The Common Application includes changes in the data feeds for the 2022-23 application year. These changes do not require a completely new source format. However, this article presents the changes to permit reviewing and adjusting imports prior to activating them this year.
Unchanged Source Fields Retain Previous Mappings
Technolutions has updated all existing active CommonApp source formats to inactivate the remap settings and set the Remap As Of Date to 2022-08-05. Until the first file is received, remap settings will appear blank. Note that any source fields that have not changed from last year will appear with the same mappings once a file is uploaded, at which point you can update your remap settings, make any necessary changes outlined below, and update any year-specific items, like application round or entry term.
Once you've updated and confirmed the mappings for this year, use the Source Formats tool to update the Remap Active setting to Active. All files received will then be imported with those settings.
Testing
For testing purposes, make all changes in the production environment, and then refresh your test environment and activate the source format there. If the applications are created as expected, activate the source formats in production. Please note: documents will not be imported into the test environment.
If using the scheduled delivery service (SDS) process through Slate for the first time this year, add the CommonApp source formats from the Slate Template Library.
Common App ID Mapping
Accounts will roll over for the 2022-23 application year, so the Common App ID is not unique to an application.
The Common App ID uniquely identifies a person. To make it unique for a specific application, Slate appends the application cycle year to the Slate Common App ID. As of August 2022, "-2023" is appended to the Slate Common App ID. Each cycle the year will change and the year value will automatically be updated.
Important!
Do not edit the Common App ID destination. The mapping of the Common App ID ensures that the data and materials are imported to the appropriate record with the necessary timing. It is very important that these fields remain with their default mappings unchanged, as described below. Other pre-mapped destinations may be edited.
Source Formats and Mappings
CommonAppProspects and CommonAppSuspects
These source formats import only person-scoped data. The Common App ID source field is mapped exclusively to the Slate External ID field, which is a person-scoped field used for matching with person records during the import process. If the same person is included in a file another year with the same rolled over Common App ID, Slate will appropriately identify that person record as the same person using this data point.
NOTE: The Common App does not send the suspect and prospect data files for schools with a standard platform.
CommonApp
This source format brings in the data file that will create the application. The desired behavior is to match with an existing record if one exists, so the Common App ID is mapped to the same Slate External ID field that the CommonAppProspects and CommonAppSuspects source formats have mapped. Since the Common App ID is unique to a person, and subsequent applications from the same person will have the same ID, the Common App ID is not mapped to an application-scoped unique field.
The Slate Common App ID is mapped to the Common App ID unique application-scoped field and the App: External ID field.
Both of these fields are application-scoped and are used to match with the appropriate application record during the import process. These mapped fields are what the subsequent data and PDF files from Common Application use to match with the appropriate application.
CommonAppRecommendations, CommonAppPayment, CommonAppWriting, and CommonAppCourses
These source formats should not have the Common App ID source field mapped at all. The files should only import data to the existing application and should never create a new application or match with a different existing application if the application with the Common App ID does not already exist.
For this same reason, identifying information such as including first name, last name, date of birth, and email address should also remain unmapped for Payments, Writing, Recommendations, and Courses, because this data will be imported through the CommonApp data feed.
CommonAppRecommendations, CommonAppPayment, CommonAppWriting, and CommonAppCourses source formats all have the Slate Common App ID mapped to the application-scoped unique fields Common App ID and App: External ID.
