Transcript Builder

1. Select + Build a new transcript.

2. Type in a Transcript name to identify your transcript.

3. Select a Layout to determine the orientation of your transcript. There are two options:

   • Portrait

   • Landscape

4. Select a Paper size to determine the dimensions of your transcript. There are two options:

   • Letter (8.5in x 11in)

   • Legal (8.5in x 14in)

5. Set the Margin (in inches) for the Top, Bottom, Left, and Right margins. Margins can be set from .1 to 1.5 inches either by entering a number or by using the up and down arrows to adjust the value by increments of .05.

6. Select a School. The grade levels associated within a school level will appear below; select Specific grade levels to include on the transcript. Hit Select when you have made your selections.

   If you have more than 6 classifications to choose from, you will have to use the left and right arrows to see all of them.

7. Select Years to include in transcript for each student:

   • Only those years for selected grade levels

   • Any year with a course from the selected school level

8. Select Only print through the end of the current year if you would like to only include information up through the current year.

   If you would like transcripts to show courses for future school years, leave this option unchecked.

9. Select a Detail area format to determine how many columns or quadrants your transcript should have.

10. Set a Display order that will determine the order this transcript appears in lists of transcripts. Smaller numbers will appear higher on the list.

11. Select Next to advance to the Design form.

The Design form holds rows that contain sections of data. Sections can have widths determined either by percentage, inches, or proportion to other sections in a row. Width determines how many sections can reside by one another, and thus can help emphasize certain sections over others.

For example, a row dedicated as the transcript’s header can contain the student header, school header, and school logo sections. Each section would need to have a maximum width of about 33% in order to fit in the row. Some elements can be longer than others if desired.

When you have filled a row, expand Page elements and drag a new Row into the transcript template to add additional data sections. You can also use the Horizontal space widget to create space between different sections on your transcripts.

Dragged sections, when dropped, will produce a prompt where you can customize the specifics of the dropped element, such as column width.

Hover over placed elements to reveal four possible actions:

• Drag ( ): Select and hold the drag icon () and then drag the element to a new position in a row.

• Edit section: Modify the dimensions and other details of the hovered element.

• Add column: Add another related element into the hovered element.

• Delete ( ): Delete the element and the elements contained within it. Be careful as this action is irreversible.

  Add a Header (Student and School Information, and Logo)

  The header appears at the top of the transcript and contains the student information, school information, and logo.

  To create a header that repeats on every page of a transcript, select Repeat first row on all pages.

  • Student header:

    The student header communicates who the transcript is addressed to and key information about that student.
    
    There are two parts to the student header:

    • By default, the transcript template will start with part of the student header. That part communicates the student name, preferred address, date of birth, date entered (labeled "Enroll date"), and graduation date. Hover over it and select Edit section to find options for the format.

      These default fields can be deleted as needed when editing the section. The only field that cannot be removed is student name.
      

    • Drag the student header onto the page to add additional student information.

      • Under edit section, you can:

        • Add one or more columns to express more data or group it accordingly. Columns appear beside one another in the row. If a column appears outside the section, then expand the section width.

        • Determine if you include labels for fields to help students and parents identify what data is being communicated.

        • Select student data fields from the drop-downs. These fields populate with data from the student profile. Some fields can have varying formats to display the text differently.

      Only users with special access will be able to see a student's Social Security Number when previewing or printing report cards and transcripts, regardless of which formatting options you select.
      

  • School header:
    The school header communicates school address information. Under edit section, add the School Name and address fields, formatting the address field as necessary with line breaks.

    • By default, the transcript template will start with part of the school header. That part communicates the school name, main address and phone number. These fields will populate with the information provided under School Information in Core.
      

  • School logo:
    The logo field lets you place an image on your transcript. Underedit section, select Browse the image gallery to select from existing logos and seals . Select actual size to use the dimensions of the image in the column. Alternatively, select scale to fit to cause the image to stretch to fill the section width.

    • By default, the transcript template will start with your school's selected default logo.

  • Student Photo:

  • The student photo allows you to add student user profile photos to the transcript. Under edit section, you can set the section width as well as set the student photo size.

By default, the transcript template will start with columns or quadrants in the details area based on the selected detail area format. Under Edit section, you can edit:

• Header

• Section width

• Format school year

• Sort school years

You can display class rankings for a student beside the school year. Open the Format school year dropdown menu and choose a format that includes <Rank>. In the menu options that appear below, select the Rank calculation you would like to use and create a Rank label.

Please note that ranks will only display on transcripts if your school has set up rank calculations. For more information, see Create Grade Calculations & Rank.

You can also display a student's cumulative GPA as of the end of each academic year. To do this, open the Format school year dropdown menu and choose a format that includes at least one <GPA>. Select a grade average calculation that is set up to include the Cumulative GPA type, then set either GPA 1 type or GPA 2 type to Cumulative.

For more information about setting up cumulative GPAs for transcripts, see Cumulative GPAs for Transcripts.

Once your detail area is set up, you can add detail content to the area.

Any content added to the Detail area will multiply based on the number of columns or quadrants selected. If something is added to one column or quadrant, it will be added to all columns or quadrants.

The primary section under Details is the Courses/Groups grid, which displays selected year-specific grades and comments.

• Courses/Groups grid:

  By default, all grades that have been marked as Include on Transcript builder in School year setup will be added to the template.

  To remove an individual grade, hover over the grade and select the X.
  

  Under edit section for one of the columns or quadrants, follow this procedure:

1. Select Suppress section if blank to hide this section if students do not have any information for the section.

2. Enter a section header. This is the header to communicate what grades are illustrated below.

3. Format either:

   • All on one page:
     Each grade will appear vertically in the leftmost side of the grid. The corresponding grade for selected terms will appear
     

   • Separate page for each course

     Each course appears on it's own page on the transcript. Rows added before or after the Course/Groups grid will still appear before the grid begins or on the last page that contains room for the information to display.

4. If content doesn't fit:

   • Only page break between different elements of course (grades, comments, skills)

   • Page break whenever necessary

     May cause page breaks in the middle of a line.

5. Select Group types to include on your transcript. These selections will filter down into the terms in which grades for the selected group types are available. Use Select terms to select terms to include.

6. Select Courses to include:

   • Suppress courses without grades, comments, or ratings.

   • Include all courses regardless of grades, comments, or ratings.

     Mark the available box to Include dropped courses.

7. Select to include internal courses, transfer courses, or a mixture of both.

8. Use Display courses in the following order to set a sort order for courses.

9. Include assessment ratings for each course:

   • Enter a section header to convey that the section communicates assessment ratings.

   • Show ratings by: This allows you to sort assessment ratings in one of the following formats based on Grade value (ex. Exemplary) and Abbreviation (ex. E): Abbreviation, Grade value, Abbreviation (Grade value), (Abbreviation) Grade value, Grade value (Abbreviation), or (Grade value) Abbreviation.

   • Label assessment skill comments with grade plan label. Otherwise, you can specify a custom name to describe the comment below.

   • Mark Only include skills with ratings to exclude skills with no ratings.

10. Include comments below each course:

    • Enter a section header to convey that the section communicates comments (ex. Comments).

    • Label comments with grade plan grade label uses the label associated with the Grade Plan Grade containing the Comments. Otherwise, you can specify a custom name to describe the comment below.

11. Select Save

1. Hover over the top of one of the columns or quadrants for the Courses/Groups grid and select Add column

2. Select the Grade column. That data will appear in the Course/Groups grid.

3. In Grade plan grade, select the grade plan grade that contains the term grade that you wish to convey on the transcript. For more information about Grade Plan Grades, click here.

   if you select a grade plan grade that is attached to multiple grade plans, you will need to select the grade plan you wish to pull the grade from.

4. If Assessment grading is selected, select the Assessment grading period that contains the skill-based evaluation you wish to communicate.

5. Determine the format. Use the example to the right of the drop-down to visualize what each option looks like in the column.

6. Type in a column header. For example, if the Quarter 1 or Trimester 1 Grade plan grade is selected, you might type Q1 or Tri 1, respectively.

7. The column width can be used to enforce uniformity or emphasize uniqueness. Disburse evenly with other designated columns causes the column to be proportionate to other columns with the same setting in the grid. If this column should be longer or shorter than others, then specify the width in percentage or inches.

8. Include incomplete grades will display an I on the transcript if a teacher toggles Incomplete when recording a Grade plan grade.

9. Suppress if blank will hide the column if the student does not have a grade recorded for that column. For example, some classes may need a column for a term paper grade, it will only display for students that have a grade recorded for their term paper.

10. Select a decimal precision option from the drop-down. Opt for 0 for a whole number.

11. Select Save.

12. Optional: Select Copy column to create another column. Use different variables to illustrate different data, and repeat steps 1-10.

GPAs:

Grade point averages (GPAs) can be communicated to parents and students for a specific term or across multiple terms. This includes the term GPA, cumulative GPA, and the year-to-date GPA.

To get started with GPAs, drag the GPA selector from the leftmost pane into an open row.

1. Determine the section width

2. Add a section header (ex. Grade point averages)

3. Select a GPA formula to use from the drop-down

4. Select what type of GPA is being communicated

5. Add a label to best communicate what type of GPA is being shown (ex. YTD).

6. Optional: Select Add a calculation to add another GPA.

7. Select suppress blank GPAs to hide blank GPAs.

8. Select Save.

To learn more about GPAs, Create Grade Calculations & Rank.

Academic Performance:

Academic Performance allows schools to calculate honor roll for their students. To learn more about setting up Academic Performance, see here.

To get started, drag the Academic Performance selector from the left pane into an open row.

1. Determine the section width.

2. Add a Section header.

3. Use Select calculations to choose which calculations to include on the transcript.

   To remove a calculation, select the X.

4. Select Suppress blank calculations to hide blank Academic Performance.

5. Select Save.

• Text Area:
  
  Text areas are designed to illustrate non-data driven communications to parents and students. Examples of text areas could be a message communicating school policies, the means to contact the administrative office, or a grading scale.
  
  
  
  To get started, drag the text area selector from the leftmost pane into an open row.

  1. Determine the section width.

  2. Enter your desired text, using the include formatting options to style it as desired.

  3. Optional: Under Insert, selectDate/Time to enter the date or time when you inserted the text.

  4. Optional: Under Placeholder, select Current date to enter a placeholder that will populate with the current date at the time you generate transcripts from this template.

     The placeholder field will enter the date in your school’s time zone when printing or generating transcripts. It will follow the short date pattern set in Core under Settings, General settings, and Site Demographics. The date is formatted according to the School Culture setting. Contact Blackbaud to edit this setting if needed.

  5. Optional: The link can be used to direct students and parents to external resources when viewing the transcript from a student profile or downloaded PDF. Ensure the URL you add has a preceding http://. Use this to connect students and faculty to school websites or relevant state government pages.

  6. Select Save.

• Student Notes:

  The student notes section allows schools to include specific official note types on the transcript. To learn more about official note types, view Official Note Types.

  To get started, drag the student notes selector from the left pane into an open row.

  1. Determine the section width.

  2. Select the official note fields to display.

  3. Select the official note types to include.

  4. Select Save.

• Legend:

  The legend section allows schools to show information about the grade translation(s) on the transcript.

  To get started, drag the legend selector from the left pane into an open row.

  1. Determine the section width.

  2. Select the grade translations to include.

  3. Select to display abbreviation, grade label, range, numeric equivalent, GPA equivalent 1, or GPA equivalent 2 for each grade translation.

  4. Select Save.

• Awards:

  The awards section allows schools to include school created Awards on the transcript.

  To get started, drag the award selector from the left pane into an open row.

  1. Determine the section width.

  2. Select the awards calculations to include.

     Once an Award is added, you can remove it by selecting the x.

  3. Select Save.

• Test scores:

  The test scores section allows schools to include school created test scores on the transcript.

  To get started, drag the test scores selector from the left pane into an open row.

  1. Determine the section width.

  2. Select the test scores to include.

     Once a Test score is added, you can remove it by selecting the x.

  3. Select Save.

• Cumulative credits:

  Cumulative credits allows schools to include a breakdown of credits attempted and/or awarded by grade level.

  To get started, drag the cumulative credits selector from the left pane into an open row.

  1. Determine the section width.

  2. Select Group types to include.

  3. Select Save.

  4. Select Add column and select either total attempted or total awarded to add new columns

  5. Select Save when finished.

The style form allows you to customize the font style and formatting of each section in the transcript.

Simply select an area in the transcript view, and modify the font style in the pane on the left. Select each area, modifying the font as needed, until the transcript is formatted as desired.

By default, each page of a transcript will display the print date on the left side of the footer and the page number on the right side of the footer. To disable this feature or to change sides, scroll down to the Footer style menu.

To add a signature line to the end of the transcript, go to the Footer style menu and select Include signature line (this setting is turned off by default). Under Signer details, enter the text that you would like to appear below the line. A preview of the formatting will appear as you type.

Optionally, if you would like to include an image of a signature above the signature line (for example, the signature of your head of school), select Browse the image gallery. This opens the logo image gallery. For more information about uploading and adding signatures, see the help topic Add a Signature to Report Cards and Transcripts.

The signature line will appear at the bottom right of the final page of each student's transcript. If you choose to display either the print date or page number on the right side of the footer, then the signature line will appear to the left of that information.

"Inherited" means that the element section is using the same font under Overall style. Consider keeping the font face unedited to enforce uniformity.

Transcript templates can be copied to streamline and expedite the creation of additional transcripts. Copied transcripts will share the exact characteristics from the template, but can be altered to draw in data from different Grade Plan Grades, for example. This allows the templates to share the same visual appearance, promoting consistency, but communicating different data to different audiences.

1. Select the context menu beside a completed transcript template

2. Select Copy Template

3. Follow the steps found in the Create a transcript section of this document.

Once you have created a transcript template, you can generate a transcript from a student's profile in Academics. Follow these steps to generate transcripts for students in bulk:

1. From the persona menu, select Academics.

2. Select Grades, then Transcripts setup.

3. Select the context menu beside a completed template, then Print transcripts.

4. Select the academic year or session for which you would like to generate transcripts.

5. Select which Students to include:

   • All students: Generate transcripts for all students enrolled in the selected academic year or session.

   • Selected students based on: Generate transcripts only for students associated with a selected List, Grade level, or Advisor.

6. Optional: If your school is using Holds, select whether you would like to Include on hold students.

7. Optional: Select whether to Include withdrawn students.

8. Under Display students in the following order, select how you would like to sort the transcripts when they are generated.

9. Select Print. This process may take some time.

10. The transcripts will open in your browser or file reader as a PDF. Save or print them from there.

Current school year access determines what grades specific roles can see on this year's transcript and when these roles can start seeing these grades.

1. Select the context menu for the template.

2. Select Edit current school year's access.

3. Expand each grade column to add date/time access for parent, student and employee roles.

4. Select Save when finished.

Next school year access determines what grades specific roles can see on next year's transcript and when these roles can start seeing these grades.

1. Select the context menu for the template.

2. Select Edit next school year's access.

3. Expand each grade column to add date/time access for parent, student and employee roles.

4. Select Save when finished.

Edit access allows you to edit transcript access for any year instead of just specifically for this year or next year. You can only add access by year. Access can be added to multiple templates at the same time. to learn how, see Add access for multiple templates.

1. Select the context menu for the template

2. Select Edit Access.

3. Select the context menu for the year.

4. Select Edit access year.

5. Expand each grade column to add date/time access for parent student and employee roles.

6. Select Save when finished.

Once a template has been deleted, it cannot be recovered.

1. Select the context menu for the template.

2. Select Delete Template.