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Liaison

OPCAS Program User Guide

This guide provides you with documentation, reference guides, and direct links that answer common admissions questions about the OPCAS 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 a member of your account team.

Cycle Timeframes

CAS Applicant Portal

The Applicant Portal opens in mid-July and closes in early 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 OPCAS Application Cycle Dates page.

CAS Configuration Portal

Between mid-May and mid-July, configurations are entered into the prelaunch environment. The account team and NCOPE review submitted configurations in July.

WebAdMIT

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

Program Participation Requirements

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

Applicant Portal

The first three sections of the OPCAS 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 OPCAS application and OPCAS 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:

You can direct any applicant inquiries related to the application to OPCAS 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., experiences, test 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 and NCOPE before it is available to applicants. If your program is reviewed after the cycle launches, NCOPE will approve it.

WebAdMIT

Review the WebAdMIT Help Center 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, Liaison Letters, and WebAdMIT, in addition to upcoming training opportunities.

For any questions, contact the Client Support Specialist Team.

Cycle Enhancements

2025-2026

The table below contains enhancements for OPCAS 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

CAS Applicant Portal

Personal Information – Other Information

The answers for the Program Plan/Intent to Apply question were updated to include years 2025-2027.

No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.

Available at cycle launch

CAS Configuration Portal

Questions

You can configure organization-level questions, which are questions shared across all your programs.

Action required by participating programs choosing to use this enhancement.

Available now

Liaison Letters

Recommendation Request

The programs that the applicant is applying to are no longer listed in Liaison Letters.

No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.

Available at cycle launch

WebAdMIT

Applicant Details Page

The CAS Custom Questions panel has subpanels by question block, so you can more easily find applicant data and restrict your users' access to it via Work Groups.

Action required by participating programs choosing to use this enhancement.

Available at cycle launch

WebAdMIT

Applicant Details Page

Email Templates

Export Manager

List Manager

The Title field is no longer collected in the application and will be removed from WebAdMIT. You will need to update any lists, exports, emails, and other integrations to account for this field removal.

Action required by all participating programs.

Available at cycle launch

WebAdMIT

Applicant Details Page

Export Manager

List Manager

The Refugee answer option was removed from the Visa Information question in the application; the correct option, I-94 Refugee, remains available. You should update any lists, exports, and other integrations to account for this answer option removal.

Action required by all participating programs.

Available at cycle launch

2024-2025

The table below contains enhancements for OPCAS 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

Account Information

The European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a legal framework that sets guidelines for the collection and processing of personal information of individuals within the European Union.

The GDPR question explains the information we collect and how we use their information. Users located in a European Union country, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, or Switzerland must opt into our policies when creating an account.

No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.

Available at cycle launch

Applicant Portal

Academic History – Transcript Entry

Applicants can view instructions when entering their coursework details.

No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.

Available at cycle launch

Applicant Portal

Applicant Help Center

The full text of the OPCAS Applicant Responsibilities was removed from the Applicant Help Center and replaced with a link to a copy of the content. This ensures that applicants can view the most accurate and up-to-date version of the content.

No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.

Available at cycle launch

Configuration Portal

Program Details

Question Rules

Select users with the Config. Portal Live Editing Access role can edit active and closed programs through the Configuration Portal, such as:

Action required by participating programs choosing to use this enhancement.

Available now

WebAdMIT

Export Manager

List Manager

The TOEFL Official PBT fields were removed. If you have exports and lists that include this field, you will want to review and update them as necessary.

No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.

Available at cycle launch

WebAdMIT

Work Groups

In WebAdMIT, you can configure Work Groups to allow users to see specific panels on the Applicant Details Page. With this enhancement (from Release 11, 2023) if you remove access to a panel for a Work Group, the fields in that panel are also not available for the Work Group to see when creating exports, lists, or PDF manager templates. For example, if the Race and Ethnicity subpanel is not enabled for a Work Group, its members will not see the information from that panel when creating an export, and will not be able to create filters in List Manager using any of the fields from that panel.

As a result of this enhancement, reports that are not shared with Work Groups from the Report Settings page will be inaccessible to anyone who is not a WebAdMIT Administrator. Review the How Work Groups Impact Access to Features and Fields documentation to learn more about the impacts of this enhancement.

No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.

Available at cycle launch

 

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