participating programs choosing to use this enhancement.

Available now

Configuration Portal

Program Details

You can edit the Program Code program attribute, which may be useful for importing program data into your Student Information System (SIS).

Action required by participating programs choosing to use this enhancement.

Available now

Configuration Portal

Program Details

The Bachelor degree options were removed from the Degree field. 

The Program Type and Delivery fields were removed. 

Action required by participating programs choosing to use this enhancement.

Available now

WebAdMIT

Clipboard

You can now add multiple applicants to your Clipboard by uploading a CSV file of their CAS IDs. Review the Using the Clipboard page for more information.

Action required by participating programs choosing to use this enhancement.

Available at cycle launch

WebAdMIT

PDF Manager

If you create a list that searches for applicants based on any field in the Designations field grouping (e.g., Designation, Application Status, etc.), you can now extract the full application PDFs that adhere to your list's criteria. For more information, see the PDF Manager page.

Action required by participating programs choosing to use this enhancement.

Available at cycle launch

WebAdMIT

Export Manager

List Manager

The Applicant Gateway field groupings and associated fields were removed. Be sure to review your existing lists and exports to review and update your criteria, if applicable.

Action required by participating programs choosing to use this enhancement.

Available at cycle launch

WebAdMIT

In Progress Applicants Search Page

CASs can now create a custom Program Plans question and answer values that are available in:

No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.

Available at cycle launch

2021-2022

The table below contains enhancements for ATCAS for the cycle timeframes noted at the top of this page. Note that some sections have multiple enhancements. If an action is required by participating programs to use the enhancement, click the links under Enhancement Details to learn more. Additional enhancements may have been automatically released; review the Release Notes to learn more.

Portal

Section

Enhancement Details

Implementation

Availability

Applicant Portal

Academic History – Standardized Tests

Applicants can report their AP (Advanced Placement), CLEP (College Level Examination Program), and IB (International Baccalaureate) tests under the Standardized Tests section.

No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.

Available at cycle launch

Applicant Portal

Coupon Codes

You can offer organization-specific coupon codes to applicants. Applicants can only use the coupon for a program at your organization.

Action required by participating programs choosing to use this enhancement.

Available at cycle launch

Applicant Portal

Fees

The application fees have increased to $90 for the first program an applicant applies to and $55 for any additional programs.

No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.

Available at cycle launch

Applicant Portal

Supporting Information – Membership

The following membership types were removed:

  • NATA Student Member
  • NATA Certified Member

Additionally, the Other Professional Membership membership type was renamed Professional Membership.

No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.

Available at cycle launch

Configuration Portal

Documents

The CV/Resume document type was removed from the Supporting Information section and is now available as a document you can collect under Program Materials.

Action required by participating programs choosing to use this enhancement.

Available now

Configuration Portal

Kira Talent Assessment

Kira Talent offers on-demand, timed video and timed written assignments that can be combined with the standard admissions process. You can link your Kira assessment to your program in the application by selecting Kira Assessment.

Action required by participating programs choosing to use this enhancement.

Available now

Letters by Liaison

Account

Evaluators can now submit their evaluations as a guest, without creating a Letters by Liaison account. Guest users can create an account at any time while working in Letters by Liaison, and evaluators who already have an account can also complete an evaluation as a guest.

No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.

Available at cycle launch

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