AtlasOA Frequently Asked Questions

AtlasOA is a modern outcomes assessment platform for higher education. It tracks Student Learning Outcomes, supports accreditation evidence collection (HLC, SACSCOC, MSCHE, NWCCU, WSCUC, ACCJC), and maps curriculum. AtlasOA, LLC also publishes Atlas K-12, a separate program for K-12 districts that replicates the core functionality of Panorama Education's Student Success platform.

AtlasOA is built and maintained by Ashley Reddick, an IT instructor at a technical college in the Midwest. Ashley teaches Windows Server, Linux, VMware vSphere, Proxmox, Security+, and Microsoft Azure (AZ-900). Read the founder story.

"OA" stands for Outcomes Assessment. "Atlas" is the navigation metaphor: the platform charts how courses align to programs to institutional outcomes, the same way an atlas charts geography. The full company name is AtlasOA, LLC, a Missouri limited liability company headquartered in Clayton.

No. There are several unrelated products that use "Atlas" or "ATLAS" in their names: the University of Kansas's ATLAS, Watermark's "Atlas" feature inside Outcomes Assessment Projects, OnAtlas / AssessPrep, and the Arkansas ATLAS Portal for K-12. AtlasOA is a separate, independent product built by Ashley Reddick and AtlasOA, LLC. We are not affiliated with any of those.

AtlasOA is built by a practicing instructor and is priced for technical and community colleges. Watermark is enterprise software with quote-only pricing typically aimed at large four-year institutions. AtlasOA, LLC also publishes Atlas K-12, a separate K-12 SEL/MTSS program. See the full AtlasOA vs Watermark comparison.

AtlasOA is self-hostable, transparently priced, and faster to set up. Nuventive's reporting library is broader. See the full comparison.

AtlasOA replaces the Outcomes / Compliance Assist piece. Anthology's broader suite (Engage, Beacon, Reach, Lifecycle) is not in scope for AtlasOA. Full comparison.

Yes. AtlasOA accepts CSV imports of outcomes, courses, programs, alignments, and historical assessment data. Migrations typically take one to three weeks depending on data volume. A weekend remote install with screen-share debugging is included for founder partners.

Founder pricing: Starter $1,750 per year, Premium $4,250 per year, Enterprise $6,250 per year. List prices (after the founder period closes) are double those amounts: $3,500, $8,500, and $12,500. See the pricing page for what is included in each tier.

No. AtlasOA pricing is a flat annual fee per institution. There is no per-student bill that grows with enrollment.

Founder Partners are early institutions that adopt AtlasOA before the founder pricing period closes. They get a free first year, locked-in founder pricing for the life of their license, white-glove onboarding (including a free remote weekend install), and direct access to Ashley for feature requests.

All tiers include SLO tracking, curriculum mapping, accreditation evidence collection, rubric scoring, and the REST API. Premium adds Atlas K-12 (SEL + MTSS), advanced reporting, and Jenzabar integration. Enterprise adds multi-campus support, custom SIS integration, and priority support. See the full breakdown.

Yes. AtlasOA supports evidence collection workflows for all six U.S. regional accreditors: HLC (Higher Learning Commission), SACSCOC (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges), MSCHE (Middle States Commission on Higher Education), NWCCU (Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities), WSCUC (WASC Senior College and University Commission), and ACCJC (Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges).

AtlasOA supports outcome-to-criterion mapping and rubric scoring at the level most specialized accreditors require. For ABET-heavy engineering and technology programs, see the AtlasOA vs AEFIS comparison. AACSB and CAEP-specific reporting templates are on the roadmap.

AtlasOA prompts faculty and program leads at the end of each assessment cycle to: (1) record what they learned from the data, (2) document the change they will make next cycle, (3) link that change to a measurable outcome, and (4) carry that link forward into next cycle's report. Closing-the-loop documentation is automatically pulled into the accreditation evidence package.

Yes. AtlasOA includes outcome achievement reports, distribution reports, gap analysis, drilldown into individual outcomes, and exportable CSV/PDF outputs suitable for trustees and system-office reporting.

Atlas K-12 is a separate program from AtlasOA. Both are published by AtlasOA, LLC. It is a standalone K-12 student support platform, not a module or stripped-down version of AtlasOA. It provides SEL screening, MTSS tier tracking, and Care Team workflows, and includes Compass, a local AI assistant that runs on hardware the district owns with zero outbound network calls. Atlas K-12 replicates the core functionality of Panorama Education's Student Success platform. Learn more.

Atlas K-12 includes a local AI assistant that runs entirely on the district's hardware with zero outbound network calls. Panorama Student Success is hosted SaaS. Atlas K-12 is also priced for districts that cannot afford Panorama's enterprise contract. See the full Atlas K-12 vs Panorama comparison.

Compass is the local AI assistant inside Atlas K-12. It runs on a school district's own hardware (Lite, Standard, or Pro tier depending on RAM available) and never calls out to OpenAI, Anthropic, or any external service. It is shaped by the district's curated 788-technique intervention catalog from IES, WWC, PBIS, CASEL, and NCII.

AtlasOA is built on Python, Flask, and SQLite. It is designed to run on commodity Windows hardware and is self-hostable so institutions retain data residency.

Yes. AtlasOA can pull grades and enrollment data directly from Jenzabar's SQL Server (STUDENT_CRS_HIST, NAME_MASTER, SECTION_MASTER tables) for institutions running JICS or J1.

AtlasOA ships with adapters for Canvas, Blackboard, Moodle, D2L Brightspace, Jenzabar, Banner, Workday, and several others. Custom SIS integration is available as a one-time engagement.

Yes. AtlasOA exposes a REST API for outcomes, assessments, and reports. Anything you can see in the user interface, you can pull through the API.

Yes. AtlasOA is designed for self-hosting on commodity Windows hardware. A typical small institution runs the entire stack on one server.

Yes. AtlasOA is designed for FERPA compliance. Because it is self-hostable, your student data stays on hardware your institution owns and never leaves your network unless you configure it to.

On the institution's own hardware by default. AtlasOA is self-hostable, so the database (SQLite by default, or a customer-managed Postgres/SQL Server if preferred) runs inside your institution's network.

No outbound calls are required for normal operation. The Atlas K-12 Compass AI assistant explicitly does not call any external service. The only outbound traffic is the periodic license check (toggleable to manual), and any LMS or SIS integrations you opt into.

AtlasOA includes a built-in backup tool that produces a single ZIP file containing the database and uploaded artifacts. Most institutions schedule it nightly to local network storage or to their existing institutional backup target.

AtlasOA is designed for institutions to be running within days, not months. There is no required consultant engagement. A Saturday or Sunday remote install with screen-share debugging is available for institutions that want a hand. For founder partners, this remote install is free.

Email support is included on all tiers. Premium and Enterprise add priority response and a quarterly check-in. Founder partners have direct access to Ashley.

The public roadmap and docs live at github.com/arreddick/atlas-oa-docs. The changelog lists released changes by date.

Email Ashley with your institution name, accreditor, and approximate enrollment. We will set up a 30-minute call to walk through the platform and confirm fit.