🔏 Retaining Person and School-Scoped Data from Applications

Institutions using Slate face an issue retaining data that isn't application-scoped when allowing multiple applications in an admissions cycle or when applicants apply again in later cycles. Slate users may be particularly irked when applicants go in and remove vital information such as their name or their academic history from an application, as that will remove that information form their record entirely. However, there are some options for schools to retain this information.

Biographical Information

Many institutions choose to build out custom fields for essential person-scoped datapoints and then set these fields using application submission rules. For instance, you could have a field with an id of app_first and build a rule to populate that field upon application submission. Then if an applicant deletes their first name after submission, you will have the custom field as a resource to identify the record.

School Information

When school information is deleted from Slate any transcripts affiliated with that information will be deleted as well. Thankfully, Technolutions has provided a solution for the transcript piece of the problem. Within your Slate database there is a Configuration Key under the General Settings heading named Edit Application: Direct School Deletion Behavior. 

When selected, you have the option to change what happens to transcripts when an applicant deletes school information. You can elect to either send the transcripts to Batch Acquire or reassign them to a folio material. Schools often create a material type named "Deleted Transcript" for these purposes. You can then assign tasks, send notification mailings or simply have queries identify when records have these materials. 

In addition, in a Facebook comment, Patrick C Wilson¹ mentioned that his institution created a custom school-scoped field called "locked" which his team uses to administratively block changes to school records. This may be a method for others to investigate and consider implementing if this becomes a significant issue.

Footnotes:

^{1 Wilson, Patrick C. Comment on Emily Saarloos' "I have an applicant who applied last year, is re-applying this year and deleted a school from her academic history..." post in the Super Slate Technolutions Friends group. Facebook, 16 December 2024, https://www.facebook.com/groups/superslatefriends/posts/1037692264251388/}