A supplement to the online guide, this lesson covers the process of creating an STCU request (batch) submission file. Required data fields as well as the formatting of the file are covered.
Resources
- Creating & Formatting a Batch Query File Knowledge Base article
- StudentTracker for Colleges & Universities User Manual
- StudentTracker for Systems of Institutions User Manual
Transcript
Welcome. The purpose of this tutorial is to demonstrate how to create a request file for submission to StudentTracker for Colleges and Universities, also known as STCU. Schools participating with STCU can perform one of many queries in order to conduct research on their student applicants and alumni populations.
Starting with a blank Excel worksheet, first make sure to format all cells to text format. All request files for StudentTracker must contain a header row, detail rows and a trailer row. You can find an explanation on these rows and their contents in the STCU user manual online.
All fields in the header row are required. These include H1 which indicates the start of your header row, your six digit digit OPEID school code, two digit branch code, school name, file creation date, query type and a capital I for institution.
The detail rows are located directly beneath the header row of your Excel worksheet. It's important to note that a request file must have a minimum of 11 student detail rows in order to load in the Clearinghouse system. Required fields are marked with an asterisk in the user guide and include D1 which indicates the start of the detail row, student first and last names, search date, a blank column, the school code branch code and the requester return field. Please note the request a return field is in a free text format and is optional. Not only is Social Security number or SSN not a required field but it is also not included in most request files to ensure compliance with FERPA regulations. There only two cases where SSN can be used in request files. The search date is a very important field. This date specifies the time frame within which your search will be conducted for each student.
The trailer row is the final required portion of your file submission. This includes T1 which indicates the end of your request file and confirms the total number of rows included.
Before submitting your file to the Clearinghouse, it is important to make sure your file is saved in a text tab delimited format having the extension .txt. Otherwise, your file will not load.
For more information, please view our other tutorials online.