Checklists are a visual indicator of required items for any given Application. These items can be viewed both internally (by institutional staff) and externally (by an applicant).

This article covers the planning and conceptual elements of checklists.

For detailed instructions on configuring checklist items, see Custom Checklist Items.

For more information on adding checklist items to an application, see Assigning Checklist Items.

✨ Tip

Slate.org can be used to share information regarding applicant data, such as Checklist items, between undergraduate admission offices and high school counselors, independent counselors, and community-based organizations. See Slate.org Application Sharing Settings for more information.

Checklists Overview

Checklists display three key data points:

• the checklist item name (“Details”),

• its current status (“Status”), and

• the date the checklist item was marked completed (“Date”).

Slate users with the necessary permissions can update the status of checklist items, add new checklist items, or remove some items from the checklist entirely.

Checklist item statuses

Checklist items have three public-facing statuses, which are visible both internally and externally:

• Received, which appears as "Received" with a green check mark ✅ and the date that the checklist item was fulfilled.

• Awaiting, items appears as "Awaiting" with a red X ❌.

• Waived, which appear as "Waived" with a grey check mark ✔️ and the date that the item was waived.

Two additional statuses are available, which are only visible internally:

• Received Copy, which appears identically to “Received”. Applicants will see the “Received Copy” as “Received”.

• Hide, or Hidden which causes the checklist item row to become gray and marks the date that the checklist item was hidden. Hidden items will not be displayed to applicants.

Checklist Items and Groups

After determining your application requirements/checklist items, the next step is to identify which group each item should belong to. Groups are sets of checklist items that are added or removed from specific applications together. Not every checklist item will fit neatly into a group, but we still recommend assigning every item a group—even if that group only has a single item in it. As an exception, school-scoped checklist items cannot be assigned a group.

💫 Best Practice: Assign Every Item a Group

We recommend assigning every checklist item a group. Checklist items that are assigned as a part of a group will be automatically removed when an application no longer meets the criteria for that group of items (as defined in your checklist rules). In contrast, checklist items that are assigned individually will remain on an application’s checklist until manually removed by a Slate user with the appropriate permissions. You may have some checklist groups with only 1 checklist item in them, and that is totally fine!

Some common examples of groups are:

• All Applicants

• First Year Applicants

• Transfer Applicants

• International Applicants

• Visiting Applicants

One approach to plotting your checklist groups is to begin with a list of checklist items and materials, then extrapolate. Ask: “Who is required to submit this item?” When multiple types of applicants are expected to submit any given item, try to find the commonality.

For example, you might require Proof of English Language Proficiency for international undergraduate first-year applicants, international undergraduate transfer applicants, international visiting applicants, and international graduate applicants. The commonality between these applicants is their international status.

🤔 Common Confusion: Group or Section?

While commonly confused, groups and sections serve distinct purposes. Groups determine what checklist items are added to an application together. Sections are visual or procedural distinctions between checklist items and are intended to help organize and split out the checklist, if needed, for external display. They are generally used to divide a checklist into categories such as “Admissions Checklist” and “Enrollment Checklist”. You can think of groups as internal and functional, and sections as external and visual. For more information about Sections, see Custom Checklist Sections.

Here are some typical examples of checklist items, who might be required to submit them, and the groups they might belong to:

Building Your Checklist

After your checklist has been planned, you can begin the work of building your checklist and materials in Slate!

Checklists and Materials can be configured by visiting their respective pages from the Slate Database tool. They can be found using the search function at the top of the Database tool, or under the “Records and Datasets” section. It’s recommended to create your materials first, as they will be used in the Material Fulfillments settings for checklist items.

For more information about configuring materials, see Materials Settings. For more information about configuring checklists, see Checklist Item Settings. For more information about assigning checklist items, see Assigning Checklist Items.

⁉️ Help! Something isn’t working the way I expect it to.

• If you’re running into unexpected behavior with checklists, try following the guidance outlined in our Troubleshooting Checklists article.

• If you’re still stuck, consider reaching out to other Slate users in the Community Forums!

• For advice on how to pose your question, see our Posting Questions for the Slate Community article.