Graduate Program Admissions Responsibilities

Each graduate program is responsible for recommending either admission or denial for every applicant. To monitor the status of applicants, programs can use OBIEE:

Note: The same OBIEE security roles associated with Faculty List Data Validation will provide access to this dashboard. If you do not have access, have your supervisor request access on your behalf via https://crimsonservicedesk.wsu.edu > Faculty/Staff > myWSU Access. Please include the security role WSU CS GS 06 in the request.

It's crucial to understand that delays in admitting or denying student applicants can negatively impact Washington State University's reputation and impede our recruitment efforts. Should there be noticeable delays between a student's application and the admission decision within graduate programs, the Vice Provost for Graduate and Professional Education and the Graduate School will engage with the respective program directors.

Application Evaluation Process

  1. Begin by reviewing graduate student applicants in WebAdmit
    1. Link to Site
    2. WebAdMIT Knowledge Base
  2. Once admission decisions have been made, programs must manage admissions through the following path in myWSU:
    • Main Menu > Student Admissions > Application Evaluation > Application Evaluation

Important Reminder: Graduate programs are responsible for recommending admission, denial, or suggesting other actions. The Graduate School will only proceed based on the input and recommendations from the graduate programs.

Students who have completed their applications in one of the CAS systems will have their application data transferred to myWSU. In myWSU, graduate programs can locate students using various criteria:

  • Academic Program
  • Application Number
  • WSU ID number
  • Student Applicant Name

Please note:

  • The ID field (below) refers to the applicant's WSU ID number.
  • Admit Term indicates the academic term for which the student is applying

Process for Admitting or Denying Student Applicants

When making admissions decisions, graduate programs should navigate to the Evaluator Rating tab and complete the following fields:

  1. Evaluator ID: Enter the ID of the graduate coordinator or director responsible for the admission decision.
  2. Committee Role: There is only a single role choice
  3. Evaluation Status: Choose the appropriate status based on the decision:


    1. Recommend Adm with Asst: Select this status if the program is recommending admission with a departmentally funded graduate assistantship. The Graduate School will review these candidates and, if all criteria are met, will admit them. If any documents are missing, please refer the Application Evaluation (above) tab to check applicant status.
      1. AWDOC status means the graduate school is awaiting documents needed to process the admission. These may include TOEFL scores, financial verification, and staff/faculty materials.
        1. myWSU > Campus Community > Student Services Center > Admissions Tab> applicant progression section will show DDEF in these cases.
      2. PendngEval means the student did not submit the documents required to complete the evaluation. In this status, all graduate coordinators are notified of the missing documents.
        1. myWSU > Campus Community > Student Services Center > Admissions Tab> applicant progression section will show APPL.
    2. Recommend Adm Without Asst: This is similar to the above, but there's no commitment to a departmental assistantship.
    3. Evaluation Request: Use this status to request the Graduate School evaluate the applicant before the graduate program makes an admissions decision.
      1. Once the Graduate School completes the evaluation, the department will be notified.
      2. Post-evaluation, the program must finalize its decision to either admit or deny the applicant. Please see sections a, b, or d.
    4. Deny: If denying an applicant, select this. The Graduate School will then send a denial letter to the applicant.
    5. Other Actions: 
      1. Withdrawal of Application by Department: Use this status when a student informs the graduate program that they no longer wish to pursue graduate study.
      2. Update App for One, Two, or Three Semesters (including summer term): If a student requests a change in their admission term post-application submission in a CAS system, you may adjust their term without requiring the student to complete a new application. The deferred student's application material is accessible through WebAdMIT or Oracle Imaging for the term in which they originally applied. The Graduate School will update the application to the future term within myWSU. Once updated, the Graduate School will notify the department. The student will be included in the new term's All Apps by Term query in myWSU (query name: G_APPBYTERM_ORG).
        Note: Deferring admission requires a student's approval. Further, programs have the option to either defer with no guarantee of admission but rather move the applicant to a future cohort. Example deferral email without guarantee of admission. 
        1. One semester: Moves the admission term forward by one semester (e.g., Fall 2023 to Spring 2024).
        2. Two semesters: Moves the admission term forward by two semesters (e.g., Fall 2023 to Summer 2024.
        3. Three semesters: Moves it forward by three semesters.

      3. Recommend to Bridge Path: Graduate Bridge is used when a graduate program determines that an applicant would benefit from the International Master's Program.
        1. Please note that only a limited number of graduate programs participate in the Bridge Pathway. Please only use this status when the applicant aligns with one of the Bridge Pathway programs detailed in the link above. Once the department makes this selection, an automated process runs to notify international programs.
  2. Comment (optional): This field is used to make specific requests to the Graduate School including.

    1. Departments may indicate thesis vs. non-thesis admission via a program code (EXAMPLE: P6010_0005 for thesis; P6010_0010 for non-thesis).

    2. Departments may indicate to admit student to Non-Advance Degree Candidate (EXAMPLE: P6010_0900 for NADC).

    3. Departments may indicate to admit student to a different academic program, plan, or campus. (EXAMPLE: V6010 for Vancouver; P6010 for Pullman, etc.).

    4. Change of campus for PhD students; doctoral programs that does not offer on campus other than Pullman (EXAMPLE: P8XXX, but student will study on Spokane/Tri-Cities/Vancouver campus).

    5. Other information that depts want the admission team to know (EXAMPLE: "Student must take PSYCH 201.")


Admission Letter Template

Upload admission recommendation letters using (YY-M-D)_LastName_LETTER_TYPE_term.pdf. file name schema. Examples for Sept. 14, 2023 with an admit term of fall 2023 are shown below.

      1. All students must receive a Recommendation to admit letter: 23-09-14_LastName_Admit_Letter_2243
      2. Students who are offered an graduate assistantship require a second letter: Assistantship offer (appointment and reappointments): 23-09-14_LastName_Asst_Offer_2243.

      3. Other letters may include:

        1. Provisional Memos (see below) for students that don’t qualify with GPA >3.0, GPA >2.74 with Assistantship, English Proficiency, or non-equivalent bachelor's degree (such as a professional bachelor's degree) (: 23-09-14_LastName_Provisional_Memo_2243
        2. Exception to Policy (see below) for applicants who do not meet minimum GPA (for example):23-09-14_LastName_Exception_2243

No other data entry is required by graduate programs. Do not use any tabs other than Evaluator Rating.

Applicant Progression

Applicant status for AWDOC and Pending Evaluation may be monitored by myWSU > Campus Community > Student Services Center > Admissions Tab> applicant progression

AWDOC Status

  • Go to Oracle Imaging to review emails sent by the Graduate School to the applicant

PendngEval

  • Applicants in Pending Evaluation will continue to show the APPL status. Graduate coordinators are copied on emails sent to students requesting additional application materials.


Graduate Admission Recommendations Requiring Provisional Memos and Exceptions to Policy

Provisional admission requests are required for students who do not meet minimum standards, such as a below 3.0 GPA. Exceptions to policy memos include late arrival and eligibility for graduate assistantships. All of these are covered in the Graduate School Policies and Procedures Manual. Specifically, Chapter 4 covers general admission requirements and Chapter 9 covers the requirements for graduate assistantships. Both provisional admissions and exceptions to policy require approval by the Vice Provost for Graduate and Professonal Education and must be uploaded as shown above.

Provisional Admissions

Memos must be submitted and approved before an offer may be made. Below are several example memos than can help new graduate coordinators in crafting memos.

Exception to Policy

All exception to policy memos must be sent to gradschool@wsu.edu

  • With an exception memo, students may arrive up to 10 days after the beginning of the term
    • Late arrival (by 10th day of the beginning of term)
      • All late arrivals for students on assistantships require a memo. For example, in an international student had an admissions term of Fall 2023 and was expected to arrive on campus August 25, 2023, this requires approval as the term start date was August 21, 2023.
    • Under rate circumstances, greater than 30 day late arrival exceptions may be approved
  • Graduate School Policies and Procedures Chapter 4 Section H states that students may request to defer their admission term only twice. Beyond that requires an exception to policy memo sent to gradschool@wsu.edu

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