Sending and Receiving College Transcripts Electronically
Organizations: Dartmouth College[1] & University of Wisconsin[2]
Funded by: National Institute of Health,[3] Federal Government of Education[4]
Developed by: Identrus,[5] with Scott Rea of Dartmouth College
Problem
For secondary and primary institutions, the process of sending and receiving transcript information involves a lot of paperwork. An institution or student who requests an official copy of a transcript must send a signed letter or a signed fax to the registrar’s office. This request is processed in the order that it is received, printed on special paper, and sent to the requester by mail. [6] The process can take up to a week or more, depending on how fast the registrar’s office can print out the transcript and mail it out. These institutions also use costly paper to print the transcripts on. When receiving transcripts, institutions like Dartmouth College and University of Wisconsin require the paper format of a transcript to be sent to their respective schools. This process can take weeks to receive the information, verify its authenticity, and manually input the data into their registrar systems.
Solution
Purpose of Application: to electronically and securely send transcript information to/from institutions, secondary institutions (test concept to be used for Dartmouth College and University of Wisconsin)
The National Institute of Health along with the Federal Government of Education, hired Identrus to develop a system that can allow higher institutions to electronically send transcripts securely, using digital signature technology. Identrus together with Scott Rea of Dartmouth College, developed a test concept application that allows Dartmouth College and University of Wisconsin to exchange transcript data electronically and securely. This application will eventually be used to exchange transcript information between all colleges/institutions nationwide.
This application uses the Post-secondary Education Standard Council (P.E.S.C)[7] standard transcript XML format, which has been converted to Infomosaic SecureForm Designer/SecureSign Document Signer XML Form format. By utilizing Infomosaic’s SecureXML/SecureSign for signing the transcript XML Forms the application is able to guarentee transcripts authenticity and integrity to the user on the other end.
Benefits
This application provides the benefits of instantaneous results, efficiency, and reduction of costs. By using this secure and electronic application, users can quickly request an electronic copy of their transcript online, be approved by the system instantaneously, and sent a copy automatically. The universities can also receive transcript information from other institutions, quickly verify their authenticity, and input the data automatically into their systems. Institutions can save a lot of money from “special paper” costs, as the application allows users to print a copy electronically, reducing the need for institutions to send paper copies. If the application can be developed to generically adapt to all institutions, eventually, there will be a universal way to transfer transcript information between all types of educational institutions nationwide.
Future
Although the application has not yet deployed fully, it offers huge benefits for the future. Right now, the application template is school specific, which does not provide the universal capabilities that National Institute of Health and Federal Government of Education want. Each time a new school is added, a new template must be made which can take a some time to develop. Identrus and Scott Rea are currently working on creating one generic template using Infomosaic products so that all schools can easily use and adapt the application into their system. Eventually, this universal template can be used between many institutions, not just between the two test schools.
[1] Dartmouth College Website: <http://www.dartmouth.edu/home/>
[2] University of Wisconsin Website: <http://www.wisc.edu/>
[3] National Institute of Health Website: <http://www.nih.gov/>
[4] Federal Government of Education Website:< http://www.ed.gov/index.jhtml>
[5] Identrus Website: < http://www.identrus.com/>
[6] http://www.dartmouth.edu/~reg/services/transcripts.html
[7] P.E.S.C Website: <http://www.pesc.org/>
Funded by: National Institute of Health,[3] Federal Government of Education[4]
Developed by: Identrus,[5] with Scott Rea of Dartmouth College
Problem
For secondary and primary institutions, the process of sending and receiving transcript information involves a lot of paperwork. An institution or student who requests an official copy of a transcript must send a signed letter or a signed fax to the registrar’s office. This request is processed in the order that it is received, printed on special paper, and sent to the requester by mail. [6] The process can take up to a week or more, depending on how fast the registrar’s office can print out the transcript and mail it out. These institutions also use costly paper to print the transcripts on. When receiving transcripts, institutions like Dartmouth College and University of Wisconsin require the paper format of a transcript to be sent to their respective schools. This process can take weeks to receive the information, verify its authenticity, and manually input the data into their registrar systems.
Solution
Purpose of Application: to electronically and securely send transcript information to/from institutions, secondary institutions (test concept to be used for Dartmouth College and University of Wisconsin)
The National Institute of Health along with the Federal Government of Education, hired Identrus to develop a system that can allow higher institutions to electronically send transcripts securely, using digital signature technology. Identrus together with Scott Rea of Dartmouth College, developed a test concept application that allows Dartmouth College and University of Wisconsin to exchange transcript data electronically and securely. This application will eventually be used to exchange transcript information between all colleges/institutions nationwide.
This application uses the Post-secondary Education Standard Council (P.E.S.C)[7] standard transcript XML format, which has been converted to Infomosaic SecureForm Designer/SecureSign Document Signer XML Form format. By utilizing Infomosaic’s SecureXML/SecureSign for signing the transcript XML Forms the application is able to guarentee transcripts authenticity and integrity to the user on the other end.
Benefits
This application provides the benefits of instantaneous results, efficiency, and reduction of costs. By using this secure and electronic application, users can quickly request an electronic copy of their transcript online, be approved by the system instantaneously, and sent a copy automatically. The universities can also receive transcript information from other institutions, quickly verify their authenticity, and input the data automatically into their systems. Institutions can save a lot of money from “special paper” costs, as the application allows users to print a copy electronically, reducing the need for institutions to send paper copies. If the application can be developed to generically adapt to all institutions, eventually, there will be a universal way to transfer transcript information between all types of educational institutions nationwide.
Future
Although the application has not yet deployed fully, it offers huge benefits for the future. Right now, the application template is school specific, which does not provide the universal capabilities that National Institute of Health and Federal Government of Education want. Each time a new school is added, a new template must be made which can take a some time to develop. Identrus and Scott Rea are currently working on creating one generic template using Infomosaic products so that all schools can easily use and adapt the application into their system. Eventually, this universal template can be used between many institutions, not just between the two test schools.
[1] Dartmouth College Website: <http://www.dartmouth.edu/home/>
[2] University of Wisconsin Website: <http://www.wisc.edu/>
[3] National Institute of Health Website: <http://www.nih.gov/>
[4] Federal Government of Education Website:< http://www.ed.gov/index.jhtml>
[5] Identrus Website: < http://www.identrus.com/>
[6] http://www.dartmouth.edu/~reg/services/transcripts.html
[7] P.E.S.C Website: <http://www.pesc.org/>