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© Oregon University System, 2009
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SCARF is a bulk data Extraction Transfer and Load (ETL) system for OUS Institutional Research. SCARF is an important source of information for the OUS Institutional Research Information System (IRIS).
The SCARF Data Dictionary (SDD) defines the layout, content and process for the transfer of data between the seven institutions and OUS-IR. The current SCARF Data Dictionary is the document that is in effect for current submissions. Also included below are previous versions of the Data Dictionary for reference.
Upcoming SCARF Certification Deadlines |
||
|---|---|---|
When |
Type |
What |
| June 23, 2009 | EOT | Spring End of Term 2008-09 |
| August 31, 2009 | EOY | Degree Primary 2008-09 |
| September 30, 2009 | EOT | Summer End of Term 2009-10 |
| October 30 , 2009 | WK4 | Fall Fourth Week 2009-10 |
| December 4, 2009 | FAEOY | Financial Aid EOY 2008-09 |
| December 22, 2009 | EOT | Fall End of Term 2009-10 |
| January 14, 2010 | EOY | Degree Supplemental 2006-09 |
| March 30, 2010 | EOT | Winter End of Term 2009-10 |
| June 22, 2010 | EOT | Spring End of Term 2009-10 |
New Race/Ethnicity Section Added (May 5, 2009): In summer 2009 we will introduce a new SCARF table, RACE_ETHNICITY, to collect Hispanic/Latino ethnicity and multiple races in a single table. Optional for the 2009-10 academic year. Please see the dictionary for details on when the section will be required.
2008 SIS Coordinator's Meeting (April 23, 2008): We had a very productive SIS Coordinator's Meeeting (click here for minutes) where we discussed and fleshed out several changes to the SCARF submission. The financial aid section saw some significant revision, and a new section, MAJOR_VALIDATION, was added to collect more detail on the available majors at OUS institutions. The revised SCARF Data Dictionary is now online with all changes listed in Appendix A. A listing of the changes is available here. To be added to the scarf-l list to receive notifications of changes and important issues, please send an email to jonathan_jacobs@ous.edu.
2006 SDD Financial Aid Update (November 27, 2006): We have suspected for some time that the financial aid records in our database are seriously inaccurate; last month, we met with the system's financial aid directors, who confirmed our suspicions. At that meeting, it was agreed that our best course is to request a resubmission of financial aid records going back to the 2000-01 academic year. Initially, we're asking for a resubmission of 2005-06 records (plus summer 2006); once we see how that goes, we'll work out a schedule for collecting earlier years' records. The SDD has been updated with the New Financial aid codes as well as other minor and institution specific changes. Please reference the appendix for a list of the changes.
2006 SDD Released (August 8, 2006): The version of the SDD for the 2006-2007 academic year is now available. There are only a few minor changes and code additions. These should all be found in the appendix at the end of the SDD. There were also a few changes in the heading and submission dates. This SDD will be use starting summer end-of-term submission. If you have any questions please contact us.
Are you a member of the SCARF-L mailing list? Most of our notices and communication are sent to the scarf-l mailing list. You can request to be added to this list at: https://lists.ous.edu/mailman/listinfo/scarf-l
SCARF Changes: The spring 2006 SCARF Coordinators meeting is now over. Enhancements were recommended, and will be published in the updated SCARF Data Dictionary. We hope to have the document finalized by early summer. A new appendix has been added that lists the items that have changed, the date they were changed, and a general description of why the change was made. The appendix should allow you to zero in on the items that need to be modified for the next submission.
Did you know? Files can be submitted for validation early, even as early as the second week of the term. IR will perform the ETL process and return the standard report. This gives time to deal with problems or Data Quality (DQ) issues. Also early testing gives time to get the work done outside the 4th week or EOT crunch.
Online Validation tables: The SCARF system validates the incoming data against meta-data (MD) tables. To help distribute the list of valid data we want to create a system to access the current meta-data.
XML Data file format: The current flat file is a pain to work with. Every time an item is change coding needs to be identified, updated, and verified at both ends of the ETL process. If we moved to XML the system would be more flexible, dynamic, and possibly have more uses. Anyone want to test this with us? (e-mail Arron)
New Report format: The SCARF audit identified a system to formally validate and approval the submission by the institution was necessary. To facilitate this the old kluged reports that were sent back to the institutions will not work. We will try to design an new XML format for the data returned in the report with a web application that institutions will be able to log into to view and approve the submission. If anyone would like to have input or ideas or would like to test this just e-mail Arron.