Creating a StudentTracker File for the NCAN Member Benchmarking Project Using Excel

Transcription

1 Creating a StudentTracker File for the NCAN Member Benchmarking Project Using Excel December 1, 2014 NATIONAL STUDENT CLEARINGHOUSE 2300 Dulles Station Blvd., Suite 300, Herndon, VA 20171

2 Creating StudentTracker Research Files in Flat File Format This guide will help you use Excel to format the StudentTracker files you submit for the purposes of the NCAN Member Benchmarking project. You will submit one file that contains information for all the students for whom you re submitting data. If you have questions or need assistance, contact STEP 1: OPEN A NEW EXCEL SPREADSHEET Highlight columns A through Z (columns will appear shaded) Under the Format menu, select Cells. On the number tab of the Format Cells window, select Text and click OK. You MUST select text in order to retain any leading zeroes where appropriate. Delete these extra tabs by right-clicking each and selecting Delete. 1

3 STEP 2: ENTER DETAIL RECORDS FOR COLUMNS A-Z BEGINNING IN ROW 2 In columns A through P please provide student information. Each student s information should be entered in its own row. Column A = D1 Column B = leave blank Column C = First Name Column D = Middle Initial (one letter and no periods) Column E = Last Name Column F = Name Suffix (use letters not numbers, e.g., Jr, I, II, III, IV, V) Column G = Date of Birth in YYYYMMDD format Column H = High School graduation date in YYYYMMDD format (does not need to be exact date) Column I = leave blank Column J = leave blank Column K = 00 Column L = Gender (Values: M if male, F if female, U if unknown) Column M = Race (Values: WH if white, BL if black, AM if American Indian or Alaskan native, AS if Asian, PI if Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, MU if multiple races, UK if unknown) Column N = Hispanic? (Values: Y if Hispanic/Latino, N if not Hispanic/Latino, U if unknown) Column O = First generation? (PLEASE NOTE: For the purposes of this study, please use the definition of first generation you use in your program.) (Values: Y if 1 st generation, N if not 1 st generation, U if unknown) Column P = Program selectivity Does your program serve all students or do you limit participation based on financial or academic criteria? Choose the value that applies to THIS specific student. (Values: N if none, F if financial, A if academic, B if both) - Continued on the next page - 2

4 In columns Q through Z, you will be providing information on the services/interventions that student received THROUGH YOUR PROGRAM. If this student received this services/intervention at any point during their involvement with your program and because of their relationship with your program, please count that service. So if your program provided this service directly OR the service was provided because of a sustained partnership between your program and another that allows students enrolled in your program to access that service on a regular and consistent basis, please mark that as a Y. Column Q = Assistance in completing and submitting the FAFSA Column R = Financial literacy/aid education (e.g., paying for college, sources of financial aid, loan repayment) Column S = Academic support/counseling/advising while in high school (e.g., course selection, tutoring, dual credit opportunities) Column T = College admissions test prep courses and/or materials Column U = Postsecondary admissions counseling (e.g., fit/match, college tours, application/essay completion assistance) Column V = Specific curriculum and/or activities designed to encourage grit, persistence, non-cognitive, other social/emotional/life skills Column W = Provide information to parents/families (e.g., postsecondary education, financial aid/paying for college) Column X = Success/completion/retention services while in postsecondary education (e.g., any academic, financial aid, FAFSA completion, academic counseling, mentoring, life or study skills, etc.) Column Y = Scholarship support provided by your program in the first year of postsecondary education (exact amount, rounded to the nearest dollar with no dollar sign, no commas, no period, no cents) Column Z = Expected Family Contribution for the first year of postsecondary education (exact amount, rounded to the nearest dollar with no dollar sign, no commas, no period, no cents) If you do not know a student s EFC contribution, enter in this field. IMPORTANT Do NOT use quotes, commas or periods in any field. 3

5 Note: Each participating organization should submit exactly one file which contains all four high school graduating cohorts (2008, 2009, 2010 and 2014). STEP 3: ENTER IDENTIFICATION RECORD, IN THE ROW IMMEDIATELY BELOW THE LAST STUDENT RECORD Column A = H1 Column B = Account Number Column C = 00 Column D = Organization Name Column E = File creation date in YYYYMMDD format Column F = Inquiry purpose = DA Column G = S STEP 4: ENTER TRAILER RECORD IN THE LAST ROW, IMMEDIATELY BELOW THE IDENTIFICATION RECORD Column A = T1 Column B = Row number of the trailer record + 1 Column C-L = Blank STEP 5: PASTE YOUR DATA INTO: NCAN_SAMPLE_SUBMISSION_FILE.XLS NCAN_SAMPLE_SUBMISSION_FILE.XLS has been pre-formatted (with all cells as text ) and is ready to be populated with your data. Select and copy all of the rows in the spreadsheet you created (student rows plus the identification record and trailer row) 4

6 In NCAN_SAMPLE_SUBMISSION_FILE.XLS, click in cell A2 and paste your data. The headings in Row 1 should be unaffected. STEP 6: SAVE YOUR FILE In the File menu on the main toolbar, select Save As. On the Save As window, select the drive and/or directory where you would like to save the file. Enter the file name using the format: NCAN_YYYYMMDD_######_ProgramName YYYYMMDD = date file is being submitted ###### = your 6-digit account number used in the Identification Record Example: NCAN_ _391754_GetEmReady Select Text (Tab delimited) from the Save as Type drop-down menu. Click Save. Your file will be saved as a text tab-delimited file in the location you selected. NCAN_ _391754_GetEmReady IMPORTANT: Do NOT use these characters in your program # $ % ^ & * ( ) + You can use underscores. You may find a popup window in Excel, stating that "the selected file type does not support workbooks that contain multiple sheets." If so, click OK to save the active sheet. You may also see a popup window that your file "may contain features that are not compatible with Text (Tab delimited)." Click Yes to keep this format. Your file is now saved as a text, tab-delimited file (*.txt) in the location you selected. 5

7 STEP 7: SUBMIT YOUR FILE Go to to transmit your file to the Clearinghouse via your FTP account. Be certain to use the specially designed secure FTP account which will be provided to you for this project. IMPORTANT: Do NOT your files. This is not a secure method of transferring data. STEP 8: SEND AN Send an to jilli@studentclearinghouse.org Subject line of NCAN file submitted for [ProgramName] on YYYYMMDD [date of submission] Body of Your 6-digit entity code Name of the person in your organization to contact should there be an issue with this file, their address and telephone number 6