Auburn Adds Monthly Revenue Stream of $30,000 with Automated Transcript Processing

Auburn University, established in 1856, serves more than 31,000 students. A participant in the National Student Clearinghouse since 1996, Auburn trusts Transcript Ordering℠ to improve the way that they serve their student and alumni transcript needs. With their automated transcript system, their registrar office has realized several cost- and time-saving benefits that greatly strengthen their capabilities to help Auburn students graduate and succeed.

$30,000 Extra Funds Each Month

In the first year of using their automated transcript system, Auburn realized more than $30,000 in additional monthly revenue. In addition to enhancing service to students, Auburn has also created a steady income stream for their university and other programs.

Not only that, the paperless consent option in Transcript Ordering has helped save major costs in printing, reduced fax maintenance, and cut the general staff time it used to take to manage student consent, It also empowered Auburn students to become more accountable for speeding up request completions.

Fewer Student Walk-Ups & Inquiries

It wasn’t long before Auburn started receiving positive feedback from its students. In particular, students and alumni appreciate the confirmation emails received as soon as they send an order and every time the status changes.

The university found Transcript Ordering greatly reduced the number of transcript-related student walk-ups. Now they only get five or six student visits per day versus the 25+ walk-ins they previously received. To help promote the convenience of Transcript Ordering, Auburn even installed a computer kiosk for students who walk in for transcript assistance.

Utmost Efficiency with Stress-Free Staff Tools

Typically, Auburn receives 300 or more transcript orders in a single day. To meet the rising demand, Auburn places great stock in the easy administrative tools for their staff. Transcript Ordering reports are automatically generated, and they strengthen the university’s capabilities in transcript order accuracy and efficiency, requiring very little hands-on work for the staff. Since Auburn charges a processing fee to the student, the Reconciliation Detail reports enable them to separate out the fees for budgeting purposes. Plus, their office knows exactly how much money needs to be allocated to FedEx and USPS shipments every month.

Auburn relies on the Request and Progress reports to ensure that every order moves through the system and is not just sitting in the queue. In the past, it was common for orders to get lost in the process, without the staff knowing when or if they were delivered. Now Auburn registrar staff can track an order, find out its progress, and handle cancellations, which makes it easy for them to quickly answer students on the spot. Additionally, the “Track Your Order” functionality for students enables Auburn to efficiently offload a significant level of their inquiries.

SIS Integration Virtually Eliminates Manual Work

An automated system fully integrated with their Banner Student Information System (SIS), Auburn’s Transcript Ordering service has been very easy for their staff to learn and use every day. Like clockwork, their system downloads the file from the Clearinghouse and then runs it through their Banner SIS to match the appropriate student records. Next, it automatically prints batch files, downloading the reports to check for any orders that may require a manual review.

Transcript Ordering requires minimal manual work from Auburn’s registrar staff — in fact, the most time-consuming part of the process is folding and stuffing the transcripts into envelopes for delivery. If a request for an older record comes in (and is not in their Banner system), they rely on the Clearinghouse database to provide Auburn with the SSN or maiden name needed for confirmation.

According to Jeff Amey, Associate Registrar at Auburn University, “At Auburn University, we are very happy with our transcript services through the National Student Clearinghouse. The ability to have our ordering, processing, and billing services in one place has greatly increased our ability to serve our students and alumni. This has also been a great asset as we have progressed through COVID and staff changes.”

“During the COVID restrictions, Auburn was able to continue processing transcripts orders without interruption. We have been able to pull in new staff members and have them running the processes with little training due to the simplicity of the Clearinghouse services. We also hear from students that they appreciate the opportunity to order transcripts 24/7, since office hours do not work for all students.”