Overview of theIndiana e-Transcript Initiative

Indiana Career CouncilCore 40 Study SubcommitteeDiploma Structure Taskforce

September 9, 2014

Ken Sauer, Ph.D.Senior Associate Commissioner and Chief Academic Officer

Background - 1

• Indiana Secondary Market provided initial funding to CHE for an e-transcript initiative

• RFP issued and vendor selected in 2005 (Docufide, later acquired by Parchment)

• CHE considered this a joint project with DOE from day one

Background - 2

• Midwestern Higher Education Compact (MHEC) negotiated a contract in 2006 fashioned after the Indiana initiative

• 7 MHEC states now participating

• General Assembly appropriated funds to support Indiana e-Transcript in 2011 (2011-13 Biennium)

Background - 3

• Virtually all Indiana high schools can send e-transcripts

• Most high schools send most of their transcripts electronically, but not all (178,000 transcripts sent in 2013)

• MHEC renegotiated a contract in 2014 on more favorable terms, which Indiana has utilized

Background - 4

• HEA 1341, passed in 2013:

– Establishes the “Indiana e-transcript program” in Code

– Requires a common high school e-transcript, with common data fields and formats

– Requires all public high schools to use the common e-transcript by July 1, 2015, for students applying to college in Fall 2015

Status Report on HEA 1341 - 1

• The universities, in collaboration with CHE and DOE, have all agreed upon the data fields and format for the common e-transcript

• We have used a common technical standard (XML schema developed through PESC), which allows the transcript information to downloaded as data and just as a PDF

Status Report on HEA 1341 - 2

• Downloading transcript information as data allows for quicker processing of college applications and better research on student success

• Our vendor, Parchment, is working with the high school student information system vendors (SIS), to communicate the standards and make it easier on the high schools

Next Steps on HEA 1341

• Parchment is reaching out to keep the high schools informed (1st webinar held yesterday)

• Status reports will be posted on a regular basis

• Universities will begin receiving test transcripts in the new common format in Spring 2015

The Future (beyond HEA 1341)

• Add information to the high school e-transcript that schools and employers want, e.g. student activities and accomplishments

• Develop a common college e-transcript

• Exchange ideas with other states: MHEC contract extended to regional compacts in the West (WICHE) and South (SREB) – 41 states total

Contact Information

Ken Sauer, Ph.D. Senior Associate Commissioner and Chief Academic OfficerIndiana Commission for Higher Education 101 W. Ohio Street, Suite 550 Indianapolis, Indiana 46204-1984Phone: (317) 464-4400 ext. 121 Fax: (317) 464-4410 E-mail: ksauer@che.in.govWeb: http://www.in.gov/che