SPEEDE Checklist for Transcripts

(An Example from one university)

SU EDI Transcript Receipt Checklist

(Purchased PGP Desktop 9.0 for Windows from PGP Corporation, following links from UT Server website. Cost was about $90 in February, 2006).

1. Receive e-mail notification from the Server (via speede@southwestern.edu) that transcripts have been delivered. Paige and Dave each get a copy of this e-mail. If the notification is for a TS130 file, that means the file contains one or more transcripts, and the steps below need to be followed. If it is noticed that a TS131 acknowledgement has been received from SU, no further action is needed - Dave saves the e-mail in his server-SU mail folder.

2. Has this been processed? One may check to see if this e-mail is already filed in the Master SU SPEEDE Transcript Log Book (maintained by Associate Registrar Paige Bonner) – or by following step #3 to see if the e-mail carrying the transcript has already been read. If not, print the e-mail notification and (when finished processing) add it to the book. *Later, after retrieving the delivery, you will need to note the attachment file name and date.

3. Obtain the transcript file. Get onto Dave’s PC (network password ##1). Click on the Transcript icon for that dedicated e-mail client with dedicated directories for storing the attachments. This launches the Mozilla Thunderbird e-mail client, which will prompt you for passwords, and then read incoming mail. Enter passwords (##2), as prompted, for all three accounts (edi-hs, edi-coll, and edi-test – all at the southwestern.edu node). Switch to InBox if not already there. Read (open) the message and note the texserv(n).del.asc attachment (the asc denoting PGP encryption). If there are multiple messages, the order of the e-mails is important – match date and time for the notification e-mail with that of the delivery e-mail. Write the attachment name on the (earlier) printed e-mail notification, and remember it for step #4.

3B. New Methods with encryption. UNENCRYPT, RENAME, and STORE. (3/21/06)

Double click the (encrypted) attachment

Choose “Open attachment with..”

Choose “PGP Tray”, then OK.

Unencryption time. Make sure the proper PGP key (our private key, SUTX3620) is in place. Then enter the secret pass phrase (###3) as prompted, and click OK.

Save menu appears, but with the attach directory and texserv.del name. Change the directory to C, then EDI then QANDE if needed. Change the file name to R23Mar1.del (for example. See appendix #X, below, for file name conventions). Then save.

Write the (R23Mar1.del) saved name on the printed e-mail delivery notification.

This pops up (after 30-45 seconds) the PGP Desktop screen with a successful decryption message. You may close this.

Repeat steps 3, 3B if multiple transcript files have been received.

Close the Thunderbird e-mail client (since FTP is now used to send acknowledgments).

4. Create the transcript(s) print file.

Current print Steps for SU. Invoke the Quick & Easy software, which lives at c:\\EDI\QANDE. To get there, use MyComputer, and select the C drive, then the EDI folder, then the QANDE. Scroll down one screen to reach SPAACRAO.EXE. (a) Double click to execute SPAACRAO. (b) Select menu option 1 to print SPEEDE transcript. (c) select file (R23Mar1.del, say) from pic list. Hit enter key three times, then “*” twice (first for print to a file rather than a connected line printer, next for suppression of RAP segment prints regarding TASP/TSI and Core Curriculum – all used by TX public institutions). This will create the print file (R23Mar1.PRN, in our example) and return you to the menu.

5. Generate the acknowledgement file. You are still in the SPAACRAO menu after printing. Select the Acknowledgement menu option (#3), then the option to Read Outgoing/Incoming Transcript Files (#1). Select the (R23Mar1.del) file from a list via the Enter key (twice?). Specify “I” for "incoming transcript" at prompt. This will create R23Mar1.ack, in our example. Enter Zero to return to the main menu. Another zero to exit the main menu. You are now back at the file list.

6. Actually print from the saved print file. You are still in the c:\EDI\QANDE directory, looking at a list of files. Scroll down to the bottom. The next to last file is probably (from our example)

R23Mar1.PRN. Invoke Word by double-clicking on the .PRN file. Once open, go to the bottom and backspace twice to get rid of extra page. I usually write the student names on the printed e-mail delivery notification page at this time, along with D-O-B for matching assistance. Then print by clicking the print icon. Close Word, but do not save changes. Right-click the .PRN file again, and select “delete”. This will return you to the file menu.

** renewed PGP Desktop 9.0 in Feb, 2007. They sent 9.5 instead. It worked for decrypting, but not for sending. Others apparently had the same problem. Attempts at customer service contact failed miserably. Gave up on it and switched (May 2007) to FTPS for sending.

7. Encrypt the acknowledgement file. *** NO LONGER NEEDED due to secure FTP. Go to #9. Go to the bottom of the file list and find the .ack file.

Right click.

Select PGP Zip, then “encrypt”.

The UT Austin key should be in the lower box. If not, drag it there (to recipient key) box..

Click “Text Output” OK.

This produces R23Mar1.ack.pgp.

You may now close the QANDE window, if you wish.

8. Deliver the acknowledgement file back to the UT Austin Server. *** NO LONGER NEEDED due to secure FTP. Go to #9. Retained here for documentation. Reenter the Eudora e-mail application and send the acknowledgement file as an attachment to the Server (to address Texserv@ediserver.reg.utexas.edu). To accomplish this, open the OUT BOX in Eudora, click once on the last entry, and select Send-Again. Next revise the message to contain the correct school initials and date – for our own records. Delete the attached file, click on the attachment area to locate the cursor there, and then select Attach-File. Use the file browser to identify Drive C, EDI, QANDE, and then select the (R23Mar1.ack.pgp –in our example) acknowledgement file name by double clicking. Click the Send button. Then close out of Eud502.

9. Use FTPS to deliver acknowledgment file back to UT Austin Server.

Click on FileZilla. In the file menu, select Site Manager. Double-click on UT SPEEDE. (left side should show c:\EDI\Qande\, right side (Server) login, profile and cshsc (something close) files. Change the left side as needed. Find the acknowledgment file (M23Mar1.ACK) on the left side. Double-click on it to copy it to the right side. See it there. Repeat for other ACK files as needed, then close FileZilla.

10. Purpose of transcript? Check on Datatel’s Colleague SIS to see which of the transcripts are for enrolled students and which are for applicants. The SPRO screen will usually work (try both name and SSN). If admitted, use STAC to see whether students have taken SU classes.

11. Document. On the printed e-mail notification, write the names of students with transcripts in this batch (if not done earlier). Mark with STU, APP, or no-match notation.

12. Date stamp and initial the printed transcript. Deliver printed copies to the appropriate offices: (a) if an APP, a new deposited admit, or no match, take the printed transcript to Admissions (Karen Purdy). (b) if a student who has already taken classes at SU, look for a transfer approval form (attaching it if found), and place (both) in the in box of the Assistant Registrar who handles transfer evaluation.

13. File the annotated printed e-mail in the notebook (#3, above) by giving it to Associate Registrar (Paige). It will come with the number of transcripts and the name of the school. You will have added the texserv117.del - - - > s22Jan1.del,

Smith, Jenny Sue, SU Student

Jones, Rebecca Taylor No rec. (for example)

14. Process each printout as if it were an original official transcript from the sending school.

15. File the original e-mail notification message in the ServerSU mail file. Do the same with the TS131 acknowledgement received e-mail notice once it arrives.

16. Periodically (every month or so), Dave copies the .del and .ack files from the QANDE directory into a subdirectory for the year (\T2004\ or \T2003\, for instance). This leads to a shorter file selection list within SPAACRAO.EXE. He may do so from the Command Prompt (a lot like DOS, but reachable in Windows by following the path: Start - Programs – Accessories – Command Prompt. It uses DOS prompts like CD, copy, erase. The D1 alpha directory command is installed there, and is handy (ESC to exit it).

5/23/2000. Updated 8/1/01, 1/22/03, 6/4/03 (II), 8/3/04, 9/27/04, 3/21/06, 1/24/07, 5/21/07

APPENDIX:

Naming Convention. Received transcript files are stored in C:EDI\QANDE. After processing, at the end of the month, they are copied to C:\\EDI\QANDE\T200x, where x = last digit of year.

A received file is named Lddmmmn.del, where L=an alpha capital letter chosen for the year, dd is the day of the month, mmm=literal abbreviation for the month, and n is the relative number of the files received that day. For example, the first file received on August 15th might be renamed R15Aug1.del, and the 2nd file that day would be R15Aug2.del.

The Software used is SPAACRAO.EXE (named after SPEEDE AACRAO), and has the common name “Quick & Easy Software”. It allows a school to accept transcripts in the national EDI format known as SPEEDE (ANSI ASC X12 transaction set TS130), print college transcripts, print HS transcripts, and generate TS131 acknowledgements to send back to the sender.

At Southwestern, the speede@southwestern.edu mail address causes e-mail splits to go to at least (Dave Stones, Paige Bonner, Sean Smith, ..).

Transcripts are received from the free UT Austin Internet Server in e-mail attachments. The e-mail is received in a dedicated e-mail application (Mozilla Thunderbird) located on Dave Stones’s pc. The attachments are actually stored in there. Pre-encryption files are of the form texservnnn.del, while post encryption (starting February 2006) files are texserv.delnnn.asc.

History: SPAACRAO originally ran from the DOS prompt, and printed to an attached (LPT) printer. Our local area network configuration zapped the lpt printer use, a problem solved by the addition of the ability to print to a .PRN file, then use Word to open and print the file. Windows evolved as well, forcing us to the Command Prompt instead of DOS. The enforcement of encryption added the need to purchase PGP and add unencyption steps to the receive process and zip encryption to the sending of acknowledgements. SPAACRAO was written in dBASE, and compiled using Clipper. It is thus an executable module. UT Austin is committed to rewriting this software in Java.

In time, Southwestern hopes to install Datatel’s SPEEDE module. This will consolidate the many steps, allow a direct feed into the Colleague Student Information System, and allow Southwestern University transcripts to be sent in the SPEEDE format. This is not likely to occur until Datatel supports the PESC XML version of SPEEDE.