Network
News
FOCUS ON THE 2007 NETWORK CONFERENCE
AND IPEDS WORKSHOP
In Th i s I s s u e
...Network News provides a summary of the 30th annual SHEEO/NCES Network Data
Conference and IPEDS Workshop. Over 150 people attended the conference held on
May 8-10, 2007 in St. Petersburg, FL. Attendees included state IPEDS coordinators,
state directors of research and information systems, NCES staff, representatives from
statewide community college associations and the independent sector, and members of
national postsecondary organizations. This issue presents selected highlights from the
meeting and includes an overview of the annual IPEDS Workshop where information
about the IPEDS data collection process and reporting were presented. Please visit the
IPEDS web site at http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/ for more detailed information on IPEDS
including the 2007-08 Survey Collection Schedule found in “Announcements and Alerts”
under the “Newsroom” link. Highlights of several plenary and concurrent sessions are
also provided in this issue; these and other presentations can be found on the SHEEO
web site at www.sheeo.org/network/netmeet07.htm.
Planning is already underway for next year's conference and more information will be
distributed as it becomes available; in the meantime, please contact the SHEEO office if
you have suggestions for topics that should be addressed at the 31st Data Conference
which will be held in the Washington, DC area.
Finally, we are pleased to introduce two new SHEEO colleagues who have Network
responsibilities. Kelli Parmley joins us as a Senior Policy Analyst and Natalie Mischler
is the new Assistant to the Network Director. Information on these two talented people
concludes this issue of Network News.
An n u a l I P E DS Wo r k sh o p
Opening Remarks from the SHEEO/NCES Network Director
Hans L’Orange, Director of the SHEEO/NCES Network, welcomed attendees to
the 30th Data Conference and IPEDS Workshop and noted that no one involved in
postsecondary education can ignore the challenging realities of data and information
management. Understanding the data, the issues, the implementation challenges and
putting everything together to affect policy is central to the professionals attending the
Data Conference.
L’Orange further noted it is a particularly busy time in higher education (as always). The
Secretary’s Commission on the Future of Higher Education, the reauthorization of the
Higher Education Act, increased demands for accountability and more transparency,
fiscal limitations, a real assessment of student learning, and changing demographics
and “pipeline” questions are all current and pressing issues that will be present for
the foreseeable future. Relevant issues addressed in the Conference program include
Volume 26, No. 2
July 2007
IN THIS ISSUE
1
3
5
Annual IPEDS
Workshop
The Student Success
Symposium Road Show
Aligning P-12 And
Postsecondary Data
Systems
6
7
Standards Make the
World Go Round
Comparative State
Indicators: Making the
Re-Entry Pipeline Work
for Adult Learners
8
Developing a Seamless
Transition for Transfer
Students: Using Xml
Transcripts
NETWORK NEWS is a product
of the SHEEO/NCES Network;
Director, Hans P. L’Orange. The
Network is sponsored by the State
Higher Education Executive
Officers (SHEEO) and the National
Center for Education Statistics
(NCES).
Editor: Hans P. L’Orange
Layout: Susan Winter
Contributors:
Hans P. L’Orange
Susan Winter
Questions or comments?
Contact Natalie Mischler
phone: 303-541-1630
email: nmischler@sheeo.org
www.sheeo.org
NETWORK NEWS
Volume 26, Number 2
Changes that
are under
consideration to the
IPEDS Data Collection
include collecting
website addresses
for admissions and
financial aid and
asking for the
web link for any
online applications.
The 12-month
unduplicated
headcount
reporting would move
from the winter and
spring enrollment
collection and
be added to the
fall Institutional
Characteristics
collection.
K-16 linkages; using and utilizing IPEDS data; state accountability systems; getting
information to consumers; and improving student success. The Conference’s goal is
to provide tools, ideas, and perspective on these issues that will help the attendees
support and direct the work underway in their states and organizations even as their
individual circumstances may differ.
2007 IPEDS Workshop
A key component of the annual Data Conference is the IPEDS Workshop, a forum for
IPEDS staff to provide updates on recent developments and preview future directions.
It's also an opportunity for data providers, collectors, and users to discuss IPEDS
issues face-to-face.
IPEDS Director Elise Miller began the formal 2007 Workshop with introductions of
state coordinators and NCES staff. She then reported that NCES just completed a
data collection system rewrite and is now using .NET and SQL2005 technology.
The technical updates provide increased processing efficiencies and allow NCES to
“do more cool stuff.” She thanked the group for their patience and cooperation as the
updated system became operational. Miller then reminded the group that reporting
IPEDS data is mandatory for all institutions with Program Participation Agreements
for Title IV federal student financial aid. Since 2002-03 the Office of Federal Student
Aid has been enforcing this regulation with fines and warnings. Penalties for noncompliance include fines of up to $27,500 per violation and an institution’s eligibility
to participate in Tile IV programs (including processing federal financial aid) can be
suspended. Miller reported noncompliance is down dramatically since 2002-03 when
78 institutions were fined for a total of $1,241,000. In 2005-06 there were only 11 institutions fined and only $67,500 was paid in total fines. As of the middle of the 2006-07
reporting year, only 4 institutions have yet to respond. Miller commented it takes a lot
of work to get the non-response numbers this low; NCES and their contractor, RTI are
initiating a lot of follow-up activity both during and after the collection period.
Jan Plotczyk (Team Leader, IPEDS Data Collection) provided an overview of the
proposed changes for 2007-08 that were sent forward for approval to the US Office
of Management and Budget (OMB). She noted that while the OMB package requested no change for race and ethnicity reporting, changes that are under consideration
include collecting website addresses for admissions and financial aid offices instead of
phone numbers and asking for the web link for any online applications. The 12-month
unduplicated headcount reporting would move from the winter and spring enrollment
collection and be added to the fall Institutional Characteristics collection. NCES is also
working with the Postsecondary Education Standards Council (PESC) to develop the
schemas for an XML data upload option starting with the Human Resources collection
in 2007-08. This would be another data entry alternative along with the current online
keyed data entry, fixed file uploads, and key value file uploads.
Plotczyk then reviewed the data collection schedule for 2007-08. Fall collection,
including Institutional Characteristics, Completions, and (if approved by OMB)
12-month Enrollment will open on September 5 and close for coordinators on
October 31. The Winter collection (Human Resources, Enrollment, Finance) will open
on December 5 and close on February 6. The Spring collection of Enrollment data,
Finance data, Student Financial Aid, and Graduation Rates will start on March 5, 2008
and close on April 30, 2008.
A report from the IPEDS Help Desk then followed. The Help Desk, operated by RTI
International since 2000, assists data providers by responding to phone calls and
email queries, makes prompting reminder calls during the last two weeks of each
collection, reviews institutions’ edit reports and “caveat” comments, and migrates all
survey data. They also enter any “special notes” for institutions which identify any
special action necessary. The number of inbound calls has remained steady over
the years, but RTI now places more outbound calls, primarily to prompt late-starting
submitters. Help Desk Coordinator Jamie Isaac stressed that last-minute submissions
2
overload the system resulting in “sluggish” system response. This leads to longer
data entry episodes for providers during the last few days of each submission period;
unfortunately, an increasing number of institutions are waiting until the end of the collection to enter their data.
NETWORK NEWS
July 2007
RTI announced they now support IPEDS data tools through their help desk. Staff
responds to questions and emails on the Peer Analysis System (PAS), the Executive
Peer Tool (ExPT), College Opportunities On-Line Locator (COOL), the Data Analysis
System (DAS), and other NCES data sources and publications. They can be reached
toll-free at 1-866-558-0658 or via email at ipedstools@rti.org. Representatives are
available from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm Eastern time.
The IPEDS staff also presented an introduction to the redesigned IPEDS web site
(https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds). The new site is designed to be more user-friendly with
content that is organized into an intuitive and simplified structure. Content has been
updated and there is “enhanced site appeal.” The Peer Analysis System (PAS) has
also been redesigned with new navigation features, multiple year variable selection
options, a power user upload feature and built-in trend reports.
Much more information on these topics and others, including the 2007-08 data collection calendar, can be found at the IPEDS website at http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds.
The IPEDS Workshop slides are at
www.sheeo.org/network/presen2007/NCES_Net_07.ppt
The Help Desk presentation is at
www.sheeo.org/network/presen2007/SHEEO_RTI_2007.ppt
Faculty Professional
The S t u d e n t S u c c e s s S y m p o s i u m Road S how
Jim Hearn (University of Georgia) and Hans L’Orange (SHEEO) co-presented a
plenary session on the findings and strategies from the National Symposium on
Postsecondary Student Success. The November 2006 symposium was sponsored by
the National Postsecondary Education Cooperative (NPEC) and attracted over 400
state and federal policymakers, education practitioners, and researchers. NPEC is
sponsored by NCES and its mission is to promote the quality, comparability and utility
of postsecondary data and information that support policy development at the federal,
state, and institution levels.
The symposium was centered on papers commissioned from leading scholars in the
field of student success and on the responses to these papers by policymakers, practitioners and researchers. The symposium consisted of a series of plenary sessions
followed by break-out sessions, which allowed for further discussion on the topics
presented in the plenaries. A very brief summary of the papers is presented here;
the complete papers and commissioned responses are available at the Symposium
website http://nces.ed.gov/npec/symposium.asp; clicking on each paper’s title will
lead directly to that paper.
Choices in Teaching
That Foster Student
Success suggests
that student success
can be measured
in ways other than
graduation rates
and student retention
and identifies
eight dimensions of
student success.
The first commissioned paper, Faculty Professional Choices in Teaching That Foster
Student Success (http://nces.ed.gov/npec/pdf/Braxton_Report.pdf) was written by
John Braxton from Vanderbilt University and suggested student success is a complex concept that can be measured in ways other than graduation rates and student
retention. Braxton identified eight dimensions of student success: (1) Academic
Attainment, (2) Acquisition of General Knowledge, (3) Development of Academic
Competence, (4) Development of Cognitive Skills & Intellectual Dispositions,
(5) Occupational Attainment, (6) Preparation for Adulthood and Citizenship,
(7) Personal Accomplishments, and (8) Personal Development. He concluded that
student success is influenced by faculty teaching practices (the use of active vs. passive learning, frequent contact, and multiple forms of assessment) along with state
3
NETWORK NEWS
Volume 26, Number 2
What Matters to
Student Success: A
Review of Literature
reviews the
literature on
student success and
presents seven
propositions about
student success along
with implementation
recommendations.
and/or institutional policies (funding tied to teaching practices and faculty development workshops, clear communication on the high value placed on teaching, and
linking tenure, promotion and salary to teaching performance) .
The second paper, What Matters to Student Success: A Review of Literature (http://
nces.ed.gov/npec/pdf/Kuh_Team_Report.pdf) was developed by a team lead by
George Kuh (Indiana University Bloomington). The research team reviewed the
literature on student success and, based on their review, developed seven propositions about student success along with implementation recommendations.
1. Trajectory for student success is established long before students matriculate
2. Family & community support are indispensable to students’ educational aspirations, preparation and persistence in college
3. The right amount and kind of money matters to student success
4. Most students benefit from early interventions and sustained attention at various transition points in their educational journey
5. Students who find something or someone to connect with are more likely to be
engaged, persist, and achieve their objectives
6. Institutions that create a student centered culture are better positioned to help
their students attain their educational objectives
7. Because we value what we measure, focus assessment and accountability
efforts on what matters to student success.
The research team’s recommendations for each of these propositions are available
at the Symposium website.
A Framework for
Reducing the College
Success Gap and
Promoting Success
for All focuses on
creating a conceptual
framework to assist
policymakers and
practitioners develop
strategies to improve
success for students.
Laura Perna (University of Pennsylvania) and Scott Thomas (University of Georgia)
developed the third paper A Framework for Reducing the College Success Gap and
Promoting Success for All (http://nces.ed.gov/npec/pdf/Perna_Thomas_Report.pdf).
Their work focused on creating a conceptual framework to assist policymakers and
practitioners develop strategies to improve success for students. The framework they
presented consists of four key transition points: college readiness, college enrollment,
college achievement, and post-college attainment. The paper notes that no single
approach to policy or practice will improve student success for all students.
The fourth commissioned paper Moving from Theory to Action: Building a Model of
Institutional Action for Student Success (http://nces.ed.gov/npec/pdf/Tinto_Pusser_
Report.pdf) was prepared by Vincent Tinto of Syracuse University and Brian Pusser
from the University of Virginia. They suggested that state and national policies should
focus on:
• Creating linked P-16 systems that align primary and secondary outcomes with
postsecondary requirements
• Creating databases that follow students across all educational levels
• Supporting teacher development
• Creating outreach programs for underrepresented students
• Improving articulation between 2- and 4-year institutions
• Conducting early and continuous evaluation and assessment
• Establishing innovative policies that increase overall financial support and direct
aid towards students with the greatest need.
4
A team of researchers lead by John Smart from the University of Memphis developed
a paper titled Holland’s Theory and Patterns of College Student Success (http://nces.
ed.gov/npec/pdf/Smart_Team_Report.pdf). This paper illustrates the merits of John
L. Holland’s person-environment fit theory as an approach for understanding student
success in postsecondary education. Holland’s theory states that a career or field of
training choice is an expression of a person’s personality and there are six academic
environments corresponding to each of the personality types. Therefore, the congruence of each student’s personality type and their academic environment (e.g. choice
of major) is related to their educational success.
Co-presenter Jim Hearn, Professor of Higher Education, University of Georgia then
summarized his NCES-commissioned paper Student Success: What Research
Suggests for Policy and Practice (http://nces.ed.gov/npec/pdf/synth_Hearn.pdf) which
synthesized the five papers and identified common and unique themes along with
areas for additional research. He noted there are numerous challenges to achieving
student success including the difficult of retaining students and maintaining high graduation rates when institutions are working with students with varying skills and abilities. Another challenge is integrating P-16 efforts that are often hindered by structural,
procedural, cultural and political differences. He also noted there is no single solution
for student success and there are often trade-offs between cost and effectiveness
when making program implementation decisions. Hearn suggested there are many
opportunities for additional research including reviewing alternative measures of success; considering how student motivations, aspirations, and values shape success;
and examining the influence of societal structures on student success.
Peter Ewell and Jane Wellman, well-known national education researchers participated in the Symposium and were charged with synthesizing and summarizing the
major themes emerging from the discussions. Their paper is also available on the
Symposium website; their themes suggest acting on what is known, being intentional
about aligning success-related strategies, developing more precise research methods
and policy approaches, and focusing on action research including a focus on implementation.
NETWORK NEWS
July 2007
Moving from Theory
to Action: Building a
Model of Institutional
Action for Student
Success suggests
that state and
national policies
should focus on
seven factors for
student success.
The slides from this presentation can be found at
www.sheeo.org/network/presen2007/Lorange_Net_07.ppt
Information on NPEC and the Symposium is available at
http://nces.ed.gov/npec/symposium.asp
Align i n g P -1 2 A n d Po st s e c o n d ar y D a t a S yst ems
Aimee Guidera, Director of the Data Quality Campaign (DQC), opened this plenary
session by asking the audience if they were interested in knowing the following:
• What is the percentage of each district’s high school graduates who enrolled in
college within 15 months of graduation?
• What is the percentage of last year’s high school graduates who needed remediation in college and how this percentage varied by family income and ethnicity?
• What is the percentage of students who meet the proficiency standard on state
tests and still need remediation in the same subject in college?
• How is students’ ability to stay in and complete college related to their high
school courses, grades and test scores?
Holland’s Theory and
Patterns of College
Student Success
illustrates the merits
of Holland's Theory,
which states a
career or field of
training choice is
an expression
of a person’s
personality.
5
NETWORK NEWS
Volume 26, Number 2
Longitudinal data
provides the ability
to answer questions
on student academic
growth, school
effectiveness, student
mobility and
attrition, and the
impact of teacher
preparation and
Guidera argued that policymakers and educators would know the answers to all of
these questions by matching student records between P-12 and postsecondary education. Longitudinal data provides the ability to answer questions on student academic
growth, school effectiveness, student mobility and attrition, and the impact of teacher
preparation and training programs on student achievement. The net result would be
more students prepared to succeed in high school, college and the workforce.
The presentation suggested state policymakers create, nurture and use a mechanism
for sharing data between the P-12 and postsecondary systems. Policymakers were
also encouraged to investigate the possibility of developing and maintaining a central
repository for all the data of the public postsecondary institutions.
Following a brief overview of the DQC (more information is available at
www.dataqualitycampaign.org), Guidera asked the audience to consider the issues
that need to be addressed to align data systems and what needs to be done to meet
this goal. The interactive session that followed generated numerous responses including the following:
• Addressing the “cultural divide” and a need for mutual respect between K-12
and postsecondary education
• Settle turf issues, identify who “owns” the problem, and identify points of
resistance
• Engage governors and pass legislation
• Consider shared or common identifiers and develop clarity on FERPA
training programs on
• Address security issues
student achievement.
• Fiscal resources and time are always in short supply
The net result would
• Standards, clarity, and an appreciation of best practices will go a long way to
helping new implementations
be more students
prepared to succeed
in high school, college
and the workforce.
• Identifying a key individual or champion and muster the political will to “get
it done.”
• Get everyone “to the table.”
The slides from this presentation can be found at
www.sheeo.org/network/presen2007/Guidera_Net_07.ppt
Information on the Data Quality Campaign is available at
www.dataqualitycampaign.org
S t a n d a r ds Make t he Wor l d Go Round
One of the 2007 SHEEO/NCES Data Conference plenary sessions focused on
electronic standards and provided an introduction to the Postsecondary Electronic
Standards Council (PESC). Michael Sessa, the Executive Director of PESC noted the
organization was established in 1997 as a non-profit, community-based association of
colleges and universities; professional and commercial organizations; data, software,
and service providers; and state and federal government agencies. PESC’s mission is
to lead the establishment and adoption of data exchange standards in education with
the goal of improving institutional performance and fostering collaboration. Meeting
these goals can lead to lower costs, improved service, and system interoperability.
Sessa noted PESC supports the access, affordability and success of the educational
experience for students and institutions by ensuring efficient data exchange along the
full student lifecycle from secondary to postsecondary education and between post6
secondary institutions. He also noted the value of “coopetition” – cooperation among
competitors for the common good especially since no single law, model, or mandate
can standardize higher education. Collaboration through PESC is the organization’s
cornerstone principle; a neutral and objective third party “levels the playing field” in a
trust-based environment. The development and adoptions of standards are voluntary
and consensus-based. Consistent and accurate data exchanges within an environment of trust allow institutions to focus on the students’ needs. PESC hosts a number
of national meetings and conferences each year and is tracking, educating, and training the higher education community on other important issues related to technology
and standards, such as web services, data transport standards, and electronic authentication.
NETWORK NEWS
July 2007
One of the organization’s primary efforts has been the development of eXtensible Markup Language (XML) standards for education. In 2000, the PESC Board of
Directors founded the Standards Forum for Education in response to the growth of
XML development coupled with the absence of any single organization responsible for
developing XML business standards for the postsecondary community. The community supported the efforts of the Standards Forum for Education and together worked
to develop and produce the first PESC approved standard, the XML Postsecondary
Transcript, in July of 2004. Numerous development efforts have since taken place
within the Standards Forum for Education and more are being proposed. PESC is
also working closely with NCES on the development of a new XML upload option of
IPEDS data.
Sessa closed the session with a discussion of PESC’s strategic direction. Their focus
has been on the external exchange of data in higher education and their methodology
has followed the student lifecycle. Their current strategic efforts look to move beyond
student administrative standards to standardizing internal data exchanges from one
system or module to another. PESC’s long term goal is to standardize authentication
of shared student data; an environment of trust with the ability to re-use data provides
cost savings and efficiencies.
PESC’s long term
goal is to
standardize
authentication of
The slides from this presentation can be found at
www.sheeo.org/network/presen2007/Sessa_Net_07.ppt
shared student data;
Information on the Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council is available at
www.pesc.org
trust with the ability
an environment of
to re-use data
Co m p a r a t i ve S t a t e I n d i c a t o r s: M aki ng t he Re-Ent r y
P ipel i n e Wo r k fo r A d u l t Le a r n e rs
provides cost savings
and efficiencies.
Adults are re-entering education environments in larger numbers than ever before.
Some are acquiring new skills for their current positions. Others are starting an “encore”
career after they retire from their former one. So how does the re-entry-into-education
pipeline measure up? Making a Re-entry Pipeline Work, presented by Cheryl Blanco,
Vice President for Lifelong Learning Policy and Research for the Council for Adult and
Experiental Learning (CAEL) and Patrick Kelly, a Senior Associate at the National
Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS), reviewed how that
question is being answered through a CAEL/NCHEMS/Lumina Project.
One component of the project will involve populating a master database with data
that will provide states with a profile on the status of adult education in their state.
The data can be used to demonstrate the relationship between economic success
and levels of attained education, project the number of people with degrees and how
many are needed to achieve a level comparable with other countries, and discover the
shortfalls to attaining those levels. To do this, the project will look at measures such as
educational attainment, the current size and shape of adult participation, and barriers
to adult participation. Attainment data will include different degrees (from HS graduate
7
NETWORK NEWS
Volume 26, Number 2
through bachelors) achieved by 25-44 and 25-65 year olds, a comparison of the adult
population 18-24 and 25-64 with less than a HS diploma, and GEDs awarded to these
age groups as well.
Other measures will look at:
• providers such as institutions, the corporate sector, and government agencies;
One component of
the CAEL/NCHEMS/
Lumina project will
provide states with a
profile on the status
of adult education in
their state, including
demonstrating the
relationship between
economic success
and educational
attainment, projecting
the number of people
with degrees
and discovering
the shortfalls.
• participation data, including enrollments data in credit, non-credit, training, Adult
Basic Ed programs, and characteristics of the students;
• reasons adults participate in postsecondary education; and
• completions, such as degrees/certificates awarded by age including GEDs.
Indicators on the barriers to adult achievement of education will include academic
preparation, affordability, accessibility/availability, and aspirations. A monograph will
assess the scope of the problems and what state activities are in place to address
them. Individual state profiles will summarize the measures for each state.
Using the measures and data with an analysis of state policies (within a policy
framework concentrating on adult learners) will comprise the second component of
the project.
Charles McGrew, the Director of Information and Research at the Kentucky Council
on Postsecondary Education closed the session by sharing an overview on what
Kentucky is doing with adult higher education. By 2020, Kentucky plans to be at the
national average level of working adults with Bachelor degrees or above. This means
they need to double their current degree production; this will require increasing the
number of K-12 graduates and their college-going rate, graduating more college students, and increasing the number of adults entering or returning to postsecondary
education. They are researching the barriers that prevent adults from returning and
finishing their degrees since research shows most adults want to achieve a four-year
degree. Innovative programs are being developed to help attract and retain adults with
special emphasis placed on certain target groups, such as those who have a GED and
former students who are very close to completing their degree.
The slides from this presentation can be found at
www.sheeo.org/network/presen2007/Blanco_Net_07.ppt
www.sheeo.org/network/presen2007/McGrew_Adult_Net_07.ppt
D eve l o p ing a S eaml ess Tr ansi t i on for Tr ansf er
S t u d e n t s : U si ng X ml Tr anscri pt s
Institutions and states interested in improving their transfer and articulation process
should consider using XML transcripts. While XML, Extensible Markup Language, is
commonly used to design web pages, its primary purpose is to facilitate the sharing
of data across different information systems. This is how it is being used in Ohio, as
described by Jay Johnson, the Director of Higher Education Information Enrollment
Area at the Ohio Board of Regents, in the session, Developing a Seamless Transition
for Transfer Students: Using XML Transcripts in Ohio.
Ohio created an Articulation and Transfer Clearinghouse as a result of a legislative
mandate focused on facilitating credit transfer within the state. Previously, guaranteed transferability of courses was based on a student completing the Ohio Transfer
Module, an array of general education courses that, when taken in its entirety, was
guaranteed to be accepted at all public schools. There were also bilateral agreements
between individual institutions, meaning two courses with institutionally-based course
numbers would be compared for the purpose of transfer as needed. With a large
8
number of transfer students (25% of undergraduates attend different campuses), Ohio
needed to address the fact that not only do transfer students accrue more credit hours
than non-transfer students, but transfer students also take longer to graduate.
NETWORK NEWS
July 2007
The Ohio Board of Regents, in concert with the colleges and universities, created 38
discipline-specific Transfer Assurance Guides (TAG) made up of course equivalencies, identified by Ohio Articulation Numbers (OAN’s), with specific learning outcomes.
OAN’s were used in place of the creation of a common course classification system.
An institution-specific course that is considered a TAG course is guaranteed to transfer
to any public college or university in the state. In order for a course to qualify as a TAG
course it must match at least 70% of the learning outcomes of the associated OAN as
determined by faculty review panels.
Following the introduction of the course equivalency system in Autumn 2005, Ohio
created an Articulation and Transfer Clearinghouse (ATC) to maintain consistency in
the application of equivalencies on a state-wide level. The Clearinghouse is able to
keep a current list of standardized matched courses assigned to each OAN, as well as
govern the process of securely moving electronic transcripts in XML format between
institutions.
The transfer process, which goes live in Autumn 2007, starts with a source institution sending a student’s transcript in XML to the Ohio Articulation and Transfer
Clearinghouse. The Clearinghouse then maintains the original version of that transcript
and adds a supplemental file, also in XML, containing the OAN’s and the matching
course equivalencies of the source and destination schools. Via the Clearinghouses’
web pages and automated web services, the target institution can obtain transcripts
waiting to be downloaded to their system. Both source and target institutions house
the framework needed to correctly format and interpret the XML-coded files, making
the file transfer itself very simple.
Other Clearinghouse services include email alerts to target institutions when transcripts are available and additional tools to help students and advisors investigate
courses that will be easier to transfer.
SHEEO plans to provide state transfer and articulation information and activities in a
new dedicated section of their website. Staff is currently gathering state information
and an announcement will be forthcoming when the site is available.
Slides from this presentation can be found at
www.sheeo.org/network/presen2007/Johnson_Net_07.ppt
Following the
introduction of the
course equivalency
system in
Autumn 2005,
Ohio created
an Articulation
and Transfer
Clearinghouse to
maintain consistency
in the application
of equivalencies on
a state-wide level.
9
Welc o me t o S H E E O
Kelli Parmley joined the staff of the State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO) in May 2007 as Senior
Policy Analyst. In this position she is primarily responsible for the State Higher Education Finance (SHEF) data
collection and reporting. Kelli is also involved in other projects related to enhancing access to data for policy makers particularly the development and delivery of state profiles. Immediately prior to joining SHEEO, Kelli was the
Director of Budgets and Institutional Analysis at the University of Northern Colorado. The majority of her work prior
to joining SHEEO was in budgeting, institutional research, and planning in New York State. She holds a BS in
Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University, an MPA from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University,
and is pursuing a PhD in Higher Education Administration at the University at Albany.
Natalie Mischler is the new Assistant to the Director of the SHEEO/NCES Network; she has assumed the
responsibilities previously managed by Dianne Peterson who retired after 12 years with SHEEO. Natalie joins us
from Planned Parenthood of Western New York where she provided primary administrative support to the Chief
Executive Officer and the Chief Operating Officer. Her degree in Sociology is from the State University of New
York at Fredonia. Natalie’s responsibilities include providing primary administrative support for the SHEEO/NCES
Network and she is a great contact for any issues, questions and suggestions for Network activities.
State Higher Education Executive Officers
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Boulder, CO 80301-2205
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SHEE O / NC ES N e t wo r k
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Boulder, Colorado
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