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

The second step in the pre-application build phase of your Slate application is creating an application round.

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

What is an application round?

In Slate parlance, “round” just means application type. For your institution this might mean Undergraduate, Graduate, or some other high-level distinction.

Periods and rounds can also control the application process. For example, by limiting the number of applications a person can submit.

Rounds must be associated with a period, so a period must be configured first. See Creating Application Periods if you haven’t already.

Round best practices

• Limit the number of rounds: The applicant must select their round at the outset of their application experience. So they’re not overwhelmed with choices, we recommend operating with as few rounds as possible.

  • This also reduces your year-to-year round maintenance, like the inactivation and creation of new rounds.

  • You do not need multiple rounds, and many schools manage their processes with just one active round.

• Use custom fields to represent narrower data: Data points that identify distinct populations or types of applicants (for example, enrollment term, a program of study, international, transfer, or scholarship qualifiers) can be captured and queried for within the application using custom application-scoped fields on application-page scoped forms and do not require the creation of separate rounds.

• Keep it clean: Periods and Rounds should be inactivated (or retired) on an annual basis.

  • This provides structure to strategically review the application process over time and implement necessary updates.

  • It also makes it easier to accomplish other business processes in Slate, such as rule-building and reporting.

📖 Further reading: Period and Round Structure

Creating application rounds

Once a period has been established, a round or rounds may be configured and associated with the period.

1. Select Database from the main navigation.

2. Select Application Rounds.

3. Select Insert. A popup appears.

4. Configure the following settings:

   • Status: Inactive. This will be activated when you’ve finished testing the application.

   • Period: Select the active period from the two you created previously. In our case, Active.

   • Name: Enter a name for your application round, for example: Undergraduate Application

   • Short Name: Optionally enter an internal “short name” that appears as a tab on the applicant’s person record. In this case, 2024 UG.

   • Order: Dictates the order in which rounds appear to the applicant.

   • Round Key: Used in application logic, automation, and communications for your application. Enter a year-agnostic code, like UG for Undergraduate.

   • Allow Multiple: Do not allow multiple applications

   • Locked: Unlocked

   • Hidden: Allow applicants to see their applications in this round

   • Protected from Rank: Rankable

     

5. Click Save.

🔁 To create a Graduate application round, repeat the preceding steps, updating the Name, Short Name, Order, and Round Key accordingly.

Result

• You’ve created an inactive Undergraduate application round for the active application period that restricts the applicant to a single application per period.

• You’ve may have also created a Graduate application round with the same settings.

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 round setting descriptions

Active

• Set the status to Inactive until the Slate-hosted application is ready to go live.

• If all applications are being imported, the round should always be set to Inactive.

Folder

• Keep your database organized by using folders.

• Select Other to create a new folder.

Period

• This required setting ties the round to a specific application period.

• An application period must be created before associating it with a round.

Name

• This round name will be visible to applicants.

• Enter a descriptive name, like Undergraduate Application.

Short Name

• Visible administratively only.

• This setting is optional, and, when present, will override the display name of the round on the application tab.

Order

• Enter an integer value for this required setting.  

• This order will dictate the display order of the application rounds.

Round Key

• Enter a short-code that will identify this round type.

• For example, UG for undergraduate and GR for graduate, or ED for early decision and RD for regular decision.

• The round key is used in application logic, automation, and communications for your application.

• Omit year information so that the same round key can be used for future rounds.

Round Path

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

• Use-cases are limited.

Deadline (ET)

• For Slate-hosted applications only.

• If a deadline is configured here, applications in this round cannot be submitted after this time.

• This also applies to submission of the application fee, although a grace period can still be set that allows an application fee payment for a certain number of days beyond the deadline for submitted applications.  

• The deadline is in Eastern time, so if you want the deadline to be 12:00AM Pacific on 12/15/2020, the deadline should be entered as 2020-12-15 3:00.

• While the Deadline setting can be used to set a round deadline, deadlines can also be set and enforced using hard fails (submission requirement).

Payment Grace Period (Days)

• Enter the number of days after the deadline for which an application fee payment will be accepted.

• For example, if the application submission deadline is January 1, but application fee payments will be accepted through January 15, enter 15 here.

Allow Multiple

• Applicable only to Slate-hosted applications.

• Select Allow multiple applications to let applicants submit more than one application to the same round.

• 📝 Note: The 'Allow Multiple' setting must also be configured at the Period level to enable multiple applications per Round.

Locked

• Applicable only to Slate-hosted applications.

• Unlocked applications allow applicants to switch an application to a different round.  

• Locked applications cannot be moved to another round by the applicant.  

• If multiple rounds share the same application questions and have different submission deadlines, it is best practice to configure the Rounds as Unlocked.

• This configuration allows a potential applicant to change to a Round with a later deadline if the original Round has passed.

Hidden

• Typically used by graduate institutions that refer applicants to other programs.

• Configuring a round as Hidden allows the applicant to not see this extra application during the review process.

• To display the hidden application at a later date, update the application to be in a visible round.

Protected from Rank

• Standard application rounds (applications for admission/enrollment) should always be Rankable.  

• Applications for other items, such as summer high school programs or scholarships, should be set to Do not rank.

• Helps define which admission application is the highest-ranking, based upon application priority and application creation/submission dates.

• See Determination of Table Ranks for additional information.

• 📝 Note: Applications in Rounds set to "Do not rank" will not appear in the global search bar on the upper right.

Custom Status Portal

This setting will override the Slate-delivered application status portal if a custom status portal exists.

Export Value

• Configure up to 5 export values for the application round.

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

➡️ Up next: creating application-scoped fields

📚 Next article in this series: Application Fields