FASTER CHANGES FOR 2004-2005

Effective: November 15, 2004
Revised Date: October 15, 2004

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 12, 2004. The new version will be in place on November 15th. 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.

Scores for the new ACT and SAT subtests may be submitted through FASTER beginning March 2005. Information on subject codes for these subtests will be published in this manual as soon as it is available. At that time schools will be notified via the FASTER Listserv.

Districts Only

Information on Outstanding High School Juniors is no longer transmitted through FASTER. The OHSJ list is now created by DOE and made available for download on FASTER secure website. See Chapter 2, Item H for more information.

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.

Functional System Changes

Districts and Postsecondaries

NOTE: Changes that were made to FASTER over the course of the previous year (i.e., since the original 2003-2004 manual was published in September 2003) are listed in Updates to the 2003-2004 Version of FASTER.

Districts Only

Postsecondaries Only

Format Changes

Header Formats - Appendix H

I/S/P00

Postsecondary Formats - Appendix J

P01

P02 through P05

P06 P07 P08

Interdistrict/Secondary Formats - Appendix I

I/S01

I/S02

I/S03

IS04

I/S03

IS06

I/S07 and I/S08 I/S09
Edit Changes - Appendix R

I/S/P00   Header Record Edits

P01   Postsecondary Fixed Segment Edits

P06   Postsecondary Test edits

P08   Postsecondary Immunization Edits

I/S01   PK-12 Demographic Edits

I/S02   PK-12 Immunization Edits

I/S03   PK-12 School Year Edits

I/S04   PK-12 Course edits

I/S05   PK-12 Vocational/LEP/Dropout edits

I06   PK-12 Exceptional Student Edits

I/S07   PK-12 Comments and I/S08   PK-12 Tests Edits

I/S09   PK-12 Discipline Edits