Standardization of Postsecondary Education Electronic Data Exchange (SPEEDE) Committee Executive Summary
The AACRAO SPEEDE Committee was formed in the mid 1980’s and has been very active since then in the coordination, development, and implementation of international exchange standards in United States and Canada by representing secondary and postsecondary education in collaboration with the standards setting body, P20W Electronic Standards Council (PESC). The Committee reports to the AACRAO Vice President for Information Technology (Group VI), Jim Bouse.
This report contains the 1st quarter 2013 AACRAO SPEEDE Committee activities and efforts. More information and on-going activities can be found at the AACRAO SPEEDE Committee.
Committee Meetings & Conferences
AACRAO SPEEDE Committee members serve in many capacities from conducting webinars, presentations, and roundtable discussions at various AACRAO national and regional conferences to participating and chairing various PESC workgroups to develop standards, implementation guides, crosswalks, and programming of crosswalks. Weekly conference calls occur every Thursday at 4pm ET with an average of seven (of nine) members to discuss workgroup updates, and other SPEEDE-related business.
Quarter one AACRAO meeting and conference activities included:
Face-to-Face meetings -- None held in Quarter 1 (Q1)
AACRAO Webinar -- January - EDX Panel Discussion on EDI, XML and PDF Transcript Exchange
National Conference Presentations -- None conducted in Q1
Regional Conference Presentations* -- None conducted in Q1
*The AACRAO SPEEDE committee will make available to all AACRAO state and/or regional groups (e.g. PACRAO, SACRAO, Middle States, etc ) the opportunity to conduct an EDX workshop and several presentations. If you are interested in a SPEEDE track at a regional AACRAO conference, please send an email to speede@aacrao.org and more information will be sent.
Quarter one PESC activities included participation in periodic conference calls for the following workgroups:
• Academic e-Portfolio
• Canadian PESC User Group
• Change Control Board
• Common Data Services
• Common XML
• Electronic Authentication/ Authorization(EA2)
• Education Record User Group
• PESC Board
• PESC Seal of Approval
• Technical Advisory Board
Committee Technical Activities & Efforts
Texas Server Updates
In October 2012, AACRAO made a public announcement that the National Student Clearinghouse will assume operation of the Texas Server which has been operated by the University of Texas at Austin for many years. A feasibility study is planned to take place during the transition period. Members of the SPEEDE Committee will participate as requested and appropriate in the feasibility study.
In January 2013, the SPEEDE Committee hosted guest/vendor conference calls in lieu of weekly conference calls to have open dialogue regarding the future of transcript exchange services. Guests included Credentials Solutions, e-Scrip Safe, Parchment, and National Student Clearinghouse. Further discussion is set to occur at the AACRAO Annual Meeting during the EDI Roundtable Discussion session on Monday, April 15th from 4-5pm PT in room 2009.
PDF Best Practices
With the rapidly changing environment of PDF transcript exchange, the SPEEDE committee has been tasked with developing a PDF best practices document to accompany the Electronic Transcript Task Force's Report that was published in 2008. A survey will be sent to the AACRAO Community and results will be compiled by the SPEEDE Committee into this best practices document. It will be shared with the AACRAO community.
Crosswalk Development
Final versions of all approved EDI and XML standards can be downloaded from the
PESC web site (Standards & Workgroups section). All modifications to these standards are handled through the
PESC Education Record User Group (ERUG) to create new up-to-date versions.
Survey Reminder
The AACRAO SPEEDE Committee has taken on the task of
developing guidance and best practices for the exchange of PDF transcripts. To begin their work they have developed a survey of AACRAO members to learn more about whether and how they currently use PDF transcripts. Once the survey results are compiled, the SPEEDE Committee will begin the process of constructing best practices and guidance for the use of PDF transcripts to share with the AACRAO membership.
Please help contribute to the development of best practices for PDF transcript exchange by completing the survey by May 1, 2013. The SPEEDE Committee hopes to complete its work over the next few months.
Membership
AACRAO SPEEDE Committee members are instrumental in submitting various items, questions, answers, etc. and contributing feedback to the AACRAO SPEEDE community via the SPEEDE-L list serv. If you are interested in signing up to receive emails regarding SPEEDE topics, go to
http://www.lsoft.com/scripts/wl.exe?SL1=SPEEDE-L&H=LISTSERV.VT.EDU.
The AACRAO SPEEDE Committee has published the Electronic Data Exchange (EDX) Primer. The EDX Primer addresses the most commonly asked questions regarding electronic data exchanges, including matters relating to both traditional EDI standards and contemporary XML data standards as shaped by the P20W Electronic Standards Council (PESC). Written by the AACRAO SPEEDE Committee, the Primer compiles EDX-related technology and contact information resources, along with lists of Web site sources and state, provincial, and regional initiatives and mandates. More information may be found at
http://www.aacrao.org/publications/publications_catalog/publications_catalog_technology.aspx.
This concludes the AACRAO SPEEDE Committee report for 1st quarter 2013.
By: AACRAO Connect