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RecoRdFALL/WINTER 2010 www.studentclearinghouse.org 703.742.4200
The cleaRinghouse
New SIS Integration and Document Options Added to Transcript OrderingExpanded Document Delivery and Other Enhancements in Development
The Clearinghouse continues to introduce significant enhancements to our Transcript Ordering service. During the summer, we added a paperless consent form option, which enables the requestor to use a mouse to sign and submit the consent form in one step. This instantly releases the transcript request to the school for fulfillment, reducing processing and wait times for requestors and recipients. Both schools and requestors quickly embraced the convenience of paperless consent. In the first 30 days, nearly half of all consent forms were submitted via the paperless option; today, nearly 70% of all processed consent forms are paperless.
End-to-End Automation via SIS Integration Full Web service integration is now available between Transcript Ordering and PeopleSoft Campus Solutions student information system (SIS). Order information, along with order status changes, will be sent directly from your Clearinghouse Transcript Ordering service into your PeopleSoft system. Similarly, any updates you make to the order within
Inside:
How the Clearinghouse Stays in Touch with You
Clearinghouse Staff News
StudentTracker for High School Updates
Sign Up to Receive Electronic Transcripts for Free
Your Client Services Team
MyStudentCenter.org Coming Soon
Audit Resource Center Celebrates 5 Years of Success
New Electronic Transcript Options Help Palm Beach Atlantic University Cut Costs and More
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continued on page 5 Services You Need. People You Trust.
consent form with a mouse (rather than send via fax or postal mail) to complete an order. In a matter of months, the results have shown the extent that PBA students and alumni have enjoyed this option, which helps to expedite their orders. For instance, in September alone, 83% of all consent forms submitted by PBA students and alumni were paperless.
Saving “Green” by Going GreenIn a challenging economic climate, PBA’s Transcript Ordering service offered a competitive edge – providing the top-notch service that students demanded while saving money for the university. When the PBA registrar, Audrey Schofield, learned of Transcript Ordering’s electronic delivery option last spring, she decided to add it as a new delivery alternative. “We wanted to take advantage of technological resources that could improve student services and make the most of our staff’s time,” said Schofield.
PBA now uses paperless consent, electronic delivery, and document security.
Offering electronic delivery has yielded impressive results for PBA. Processing turnaround time has significantly dropped. Previously, it used to take several days for PBA staff to process and deliver transcripts; now transcripts can be processed and ready within 24 to 48 hours (or less, if the requestor submits the paperless consent form). PBA is also realizing savings in staff and materials. “This extra effort not only used up staff time, but had a pretty high administrative cost. The cost of the paper alone was 30 cents per transcript page; once you add up the mailing costs, it comes to $1 per transcript.” In September, the registrar’s office
A private and independent Christian university, Palm Beach Atlantic University (PBA) places great focus on using cutting-edge technologies to enhance student service and learning. Since 2007, for example, PBA has participated in the Clearinghouse’s Transcript Ordering service, providing their students and alumni with the convenience of submitting transcript requests online 24/7. With only seven staff members to manage daily requests in the registrar’s office, however, PBA sought to further extend Transcript Ordering’s time-saving benefits by capitalizing on the service’s newest enhancements: paperless consent, electronic delivery, and document security.
Paperless Consent Speeds Processing One of PBA’s top priorities was finding an easier way to fulfill the volume of transcript orders being submitted on a weekly basis. PBA has realized significant and positive changes in order fulfillment with the recent launch of paperless consent forms. With this new feature, a student can electronically sign the secure
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How the Clearinghouse Stays in Touch with YouIn order to ensure that we continue to provide information and services that meet the needs of our constituents, the Clearinghouse seeks insight and guidance from our board of directors and advisory committees. In addition, we recently expanded our Client Relations team to further improve our service and support efforts and ability to collect feedback directly from our clients.
Clearinghouse Board of DirectorsOur board is comprised of representatives from educational institutions, educational associations, and the education finance industry. The makeup of the Clearinghouse’s board reflects its status as a trusted, neutral, and reliable source for educational information and services.
Educational Institutionsn Alisa Abadinsky, Director of Student Financial Services,
University of Illinois at Chicagon Carolyn Ainslie, VP for Finance and Treasurer,
Princeton Universityn Daniel Domenech, Executive Director, American Association
of School Administrators (AASA)n Stanley Henderson, Vice Chancellor of Enrollment
Management and Student Life, University of Michigan-Dearbornn David Myette, Director of Financial Aid, Vermont Law School
Education Financen James Ronald Gambill, Chairman/CEO, Educational Funding
of the Southn William Hurry, Jr., Executive Director, Rhode Island Higher
Education Assistance Authorityn Sue McMillin, President and CEO, Texas Guaranteed Student
Loan Corporationn Elise Nowikowski, Director, Policy Support Services, Nelnetn Donald Vickers, President & CEO, Vermont Student
Assistance CorporationAt Largen John Casteen, President Emeritus, University of Virginian Doris Grose, President (retired), Wachovia Educational Financen Keith Jepsen (board chairman), President, Global Student
Loan Corporationn Paul Lingenfelter, President, State Higher Education Executive
Officers (SHEEO)n David Longanecker, President, Western Interstate
Commission for Higher Education (WICHE)
Clearinghouse Advisory CommitteeOur Advisory Committee is made up of registrars, financial aid officers, institutional researchers, and other professionals representing public, private, and specialized postsecondary institutions. The committee provides feedback on ways to improve our services and new areas of development.
n Kimberly Barber, University Registrar, Florida State Universityn Tom Black, University Registrar, Stanford Universityn Mary Ann Coughlin, Assistant VP for Academic Affairs,
Springfield Collegen Sue Dickens, Registrar, Century Collegen Polly Griffin, University Registrar, Princeton Universityn Stan Henderson (committee chairman), Vice Chancellor
for Enrollment Management & Student Life, University of Michigan, Dearborn
n Suzanne McGurk, System Registrar, Kentucky Community and Technical College System
n Soon Merz, AVP for Institutional Effectiveness and Accountability, Austin Community College
n Mary Neary Morley, Registrar, California Institute of Technologyn Kenneth Servis, Dean of Academic Records and Registrar,
University of Southern Californian Heather Smith, Associate Vice President for Enrollment
Services, Bridgewater State Universityn Ernestine Whiting, Nat’l Director of Student Financial Aid,
Laureate Online Higher Education, Walden University Financen Peter Zachocki, Registrar, Illinois Institute of Technology
Data Access Advisory CommitteeOur Data Access Advisory Committee guides the Clearinghouse in our use of data as a neutral information provider, reviewing our data system, security policies, and role in research analysis. It is comprised of education professionals experienced in student database management, research, and risk management.
n Donald Hossler (committee chairman), Executive Director, Clearinghouse Research Center / Professor of Educational Leadership & Policy Studies, Indiana University Bloomington
n David Longanecker, President, Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE)
n Fred Fresh, Registrar, Spelman Collegen Christine Kerlin, Vice President, Enrollment Management,
Everett Community Collegen Melissa Roderick, Co-Director, Consortium on Chicago
School Researchn Hans L’Orange, Vice President, State Higher Education
Executive Officers (SHEEO)n Craig Schoenecker, System Director for Research, Minnesota
State Colleges and Universitiesn Barney Wilson, Director, Baltimore Polytechnic Institute
Client Outreach and SupportIn addition to our industry-specific support teams, the Clearinghouse provides dedicated customer service to all of our participants and the organizations and individuals who use our online services.
Higher Education (see “Your Client Services Team” panel)n Regional and Managing Directorsn Client Management Representativesn Client Services Implementation Representatives
(implementation and training)n Clearinghouse Academy workshops (free half-day workshop)
Secondary Educationn Secondary Education Managern StudentTracker for High Schools Analysts
(implementation, training, and support)Education Financen Education Finance Industry Operations
(implementation, training, and support)Researchers & Educational Organizationsn Clearinghouse Research Center
(research questions, reports, presentations, and workshops)n StudentTracker Analysts (implementation, training, and support)
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New Electronic Transcript Options Help Palm Beach Atlantic University Cut Costs and More
allows PBA to replicate the look of their paper transcripts while reassuring the recipient that the document is official.
According to Schofield, another key concern was preventing people from altering PBA transcript PDFs, which the university addressed through rights management. Rights management helps schools control access and usage of electronic transcripts after they are delivered. The university chose to protect the integrity of their transcripts by restricting document viewing, copying, and editing for the recipients. Noted Schofield, “This will help deter document tampering.”
In September, 83% of all consent forms submitted by PBA students and alumni were paperless.
Electronic Competitive Edge Implementing Transcript Ordering’s new electronic features proved a very smooth process for PBA. “Typically, each new feature we added took less than 24 hours to become active,” said Schofield, “and we rarely ever experienced any disruptions with our service as it was being updated.”
“Registrars should seize the opportunities to do everything electronic,” added Schofield. “Electronic transcripts are an important convenience for students when they need them for job interviews or graduate school applications. They provide our students with efficient service and a competitive edge in the workforce.”
To learn more about Transcript Ordering and its electronic transcript options, contact your Clearinghouse regional director.
processed 317 transcripts; nearly 20% were electronic and the demand is growing, allowing Palm Beach Atlantic to allocate their resources elsewhere. “It has allowed us to spend more time in more areas for students, and it alleviated a large amount of the financial and time burdens that our old transcript ordering process took up.”
The PBA registrar’s office has continued to support the transition to electronic transcript delivery by making it the least expensive method of delivery, which saves money for the student as well. As another tremendous benefit, Transcript Ordering has bolstered PBA’s ongoing green office initiative, ultimately benefiting their students, communities, and stakeholders as well as the environment.
Using Document Security to Protect StudentsStudent security continues to be at the forefront of PBA’s organizational mission. As soon as the Clearinghouse added state-of-the-art document security to Transcript Ordering, PBA quickly took advantage of the new digital signature and rights management options. Transcript Ordering uses cutting-edge document security provided by Adobe® LiveCycle®, enabling the university to protect student transcripts, even after delivery.
“Registrars should seize the opportunities to do everything electronic.”
PBA uses their own validation certificate to sign each electronic transcript digitally. The “blue ribbon” certification at the top of the document declares that it is an authentic, unaltered PBA transcript. Additionally, each PBA transcript contains the university’s watermark and displays a visible digital signature (i.e., an electronic replica of Audrey Schofield’s signature). This
Douglas T. Shapiro, Ph.D. began his appointment as senior research director in July and is responsible for guiding future studies and managing resources for the Clearinghouse Research Center. The studies that Dr. Shapiro and his team are planning to publish include: enrollment trends in postsecondary education, student access and financial aid, markets for highly-educated labor, and more. Prior to joining the Clearinghouse, Dr. Shapiro was the director of Institutional Research at The New School in New York City, and, before that, served as vice president for research and policy development at the Minnesota Private College Council. He received his Ph.D. from the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education from the University of Michigan.
Jonathan Dela Cruz became the regional director for our North Central region in July. He brings more than 15 years of experience in college admissions, financial aid, and client relationship management and his established relationships with a number of U.S. colleges will help us expand our postsecondary partnerships. Jonathan previously served as an account manager at Chase Education Finance, a student loan officer at the University of Chicago, an admissions officer at Elmhurst College, and a regional director of enrollment management for Seton Hall University. He has a B.A. in Communications from Dominican University in Illinois.
We would also like to acknowledge a valued member of our staff, Jeff Tanner, who is retiring from the Clearinghouse in December. Jeff, who has served as a vice president of the Clearinghouse since 2002 and was a founding member of our board of directors, has played an integral role in our higher education development efforts. Jeff will be greatly missed by his colleagues in the industry as well as his coworkers, who wish him a long and happy retirement.
Clearinghouse Staff NewsThe Clearinghouse recently welcomed these two employees to key positions within our organization. We’re pleased to introduce our newest colleagues.
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Adobe and LiveCycle are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated.PeopleSoft is a trademark of Oracle Corporation. Banner is a trademark of Sungard SCT Corporation.
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StudentTracker for High Schools Update: New Report Plus Major Upgrade on Track for Fall 2011New Report Feature AddedIn response to your recent feedback, we’ve unveiled a new feature to our aggregate reports. As a useful supplement, we’ve added tables to follow each set of color bar and line graphs. Now you can easily look up actual numbers that represent the percentages illustrated in the report.
Grouped by each school class, the new tables provide you with a detailed glimpse of student enrollment, persistence, and completion figures.
n Compare the persistence of graduating classes. Get a full count of total enrollments in 2- or 4-year institutions, degrees earned, time to graduation, and more.
n See how soon they enroll for college. Are they entering higher education right after graduation or within one or two years?
n See where the majority go to college. See how the rate of enrollment differs between
public vs. private, 4-year vs. 2-year, and in-state vs. out-of-state institutions.
n Learn about freshman-to-sophomore retention. Get an accurate count of students who enrolled in college and returned for their second year.
n Evaluate the details of student academic performance. See an annual breakdown (by each high school class) of the number of students who graduate, persist, return after a break, and drop out.
StudentTracker’s new tables provide you with a detailed look at student enrollment, persistence, and completion figures.
Soon you will be able to build your own reports online with StudentTracker.
New Features Coming Soon!The Clearinghouse is pleased to announce the upcoming launch of our new and improved StudentTracker for High Schools in fall 2011. We are expanding StudentTracker’s data and reporting, enabling users at high school and districts to generate reports that can be used to assess and improve educational performance across the country.
The next upgrade includes several valuable features that substantially expand our ability to provide high schools and districts with an insightful look into alumni success rates. You will be empowered to manage your own accounts, easily build your own reports, and get more from your service.
n Online Web Tool Our online Web tool will provide you with a more interactive user experience. You can look up your StudentTracker subscription terms, view your generated reports and data submissions, find other useful resources, and much more.
n Customize Your Own Reports Get all of the same color graphs and charts – only you’ll be able to select the reports that are most important to you (e.g., in-state or out-of-state enrollment). Plus, you will have the ability to submit additional data elements such as gender, ethnicity, and economic status that can be used to enhance your reports.
The Clearinghouse will be announcing other StudentTracker developments in the coming months. Be sure to check your inbox for exciting news about the fall 2011 launch! Also, there will be opportunities for you to provide feedback on what we can do to help StudentTracker for High Schools meet your needs.
New SIS Integration and Document Options Added to Transcript Ordering
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your system along with the new order status (e.g., “transcript sent”) will be transmitted to Transcript Ordering. Additionally, if a hold has been placed on an order that prevents a transcript’s release, our solution will regularly check for record updates to verify that the hold is still in place. As soon as your system reports that the hold has been removed, Transcript Ordering will release the order for fulfillment.
The Clearinghouse offers the flexibility to determine the level of integration assistance you need. If you prefer to work independently, we will provide you with the XML schemas and Web services detail. You can also choose to utilize Clearinghouse technical resources to help you implement the integration.
“Since the student information system (SIS) experts at the schools know better than anyone about how their systems function, we really want to enable schools to control their integration implementation,” said Adriene Doray-Franklin, director of Transcript Services at the Clearinghouse. “The Clearinghouse is ready to offer technical expertise from a certified PeopleSoft resource at whatever level a school requires to ensure a successful implementation.”
If you offer electronic delivery, your PDF transcripts will be automatically and securely returned to the Clearinghouse using the PeopleSoft interface. The transcript PDF will be immediately placed out for pickup by the recipient, who will be notified in real time via email that the transcript is available. By combining SIS integration and electronic delivery, you can offer an end-to-end automated transcript ordering solution to your students and alumni.
Integration for Banner systems will be available in January. Integration options for other SIS systems will be available later in 2011.
Integration with Electronic Transcript Exchange If you participate in our Electronic Transcript Exchange service, it will be included as part of your SIS integration, maximizing the time- and cost-saving benefits you realize from the Clearinghouse’s full transcript solution. This will enable you to automatically and securely send electronic transcripts to your trading partners, who are also Electronic Transcript Exchange participants, from within your SIS software. The receiving school will receive an email with a secure URL, where authorized staff can log on and retrieve the file.
As part of the ordering process, the requestor will be presented with a new recipient option on the order form: “Send to a U.S. college or educational agency.” The requestor simply selects a state and enters the recipient’s
name. This piece of the integration automatically identifies an Electronic Transcript Exchange trading partner and determines if the trading file types are compatible. Within seconds, the requestor will know that your school exchanges transcripts electronically with the receiving school and will be offered a new delivery method, “Electronic Exchange.” If no match is found, the requestor can select one of the other delivery methods you have chosen to provide.
If you participate in our free Transcript Ordering service, you are already eligible to send an unlimited number of transcripts at no charge through Electronic Transcript Exchange. Contact your Clearinghouse regional director to sign up for Electronic Transcript Exchange.
All U.S. educational institutions, whether or not they participate in Transcript Ordering, can receive electronic transcripts via the Clearinghouse for free. You can sign up online to receive electronic transcripts at no charge at www.studentclearinghouse.org/etx.
New Enhancements Coming in January New Document Delivery OptionsThis January, Transcript Ordering’s document options will be expanded to enable both requestors and schools to add documents other than transcripts to their orders. A requestor can choose to upload a blank form (e.g., a scholarship form) to his or her transcript request for the school to complete and attach to the transcript. The requestor can also upload a completed form or document (e.g., an essay) for the school to attach directly to the transcript.
If a school uses our electronic PDF delivery option, their staff can upload and attach documents to individual transcripts, including transcript legends, special commendations, and international transcript evaluations. Additionally, the Clearinghouse will be able to store static documents within the school’s profile and automatically attach them to all of the school’s electronic transcripts (e.g., transcript legends, letters from the dean explaining grading policies, cover letters, etc.).
Enter Your Own Landing Page MessageIn January, you will also be able to add and maintain the welcome message on your Transcript Ordering landing page through a new feature on our school secure site. Schools typically use the landing page message to provide special instructions to requestors or post announcements, such as office closings.
Watch for updates on our upcoming enhancements in January. If you would like to offer the paperless consent form option or take advantage of our SIS integration solution, contact [email protected].
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Receive electronic transcripts for FREE!You can start receiving electronic transcripts for free through our Electronic Transcript Exchange service by signing up online right now. There are no fees or programming required. You will receive electronic transcripts via the same secure process you use to send enrollment and degree files to the Clearinghouse. Whenever someone in the network sends you a transcript, you will receive an instant email notification. All you have to do is log in and download the file. Since our service is used only by authorized participants and we employ multiple safeguards, you can have confidence in the authenticity of the transcripts you receive.
Sign up today at www.studentclearinghouse.org/etx
YOUR CLIENT SERVICES TEAM
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Are you interested in adding a Clearinghouse service or a new feature to a current service? Do you have a new staff member who needs training on Clearinghouse services? Do you have a service-related question or problem? Your Client Services team is ready to help!
At the Clearinghouse, our participating colleges and universities are supported by regional or managing directors and client management representatives. Your regional or managing director can provide you with guidance on how you can fully utilize the Clearinghouse to improve efficiency, reduce costs and workload, and enhance the quality of service you provide to your students and alumni. Your client management representative is available to provide immediate assistance with a question or problem and to coordinate training.
Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia
n Paul Taylor Regional Director 859.363.0000 [email protected]
n Laura Reichenbach Client Management Representative [email protected]
Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming
n Dannette Sullivan Regional Director 206.324.3228 [email protected]
Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin
n Jonathan Dela Cruz Regional Director 703.742.4869 [email protected]
n Laura Reichenbach Client Management Representative [email protected]
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2300 Dulles Station Blvd., Suite 300, Herndon, VA 20171www.studentclearinghouse.org
California and Oregon
n Frost Johnson Regional Director 503.892.8760 [email protected]
Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virgin Islands
n David Lynch Regional Director 703.742.4852 [email protected]
n Hilary Rich Client Management Representative [email protected]
Florida, Georgia, and Texas
n Joe Roof Regional Director 386.740.0146 [email protected]
n Sandra Burgess Client Management Representative [email protected]
For-Profit Postsecondary Institutions
n Robert Haushalter Managing Director 703.742.4800 [email protected]
n Sandra Burgess Client Management Representative [email protected]
Puerto Rico
n Alina Gomez 305.458.9211 [email protected]
YOUR CLIENT SERVICES TEAM
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RecoRdThe cleaRinghouse
2300 Dulles Station Blvd., Suite 300, Herndon, VA 20171www.studentclearinghouse.org
Audit Resource Center: Celebrating 5 Years of Success
Coming Soon: MyStudentCenter.org!
You are invited to the upcoming premiere of the Clearinghouse’s newest Web site: www.mystudentcenter.org. The site is designed to help your students and alumni (as well as parents)
quickly get answers to their questions and access to the Clearinghouse services you provide to them.
Watch for more information on the premiere of www.mystudentcenter.org and then … let’s do launch!
Since our launch in 2006, the Clearinghouse Audit Resource Center has grown quickly, serving 10 TIMES more clients! In doing so, we have helped hundreds of colleges successfully prepare for their audits and navigate through the auditing process.
The Clearinghouse can become your #1 audit resource, too. Our experienced Audit Resource team offers valuable knowledge, assistance, and tools to help you better prepare for the myriad of auditor’s questions, reports, and visits that come your way.
To request assistance for your institution, please contact [email protected].
