Application Review Process

1. December 1st: application deadline for most PhD programs.

2. December 2nd: Dan Grafton goes into Slate to complete the following tasks:

   • Pull the Application Summary Sheet for each program (same as in the past) & send a copy to each coordinator.

   • Assign all program faculty as Readers to their program’s applicants within Slate. This adds them to the reviewer's “queue”.

3. The program faculty reviewers will review the applications and fill out the review form, all within Slate.

4. The program will meet as a group on a date of their choosing to discuss applications. Everyone will need to bring a computer to this meeting.

   • Throughout the discussion, as decisions are made, Program Coordinators should instruct faculty / reviewers to ensure each reviewed applicant is removed from their queue(s).

5. Program Coordinators will email Dan Grafton the decisions for all applicants related to their program area, either in the body of the email or as an Excel spreadsheet (such as the Application Summary file, shared at the beginning of process). Each admission must include the Advisor.

6. Dan enters the admissions decisions into Slate, which triggers actions from the Graduate School.

Accessing Slate

Step 1: log in to Slate.

• Visit https://choose.umn.edu/manage

• Enter your normal UMN credentials. 

Step 2: access Slate Reader.

• Click the third icon from the left in the top navigation bar, and select “Slate Reader”

Step 3: open your Queue

• Select "Queue" from the left-hand nav bar.

Using Review Forms in Slate

• The Review Form is only available to fill out if the applicant is in your Slate “Queue”.

• Only you can see your answers and comments made on the Review Form.

  • In the event an applicant files a suit to know why they were rejected, the answers / comments made on the review form are subject to any court filings.

  • Reviews remain in Slate for up to one year before they are automatically deleted.

• The “Send” button at the bottom of the review form will mark your review as complete and remove the application from your Queue.

• Submitted Reviews of applications no longer in your Queue are still visible to you, regardless of if they are in your Queue.

• Once submitted, a review cannot be edited.

  • A new form may be submitted by the reviewer. However, both reviews will remain in the system.

  • To submit a new / revised review, you must re-add the applicant to your Queue.

Managing your Queue

•  This is a tab on the left-hand side of the Slate homepage.

•  Only applications in your Queue will populate the “Review Form / Send to Bin” on the lower-right bar.

•  All applications to a specific program will be added to the Queue of each program member that will participate in the review / decision process as it has been communicated to Dan Grafton during step 2 of the application review process.

• If a program decides that an application will only be reviewed by a select few program personnel, the remaining personnel may open the application and select “Remove from Queue” on the lower left bar.

•  If an application is missing or needs to be re-added, there are two ways to (re)add an application to your Queue:

  • Option 1:

    • Locate the application in the “Browse” --> “Submitted Applications” bin.

    • Select the applicant’s name(s), the row(s) should highlight in dark blue.

    • In the upper right corner of the screen, select the “Add to Queue” button. It should show the number of applications that you have selected.

  • Option 2:

    • Locate the application in the “Browse” --> “Submitted Applications” bin.

    • Open the application by clicking the picture of the document at the end of the application’s row. 

    • Once open, select “Add to Queue” at the bottom left of the screen. This will keep the application open and immediately provide access to enter responses on the Review Form.

Step-by-step video