by Michael J. Monti, ACSA Executive Director

As part of our commitment to support ACSA programs, we are introducing a new benefit for Full and Candidate programs. In recent years, more and more academic disciplines have started offering a centralized application service (CAS) to their degree programs.  We are delighted to share with you that, as early as next year, ACSA will be developing ArchCAS—a centralized application service for graduate programs in architecture.

The service will allow prospective applicants to easily apply to multiple schools using a single upload of core information, with additional information provided based on the schools’ interest. The service will be free for ACSA members, and aims to help schools manage the admissions and enrollment more effectively.

For this service ACSA will collaborate with Liaison, an organization that has worked for more than two decades to help universities identify, recruit, and enroll quality applicants. Liaison has partnered with more the 30 academic and professional societies to develop CASs for their member institutions Nearly every ACSA member with a graduate program also has another discipline in their university using a Liaison-enabled centralized application.

The positive experience of disciplines such as public health has shown that having a centralized application increases inquiries and applications, and streamlines processes for admission. Liaison understands admissions processes in architecture, including portfolio submission, and is already working with us to develop a system that integrates smoothly with established admissions process. Another key benefit will insight into trends in enrollment across schools, which we will be able to share with our members to help them better calibrate their recruitment, admissions, and enrollment process.

In the coming weeks, we will be sending information on how this Centralized Application Service (ArchCAS) can help you grow and shape your programs, reduce burdensome paperwork, and utilize your staff more efficiently, so that you can focus your time where it really counts—students.

At next week’s Administrators Conference we will demonstrate a sample application. Following the conference we will provide more detailed information to schools. I look forward to sharing more information and updates related to ArchCAS in the coming weeks.