FASTER CHANGES FOR 2002-2003

Effective: November 24, 2002
Revised Date: September 11, 2002

Administrative Reminders and Issues
Districts and Postsecondaries

If you haven't yet done so, visit the FASTER web page and sign up for the FASTER listserv by sending an e-mail to fstr@firn.edu. Documentation on how to use the listserv can be found at http://lserv.fldoe.org.

We still have participation problems. Institutions are dropping FASTER before completing migration to their new platform/software. IT IS NOT AN OPTION to drop FASTER. Also, there are many elementary/middle schools still not participating. This is not acceptable. If your institution is having problems getting responses from any Florida public PK-12 or postsecondary, contact Lavan Dukes, Howard Campbell, or Nell Kelly (K-12, community colleges and SUS respectively). The committee will ask the Commissioner/Secretary to help get these schools in compliance.

The cutover to the new version of FASTER and SPEEDE/ExPRESS will begin on November 22, 2002. The new version will be in place on November 24th. FASTER users will be notified via e-mail from the listserve when more details are available on the FASTER web page.

There is still uncertainty about the meaning of Test/Production Indicator (item 6a, format I/S/P00). This field indicates whether the data in this transmission is test or production. The valid values are T = Test, or P or blank = Production. If an institution receives a request for a test transcript then the response should also indicate a test status. Confusion on this point may result in a student's transcript not being processed by the receiving institution, as it was considered to be a test document.

See the FIRN Network Encryption Status Report for the latest update on encryption.

Districts Only

FASTER PK-12 schools can be listed individually on the registrant list at the University of Texas, Austin, the server that handles SPEEDE/ExPRESS. FIRN has sent an e-mail to the districts and to the Superintendents' listserve asking them if they want their schools to be listed. Over 400 PK-12 schools have already applied to be included on the Texas server. FIRN will continue to update the Texas server monthly per requests from the school districts.

Community Service Hours, item 57 on the I/S01 format, can only hold 999 hours. Some districts have students that have earned more than that. In this case, the committee suggests sending a Student Comment record (I/S07) indicating the actual number of hours.

Send the three most recent Dropout/DJJ Prevention records within the most recent year of instruction.

FCELPT is the State of Florida's version of the CPT. High schools can send FCELPT test information through FASTER on the I/S08 format using "CPT" as the test name, along with the corresponding subtests.

Functional System Changes

Districts and Postsecondaries

Some institutions are still sending non-displayable data which is causing some receiving institutions' systems to crash. As a result, a reject edit has been implemented to prevent non-displayable data unless found in item 14, Unique Institutional Identifier (a 30-byte field on the I/S/P00 format) or in Filler Reserved for Local Use, which is the last 9 bytes of each format type.

SPEEDE/ExPRESS has the ability to transmit Student Activities and Awards in the ATV segment. A new G99ATV FASTER format has been added to map that data from SPEEDE/ExPRESS to FASTER. This segment will house all data received in the SPEEDE/ExPRESS ATV segment and two occurrences of the DTP segment that provides the date of the activity or award.

Three new response Message Types, item 3, I/S/P00 format, have been added to accomodate SPEEDE/ExPRESS. They are S15, S16, and S17.

The System has been modified to generate an X01 response message from a SPEEDE/ExPRESS institution when that institution sends a transcript that does not pass the FASTER edits.

Edits have been added to require the SPEEDE/ExPRESS Institution ID and Post Date/Time/Sequence Number (items 32a, b, and c on the I/S/P00 format) in the Part B data for all responses to SPEEDE/ExPRESS requests. Without this information the SPEEDE/ExPRESS response cannot be built correctly.

A parameter was added to the Contacts Report (SRTS42) to limit output by contact type.

NOTE: Changes that were made to FASTER over the course of the previous year (i.e., since the original 2001-2002 manual was published in September 2001) are listed in Updates to the 2001-2002 Version of FASTER.

Districts Only

An edit has been added allowing a value of "999999999G" to be put in the Student Number Identifier, Florida, item 2, on formats I/S01-I/S08 (called Primary Student Identifier, item 2, on the I/S00 format) when a SPEEDE/ExPRESS institution does not provide a valid social security number on a response. Also, if the SPEEDE/ExPRESS institution sends a number other than a Social Security Number or High School Number Identifier, this number will be put into the Unique Institutional Identifier, item 14, which is now preceded by a qualifying code, Type of Unique Institutional Identifier, item 13a.

The sequence edit for format I/S03, edit 2, has been modified to allow transcripts to be sent to Talented Twenty (82), Bright Futures (95), and SSFAD (96) without an immunization record.

The sequence edit for format I/S08, edit 2, has been modified to allow test records to be sent to SSFAD (96) without an immunization record.

A new parameter has been added to SRTS02 that will allow districts to download requests just from Bright Futures (95).

Invalid birthdates sent on a response from a SPEEDE/ExPRESS institution will be rejected. However, for Diploma Date, item 45, and Certificate of Completion Date, item 47, zeroes are now valid in the month and/or day if the sending institution is a SPEEDE/ExPRESS institution.

Postsecondaries Only

The STRES committee has agreed to map Health Condition (G99HC) and Health Screening (G99HS) data to and from SPEEDE/ExPRESS for postsecondaries. This was already being done for the districts.

An edit has been added allowing a "G" to be put in the 10th byte of the Social Security Number, item 2, on formats P01-P08 (called Primary Student Identifier, item 2, on the P00 format). In this way, the receiving institution will know that the "social security number" is generated, and not a real SSN. An "I" in the 10th digit will no longer be valid. Also, the first three characters of Social Security Number cannot be all zeroes.

Invalid birthdates sent on a response (in the P00 format as item 16, Date of Birth) from a SPEEDE/ExPRESS institution will be sent as blanks. Invalid birthdates sent on a request from SPEEDE/ExPRESS institution will be rejected.

In the P01 format, items 44 through 50, Academic Credit Type Code, Academic Summary Type, Academic Credit Hours Attempted or Paid For, Academic Credit Hours Earned, Lowest Possible Grade Point Average, Highest Possible Grade Point Average, and Excessive GPA Indicator have been added to house SPEEDE/ExPRESS transcript summary data. Academic Summary Type is required if new items 46-50 or old items Cumulative Grade Point Average, Academic Credit Hours Attempted and in GPA, or Quality Points Used to Compute Student's GPA are not blank.

The definition of Degree Date, item 7 on the P07 format, has been modified to allow zeroes in the month and/or day if the sending institution is SPEEDE/ExPRESS or the degree is not awarded by the sender.

Format Changes

Header Record Message Type Codes - Appendix D

Header Formats - Appendix H

I/S/P00

G99ATV

Postsecondary Formats - Appendix J

P01

P02

P03

P04

P05

P06

P07 P08

Interdistrict/Secondary Formats - Appendix I

Transfer Format Chart

I/S01

I/S02

I/S03 I/S04 I/S05 I06 I/S07 I/S08
Edit Changes

I/S/P00

2) If SSN is not blank, it must be numeric and greater than or equal to zero. The first three digits cannot be all zeroes. Nine-digit SSN's should be left justified with blank fill. For SSN’s generated for postsecondary international students, the SSN can be nine characters followed by "I". For SSN’s generated by postsecondary institutions, the SSN can be nine digits followed by "G".
2.8) Non-displayable characters cannot be sent in data with the exception of Unique Institutional Identifier, item 14, and Filler Reserved for Local Use, item 39.
5.5) If the record is addressed to a school district (first 7 characters of Addressed Institution), then the school number (last 4 characters of Addressed Institution) must be a valid ID from the Florida Public Schools Master School ID File (see Appendix B). A school number of 0000 is valid only if Message Type is S01-S14 S17 unless addressed to Bright Futures or Talented Twenty, then school number must be 0000.
8) Message Type must be R01-R12, R95 and R96, B00-B11, S01-S14 S17, Q01-Q05, Q13, Q14, or A02. If Message Type is S14, Record Type cannot be I00. If the sending institution is a district, Message Types R03, R04, and S05 are invalid. Message Type A02 is only valid on transcripts with Header Records of type S00. Message Type X01 is only valid when sent by the FASTER system itself to indicate a failed attempt to send a student record. [NOTE: Rejected request records do not generate an X01 message.]
9) If Student Number Identifier, Florida, is not blank, its first 9 characters must be numeric. If its tenth character does not contain the letter "X" or "G", its tenth character must be numeric and, in this case, its first 2 characters must be 01-70, or 72-76. If the tenth character does contain an "X", then the first three characters cannot be all zeroes. On a response, if the sending institution is (0000099) the value can also be '999999999G'. On a response, this field must not be blank if Record Type is I00 or S00 and Message Type is NOT one of S02, S03, S04, S08, S10, or S11, or S15, S16, or S17.
19.3) If the sending institution is a SPEEDE/ExPRESS institution and the Unique Institutional Identifier is not blank, then the Type of Unique Institutional Identifier cannot be blank and must have a value of 28, 30, 48, 49, 4A, 50, 56, 57, C0, F8, LR, or MV.
19.4) If the sending institution is a SPEEDE/ExPRESS institution and the Type of Unique Institutional Identifier is not blank, then the Unique Institutional Identifier cannot be blank.
19.7) If Message Type is S01 - S14 S17 then Section B (bytes 371 - 605) must not be blank.
22) Former edit deleted. If either addressed or sending institution code identifies a SPEEDE/ExPRESSS institution (i.e., either 99 or 10002) that is not in parallel testing mode, and the transaction is a response to a request (Message Types S01 through S14), then SPEEDE/ExPRESS Transaction Control ID must not be blank.
22.3) Former edit deleted. If both addressed and sending institution codes identify Florida FASTER institutions (i.e., neither 99 nor 10002), then SPEEDE/ExPRESS Transaction Control ID must be blank.
24) Former edit deleted. The remainder of the Header Record (including the Unique Record Identifier and the fields used, on response records, to contain the values passed in the initial request) is not edited; unless Addressed Institution is 99 or 10002.
25) If addressed institution code identifies a SPEEDE/ExPRESSS institution (i.e., either 99 or 10002) and the transaction is a response to a request (Message Types S01 through S17), then the Part B SPEEDE/ExPRESS Transaction Control ID, item 32a, must not be blank.
26) If addressed institution code identifies a SPEEDE/ExPRESSS institution (i.e., either 99 or 10002) and the transaction is a response to a request (Message Types S01 through S17), then the Part B SPEEDE/ExPRESS Institution ID, item 32b, must not be blank.
27) If the transaction is a response to a request (Message Types S01 through S17), then the Part B Post Date, Post Time, Sequence Number, item 32c, must not be blank.

G99HC

2) This record must not follow a header record that is a request (Message Type of R01-R12, R95, R96 B00-B09 B11). -Reject-
2.8) Non-displayable characters cannot be sent in data with the exception of Filler Reserved for Local Use, item 9.

G99HS

2) This record must not follow a header record that is a request (Message Type of R01-R12, R95, R96 B00-B09 B11). -Reject-
2.8) Non-displayable characters cannot be sent in data with the exception of Filler Reserved for Local Use, item 9.

G99IMM

2) This record must not follow a header record that is a request (Message Type of R01-R12, R95, R96, B00-B09 B11). -Reject-
2.8) Non-displayable characters cannot be sent in data with the exception of Filler Reserved for Local Use, item 9.

G99ATV

1) This record is out of sequence if there was no previous header record. -Reject-
2) This record must not follow a header record that is a request (Message Type of R01-R12, R95, R96, B00-B11). -Reject-
2.5) If addressee is a SPEEDE/ExPRESS institution, the special characters tilde (~), caret (^), and grave accent (`) cannot be sent in the data.
2.8) Non-displayable characters cannot be sent in data with the exception of Filler Reserved for Local Use, item 9.
3) Activity/Award Type Code Qualifier must be SA or SB.
4) Activity/Award Type Code must be A01-A35, AA1, AA2, AZZ, B01-B04, BZZ, C01-C07, C0Z, CA1, CB1, CC1-CC3, CZZ, D01-D04, DZZ, E01-E26, EA1, EA2, EZZ, F01-F03, FZZ, G01-G07, GZZ, H01-H06, HZZ, I01-I09, IZZ, J01-J15, JZZ, K01-K04, KZZ, L01-L03, LZZ, M01-M07, or ZZZ.
5) Name of Activity or Award is not edited.
6) Name of Sponsoring Organization is not edited.
7) If Code Qualifying Time Involved in Activity is not blank, it must be 52, 8R, 8S, DA, DW, HR, HT, MJ, MO, S1, S2, UN, WK, YR, ZA, ZB, ZC, or ZZ.
8) If Code Qualifying Time Involved in Activity is not blank, then Time Involved in Activity cannot be blank, and must be numeric.
9) If Level of Participation in Activity is not blank, then it must be 0K, 01-12, AD, EL, EM, HG, IF, IN, MS, P0-P5, PK, SS, UN, VR, or VS.
10) If Student Was Paid to Participate is not blank, it must be Y or N.
11) If School Sponsored Activity is not blank, it must be Y or N.
12) If Student Was Recruited is not blank, it must be Y or N.
13) If Participation Date Qualifier 1 is not blank, it must be 007, 036, 043, 050, 055, 102, 103, 196, 197, 198, 237, 270, 275, 336, 337, 467, 574, 576, or ZZZ.
14) If Participation Date Qualifier 1 is not blank, then Participation Date Format 1 cannot be blank, and must be CM, CY, D8, DB, RD4, RD5 or RD8.
15) If Participation Date Format 1 is not blank, then Participation Date 1 cannot be blank, and must be a valid date, not in future.
16) If Participation Date Qualifier 2 is not blank, it must be 007, 036, 043, 050, 055, 102, 103, 196, 197, 198, 237, 270, 275, 336, 337, 467, 574, 576, or ZZZ.
17) If Participation Date Qualifier 2 is not blank, then Participation Date Format 2 cannot be blank, and must be CM, CY, D8, DB, RD4, RD5 or RD8.
18) If Participation Date Format 2 is not blank, then Participation Date 2 cannot be blank, and must be a valid date, not in future.

G99

2.8) Non-displayable characters cannot be sent in data with the exception of Filler Reserved for Local Use, item 3.
2) This record must not follow a header record that is a request (Message Type of R01-R12, R95, R96, B00-B09 B11). -Reject-

P01

2.8) Non-displayable characters cannot be sent in data with the exception of Filler Reserved for Local Use, item 53.
27) If Date of Class Ranking is not blank then it must be numeric and a valid date (YYYYMMDD) that is not later than the current date unless the sending institution is a SPEEDE/ExPRESS institution, in which case the month and/or day may be zeroes.
30) Language Proficiency Indicator must be blank or numeric and in the range 1-6 or A-E.
38) If not blank, Student Communication Number Qualifier 1-4 must be AP, AS, BN, CP, EM, EX, FX, HF, HP, NP, OF, OT, PA, PC, PP, TE, TL, TM, TN, VM, WC, WF, or WP.
39) If Student Communication Number Qualifier 1 is not blank, Student Communication Number 1 cannot be blank. If Student Communication Number Qualifier 2 is not blank, Student Communication Number 2 cannot be blank. If Student Communication Number Qualifier 3 is not blank, Student Communication Number 3 cannot be blank. If Student Communication Number Qualifier 4 is not blank, Student Communication Number 4 cannot be blank.
40) If Academic Credit Type Code is not blank, it must be A, C, G, N, Q, S, U, V, or X.
41) Academic Summary Type must be A or E. Academic Summary Type cannot be blank if Cumulative Grade Point Average, Academic Credit Hours Attempted and in GPA, Quality Points Used to Compute Student's GPA, Academic Credit Hours Attempted or Paid For, Academic Credit Hours Earned, Lowest Possible Grade Point Average or Highest Possible Grade Point Average, or Excessive GPA Indicator is not blank.
42) If Academic Credit Hours Attempted or Paid For is not blank, it must be numeric and greater than or equal to zero.
43) If Academic Credit Hours Earned is not blank, it must be numeric and greater than or equal to zero.
44) If Lowest Possible Grade Point Average is not blank, it must be numeric and greater than or equal to zero.
45) If Highest Possible Grade Point Average is not blank, it must be numeric and greater than or equal to zero.
46) If Excessive GPA Indicator is not blank, it must be Y or N.
47) If Academic Summary Source is not blank, it must be A-D.

P02

2.8) Non-displayable characters cannot be sent in data with the exception of Filler Reserved for Local Use, item 16.
5.1) Institution Code Qualifier must be 73, OP, or ZZ.
6.3) If Institution Code is sent to a SPEEDE addressee (10002), it must be a valid FICE/OPEID code or 9999999.
7) If Beginning Date is not all zeroes, it must be a valid date (MMDDYYYY) unless the sending institution is a SPEEDE/ExPRESS institution (10002) or the term record is from an institution other than the sending institution, in which case the day and/or month can be zeroes.
8) If Ending Date is not all zeroes, it must be a valid date (MMDDYYYY) not less than the Beginning Date unless the sending institution is a SPEEDE/ExPRESS institution (10002) or the term record is from an institution other than the sending institution, in which case the day and/or month can be zeroes.
10) Institutional Name is not edited. If Institution Code is 9999999 and the addressee is a SPEEDE institution (10002), then Institution Name is required.
16) If not blank, Type of Session must be 1-9.
17) If not blank, Grade/Academic Level of Student this Session must be 20-33, AD, PF, or UN.

P03

2.8) Non-displayable characters cannot be sent in data with the exception of Filler Reserved for Local Use, item 27.
11) Course Type must be A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, M, N, O, P, R, T, V, W, X, Y, Z or blank.
30) If Student Withdrawal Date is not blank, it must be a valid date, not in the future.

P04

2.8) Non-displayable characters cannot be sent in data with the exception of Filler Reserved for Local Use, item 7.

P05

2.8) Non-displayable characters cannot be sent in data with the exception of Filler Reserved for Local Use, item 13.
4.3) Institution Code Qualifier must be 73, OP, or ZZ.
11) If Beginning Date is not all zeroes, it must be a valid date (MMDDYYYY) less than the current date and month and/or day can be zeroes.
12) If Ending Date is not all zeroes, it must be a valid date (MMDDYYYY) not less than the Beginning Date, but less than the current date and month and/or day can be zeroes..

P06

2.8) Non-displayable characters cannot be sent in data with the exception of Filler Reserved for Local Use, item 5.

P07

2.8) Non-displayable characters cannot be sent in data with the exception of Filler Reserved for Local Use, item 34.
3.3) Term Designator cannot have the values 000000 or 999999 if the institution awarding the degree is the sending institution.
3.5) Term Tag Number cannot be 0 if the institution awarding the degree is the sending institution.
4) Degree Level must be A-Z or the number 1-4.
4.1) Institution Code Qualifier must be 73, OP, or ZZ.
4.3) If Institution Code is sent to a SPEEDE addressee (10002), it must be a valid FICE/OPEID code or 9999999.
4.5) If Institution Code is 9999999 and the addressee is a SPEEDE institution (10002), then Institution Name is required.
5) Degree Date must contain a valid date not later than the current date unless the sending institution is a SPEEDE/ExPRESS institution or the degree is not awarded by the sender, in which case the month and/or day may be zeroes.

P08

2.8) Non-displayable characters cannot be sent in data with the exception of Filler Reserved for Local Use, item 50.

I/S01

2.8) Non-displayable characters cannot be sent in data with the exception of Filler Reserved for Local Use, item 70.
14) Migrant Status must be 0 - 7 or blank (not edited if Record Type is S01). -Reject- Former edit deleted.
23) Birth Date Verification must be 1, 3 - 9, T or blank. -Reject-
48) If Diploma Date is not blank or all zeroes, it must be a valid date (MMDDYYYY) not later than the current date (not edited if Record Type is I01 and addressed institution is not Bright Futures) unless the sending institution is a SPEEDE/ExPRESS institution, in which case the day and/or month can be zeroes. -Reject-
50) If Certificate of Completion Date is not blank or all zeroes, it must be a valid date (MMDDYYYY) not later than the current date (not edited if Record Type is I01) unless the sending institution is a SPEEDE/ExPRESS institution, in which case the day and/or month can be zeroes. -Reject-
66) College Ready Diploma must be Y, N, or Z. -Reject- Former edit deleted.

I/S02

2.8) Non-displayable characters cannot be sent in data with the exception of Filler Reserved for Local Use, item 50.
9) If the first characters of Vaccine Status-1 through Vaccine Status-30 Vaccine Status-40 are not blank, they must be the letters A through L or the numbers 8 or 9. -Reject-
10) If the first characters of Vaccine Status-1 through Vaccine Status-30 Vaccine Status-40 are one of the letters A through L, or the number 8, their corresponding Vaccine Dates must be valid dates (YYYYMMDD) not later than the current date or the word "EXEMPT" followed by two spaces. If, instead, the first character is the number 9, Vaccine Date must be the word "EXEMPT" followed by two spaces. Also, Vaccine Date may be all 9's if the first character of Vaccine Status is the number 8. Also, Vaccine Date may be a valid century and year followed by four zeroes for month and day if Vaccine Status is L.-Reject-
11) If the first characters of Vaccine Status-1 through Vaccine Status-30 Vaccine Status-40 are not blank, their corresponding Vaccine Dosages must be numeric and between 1 and 9, unless the first character of Vaccine Status is one of the numbers 8 or 9, in which case Vaccine Dosage may also be zero, or characters 3-10 are "EXEMPT" in which case the Vaccine Dosage may also be zero. -Reject-

I/S03

2) This record is out of sequence if it immediately follows:

a) an I03/S03 record with a School Year greater than or equal to this record's School Year;
b) a record with a type greater than I04/S04;
c) a type I00/S00 record; or
d) an I01 unless:
i) the student is not classified in an adult grade level (30 or 31),
ii) the student is age 21 years or older (Birth Date less than or equal to transmission date minus 21 years),
iii) Message Type is not A02 (an Outstanding High School Juniors transmission) or
iv) and addressee not Talented Twenty (82), Bright Futures (95), or SSFAD (96).

2.8) Non-displayable characters cannot be sent in data with the exception of Filler Reserved for Local Use, item 24.

I/S04

2.8) Non-displayable characters cannot be sent in data with the exception of Filler Reserved for Local Use, item 62.
8.1) If District Number, Credit, is 01 - 70 or 72 - 76, School Number, Credit, must be a valid ID from the Florida Public Schools Master School ID File (see Appendix B). It may also be zero, N997, N998, N999, C901-C928, U970-U979 U980 or blanks. -Reject-
8.3) If District Number, Credit, is 99 or FL, School Number, Credit, may be any of the following:

C901-C928 Florida public community college (see Attachment 2 to Format T4 in Appendix I)
U970-U979 U980 Florida public university (see Attachment 2 to Format T4 in Appendix I)
Pnnn Florida non-public institution (where "nnn" is one of the codes found in Attachment 3 to Format T4 in Appendix I)
It may also be numeric and greater than or equal to zero, or be N999 or blanks. -Reject-

I/S05

2.8) Non-displayable characters cannot be sent in data with the exception of Filler Reserved for Local Use, item 53.

I06

2.8) Non-displayable characters cannot be sent in data with the exception of Filler Reserved for Local Use, item 125.

I/S07

2.8 ) Non-displayable characters cannot be sent in data with the exception of Filler Reserved for Local Use, item 9.

I/S08

2) This record is out of sequence if it immediately follows an I01 and the student is not classified in an adult grade level (30 or 31), is age 21 years or older (Birth Date less than or equal to transmission date minus 21 years), and Message Type is not A01 A02 and addressee is not SSFAD (96). Note that any intervening generic pass-through records (G99) are ignored in making sequence tests. -Reject-
2.8) Non-displayable characters cannot be sent in data with the exception of Filler Reserved for Local Use, item 308.