Effective: November 14, 1999
Revised: May 11, 2000

The purpose of this document is to outline the changes that must be made to a FASTER transcript in order allow it to be successfully translated into a SPEEDE or EXPRESS transcript. This is something all FASTER users have had to consider since the University of South Florida changed from FASTER to SPEEDE/ExPRESS as the way they transmit student transcripts. This means that any transcript sent to USF in the FASTER format is translated to the SPEEDE/ExPRESS format by the FASTER System. Conversely, all transcripts sent from USF to any FASTER institution are translated from the SPEEDE format to the FASTER format by the FASTER System. This document outlines the elements that are required in a FASTER document to produce a basic SPEEDE transcript; it also lists the elements that are not required, but that can be included and which would produce a more complete SPEEDE document. This is becoming more important as more institutions begin using SPEEDE/ExPRESS, as the University of Miami, Barry University, University of Texas at Austin, and University of Texas at Dallas have done.

For the near future, FASTER users will not be required to change the way they address a transcript to USF; the FASTER System will handle that for them.

At this point in time, the ability to receive a request sent from a SPEEDE/ExPRESS institution does not exist. This will change in the near future. No changes will be necessary to receive a SPEEDE/ExPRESS request from USF, the System will handle that for you.

Our thanks go to the staff at USF who, in the process of testing their data against the new system, compiled a list of necessary changes for creating the postsecondary FASTER formats to send to a SPEEDE/ExPRESS institution. This document also reviews the modifications necessary for a FASTER institution to send a secondary transcript to a SPEEDE/ExPRESS institution.

What follows are the items that must be entered on the FASTER records to allow the System to successfully transform the postsecondary record format from FASTER to SPEEDE. Also included is a listing of other data elements that are not required for the SPEEDE format, but that would be useful in creating one.

Term Header Record (P02)

1. Grades Converted Flag, item 10, is set to 'N' or 'Y'. This flag is required if the Number of (Credit) Institution (item 5) is not the same as the sending institution and indicates whether or not the grades assigned for the courses taken during the term have been converted to the same grading scale as the sending institution.

Course Record (P03)

1. The Course Level Code, item 18, is required. It indicates the level of the course offering.

   This will vary with each institution. The following example is how USF populated the field based on course number. In the example, the Course Level Code, item 18, is the value that will be sent with the SPEEDE transcript. The Course # Range is the range of course numbers that USF used to derive the Course Level Code.

   Course Level Code	Course # Range
   D-Upper Div	5000-5999
   G-Graduate	>=6000
   H-Higher/Upper Div	3000-4999
   L-Lower Div	1000-2999
   R-Remedial	0000-0999
   U-Undergraduate	N/A
   I-Institutional	N/A
   P-Professional	N/A

   Note:USF used "L" for all AP/CLEP and special testing.

2. The Academic Credit Type Code, item 19, identifies the type of credit awarded using the code list below:

   Code	Definition
   A	Adult
   C	Continuing Education Unit (CEU) Credit
   G	Carnegie Unit
   N	No Credit
   Q	Quarter Hour Credit
   S	Semester Hour Credit
   U	Units
   V	Vocational Credit
   X	Other Credit

   USF populated their records with "N" - No Credit or "S" - Semester Credit

3. Academic Grade Qualifier, item 22, is dependent upon the actual grade value using Attachment 1 to Format P03. These values will be unique to the grading scale of each institution.

   USF used the following:

   Grade Value	Grade Qualifier Added
   A	025
   B	025
   C	025
   D	025
   F	025
   -(dash)	503
   W	506
   S	530
   U	540
   M	513
   Z	500
   N	511
   I	505
   transfer work	504

4. Academic Grade, item 23, is the actual grade awarded.

The following are items that are not required for input as part of the FASTER record for conversion to SPEEDE, but would be useful in creating a more informative SPEEDE transcript.

Header Record (P00)

1. If the transcript is a postsecondary format, the Addressed Institution, item 3, must be changed from the usual FICE code and Campus number to the FASTER SPEEDE mailbox number of '00100020000'. If the transcript is a secondary format, Addressed Institution must be changed from the usual District and School Number to '00000990000'.

   Note:  Currently, it is not required that you change the way you address a record to USF. For therecord, this is an example of how you should modify addressing a transcript if you are sending to an out-of-state institution.

2. The SPEEDE/ExPRESS Institution ID, item 16b, is the number that uniquely identifies the addressed SPEEDE/ExPRESS institution and the number is obtained from the Participation Status file.

Fixed Length Record (P01)

Items 16 through 35, although not required, are all fields which can be used in the translation of the FASTER format to the SPEEDE format. If your institution can supply any or all of these fields, the SPEEDE transcript produced from the translation will be more complete. Also, when receiving a transcript from a SPEEDE institution, these fields may supply you with useful information for admissions and placement.

Term Header Record (P03)

Curriculum Code, Item 20, and Curriculum Code Name, Item 21, may be supplied using an 81 for CIP or 82 for HEGIS for the first and the actual code number for the second.

Degree Record (P07)

Honors Level of Degree, Item 33, may be provided, using your institution's honors cross-walked with the three codes below:

Code	Description
B35	Awarded with highest honors available
B36	Awarded with the second highest honors available
B37	Awarded with the third highest honors available

What follows are the items that must be entered on the FASTER record to allow the System to successfully transform the Secondary record format from FASTER to EXPRESS. This means that you should send the FASTER record as usual, but also be sure that the following fields are included as they are specifically required for EXPRESS, whereas they may not be required fields for FASTER.

Note:  When sent as part of a normal FASTER record transfer, the following fields would receive only "Informative" errors if they failed the edit; however, for a SPEEDE/ExPRESS transfer, they must pass the edit or the record will be rejected.

At this point in time, the ability to receive a request sent from a SPEEDE/ExPRESS institution does not exist. This will change in the near future. No changes will be necessary to receive a SPEEDE/ExPRESS request from USF, the System will handle that for you.

Student Information Record (I/SO1)

Item 14 -	MSRTS Student Record Number
Item 17 -	HSCT (High School Competency Test), Communications, Date Passed for Graduation Purposes
Item 18 -	HSCT (High School Competency Test), Mathematics, Date Passed for Graduation Purposes
Item 21 -	Address Mailing
Item 23 -	Birthdate Verification
Item 31a -	Health Examination, School Entry
Item 34 -	School Address, Current
Item 35 -	School Phone Number
Item 44 -	Grade Point Average State, Cumulative (for grade levels 9-12)
Item 54 -	Graduation Requirement Basis

Course Record (I/S04)

Item 7 -	District Number, Where Credit Earned
Item 11 -	Grade Level
Item 14 -	Course Title
Item 15 -	Course, State Subject Area Requirements
Item 20 -	Course Grade
Item 60 -	Session Start Date, Session End Date, School Number Where Credit Earned Code Type, School Number Where Credit Earned Code

Vocational/LEP/Dropout Record (I/S05)

Item 9 -	Vocational Termination Code
Item 10 -	Withdrawal Date (Vocational Program Completion Date)

Note:   This applies to all four occurrences of the above fields in the Vocational Education Program repeating groups.