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Review an Applicant: Tour of the App Review Platform

This document provides resources for navigating the App Review Platform in Slate and how to fill out an App Review Form.

Application Review Platform - Take the Interactive Tour!

When you elect to read or review an application, you will be brought into the Application Review Platform. We've created the interactive tour linked below to demonstrate some key components of the Application Review Platform, specifically:

  • How to navigate to different sections of the application
  • How to add an applicant to your Queue (and what that means)
  • How to add annotations to the application
  • How to email the applicant
  • How to download a PDF of the application
  • How to fill out a review form for the applicant
  • How to read previously filled out review forms

Take the Tour of the App Review Platform 

 

Application Review Platform - Overview

Screenshot of the Application Review Platform, explained more below. 

  1. Header: This section will always display the prospective student's application number, name, preferred name in parentheses, the program, and the entry term. If you select the applicant's name, a dropdown window will provide additional functionality:
    • Lookup Record link: Selecting this link will open the applicant's Person Record in a new window.
    • Read in New Window link: Selecting this link will open a copy of this page in a new window.
    • New Materials Report link: Selecting this link will give a quick report if any materials have been added since the last time this application was reviewed.
    • Edit Bin/Queue link: Selecting this link will just reveal "Access Denied" because additional permissions are needed to use this feature.
    • Download PDF: Selecting this link, which is highlighted in the screenshot below, will download a PDF of the current application as it appears in the reader. (This is a much simpler option for downloading a PDF of an application in comparison to the previous example where you have to select which parts to include.) 
    • Default Dashboard section: Includes contact information, biographical details, application details, application activity (G-Codes), as well as previous readers' reviews, as highlighted in the screenshot below:

      Screenshot of how to download of the header dropdown panel, explained above.

  2. Search bar: Use to search for certain parts of the application. For example, if you wanted to quickly find your applicant's Address but wasn't sure where it was in the application, you could search for "Address" which would provide areas of the application where that word is present.

  3. Application: Front and center is the application itself. You can use your mouse to click and drag around the application materials or use your keyboard arrows (which may be preferable).

  4. Left hand navigation menu: Use to jump to a specific section of the application. If a section is in grayed-out text, that means it is not available. For example, in the screenshot you can see an official transcript is currently not available for this applicant. You can also see that the Comments section is currently highlighted in green in the screenshots above; this means that a recent comment has been added to this application.

  5. Add to Queue: Selecting this button will add this applicant to your Queue, which will allow you to not just read the application, but act on it, such as filling out a review form or annotating the application. Read more below.

Application Review Platform — When An Application is in Your Queue

When you add an application to your Queue, additional actions will be enabled. Below we describe what those additional actions are.

Screenshot of the Application Review Platform once the application is put in your queue, which is explained in more detail below.

 

  1. Remove from Queue button: Selecting this button will remove the application from your queue, returning it to a read-only state. This means you will no longer be able to make annotations, review the application, or send it to a different bin.

  2.  Annotations: Using these actions will add public annotations directly to the application. Annotation actions include the following:
    • Highlight: Use this feature to highlight text in the application. For example, near the top of the page in the screenshot above, the words "Undergraduate-Unofficial Transcript" have been highlighted.
    • Note: Use this feature to add a little sticky note directly to the application. For example, in the screenshot above a yellow sticky note has been added that says, "Bucky got straight A's! How impressive!"
    • Annotations: Clicking this button will reveal a log of all of the notes in the application.

  3. Review Form / Send to Bin button: Selecting this button will reveal the options to fill out a Reader Review Form, send the application to another bin, and assign the next reader of the application. We will discuss these actions further below.

 

Reader Review Form

Screenshot of the review form, which is explained in more detail below.


When checked, an optional Reader Review Form will appear in the right panel of the screen. The default reader review form asks the reviewer to rank the application in five categories:

  • Resume (balanced, extracurricular, volunteering, awards, technology, skills/experience)
  • Academic and Personal Statements (communication skills, depth, why this program; goals; contributes to an inclusive and welcoming environment)
  • Academics (GPA, grades, types of courses, majors)
  • Letters of Recommendation (who: faculty, professional, other; speaks of academic potential, leadership potential)
  • Fit with curriculum or program priorities (articulates interest in program, faculty, professional pathways)

The form also asks the reviewer to comment on the applicant's exceptional abilities in one or more of the following categories:

  • breadth of experience
  • demonstrated commitment to diversity and community engagement
  • extensive professional experience
  • demonstrated collaboration
  • other reason why this candidate will be able to significantly enhance the incoming cohort

The use of any part of this form is 100% optional and up to the program. Your program could decide to only to use the comments, only use one category to rank the applicant, or not use the form at all. Whatever the case, the form is there for you to use as you see fit.

 

Send to Bin and Select Next Reader

Screenshot of the Send to Bin form.

 

Below the Reader Review Form, there is a short form titled Send to Bin. This quick form is used when you want to pass the application along to the next part of your program's Review Workflow. The form has three parts:

  1. Current Bin: Tells you where this application currently is in your program's Review Workflow. In the screenshot above, it shows that this application is currently in the "(G00) Grad Coordinator Review" bin.
  2. Next Bin (required): A dropdown prompting you to select to which bin the application should be sent next. As you can see this is a required field and it defaults to the current bin — which means that you can return the application to the current bin if you'd like, or you can send it to a new bin in your Review Workflow.
  3. Next Reader (optional): A field that allows you add the application to another Slate user's queue for review. This is an optional field.


Keywords:
Slate reader workflow bin bins review application how to tour app reviewing platform 
Doc ID:
131603
Owned by:
Eric L. in Graduate School
Created:
2023-09-21
Updated:
2024-06-05
Sites:
Graduate School