NursingCAS Program User Guide

Cycle Timeframes

Applicant Portal

The Applicant Portal opens in mid-August and closes in mid-September.

Configuration Portal

Between early June and mid-July, configurations are entered in the prelaunch environment. The Account Manager, Client Success Manager, and AACN review submitted configurations in July.

WebAdMIT

You can view new applicants and initiate a transfer settings shortly after the new cycle opens in mid-August.

Program Participation Requirements

AACN requires all programs to designate two contacts at your institution who will receive all communication from AACN and NursingCAS, including the configuration, application, and WebAdMIT launch notifications.

Applicant Portal

The first three sections of the NursingCAS 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 NursingCAS application and NursingCAS 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.
- Requirements for the NursingCAS Complete application status can be found here.
NursingCAS Quick Start Guide and FAQs: a suggested timeline for completing and submitting the application and a FAQs section.

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

Configuration Portal

The Configuration Portal Guide contains all information related to configuring your program in the Applicant Portal. You will need to first create your program in the prelaunch environment and have it approved by the Account Manager, Client Success Manager, and AACN before it is available to applicants. If your program is reviewed after the cycle launches, AACN will approve it.

Use the following checklist to make sure you configure your program efficiently and completely. Also, review the best practices found at the end of these articles. If any optional sections of the application are required for your program (e.g., experiences, test scores, etc.), you'll want to note this in your program configurations.

☑ 1. Review the Application

Review the current application to get a sense of the questions that are already included and what you may want to add.
Start to pull together any details about your program and school that you want to share with applicants in the application.

☑ 2. Be Aware of Cycle Rollovers

Keep in mind that all pages from the current cycle will be rolled over to the new cycle.

☑ 3. Brand Your Program Page

Work with your Marketing or PR department to choose a branding image that meets the size and format specifications. Images have to be 900x270 pixels, and 250 KB or less.
Pull together your program’s introductory text and instructions, as well as any requirements information, including supplemental items/fees if you use a two-part application process.

☑ 4. Configure Questions and Question Rules

Review current school and supplemental applications to help you determine which questions you need to ask.

☑ 5. Configure Prerequisites

Pull together information on prerequisites, including any instructions.

☑ 6. Configure Documents

Ensure you have specific instructions for any documents you are requesting.

☑ 7. Configure Evaluations

Determine how many evaluations, if any, you want to request.

☑ 8. Configure College Transcript and Coursework Entry

Indicate the college transcripts and coursework entry you require. Review the Program Transcript and Coursework Requirements and Application Statuses table below to learn how your transcript and coursework requirements affect the applicant's Application Status and the GPAs provided to you.

☑ 9. Preview and Submit Your Program

Monitor your program’s status by returning to the Configuration Portal.

Program Transcript and Coursework Requirements and Application Statuses

This table is from the NursingCAS Applicant Help Center. All links below will redirect you to that help center.

If your program requires... (Note: see the Colleges Attended & Transcript Entry sections for more information on transcript and coursework requirements.)	...then WebAdMIT does the following with GPAs...	... and your application's final status is...
Official Transcripts + Full Coursework Entry	Calculates three GPAs and makes them available to your programs: By course subject By school By academic year	Verified
Official Transcripts + Prerequisite Entry Only	Provides your programs with per transcript and overall GPAs.	Verified
Official Transcripts + No Coursework Entry	Provides your programs with per transcript and overall GPAs.	Verified
Unofficial Transcripts + Prerequisite Entry Only	Does not calculate or provide GPAs to programs.	Complete
Unofficial Transcripts + No Coursework Entry	Does not calculate or provide GPAs to programs.	Complete
No Transcripts + No Coursework Entry	Does not calculate or provide GPAs to programs.	Complete

WebAdMIT

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

API Overview: learn how to set up an API and schedule automatic data exports from WebAdMIT into your SIS/ERP.
Background checks through CastleBranch
Custom Export Field Layout: a comprehensive list of all fields available in the Export Manager, including associated lookup tables.
Master College Code List: a comprehensive list of all college names and their respective Liaison, MDB, CEEB, FICE, and/or IPED codes.
Requesting Official GRE CAS Codes: a guide on how to create CAS-specific codes in order to receive official GRE scores in WebAdMIT.
- To apply for a NursingCAS GRE code, click here.
Social Security Number (SSN) Documents Reference Guide: a guide on how to configure a PGP key to receive an encrypted file that contains the applicant's CAS ID and SSN.
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, Configuration Portal, and WebAdMIT, in addition to upcoming training opportunities.

For any questions, contact the Client Support Specialist Team.

Cycle Enhancements

2020-2021

The table below contains enhancements for NursingCAS 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	Coupon Codes	You can purchase coupons that offset the cost of the application and can cover the application processing fee, your program fee, or both fees.	Action required by participating programs choosing to use this enhancement.	Available at cycle launch
Applicant Portal	Personal Information – Biographic Information	The Gender Identity question and answer options are updated. Additionally, a Preferred Pronouns question is added.	No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.	Available at cycle launch
Applicant Portal	Personal Information – Family Information	Applicants can opt out of adding information to the Family Information section.	No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.	Available at cycle launch
Applicant Portal	Personal Information – Other Information	Two questions about an applicant's physical or mental impairment and academic reassessment under the Background Information question were removed.	No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.	Available at cycle launch
Applicant Portal	Submit Application Page	Applicants can submit their applications to programs that don’t require coursework regardless of the other programs in their cart. Previously, if an applicant selected multiple programs, some requiring coursework and others not, they were not able to submit to any of these programs before entering their coursework. Additionally, the Submit Application page lists the term on each program’s tile. Previously, applicants needed to click the additional information icon to view the program’s term.	No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.	Available at cycle launch
Configuration Portal	Organization Details	You can offer applicants a deep link to the application's Add Program page with your programs pre-filtered. This allows applicants to quickly access your programs without needing to set their own filters. If an applicant has not yet created an account, the deep link will first instruct them to create an account, and then will take them to the pre-filtered Add Program page.	Action required by participating programs choosing to use this enhancement.	Available at cycle launch
Configuration Portal	Questions	You can configure both organization- and program-level questions for your programs. This allows you to configure one set of questions that are asked by all programs in that organization for the CAS and cycle, and another set of questions that are asked by individual programs, as needed. Additionally, when you create a question in the Configuration Portal, you can choose to hide the question in the full application PDF in WebAdMIT. These questions will still display on the Applicant Details page in WebAdMIT and be available in the List Manager and Export Manager.	Action required by participating programs choosing to use this enhancement.	Available now
Letters by Liaison	Recommendations	Recommenders can automatically reuse a completed recommendation for an applicant who requests they complete additional recommendations that are the same recommendation type as the original (e.g., academic, personal, etc.). Once activated by the recommender, any time the same applicant requests the same recommendation type, the system will automatically complete the recommendation and submit it. Recommenders will receive an email every Friday that records if the recommendation has been reused, and if so, for which programs. This feature can be turned off at any time by the recommender. Click here to learn more.	No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.	Available at cycle launch