Common Record: A Story of Convergence GO Common Record – COD Common Record – CommonLine Convergence Common Record – ISIR Collaboration Paving the Way for Electronic Standards in Higher Education

Common Record Goal Members of the community have come together to build an XML standard for higher education

Convergence Community participants worked together to come to agreement on schema structure, tag names, element definitions, lengths and valid codes.

Importance of Standards Better, Faster, Cheaper Every year it becomes more expensive to upgrade systems Every organization is expected to do more with less Standards make training easier Reduce change for the sake of change Make cross-training easier

PESC PESC - Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council - Brings interested parties together to develop needed industry standards. PESC XML Forum for Education - Participants are working together to develop common Names (“Tags”) and XML Format (“Schemas”).

XML Forum Participants From the fields of Admissions, Registrars, K-12, and Financial Aid. Within Financial Aid, participants include FSA, NCHELP, EFC, Financial Aid Administrators, software developers and more.

Terminology ESC - NCHELP Electronic Standards Committee - Sets standards for exchange of FFEL and Alternative Loan data. Collaborative effort of more than 50 organizations including representatives from schools, lenders, guarantors, loan servicers, secondary markets and software vendors.

Terminology CR - Common Record - Standard XML “names” (tags) and “formats” (schema) for exchanging data within Higher Education. COD - Common Origination and Disbursement - FSA process for originating and disbursing Pell Grants and Direct Loans, and Campus-based awards using the Common Record – COD.

Convergence PESC (XML Forum) working in conjunction with the Financial Aid and Admissions/Registrar communities is developing the data standards. ESC will continue to collaboratively set the standards for the business process flow of FFEL electronic loan information.

Work Products XML Technical Specification for Higher Education Core Components Dictionary Core Components Schema

XML Tech Specification for Higher Education The “roadmap” for building the Core Components Dictionary and schemas Includes best practices

Core Components Dictionary Standards were set by the XML Forum for Education Technical Team (XML Technical Specification for Higher Education) Core Components were gathered from Admissions and Registrar community (Academic Transcript) and Financial Aid community (FSA, CommonLine and Meteor)

Core Components Schema The Core Components Dictionary was used to develop the Core Components Schema Contains reusable components that can be used for any data exchange The Core Components Schema is the basis for the development of all business process schemas

XML: The Technology Solution Why did FSA Adopt XML? The Common Record was defined in XML on the basic principle that COD should support what was clearly becoming the default language of eBusiness. XML gave us flexibility. XML was future-oriented

The Common Record Document Structure allows you to send data for: Multiple Schools Multiple Years Multiple Awards In ONE Transmission! ’02 ’03 ’04

Common Record Expansion ORIGINAL VISION: Use XML Technology to create financial aid data packet standards. PELL FFEL DL ISIR Financial Aid Office

Common Record Expansion REVISED VISION: Use XML Technology to create higher education or cross-industry data packet standards. Educational Institution Admissions Registrars Financial Aid

Common Record Expansion AddressLine AddressCity AddressLine AddressCity AddressLine AddressCity AddressLine AddressCity Educational Institution Admissions Registrars Financial Aid

Common Record Expansion Convergence of Standards XML Forum Core Components Financial Aid Core Admissions/ Registrar ASC X12 EDI Common Line Meteor Record COD ebXML

Common Record Expansion Core Components Data Dictionary Sector Library Sector Library Application Schema Application Schema Application Schema Sector Library Application Schema Application Schema Application Schema

The Common Record – Community Development Core Components Dictionary – PESC Schemas Common Record Common Record – COD Common Record – CommonLine -2003 Common Record – ISIR (Draft published) Admissions/Registrar Academic Transcript – 2003 K-12 Academic Transcript - 2003

Institutional Student Next Steps for FSA Using XML and Developing Standards will: Simplify business process and technology for Schools Map data to business processes Utilize open technology supporting future enhancements ISIR Institutional Student Information Record COD Common Origination And Disbursement NSLDS National Student Loan Data System Award Year 2004-05 Award Year 2002-03 50 Schools Award Year 2003-04 1,000 or more *FFEL Expansion Implementation 2004-2005 Award Year 2004-05 All Schools Schedule and Phase-in process for the Lending Community and Schools to be determined Phase-in process for schools to be determined * Effort led by FFELP

Data Strategy Framework The Framework will help FSA define its standards and approach for: Access Methods Data Standards Data Quality Data Architecture Data Ownership [provide large clean copy in handouts] Discuss emotional issues that may arise during this process – we are sensitive to them.

Overview - XML Framework Objective: The FSA XML Framework will outline FSA’s target state and implementation strategy for using XML across the enterprise. The XML Framework will provide standards, processes, and a toolset for implementing XML.

Vision/Where are we going? Define FSA’s XML Strategic Assessment and Enterprise Vision. Analyze current XML environment at FSA – strategy, standards, and technology. Based on industry proven practices for guidance. Provide standards and guidelines for consistent XML schema development. Define the governance process for XML standards.

Vision/Where are we going? Develop a Core Component Library. Implement a Registry and Repository for storing and accessing XML documents. Identify implementations that may leverage XML. Architect an enterprise Data Quality Approach (using Core Components).

Comments, Questions, and Feedback <Presenter Number=“1”> <Name>Adele Marsh</Name> <BusinessName>AES</BusinessName> <BusinessPhone>7177202711</BusinessPhone> <Email>amarsh@aessuccess.org</Email> </Presenter> <Presenter Number=“2”> <Name>Holly Hyland</Name> <BusinessName>FSA</BusinessName> <BusinessPhone>2023773710</BusinessPhone> <Email>Holly.Hyland@ed.gov</Email>

Thank You!!! Common Record – COD CommonLine ISIR Collaboration GO Convergence Paving the Way for Electronic Standards in Higher Education