Graduate School Approval Request (GSAR) Overview

A Graduate School Approval Request (GSAR) needs to be filled out when the program wishes to recommend an applicant for admission who has not met a minimum requirement for admission. For example, if a program wishes to admit an applicant with a low GPA, then the program will need to fill out a GSAR.

In Slate there are two ways the GSAR process can be kicked off — Program-initiated or Graduate School-initiated — which are described in greater detail below. The GSAR process, once initiated, is essentially the same.

Program-initiated GSAR (before recommendation)

1. If a program wishes to recommend an applicant who does not meet the Graduate School's minimum requirements, the Graduate Program Coordinator can preemptively send the application to the (G10) GS Approval Request Bin.
2. Once the application is in the (G10) GS Approval Request Bin, the Graduate Coordinator should add the application to their queue and then fill out the Grad School Approval Request form, shown in the screenshot below:
   
3. After filling out the form, the Graduate Coordinator sends the application to the GS Approval Request Submitted Bin, which sends the application to be reviewed by the Graduate School.
4. If the GSAR is approved, then the applicant will be admitted. In cases where the GSAR is not approved, there will likely be further communication between the program and the Graduate School until a decision to admit or deny is made.

Graduate School-initiated GSAR (after recommendation)

1. If a program recommends an applicant that does not meet the Graduate School minimum requirements, the Graduate School will send to the (G10) GS Approval Request Bin
2. Once the application is in the (G10) GS Approval Request Bin, the Graduate Coordinator should add the application to their queue and then fill out (same form as the screenshot above).
3. After filling out the form, the Graduate Coordinator sends the application to the GS Approval Request Submitted Bin, which is located in the Decision column.
4. If the GSAR is approved, then the applicant will be admitted. In cases where the GSAR is not approved, there will likely be further communication between the program and the Graduate School until a decision to admit or deny is made.

GSAR Workflow Visualization

Below is a visualization of the GSAR process in the Coordinator / Program Review Workflow.