Agreement Allows 41 States to Go Paperless through Electronic Transcript Exchange
Minneapolis, MN (PRWEB) August 15, 2014 -- The Midwestern Higher Education Compact (MHEC) recently signed a contract addendum with Parchment, Inc. allowing continued participation in the largest and most comprehensive electronic transcript contract in the nation for MHEC’s member states and now expands to include the member states of the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) and the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE), totaling 41 states. Parchment has more than 3,000 active sending schools (high school and college combined) and more than 2,500 active receiving institutions.
Exchanging transcripts electronically saves money, drives operational efficiencies, and provides data that facilitates improved decision making. The college application process is also simplified for students and parents by increasing transparency and completion rates.
“This initiative saves on time and resources and ultimately allows our institutions to focus on student success and it naturally seemed like a good fit to be able to expand this to other regional compacts,” explained Ken Sauer, committee chair for MHEC’s ETI Project Advisory Committee. “As more institutions across the country participate in the initiative not only will this simplify the admission decision making process, but the institutional research to be gained by downloading the transcript information data can provide campuses with valuable insight around student persistence and completion rates.” Sauer is the senior associate commissioner and chief academic officer for the Indiana Commission for Higher Education and also a MHEC commissioner.
Parchment, who agreed to the contract addendum in late July initially participated in an RFP process last fall and signed a contract with MHEC in January. Parchment has designed and developed the system and services behind the initiative and will provide the system and student/school support throughout the 3-year contract term with MHEC.
“We have received positive feedback from our member schools that have engaged Parchment through their MHEC relationship,” said Rachel Stamm, Parchment Vice President, Strategic Accounts. “As a result, the extension of this agreement to include WICHE and SREB provides exponential opportunities to more students to leverage their transcripts into new opportunities.”
With the renewal in 2014, MHEC expands the scope of services to include the full suite of Parchment’s Send and Receive services. Parchment is the only credential exchange platform that safely and securely automates and streamlines the complete process for both sending and receiving eTranscripts for secondary and postsecondary institutions.
Five MHEC states, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, and Ohio, currently participate in ETI and have dedicated web sites that can be found at http://exchange.parchment.com/state-projects.
The Midwestern Higher Education Compact is a nonprofit regional organization assisting Midwestern states in advancing higher education through interstate cooperation and resource sharing. MHEC seeks to fill its interstate mission through programs that expand postsecondary opportunity and success; promote innovative approaches to improving institutional and system productivity; improve affordability to students and states; and enhance connectivity between higher education and the workplace. Member states are: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.
http://www.mhec.org
The Southern Regional Education Board works with 16 member states to improve public education at every level, from pre-K through Ph.D. SREB is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization headquartered in Atlanta. SREB states currently participate in SREB’s Electronic Campus Regional Reciprocity Agreement, and SREB is working closely with SARA to expand reciprocity nationwide. Member states are Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.
http://www.sreb.org
The Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education and its 16 members work collaboratively to expand educational access and excellence for all citizens of the West. By promoting innovation, cooperation, resource sharing, and sound public policy among states and institutions, WICHE strengthens higher education’s contributions to the region’s social, economic, and civic life. WICHE’s members include: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawai‘i, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (the first of the U.S. Pacific territories and freely associated states to participate).
http://www.wiche.edu
Parchment is a leading technology company allowing learners, educators and employers to request, verify and share credentials in simple and secure ways. The platform has helped millions of people and thousands of schools and universities to exchange more than 12 million transcripts and other credentials globally. Founded in 2003, Parchment Inc. is headquartered in Scottsdale, AZ, with offices in Roseville, CA, Denver, CO, Grand Rapids, MI, Toronto, ON and Washington, DC.
http://www.parchment.com
Mary Roberson, Midwestern Higher Education Compact, http://www.mhec.org, +1 (612) 677-2765, [email protected]
Share this article