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Show Me the Money The Costs and Cost Benefits of Electronic Transcripts RMACRAO Annual Meeting Friday, July 18, 2014 Susan Dorsey University of Colorado Boulder SPEEDE Committee Member
Show Me the Money The Costs and Cost Benefits of Electronic Transcripts
RMACRAO Annual MeetingFriday, July 18, 2014
Susan DorseyUniversity of Colorado BoulderSPEEDE Committee Member
What are electronic transcripts?Costs/investmentsCost benefitsCase studiesCost worksheetNot a how-to-implement session
Session Overview
What is EDX?
Electronic Data eXchangeSpeak the same language to
exchange student dataStandards
Three forms of electronic transcripts: PDF (Portable Document Format)
An image or picture of the transcript EDI (Electronic Data Interchange)
Flat-file, delimited data file similar to a .csv XML (eXtensible Markup Language)
Newer more verbose data file with tags that identify the data elements that are passed
Electronic Transcripts
Methods of Transmission
Email – Quick, but not very secureSFTP –Secure File Transfer Protocol
directly from institution to institutionVendor networks – Network of
institutions trading through a particular vendor
Sample PDF Transcript
Fairly quick and easy implementation Assistance from variety of vendors Requires little technical knowledge Create the same look as official paper transcript,
complete with colors, images, backgrounds, and watermarks Quickly and affordably deliver transcripts to
students, alumni, other institutions, employersWidely-accepted format PDF option makes customers happy
PDF Benefits
SES|200507|1|||Fall 2005;SUM|U|4|N|||1|||3.33;CRS|R|U||1|01|B+||||82|0014.000|3.33||CECN|801|Principles of EngEconomics;SES|200601|1|||Winter 2006;SUM|U|U|N|||1|||3.67;CRS|R|U||1|01|A-||||||3.67||CVL|425|Hydrology and Hydraulic Eng;SES|200609|1|||Fall 2006;SUM|U|U|N|||1|||3.67;CRS|R|U||1|01|A-||||||3.67||CVL|324|Geotech Properties of Soil I;
Named Segment
Empty (Optional Fields)
Segment Terminator
Delimiter
Sample EDI Transcript
Easy to program for IT staff (basically a .csv file) Implementation can be done in a few weeks
using internal IT staff Assistance from some vendors Assistance from SPEEDE committee members Quickly and affordably deliver transcripts to
other institutions that accept EDI Building EDI network means much lower costs
to receive transcripts than PDF or paper Currently more widely-accepted than XML for
transcript exchange
EDI Benefits
Sample XML Transcript<AcademicRecord>
. . .<AcademicSession>
<AcademicSessionDetail><SessionDesignator>1999-06</SessionDesignator><SessionName>SM99</SessionName><SessionType>Quarter</SessionType>
</AcademicSessionDetail><Course>
<CourseCreditBasis>Regular</CourseCreditBasis><CourseCreditUnits>Quarter</CourseCreditUnits><CourseCreditLevel>Undergraduate</CourseCreditLevel><CourseCreditValue>4</CourseCreditValue><CourseCreditEarned>0</CourseCreditEarned><CourseAcademicGradeScaleCode>511</CourseAcademicGradeScaleCode><CourseAcademicGrade>S</CourseAcademicGrade><CourseCIPCode>230401</CourseCIPCode><CourseQualityPointsEarned>0</CourseQualityPointsEarned><CourseLevel>LowerDivision</CourseLevel><CourseSubjectAbbreviation>COMM</CourseSubjectAbbreviation><CourseNumber>121</CourseNumber><CourseTitle>COMMUNICATIONS I</CourseTitle>
</Course>. . .
</AcademicSession>
Tags
End Tags
Data
IT staff probably already know XML Implementation can be done in a few weeks using
internal IT staff Assistance from some vendors Assistance from SPEEDE committee members Quickly and affordably deliver transcripts to other
institutions that accept XML Building XML network means much lower costs to
receive transcripts than PDF or paper More commonly-used format than EDI outside of
transcript exchange Wave of the future
XML Benefits
Receiving • XML electronic transcript data• Automated load into SIS• Automated load into imaging
Sending• Automated processing of request• Automated send process• To institutions: XML electronic transcript data• To individuals, employers, etc: PDF
EDX in My Perfect World
Receiving • Paper, PDF, EDI, XML• Printing electronic transcripts!• Manual/OCR/auto load into SIS• Manual/auto load into imaging
Sending• Manual/automated processing of request• Manual/automated send process • To institutions: paper, PDF, EDI, XML• To individuals, employers, etc: paper, PDF
EDX in the Real World
Start internally• Senders and receivers
Connect locally• Primary trading partners• University system• Community colleges• High schools
Choose a format together• Best to start somewhere than to wait• Can translate later
Other institutions are extra credit!
Creating My Perfect World
Project costs• Research, consensus, RFPs, etc.• Consulting
Implementation costs• Programming• Servers, apps, etc.• Outsource to vendors• Consulting
Training
Costs to Implement
The vendor list is always changing, but some we have worked with include: AMCAS with XML Header Credentials eSCRIP-SAFE eTranscriptCA (Xap) – California Community
Colleges Joint Services Transcripts (JST) National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) National Transcript Center Parchment (formerly Avow and Docufide)
e-Transcript Vendors
Sending• Labor • Printing costs• Mailing costs• Folding/stuffing machines• Or cost to outsource printing, stuffing,
mailing
Transcript Costs
Sending• Labor reduction• Printing costs• Mailing costs Sending costs• Folding/stuffing machines• Outsourcing lower cost services: Order processing and electronic
sending
EDX Cost Benefits
Receiving• Labor/data entry• Data entry errors • Response time First institution to respond wins!
Transcript Costs
Receiving• Labor/data entry• Cost of errors Troubleshooting• Faster response time • Advising
• BYU saved 10% of students transferring which meant 500 additional students admitted/year
EDX Cost Benefits
Reputation• Customer service Delivery time Charges/fees Service expectations
• Fraud What is the cost to your institution of one
fraudulent transcript? • Data entry errors What is the cost of data entry errors?
• Leadership Perceived as behind the times
Transcript Costs
Reputation• Customer service Fastest delivery Reduce charges/fees Current, competitive services
• Fraud• Data entry errors• Leadership Reputation as a leading institution Increased donors
EDX Cost Benefits
How long does it take to process the same volume with paper?
Transcript Load Download Freq Download Time Processing TimeHigh School** 200-700 / week 3-4 / week 5-10 minutes 2.5-4 hoursCollege* 3-10 / week 3-4 / week 5-10 minutes 1 hour / batch
Estimated Cost:
Transcript Load Download Freq Download Time Processing TimeHigh School** 10-30 / week 1-2 / week 5-10 minutes 30 minutesCollege* 0-2 / week 1-2 / week 5-10 minutes 1 hour / batch
NON-PEAK
Transcript Hours Required Student Assistant Cost Staff CostHigh School** 609 Hours / Year $6,090 $12,180College* 269 Hours / Year $2,690 $5.380Total 878 Hours / Year $8,780 $17,560
* College Transcripts are turned into OCR Templates and data extracted.** Average Volume at SFSU is 5500 PDF High School Transcripts a year. 36k FTF/LD Apps (15%), 21K Admitted, 4700 Attend
PDF Processing Time
How much time does it take to process over a year with PDF?
• Admissions incoming Vendor-supported exchange via ParchmentThird-party vendorsCommon AppEmailed from official HS addressesMajority now PDF over paperEDX in the works due to recent community
college agreement
Admissions questions: [email protected]
CU-Boulder PDF Transcripts
• Office of the Registrar outgoingOfficial transcript
• Order online via Parchment• Within 30 minutes – 24 x 7 x 365 • Expires in 30 days• Can print, save, forward• $12
Unofficial transcript• Self-service through student portal• Instantaneous• No expiration• Can print, save, forward• Free
CU-Boulder PDF Transcripts
• PDF vs Paper: PDF fastest official transcriptPaper official transcripts are free
• Additional charges for rush and Fedex service• Thus PDF is cheaper rush optionFee discrepancy due to historical student
fee that covers lifetime paper transcripts• Working to charge for paper, making
PDF transcripts the cheaper option
CU-Boulder Official Transcripts
Cost Analysis Spreadsheet• If you want to participate, give me your
name, email, institution• Send your feedback, so we can
improve the spreadsheet for everyone• Sharing your data means we can have
case studies for others to learn from Send completed spreadsheet to
Spreadsheet Demo
RMACRAO 2014 The Functional to Technical Overview of Implementing Electronic
Data Exchange Show Me the Money – Costs/Benefits of Electronic Exchange of
Student TranscriptsSACRAO 2015 The Developer’s (Functional to Technical) Overview of Implementing
Electronic Data Exchange Tools to Successfully Implement Electronic Transcript Exchange The Latest in the Secure Electronic Exchange of PDF Student
Transcripts Show Me the Money – Costs/Benefits of Electronic Exchange of
Student Transcripts Possibly: Electronic Student Transcript Exchanges That Really Work
AACRAO 2015Webinars TBD
Other SPEEDE Sessions
What’s Happening in Your State/Region? www.aacrao.org/home/about/committees/aacr
ao-speede-committee/state-status-on-speede
State Contact List: www.aacrao.org/home/about/committees/aacr
ao-speede-committee/speede-state-contacts
Resources
Susan DorseyUniversity of Colorado BoulderAssistant Registrar for Enrollment [email protected]
SPEEDE Committee:[email protected]
SPEEDE Discussion List:[email protected]
SPEEDE Webpage:www.aacrao.org/About-AACRAO/committees/speede.aspx
PESC Website:www.pesc.org
Resources
Questions?
July 23, 2014SPEEDE – A Professional Development Committee of AACRAOAmerican Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers
AACRAO SPEEDE Committee
Thank you!
