panel discussion electronic exchange of student transcripts (session t 4.8)
DESCRIPTION
Panel Discussion Electronic Exchange of Student Transcripts (Session T 4.8) SACRAO 66 th Annual Meeting Tuesday, February 5, 2013 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm. Presenters. Richard D. Skeel, Kuali Student, Honorary SACRAO Member. [email protected] - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Panel DiscussionElectronic Exchange of Student
Transcripts
(Session T 4.8)
SACRAO 66th Annual Meeting
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
3:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Richard D. Skeel, Kuali Student, Honorary SACRAO Member. [email protected]
David H. Stones, Retired University Registrar, Honorary SACRAO Member, [email protected]
Slides prepared by J. Tom Stewart, Retired Miami-Dade Registrar, Honorary SACRAO Member, [email protected]
Agenda
A brief history and considerations of various methods of electronic transcript exchange to include:
EDI Transcripts
XML Transcripts
PDF Transcripts
Q & Q
EDI History The AACRAO Standardization of Postsecondary Education Electronic Data
Exchange (SPEEDE) Committee began developing the national standard for a College Transcript in 1989
US Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) began developing a national standard for a High School Transcript during same timeframe
Both groups worked with the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) X12 to develop standard formats
ANSI ASC X12 Transaction Set 130 for the Student Educational Record (Transcript) approved in early ’90’s
Goal to transmit data with the least amount of characters necessary
Sample SES (Session), SUM (Sem Summary), 2 CRS (Course) segments
SES|201008|||2|Fall 2010|D8|20100830|D8|20101217|21|73|249999|Concurrent/Not Designated|B27~
SUM|S|U|N|6.0000|6.0000|6.0000|0.00|4.00|3.50|N|||||||21.000000~
CRS|R|S|3.0000|3.0000|025|A||U||||012.000||ENG|131|Rhetoric & Composition~
RAP|9TX|TXCORECURR|010Communication I|A|Y~CRS|R|S|3.0000|3.0000|025|B||U||||009.000||HIS|134|U.S.
History, 1877-Present~RAP|9TX|TXCORECURR|060History|A|Y~
EDI Process BenefitsStandards are consistent
Resources are available
Processes can be batched and automated
Large volume of current institutions using standard
State and district initiativesSender and receiver are
identified
Automated acknowledgments of both delivery and receipt possible
Transmission through SPEEDE Server benefits trading partners
Costs decrease
SPEEDE delivery
EDI Institutional ConsiderationsCapabilities of the organization
IT resources available Interest level of senior managementCompatibility with SIS
Cost/benefit analysis In house vs. vendor sponsored solutionEfficiency gains
Strategic goalsPreferred trading partner methodologies
EDI Process ConsiderationsTechnical complexity limits some institutions
Need for translation software or SIS compatibility to recognize full benefits
Data mapping can be cumbersome
Perception of complexity or lack of IT resources
ANSI ASC X12A Education sub-committee inactive since 2005
Devil is in the details, but it’s only done once
EDI Numbers
UT Server, December 2012. 459164 transactions (minus 2416 XML). 104,145 transcripts
UT Server, January, 2013. 541,293 transactions 137,108 transcripts, 148,171 acknowledgments, 9121 test score reports, 33835 transcr. Requests, 175622 adm apps, SACRAO States Send Jan ‘13: AL(5),AR(lots),FL(lots), NC (acks), SC(800+), TN, TX(lots), VA (2300, 3 sch)Since 1984: 9,800,000 transcripts, 35,000,000 transactions – delivered at no cost to senders, recips
More ResearchEDI Primer – Published by AACRAO SPEEDE
RIPS Document – Recommended Impl.Practices for SPEEDE. On AACRAO SPEEDE page.
Implementation Guides – PESC and AACRAO/SPEEDE
AACRAO Technology Conf, July 2013TX SPEEDE UG June 17, 2013.
What is XML ?XML stands for Extensible Markup Language
XML is a markup language much like HTML
XML was designed to carry data, not to display data
XML is designed to be self-descriptive
XML High School Transcript Schema
XML Example</TransmissionData>- <Student>- <Person> <SchoolAssignedPersonID>309032191</SchoolAssignedPersonID> <AgencyAssignedID>582425187</AgencyAssignedID> <RecipientAssignedID>123456789</RecipientAssignedID>
<Birth> <BirthDate>1989-06-12</BirthDate> </Birth>- <Name> <FirstName>Kristen</FirstName> <MiddleName /> <LastName>Young</LastName> </Name>- <Gender> <GenderCode>Female</GenderCode> </Gender> </Person>
Key Benefits of XMLContent identification
Enforced structure
International standard
Industry standardization
Additional XML BenefitsIt supports Unicode, allowing almost any information in any
written human language to be communicatedFormat uses English and less abbreviations making it less
technical to read than EDI format It can be updated incrementallyIt is platform-independent, thus relatively immune to changes
in technologyForward and backward compatibility are relatively easy to
maintain despite changes in SchemaCompatible with SEVIS, IPEDS and NCATE (for teachers)XML preferred by IT because it is a format they are familiar
with
XML ConsiderationsXML syntax is large relative to EDI (binary)
representations of similar dataThis results in higher storage, transmission and
processing costsExample 2K EDI = 30K XML (compression available
in MS Office)XML syntax is verbose, especially for human
readers, relative to other alternative 'text-based' data Number of tags = more to sift through to determine
what you need for your SIS as a receiver
XML NumbersUT Server, December 2012. 1387 transcripts. AZ: Pima CC UA 464 NM: Central NM CC > UNM 622 TN: 12 senders 301UT Server, January 2013, 2416 transcripts. AZ: Pima UA 1406 IA: UIowa National Transcript Center 47 MO: Missouri Western State Metrop CC 22 NM: CNM > UNM 792 TN: 10 senders, 149 TX: National Transcript Center UIowa 25
PDF HistoryPortable Document Format (PDF) Created by Adobe Systems 15+
years ago
Electronic image vs. electronic data
Secure PDF signed and certified as authentic
Extract a dataset from sending institution and spool to PDF document
Encryption/Decryption sender and receiver keys
Sign/Verify relies on digital certificates of authenticity
PDF TranscriptsBenefits
Can be sent to any computer
anywhere; not just to another school
Far more secure than mail
Less opportunity for fraud
Faster delivery and easy for human to print or view
Low cost
Fast implementation Easier batching abilities
Considerations Upload of data to SIS more difficult Out of Network delivery possible – no
prior commucation required.
Really just a picture – not data. Longevity
Different philosophies on appropriateness of expiration
Multiple transmission methodologies Vendor differences Varying cost models for
senders/receivers Closed networks
AACRAO White PaperCommittee Report on Electronic Transcripts, Past Present
and Future.College & University, Vol. 87, No. 2, Fall 2011Available at www.aacrao.org
EDI/XML and pdf have different nichesSome combination may be best.EDI/XML for high volume with one or more schoolsPdf for delivery of small n to broad range of recipients,
or to student.
PDF Vendors at SACRAOCredentials
Scrip-Safe
National Student Clearinghouse
Parchment (formerly Avow + Docufide + ?)
Others? CollegeNet?
QuestionsAdditional Resources
http://www.aacrao.org/About-AACRAO/committees/speede.aspx#
http://registrar.utexas.edu/speede
pesc.org