📚 Part of the series Application Building Phase 1: Initial setup

The very first step in the initial setup phase of your Slate application is creating application periods.

This applies whether you’ll be importing applications from a third-party, using Slate-hosted applications, or both.

What is an application period?

In Slate parlance, the application’s “period” just means active or inactive.

They are closely interrelated with rounds, which we’ll cover in the next article.

If your Slate for Admissions database was provisioned after January 2024, it comes pre-configured with two periods: Active and Inactive.

Historical applications can be imported to rounds associated with an inactive period, if necessary.

📖 Further reading: Period and Round Structure

Creating application periods

To create an active application period:

1. Select Database from the main navigation.

2. Select Application Periods.

3. Select Insert. A popup appears.

4. Configure the following settings:

   • Status: Active

   • Name: Enter a name for your application period, for example: Active

   • Allow Multiple: Do not allow multiple applications

   • Application/Status Page: Enable application and status page

     

5. Select Save.

🔁 To create an inactive application period, repeat the preceding steps, setting the Status and Name instead to Inactive.

Result

• You’ve created an active application period for the current application cycle that restricts the applicant to a single application per period.

• You’ve also created an inactive application period that serves as a receptacle for all previous cycles’ applications.

Your requirements may differ from the settings we’ve selected here. See the full list of settings to understand if your setting selections should differ.

Application period setting descriptions

Active

• Set the status to Active when it is time for the period to receive applications.

• In general, all future and prior periods should be set to Inactive.

Folder

• Keep your records organized by putting them in a folder.

• Select Other to create a new folder.

Year

• This optional field specifies the year to which applicants apply.

• For example, the period year 2022 may include the enrollment terms Fall 2022 and Spring 2023.

• The period year only reflects the academic year and cycle if your admission process includes hard deadlines and a downtime when no applications are created.

• If you have a rolling admission process or import applications, the period year will usually not serve any critical purpose.

Name

• The period name is a student-facing value in the Slate-hosted application.

• The best practice recommendation is to name the period after the application.

• For example, “Slate University Application.”

Period Key

• Period keys are uncommon and are primarily used to delineate between multiple active applications.

• It is best practice to only have one active application period at a time.

Period Path

• Like period key, period paths have uncommon use cases.

• This setting can be used to override certain shared application files for a particular period.

Export Value

• Configure an export value for the application period.

• This is typically a short value or code that is used by external systems (such as an SIS) upon the consumption of application data from Slate.

Allow Multiple

• Applicable only to Slate-hosted applications.  

• Selecting Allow multiple applications allows an applicant to submit more than one application in this particular period.  

📝 Note: This setting must be set to Allow multiple applications if applicants are to submit multiple applications within the same Round. See Creating an Application Round.

Application/Status Page

• Enables or disables the application status page for applications associated with this period.

• Disabling this setting will also disable any Slate-hosted applications associated with the period.

Custom Status Portal

If a custom portal was built using the Portal Editor tool, set the custom portal here to override the standard Slate application status portal.

➡️ Up next: creating application rounds

Periods and rounds work in conjunction. Applications can only be created directly by selecting a round associated with an active period.

Next, we’ll create the rounds, or application types, that your applicants will select from at the outset of their application process.

📚 Next article in this series: Creating Application Rounds