A Microsoft Word version of this letter is available for download and PRINTING.

July 9, 2008

TO THE ADMINISTRATOR ADDRESSED:

SUBJECT: Texas Records Exchange System (TREx)

The Texas Records Exchange (TREx) system is a web-based application designed for the exchange of electronic student records as mandated by TEC Chapter 7, Section 7.010.  The system allows school registrars  to (1) electronically request and receive student records for transferring students, and (2) electronically create and send official student transcripts to all colleges, universities, and community colleges on the University of Texas (UT) SPEEDE network.

While TREx has been available to Texas public schools since September 2007, the date for required participation in TREx by all public schools and charter schools coincided with the release of TREx version 3.0 on May 19, 2008.

At this point all Texas public schools and charter schools should be using TREx for the following functions:

• Requesting student records from the last school attended for students who are transferring from one district to another.
• Receiving and replying to requests for student records from other schools.
• Sending student records and high school transcripts to requesting schools for students who are transferring.
• Sending high school transcripts to colleges, universities, and community colleges upon request by the student or their parent, in keeping with the districts local policy. (See the section below on Sending Transcripts to Colleges and Universities for testing procedures, and a list of institutions that are currently ready to receive TREx transcripts as official documents.)

Sending Transcripts to Colleges and Universities

The Texas SPEEDE Users Group has asked that each high school partner with a college or university to test their transcript output before starting to send transcripts officially. Please note that if a school district can test transcripts that are representative of all of the high schools in their district, the district may perform this function instead.

Colleges have been asked to use the following checklist during testing:

• Compare the printed transcript to the corresponding electronic transcript- they should be equivalent.
• All courses and grades are present, complete with tags (such as Honors or AP).
• Middle school math and language which count for college credit are present.
• Diploma track is carried.
• Graduation is accurately carried - if it has taken place.
• Rank/size/decile information is present.
• TAKS information is included.

The Texas SPEEDE website http://registrar.utexas.edu/speede/trex/index.html contains a list of colleges and universities that are available to test with, as well as a list of colleges and universities who have completed their own testing and are ready to receive transcripts through TREx.

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has asked all Texas public colleges and universities to be ready to receive TREx transcripts by August 1, 2008. 

As high schools complete the testing of their transcripts in partnership with one of the colleges or universities on the list, the college will add the high school’s name to the list of schools that have completed their testing on the SPEEDE web site. At that point all colleges and universities that are on the list to receive TREx transcripts will accept the high school’s transcripts electronically.

TEA is asking that all school districts partner with a college or university and complete their transcript testing by September  1, 2008.

Prior to sending a transcript to a college or university, please verify that the school is on the list of colleges that are ready to receive transcripts through TREx at http://registrar.utexas.edu/speede/trex/ustatus.html .

If you have any questions regarding this letter, please contact Sharon Lewellyn, Acting Director, Enterprise Data Management at (512) 463-9795.

Sincerely,

John Cox
Deputy Associate Commissioner / Chief Information Officer
Information Systems, Agency Infrastructure and Enterprise Data Management 
Texas Education Agency