Considerations & Best Practices in Electronic Transcript Exchange: PDF, EDI, XML Tuan Anh Do San Francisco State University Jeff Elliott University of Missouri System Michael Maysilles New Jersey Institute of Technology AACRAO Technology and Transfer Conference New Orleans, LA Sunday, July 9, 2:21 PM – 3:15 PM Session ID: 6629 Brought to you by SPEEDE – A Professional Development Committee of AACRAO

Conference Reminders Please silence your cell phone/pager Questions are welcome throughout – we will also have Q&A also at the end If you must leave the session early, please do so as discreetly as possible Please avoid side conversations Please complete an evaluation for session 6629 Thank you for your cooperation!

Session Overview A brief history and considerations of various methods of transcript exchange to include: PDF Transcripts EDI Transcripts XML Transcripts Additional information and resources SPEEDE contact information

PDF Transcripts Michael Maysilles

PDF History Portable Document Format (PDF) released by Adobe Systems in 1993 Cooperated with ISO for standardized subsets Released as an open standard in 2008 Adobe Reader is free, plus others cited from http://www/adobe.com/products/acrobat/adobedpf.html PDF is an electronic transmission of data not the transmission of electronic data. The PDF is an electronic image. Signed upon receipt and verified authentic through signature verification and certificate authentication

PDF Transcript Overview Electronic image vs. electronic data Sending – Extract a dataset from SIS and spool to PDF document Receiving – Institution must determine how to get data into system Authentication – Secure PDF signed and certified as authentic using digital signature Encryption – Provides a secure method of transmission using sender and receiver keys PDF files can have attachments, both at document-level and page-level. cited from http://www/adobe.com/products/acrobat/adobedpf.html PDF is an electronic transmission of data not the transmission of electronic data. The PDF is an electronic image. Signed upon receipt and verified authentic through signature verification and certificate authentication

PDF TRANSCRIPTS BENEFITS Quickly and affordably deliver transcripts to institutions and businesses to verify degrees and coursework Create electronic transcript complete with colors, images and watermarks that mirror the official paper transcript Requires little technical knowledge at the institutional level Fairly quick and easy implementation Supported by a variety of vendors Customer service and expectations Cost reduction

Sample PDF TranscRipt

PDF Sending Best Practices Utilize security within the PDF Blue Ribbon Security Digital signatures Watermark background Document expiration? Use secure transmission methods Vendor networks Multiple-step authentication No direct email attachments

PDF Receiving Best Practices Maximize the benefit of electronic OCR Templates Don’t print, then manual data entry No better than receiving paper? Coordinate with primary trading partners Use other methods for institution-to-institution transmission Best Option!

DO PDF TRANSCRIPTS SAVE TIME & MONEY? Sending PDF Yes! Reduces paper, printing, stuffing, mailing time/costs Receiving PDF Depends PDF transcripts must be imaged and data entered into the student information system Some institutions have systems that can automatically load images into imaging systems In general, PDF transcripts must still be manually entered or OCR’ed into your SIS

Transcript Processing Example Paper Up to 5 days to be received via mail + Up to 30 business days to post to SIS PDF Arrive within 1 day of order + EDI Arrive within 1 day of order Post to imaging system and SIS by next morning

PDF Transcript Challenges Email issues: Email directed to spam filters Bad email addresses Feature questions: Security features can cause issues for uploading, expirations, etc. Do recipients accept PDF transcripts? Receiving efficiently

EDI Transcripts Jeff Elliott

EDI HISTORY The AACRAO Standardization of Postsecondary Education Electronic Data Exchange Committee (SPEEDE) began developing national standard in 1989 AACRAO SPEEDE developed the initial format for the College Transcript US Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) began developing a national standard during same timeframe NCES developed the format for the K-12 Transcript

EDI HISTORY (CONT’D) 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 1990’s, with the most current version being published in 1998 Followed by EDI standards for several other education-related documents Adopted as approved PESC (P20W Education Standards Council) standards around 2008, where they are now maintained by PESC’s Education Record User Group (ERUG) Current version is TS130 Version 4.0, May 2009 (Closed Standard)

EDI FORMAT Delimited – like a CSV file Named “segments” Mixture of optional and required fields and segments Multiple occurring and nested segments

EDI FORMAT EXAMPLE SES|200507|1|||Fall 2005; SUM|U|4|N|||1|||3.33; Delimiter 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 Eng Economics; 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; CRS|R|U||1|01|A-||||||3.67||CVL|324|Geotech Properties of Soil I; AACRAO funded SPEEDE to began working on a national standard format for the electronic exchange of postsecondary student records. NCES began developing the national standard to format for the electronic exchange of student records for kindergarten through high school students. ANSI/ASC - To gain more credibility in the creation and widespread adoption of the standards, the two groups (AACRAO and NCES) approached the American National Standards Institute’s (ANSI) Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) X12 for assistance in developing and approving the two standard formats. The committee reviewed both proposals and required 1 standard be created for K-post secondary. ASC X12 Standard in the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) format approved in early 1990's. Named Segment Empty – i.e. Optional Fields Segment Terminator

EDI PROCESS BENEFITS Standards are consistent Resources are available Processes can be batched and automated Large volume of current institutions using standard Efficient transmission of data with the least amount of characters necessary State/Province and district initiatives Sender and receiver are identified Automated acknowledgements of both delivery and receipt possible Transmission through SPEEDE Server benefits trading partners Costs decrease Speede delivery 

EDI Institutional Considerations Capabilities of the organization IT resources available Interest level of senior management Compatibility with SIS Cost/benefit analysis In house vs. vendor sponsored solution Efficiency gains Process reengineering Strategic goals Preferred trading partner methodologies Capabilities: Do you have IT resources available or do you need to go to a vendor to support EDI technology. Do you have buy in and commitment of senior management. Will you be able to upload data into your SIS for full benefits of EDI. Cost Benefit: If you build in house do you have the expertise and resources available or do you have a reliable vendor to provide this support. What goals do you have to gain efficiencies. What is your project plan and projected efficiency gains to offset the cost of development. Must look at existing processes and determine the risk/reward of changing. Strategic goals – What are your preferred trading partners doing…Examples: 1.If your proposed trading partner is already using EDI and you, as a new partner, have EDI capability in your vendor based system, EDI 2. If your proposed trading partner has EDI capability in their vendor based system, and you can acquire EDI capability with in-house or third party support, choose EDI. 3. If you and/or your proposed trading partner are both considering acquiring EDI software either from a vendor or from a third party vendor as an add-on, choose EDI for both.

EDI Process Considerations Technical 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 Many small important setup details, but it’s only done once CONS Technical Complexity - While use of EDI grew and continues to be implemented in the registrar and admissions communities, for a number of reasons including programming complexities other sectors continued to use flat file structures in the 1990’s. Translation Software - If your SIS does not have EDI capability, you will need to build or buy translation software. You will also need the ability to create a flat data file from your SIS (transcript data) and/or upload a flat data file into your SIS. The purpose of translation software is to “translate” flat transcript or admission application data into or out of the ANSI X12 EDI format. Data Mapping - A cumbersome part of this process is the mapping of your data to the EDI standard, and also the mapping of data received back into a data format that fits into your own student information system. Perception of complexity or lack of IT resources - In the view of many, the perceived complexity of implementing the EDI standards was one of the reasons that many schools (especially high school districts) did not use the EDI format. Details, details - EDI requires an understanding of data file manipulation and a keen eye for visually parsing out the data file in case of errors. The data structure of the EDI transmission is relatively simplistic. This format is older and more compact than XML.

SPEEDE Quick ‘n’ Easy Utility

Quick ‘n’ easy

QUICK ‘n’ easy

XML transcripts Tuan Anh Do

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 Tuan - Do we know how long it has been around as a technology? What industry it was first used in? When it began usage in education? If so we can make this more like a history of xml like we have for PDF & EDI. If not I will leave as is.

PESC XML example 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 XML Content identification Enforced structure International standard Industry standardization Content identification - Perhaps the most important aspect of XML is that text elements are identified, not on the basis of what they look like, but on the basis of what they are. Enforced structure - XML documents are composed in accordance with a Schema, which defines the legal tag set for that document type. International Standard - which means it enjoys widespread support across industry boundaries and gets extensive support from vendors. Industry standardization – AACRAO’s SPEEDE Committee has created XML Schemas for the educational sector which are used by institutions and vendors.

Additional XML Benefits It supports Unicode, allowing almost any information in any written human language to be communicated Format uses English and less abbreviations making it less technical to read than EDI format It can be updated incrementally It is platform-independent, thus relatively immune to changes in technology Tuan you said something interesting about versions in our panel discussion.

MORE XML BENEFITS Forward and backward compatibility are relatively easy to maintain despite changes in Schema Compatible with SEVIS, IPEDS and NCATE (for teachers) XML preferred by IT because it is a format they are familiar with

XML Considerations XML syntax is large relative to EDI representations of similar data This results in higher storage, transmission and processing costs Example 2K EDI = 30k XML (compression available in Office 07) 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, and to process on-going (performance impacts)

ASU Electronic Transcript Receipt Use Case

Security Risk of identity theft, compromise of sensitive data, and financial obligation Penalties and legal liability under laws such as FERPA, Social Security Act and HIPPA Potential impact to reputation of your institution

Data Transmission Security Encryption – coding to be unreadable, except by authorized recipient (PGP, SFTP, SSL) Authentication – proves that the user is who they say they are (security key, digital certificate) Non-repudiation – verification that transmission was received and an acknowledgement of receipt was sent back (transcript acknowledgement)

Security Methodology Bilateral exchange – two organizations set up an exchange with each other and follow mutually agreed upon security protocols (e.g. Maricopa Community College sends to ASU) Hub and spoke – organizations register with and transmit to a central authority that routes to partners (e.g. SPEEDE Server)

Questions

Resources

LEARN AND CONNECT Attend sessions Reference websites Sign up for SPEEDE-L list serve and others Download SPEEDE implementation guides

OTHER SPEEDE Sessions AACRAO Annual AACRAO Tech Multiple Sessions AACRAO Tech Regional AACRAO Conferences Generally one per year

Additional Opportunities PESC – Fall 2017 Data Summit October 2017 Toronto, Canada www.pesc.org PESC – Spring 2018 Data Summit May 2018 Washington, D.C. Contact for presentation questions: Monterey.Sims@Phoenix.edu 602-557-6201

RESOURCES AACRAO SPEEDE: http://www.aacrao.org/about/committees/aacrao-speede-committee Who is doing SPEEDE SPEEDE state contacts SPEEDE state status SPEEDE-L listserv SPEEDE resource links PESC Website: www.pesc.org Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council Implementation guides (‘Standards & Info’) Best practices

MORE RESOURCES SPEEDE Server: speedeserver.org Quick ‘n’ Easy Software White Papers on EDI PGP Beginners Guide Recommended Best Practices (‘RIPS’) AACRAO EDX Primer (Publication)

Contact Us Michael Maysilles Director of Assessment & Compliance New Jersey Institute of Technology maysille@njit.edu SPEEDE Email speede@aacrao.org SPEEDE Listserv speede-g@vt.edu SPEEDE Website http://www.aacrao.org/about/committees/aacrao-speede-committee PESC Website www.pesc.org Jeff Elliott Sr. Manager Enterprise Data Warehouse & Reporting University of Missouri System elliottsj@umsystem.edu Tuan Anh Do Director, ITS / Enterprise Applications San Francisco State University doey@sfsu.edu

Thank You! Please complete the session evaluation using the AACRAO mobile app or the paper form provided in your registration packet. Session ID 6629 Thank you!

This presentation was brought to you by the SPEEDE Committee http://www.aacrao.org/about/committees/aacrao-speede-committee pesc.org SPEEDE – A Professional Development Committee of AACRAO American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers