Transcript Task Force

AACRAO Survey
of
Electronic Transcript Delivery Services

AACRAO's VP for Records and Academic Services has directed a workgroup to collect information and report on the current availability and pricing of electronic transcripts delivery services. To this end we have developed this survey to identify prospective suppliers for the electronic delivery of transcripts and to describe their companies, services, and pricing. Results of this survey will be made available to AACRAO members in a report that will be published In AACRAO’s College and University, as well the AACRAO website. In addition, the work group will also present the results of the survey at the AACRAO annual meeting in New Orleans, April 2010.

Please note that the workgroup will not recommend any one technology, vendor, or practice over another. The questions are intentionally exploratory and encourage you to provide detailed responses so that AACRAO members may conduct a prudent evaluation of the features, prices and services offered by each company. Our purpose is to describe the current state of electronic transcripts and to provide useful information to the AACRAO membership that will help them make an informed decision regarding whether or not they should deploy an electronic transcript service.

Thank you in advance for taking the time necessary to complete the survey.

Part 1 CORPORATE INFORMATION	Short Answer (Yes, No, n/a, number, etc)	Description / Explanation
What is your company's full name	Credentials Solutions	Credentials Inc. is the corporate name
Year of incorporation	1997
How is your company organized?	Subchapter S
List any other products/services you currently provide.	ParkingPlus ® Online Registrations Diploma Ordering	Online order and fulfillment of parking stickers Online registration for orientation and campus tours Online order of replacement diplomas
How many academic customers do you currently serve?	130+
How long has your company been providing electronic transcript services?	2 years
Where or to whom should schools interested in learning more about your service be directed?	sales@credentialssolutions.com
Web link	www.credentials-inc.com www.credentialssolutions.com
Where or to whom should technical questions be directed?	sales@credentialssolutions.com
Other information you wish to add	Automated processing from order acceptance to fulfillment using custom software interface

Part 2 ELECTRONIC TRANSCRIPT FORMATS	Short Answer (Yes, No, n/a, number, etc)	Description / Explanation
In what format(s) can you deliver electronic transcripts? (Check all that apply)
PDF	Yes
EDI (ANSI X12 standard)	Yes
XML (PESC standard)	Yes
ASCII/flat file	No
MS Word or MS Excel	No
Proprietary format	No
Other	Yes	Zap ASCII file

Part 3 CREATION OF THE ELECTRONIC TRANSCRIPT	Short Answer (Yes, No, n/a, number, etc)	Description / Explanation
What data format do you require from the school as you prepare to deliver the school’s transcript electronically? (Check all that apply)
PDF	Yes
EDI	Yes
XML	Yes
ASCII/flat file	n/a
MS Word or MS Excel	n/a
Proprietary format	n/a
Other	We can accept or extract data depending on the environment.
Does your system create the PDF for the sending institution?	Yes/No	It depends on the environment; if we extract, we create the PDF.
If you deliver an electronic transcript in PDF format, does it include:
Cover sheet?	Not school to school	Not sending to third parties right now.
If a cover sheet is provided, what information is included?	Yes	Included in our design for third parties
Link to school website?	Yes	Can be branded by school
Link to registrar’s website?	Yes	Can be branded by school
Link to school course catalog?	Yes	Can be branded by school
School identity	Yes	Can be branded by school
Transcript Key/Legend	Yes	Can be branded by school
Other features

Part 4 DISTRIBUTION OF OUTGOING ELECTRONIC TRANSCRIPTS	Short Answer (Yes, No, n/a, number, etc)	Description / Explanation
How do you distribute transcripts (Check all that apply)	School to school Third Parties	Closed network Secure pull down
Texas Server delivers to each recipient using the senders’ specified requirements	Yes
Provide a secure web service where receivers can retrieve transcripts.	Yes	Users access using ID/PIN
We utilize a network registry.	Yes	Users access using ID/PIN
We email the transcript.	No
How are transcripts delivered to recipients unable to use the Texas Server or your in-network capabilities?	FASTER Ohio Board of Regents eTranCA Other hubs
Are recipients required to be registered with your service?	Yes No	School to school Third Parties
Other, please describe.
Once delivered to the recipient, will the transcript expire?	No	Remains available for up to 60 days
Once opened by the recipient, will the transcript expire for the recipient?	No

Part 5 RETRIEVAL/DISTRIBUTION OF INCOMING ELECTRONIC TRANSCRIPTS	Short Answer (Yes, No, n/a, number, etc)	Description / Explanation
Other than a PDF reader, does your system require any special software installation to receive delivered transcripts?	No
NOTE: Questions below may pertain only to a PDF transcript.
How are “mailboxes” established for recipients?	We do not use mailboxes	User ID accesses secure site
Does your system deliver to multiple “mailboxes” at a single school/organization?	N/A	Multiple users can view transcript
Does your system deliver in batch to a single destination?	Yes	Optionally
Are recipients required to identify themselves each time transcripts are delivered?	Yes	Recipients required to log in to system.
Are email(s) delivered to the receivers with instructions (perhaps including passwords and URL's) whenever a transcript is ready for be retrieved electronically?	Yes	School to school: receive an e-mail that tells them that transcripts are waiting to be viewed. Third Parties: receive password and URL
Are students notified that their transcript requests have been delivered and have been opened by intended recipient?	Yes	By e-mail
Is the sending institution notified that transcripts have been delivered and opened by intended recipients?	Yes	Status code available through secure site.
Are transcripts delivered in real time?	Yes
Other

Part 6 DATA STORAGE	Short Answer (Yes, No, n/a, number, etc)	Description / Explanation
Does your service require a copy of the sending school’s transcript data base?	No
Does your service store transcript data after delivery of the transcript?	Yes	Transcript data stored up to 60 days; Transaction data stored longer
If so, for how long?	Yes	60 days
If so, can the transcript data be released multiple times?	Yes No	School to school access to authorized users through secure site. Third parties only once.
If so, can the data be mined?	No Yes	Transcript data Transaction data
How are delivered transcripts documented and reported if (after) they are physically removed from the system?		We remove transcript data Transaction data may be reported at any time.
Other information you wish to include.

Part 7 TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS	Short Answer (Yes, No, n/a, number, etc)	Description / Explanation
List the Student Information Systems on which you have installed your electronic delivery service.	PeopleSoft, Banner, Datatel, Jenzabar, legacy
Describe a typical installation process and the time required for implementation and activation of your system.	Varies by ERP; 30-60 days on average	Installation includes transcript ordering, order processing, hold processing, training and customer service for all transcript orders both electronic and archive; School to school set up is less than an hour.
Does your service require the use of proprietary software?	Yes No	RoboRegistrar ® for automatic extraction Delivery Only
What are the minimum hardware/software requirements that your service requires of a school, if any?	Windows PC and Java runtime	For extraction only Web browser for delivery only
Describe how your system accommodates multi-campus delivery and reporting requirements.	Registrar Support Services application	Online transcript management administrative tool.
Describe the on-line help capability your system provides to all users.	Online customer service link for students; Registrar Support Services for schools

Part 8 SECURITY	Short Answer (Yes, No, n/a, number, etc)	Description / Explanation
How are institutional/campus administrators selected and authorized?	By school administrators
Is the data that you send/receive encrypted?	Yes	All transmission of data is encrypted.
Is the data that you send sent through some form of secure FTP?	Yes	Optionally
Are any networks secured?	Yes
Are any servers secured?	Yes
If you deliver PDF transcripts, are they secured via a digital signature?	No Yes	In network (like SPEEDE) Out of network-third parties
If NO, how does your system ensure that transcripts are authentic and have not been altered?		Can include SHA hashing algorithm
How are delivered electronic transcripts verified as authentic over time?		SHA hashing algorithm
Describe the use and assignment of user passwords	School to School Third Party	User; must be 8 characters and include one numeric. Randomly generated by the system

Part 9

HIGH SCHOOLS

Short Answer

(Yes, No, n/a, number, etc)

Description / Explanation

Is your service utilized in high schools?

Describe any features only used by high schools.

Part 10 REPORTING FEATURES	Short Answer (Yes, No, n/a, number, etc)	Description / Explanation
What reporting functions are included with your service?	Full monthly report and daily report are online
Can you report the number (by type, e.g. PDF, XML, EDI) of transcripts delivered on a monthly basis, weekly basis, etc.?	Yes	Planned enhancement
Are your reporting services offered at additional cost?	No

Part 11 PRICING/CONTRACT TERMS	Short Answer (Yes, No, n/a, number, etc)	Description / Explanation
Is a binding contract required?	Yes
If yes, please describe contract period.	1 year	Negotiable
Is there a per transcript fee? How much?	Yes
Is there an installation/initiation fee?	No
Is there an annual fee?	Yes
Are there initial or annual third party license fees?	Only Datatel
Do you offer tiered pricing/service models? If so, please explain.	No
Are there charges for training?	No
Do you offer discounts?	Yes
Are there code escrow fees?	No
Are there charges for upgrades or new releases?	No
Are fees borne entirely by the sender? Are there fees borne by the recipient?	Optional
Is pricing bundled to other services?	No
Describe your customer support program.	800 number, 12 hrs/day
How is your transcript delivery system documented?	PDF manual

Part 12 SUMMARY	Short Answer (Yes, No, n/a, number, etc)	Description / Explanation
Please list and describe the 5 top benefits of your system.
1. RoboRegistrar ® Software Interface
2. Automated Processing
3. Toll free customer service
4. Download electronic data in SIS
5. Integration into PeopleSoft, Banner, Datatel, Jenzabar, Legacy
Describe any features of your service not previously mentioned.

Part 13 AFFILIATIONS	Short Answer (Yes, No, n/a, number, etc)	Description / Explanation
Are you an AACRAO member?	Yes
Are you a PESC member?	No
Are you contracted to provide services to a state(s), region or consortium?	Yes
List any other affiliations pertinent to electronic transcript services.
Attach a list (or active link) identifying the postsecondary institutions using your services as receiving and/or sending institutions.

Part 14 TRANSCRIPT ORDERING SERVICE	Short Answer (Yes, No, n/a, number, etc)	Description / Explanation
This area is focused on transcript delivery. Briefly describe:
Do you offer a transcript ordering service	Yes
Is your ordering service integrated with your delivery service	Yes
Can other ordering services be used with your delivery service?	Yes