Online Transcript Ordering Increases Security, Convenience

Transcripts required for employment, post-graduate study or any other reason will arrive faster and more securely via an online ordering system launched last month.

Oswego Registrar Jerret LeMay expects the alternative to mail and faxes to process a majority of the 20,000-plus requests for transcripts that alumni make each year.

The online ordering option includes convenient features such as status tracking via Web, e-mail and text as well as integration with FedEx delivery. The major upgrade, though, is to security of very personal information, LeMay said.

For example, the previously popular method of faxing orders to the Registrar's Office accepted numerous pages containing unprotected credit card and social security numbers.

"I considered this a huge security risk," said LeMay, who joined Oswego in February.

The online system is secure and Federal Educational Records Privacy Act compliant. Former students' MyOswego accounts or authenticated credit card information count as digital signatures, making the process relatively simple.

With the introduction of online services, faxing has been nixed entirely. Transcript-seekers can still visit the office in person or send along their requests in the mail, though.

After just a few weeks, roughly 75 percent of orders are being placed online, LeMay estimates.

There is a SUNY fee of $5 for transcripts. The online option costs $2 more.

— Shane M. Liebler



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