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CAS Participation Levels
We recommend creating four levels of CAS participation in Illinois. Institutions
participating at higher levels will have all the rights and responsibilities as institutions
participating at lower levels, but will have additional benefits as explained below. Initial
participation should be chosen by the institution to fit its needs, but schools should be
encouraged to consider moving to a higher level later. A “Request for Proposals” system
should be established to accommodate the movement of institutions from lower to higher
levels. (See Attachment C for more information about the four participation levels.)
Level 1
The minimal Level of CAS involvement we propose is for an institution to be
“sending only.” In this case, students who attend the institution can create Planning
Guides using the coursework at the sending institution to plan degree completion at any
institution participating in CAS at a higher Level than Level 1. Students at or interested
in transferring to a Level 1 institution, however, cannot create Planning Guides for degree
programs at that Level 1 school. At Level 1, public-type information about the institution
is available to users. This includes information about course offerings and degree
options—in short, the type of information contained in program and course catalogs. To
maximize the effectiveness of CAS, each institution’s course bank should be loaded so
that users can select courses for their academic history. There is no cost to the institution
at this level. We expect at the onset institutions that do not have degree audit and
articulation systems in place will elect to participate at Level 1, send only.
Level 2
In addition to the responsibilities and functions described above, Level 2
institutions will create and maintain limited articulation data in CAS. These data will
enable students to review the courses needed to fulfill the IAI General Education Core
Curriculum.
