Provision of Enhanced Transcripts

Tender description

As part of an Institution-wide undergraduate Curriculum Review, the University has committed to provide an enhanced transcript, with greater detail about students’ extracurricular activity (e.g. volunteering, Personal Skills Award and sporting achievement). An enhanced transcript is a comprehensive record of student achievement (physical or electronic), recognising the full range of opportunities provided by a Higher Education Institution, bringing information together. Through a project to develop an enhanced transcript, a working group has investigated the way in which extracurricular activities are currently verified at the University of Birmingham, and has decided that the procurement of a system to produce transcripts, and certificates, via a centrally managed system of data manipulation and documentation would help to achieve several aims of the broader project. The University is looking to appoint a suitable contractor for the provision of system for the issuing of printed or electronic documents to students and graduates in a single, secure and efficient process. This will include software facilitating communication between the University and its students/graduates, as well as third parties such as employers and other Higher Education Institutions. The system should be customised to the University and allow customisation by the University with no impact via upgrades to the application, allowing self-service viewing and sharing of electronic documents (including status documents which will include enhanced information on student activities, e.g. HEAR-type data) and ordering of physical certificates and transcripts. The system should be tightly linked to the University’s own records infrastructure, maintaining current data protection standards and updating procedures. The system should enforce secure printing and publication of physical documents (certificates and transcripts), via customisable templates (electronic and physical). Transcripts and certificates are usually distributed at University graduation ceremonies. The successful product will allow the University to collate various associated physical documents to be distributed at these ceremonies. Graduates must also be able to share their documents with third parties, carrying the branding and identification of the University of Birmingham. The system will need to be compatible with the University’s student records system.