Transcript Collection

Appendix D
Letters and Contacting Materials

Catalog Transmittal Sheet

<project number>

School Name: «school_name»

IPEDS # «School_ID»

Name of Sender: ____________________________________

Date: ___________________________

Telephone number: __________________________________

In order to properly code the transcripts we will receive for your graduates, we need to obtain a copy of your institution’s grading system and course catalogs, bulletins, or other school materials that describe the course offerings for each academic year from <year1> to <year4>. If all of these materials are not currently available, please provide the latest catalog available.

Instructions:

In the table below, please place check marks in the appropriate columns to indicate the types of course catalogs you are sending for each year. Please keep a copy of this completed sheet for your records and send the original to RTI with the catalogs.

Academic Year	Type of catalog provided (please place checks or comments as appropriate)
	Institution-wide/general	Undergraduate	Graduate	Other school/ program (please specify)
<year1>			N/A
<year2>			N/A
<year3>
<year4>
Other (please describe)

DISCLOSURE NOTICE

A copy of the transcript for this student has been provided to RTI International, a not-for-profit research organization and agent for the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education. This disclosure statement fulfills the requirements of 34 CFR 99.32(a) pursuant to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 U.S.C. 1232g).

The transcript was requested for the 2008/2009 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (B&B:08/09), a longitudinal study of students who have completed a baccalaureate degree. Data from these records will be combined with others into statistical summaries and tables. No individually identifiable information will be released in any form.

The collection of information in this study is authorized by Section 404(a) of the National Education Statistics Act of 1994, Title IV of the Improving America's Schools Act of 1994, Public Law 103-382 and continued under the auspices of the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002, Public Law 107-279. Participation is voluntary. Information will be protected from disclosure by federal statute (20 USC 9003a-9007, as amended).

* WARNING: This page contains confidential student information. Please exercise appropriate security. **

Student Transcript Fax Transmittal Sheet

<project number>

School Name: «school_name»

IPEDS # «School_ID»

Name of Sender: ____________________________________

Date: ___________________________

Fax number: __________________________________

Instructions:

Please fax transcripts or equivalent forms for the students selected to participate in B&B:08/09 listed below. Place a “Y” (yes) or “N” (no) in the Faxing Transcript column for each student to indicate whether you are faxing a transcript to RTI. If you are unable to provide a transcript, please provide a reason (such as “transcript cannot be located”) in the Reason Transcript Not Provided column. If a student transferred to your institution from another school, please fax a copy of any transcripts that you have from those schools (unless that information is already included on the transcript from your institution).

Student ID	Student name	Reported degree/certificate earned (if any)	Reported degree date	Faxing transcript (Y/N)	(If No) Reason transcript not provided
9991001	Lastname, Student1	Bachelor’s	5/2007
9991002	Lastname, Student2	Bachelor’s	12/2006
9991003	Lastname, Student3	Bachelor’s	5/2007
9991004	Lastname, Student4	Bachelor’s	5/2007
9991005	Lastname, Student4	Bachelor’s	12/2006

Fax this document and the transcripts to <toll-free number>. Before faxing, please email or call <name> at <phone number> or <email> and wait for a reply.

Instructions for Preparing and Transmitting Transcripts

General instructions

This document provides instructions for you to use while preparing and transmitting the transcripts for Baccalaureate and Beyond Study (B&B) sample members who attended your institution in the <year> academic year. B&B is being conducted by RTI International, a not-for-profit research organization affiliated with Duke University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and North Carolina State University. RTI is operating under contract to the U.S. Department of Education to collect the transcript information.

To read more about the study, please go to the website below and log in using the username and password printed at the bottom of the letter you received with these instructions: <website url>.

Whose transcripts are requested?

As you may know, B&B selected its sample from the 2008 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, sampling from those students who achieved or were likely to achieve their baccalaureate degree during the <year> academic year. The secure study website contains the names, student ID numbers, and dates of birth for the B&B sample students. Students who reported earning degrees are indicated along with the dates the degrees were received.

To access the list of sampled students, please go to the secure study website referenced above.

Transcript Disclosure Notice

The B&B postsecondary transcript collection complies with all provisions of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), allowing the release of student information to RTI without the express permission of the student. FERPA regulations also stipulate that all disclosures be reported in the student record, with an indication of who received the information and their legitimate interests in the information. For schools without electronic student record systems, we have enclosed a "Disclosure Notice". The notice may also be printed from the study website. These notices fulfill the requirements of 34 CFR 99.32(a) pursuant to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. 1232g). Electronic student record systems will require the entry of a similar statement.

Reimbursement of expenses

If your institution requires reimbursement for transmitting transcripts, please refer to the Detailed Instructions for Providing Transcripts page on the study website. To access this webpage, you will need to log in using the username and password printed at the bottom of the letter you received with these instructions. From that webpage you can access a form where you will need to enter the requested information, including the address to which reimbursement should be sent. RTI will reimburse these expenses upon receipt of the transcripts.

Who should I contact for questions or problems?

Please do not hesitate to contact RTI if you have any questions or problems with this request, the transmission of transcripts, or reimbursement. You may contact the transcript help desk toll-free at <phone number> or via e-mail at <email>.

Institution Information and Transcript Transmission pages on the study website

Prior to sending transcripts, please complete the Institution Information and Transcript Transmission pages available on the study website. On the Institution Information page, please provide or confirm the information about your institution. On the Transcript Transmission page, please check the box next to each student whose transcript you are providing. If you are unable to provide a transcript for some reason, please enter the reason in the space provided. For example, reasons might be: "No record that student ever attended" or "Transcript cannot be located". When you have completed this webpage, please print it and retain a copy for your records. Please complete the Transcript Transmittal webpage prior to sending transcripts, so that we can verify receipt of each transcript submitted.

Transmitting transcripts to RTI

Sending Transcripts by Uploading to the Secure Study Website: The preferred method for sending transcripts is to upload electronic transcript data directly to the secure study website. We prefer XML or EDI format. If your transcripts are not in one of these formats, we ask that you or a programmer from your institution convert them to a format that we can process using the template available on the study website. However, if you are unable to reformat the transcripts to match the template, we will accept them in their existing format.

Sending Transcripts as an Encrypted Attachment by Electronic Mail: If you choose to use electronic mail to submit student transcripts, the attachment containing transcript data will need to be encrypted to protect the security of the data. Once the attachment is encrypted, please send the e-mail to <email>. In the body of your e-mail message containing the transcripts, please tell us how many attachments you are sending and what they are so we can verify that we received everything. If you need assistance with this process, please contact our help desk toll-free at <phone> or via e-mail at <email>.

Sending Transcripts by Secure File Transfer Protocol (FTPS): If you wish to submit transcripts using our FTPS site, please contact John Doherty (by telephone at <phone> or e-mail at <email>) to obtain the FTPS site location and your username and password. Additional instructions regarding how to perform the data transfer via FTPS can be found on the study website. After you have successfully uploaded your files to the FTPS server, please send an e-mail to <email> with the names of the files and their structure.

Faxing Hard Copy Transcripts: As a last resort, if your institution is unable to provide the transcripts electronically via any of the methods previously mentioned, you may fax transcripts to our secure fax machine at <fax number>. Before doing so, please fax a test page with your name, telephone number, and fax number to <fax number> indicating that it is a test page for sending transcripts. We will then contact you to confirm that we successfully received the test page and to send you a transmittal sheet that should be filled out and sent with the transcripts.

Address for questions

If you wish to send non-confidential correspondence to RTI, please use RTI's post office box below. Please do not send hard copy transcripts.

Tiffany Mattox

B&B:08/09 Transcripts

RTI International

PO Box 12194 (3040 Cornwallis Road)

Research Triangle Park, NC 27709

Letter from NCES to Registrars and other Officials

U.S. Department of Education

Office of Educational Research and Improvement

National Center for Education Statistics

January 1, 2008

Dear Registrars and Officials:

As part of the Baccalaureate and Beyond Study (B&B), a major study of this nation’s education, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), U.S. Department of Education, is funding collection of postsecondary transcripts for sampled students. The Department has authorized RTI International, a nationally recognized not-for-profit research organization, to obtain these transcripts. I am writing to request your assistance with this very important activity.

As you may know, B&B selected its sample from the 2008 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study field test, sampling only those students who achieved or were likely to achieve their baccalaureate degree during the 2006–2007 academic year. We will be contacting the students to interview them about their postsecondary education, life experiences, and job experiences. As the enclosed endorsements from many important associations and groups attest, B&B is a critical element of this Nation’s education improvement process. Indeed, previous B&B study findings have already improved our schools and our understanding of the experiences of students. This new data collection will go a long way towards helping us understand the important period after college, when many young adults begin their careers, seek additional education and training, and start families.

To complete our research, the Department is requesting the transcripts of B&B sample members who attended your institution during the 2006–2007 academic year. Specifically, we request that you provide, through your institution’s standard procedures, complete transcripts for the sampled students as well as transcripts from any other institutions the students may have attended, if applicable. Information and instructions are included elsewhere in this package.

Transcript data are being collected under the provisions of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) that allow the release of student records to the Secretary of Education or his agent without prior written consent from students. Both the purposes of the study and the manner in which the transcript data will be acquired comply fully with FERPA requirements. For your information, we have included in this package the relevant passages of the legislation that authorize the transcript collection.

Privacy and confidentiality are always of concern to institutions and offices that maintain student records. Both NCES and RTI follow strict confidentiality procedures to protect the privacy and confidentiality of study participants. A description of our security arrangements is enclosed, but let me underscore that these transcript data will be combined to produce reports for Congress and other policymakers. Individually identifiable data will be available to only a limited number of qualified researchers, who will be pledged, under penalty of law with severe fines and imprisonment, to maintain the confidentiality of the data.

Your cooperation with RTI in this important study is greatly appreciated. For further information or questions, please contact me at <phone>. You can also contact Jennifer Wine, the RTI project director at <phone>.

Sincerely,

Mark Schneider

Commissioner

National Center for Education Statistics

Letter from Project Staff to Registrars and other Officials

January 1, 2008

{reg_salute} {reg_fname} {reg_lname}

{inst_name}

{inst_addr1}

{inst_adr2}

{inst_city}, {inst_st} {inst_zip}

Dear {reg_salute} {reg_lname}:

As indicated in the enclosed letter from Mark Schneider, RTI International is currently conducting the Baccalaureate and Beyond Study (B&B) for the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), U.S. Department of Education. Authorized by federal law (P.L. 103-382), B&B is an important longitudinal study of baccalaureate recipients. The data provide federal and state policymakers with critical information about the role that education plays in the employment success, community involvement, and family formation of young people. This letter and the enclosed package request transcripts for {sch_num} B&B sample members{s} who attended your institution in the 2006-2007 academic year.

This package includes detailed instructions for preparing, transmitting, and being reimbursed for the transcripts. You can find the list of sampled students on the secure study website (refer to the box below). We provide the names, student ID numbers, dates of birth, degrees and degree dates for the students. We ask that you provide transcripts for these students.

To protect the security of the data, we ask that you provide the students’ transcripts electronically. The enclosed instructions describe the methods for transmitting the transcripts. If you wish to be reimbursed for expenses incurred in preparing the transcripts, please refer to the Detailed Instructions for Providing Transcripts page on the study website. To access this webpage, you will need to log in using the username and password printed at the bottom of this letter.

These data are collected under the provisions of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) that allows the release of records to the Secretary of Education or his agent without prior written consent. We have provided a copy of the relevant text from FERPA in this document. NCES and RTI adhere to the highest standards for protecting the privacy of research participants. Let me assure you that the most stringent measures are in place to safeguard the confidentiality of participants, and the information will be protected from disclosure by federal statute (42 U.S. Code 24, 308d).

Thank you for your cooperation and timely attention to this matter. Please feel free to contact me for additional information. You can reach me by telephone at <phone> or email me at <email>.

Sincerely,

Please visit the study website for more information:

<website url>

To log in, enter the IPEDS UNITID below as your username and enter the password below.

Your IPEDS UNITID: «entity_id»

Your password: «password»

Jennifer Wine, Ph.D.

Project Director

Placeholder from NELS PETS

Date

BB_FT5/«Addr_ID»

«fname» «mname» «lname» «suffix»

«addr1»

«addr2»

«city» «state» «zip» «zip4»

Dear «p_fname» «p_lname»:

Last year, you were selected to participate in the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, a U.S. Department of Education study of students enrolled in postsecondary institutions during the 2006-2007 school year. We are now conducting the Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (B&B), a one-year follow-up with recent bachelor’s degree recipients such as yourself, to learn about your transition from college to work and/or to graduate school or other postsecondary education. B&B is being conducted for the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) by RTI International, a nationally recognized research organization located in North Carolina.

I invite you to complete the B&B questionnaire over the Internet, go to: http://surveys.nces.ed.gov/b&b. Type the study ID and password (provided below) on the Home/Login page, and Press “Enter” or click “Login” to begin the questionnaire. To express our appreciation, a $«amount» check will be mailed to you if you complete the questionnaire by «EarlyIncDate». If you are unable to complete the questionnaire by that date, an RTI interviewer will call you to complete the questionnaire by telephone will ask you about your early career experiences, educational achievements, community activities, and level of debt. The interview will take about 15 to 25 minutes.

Please be assured that both NCES and RTI follow strict confidentiality procedures to protect the privacy of study participants and the confidentiality of the information collected. Your participation is voluntary but your responses are necessary to make the results of this study accurate and timely.

Enclosed you will find a brochure with a brief description of the study, how you were selected, and confidentiality procedures. We would also like your help in updating our records. Please take a few minutes to verify, correct, or update the enclosed Address Update Information Sheet and return it to RTI in the enclosed postage-paid envelope. You may log into our secure website and update your information at http://surveys.nces.ed.gov/b&b. If you have any questions about the study, please contact Dr. Jennifer Wine, Project Director, at RTI. The toll free number is <phone#>. Persons who are hearing or speech impaired may call us at 1-919-541-6538 (TTY/TDD).

We sincerely appreciate your assistance and thank you for helping us conduct this important study.

Sincerely,

Go to: http://surveys.nces.ed.gov/b&b 

Your study ID: «caseid»

Your password: «password»

Mark S. Schneider

Commissioner

National Center for Education Statistics

Enclosures

Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study

Address Update

Study ID: «caseid»

1. Please review your current address displayed on the left side of the address box below. Check here if all information pre-printed in this section is correct………………….……….……

If your address is not correct or is not current, please update it in the space provided on the right side of the box. To update your locating information online, visit our secure website at //surveys.nces.ed.gov/b&b and refer to your Study ID «caseid».

«fname» «mname» «lname» «suffix» «addr1» «addr2» «city», «state» «zip»«zip4» «sarea1» «sphone1» «panelinfo»		Name:
		Address:
		Home phone:	( )
		Work phone:	( )
		Cell phone:	( )

2. We will send an e-mail to let you know that data collection has begun. Please provide an e-mail address that we can use to contact you.

Primary e-mail address:
Alternative e-mail address:

3. Would you like us to send you a text message on your cell phone when data collection is about to begin? Please check one…………………………………………………Yes No

If yes, what cell number should we use?__________________________________________

Thank you for your assistance.

Please return this page in the enclosed postage paid envelope.

Page 2 of the Address Update form

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) of the U.S. Department of Education is authorized by federal law (Public Law 107-279) to conduct the Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study. NCES will authorize only a limited number of researchers to have access to information which could be used to identify individuals. They may use the data for statistical purposes only and are subject to fines and imprisonment for misuse. According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number of this information collection is 1850:0729, and it is completely voluntary. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 3 minutes per response, including the time to review instructions, search existing data resources, gather the data needed, and complete and review the information collection. If you have any comments concerning the accuracy of the time estimate or suggestions for improving the interview, please write to: U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC 20006. If you have comments or concerns regarding the status of your individual interview, write directly to: Kristin Perry, National Center for Education Statistics, 1990 K Street, NW, Washington, DC 20006.

Supporting Statement Request for OMB Review (SF83i) D-1