Academic credentials received through Parchment are imported into Slate automatically. The following steps describe how to configure both Slate and Parchment to export documents from Parchment and send to Slate, where the documents match existing records in Slate or, if desired, create new records. 

Your institution must be enrolled in Parchment Receive Premium, since this integration delivers documents with an index file via SFTP, which is a premium feature.

Slate Configurations

Source Format

The Parchment Source Format is able to extract the ZIP archive that Parchment will send and assign the materials within the archive to the appropriate records and material types by using the index file. 

1. Click Database on the Slate navigation bar and select Source Format Library in the Import section.
   

2. Locate the Parchment line (with DIP in the Format column) and click the Add link.

   

3. In the upper-right corner of the page, click the Source Formats link. The Source Formats page appears.

   

4. Locate and select the Parchment line. The Parchment source format page appears.
   

5. Click Edit.
   

6. To prevent the source format from creating new records if a matching record cannot be found, change the Update Only value to "Update only."

   Note: This setting will prevent new records from being created by the import if an existing record does not exist. However, the documents will still be created, and they will be available for manual processing within Batch Acquire.

7. Click Save.

    

The /incoming/parchment/ directory is created the first time the SFTP sweep runs after the Source Format has been added to the database, which generally occurs approximately every 15 minutes. The directory can also be manually created if desired. This directory must exist before Parchment is able to connect, so keep this in mind when moving on to the following steps

User Account

The Parchment user account is a service account that you will use in the Parchment Configuration Steps below to provide Parchment with access to drop off files to your /incoming/parchment/ SFTP directory.

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1. Click Database on the Slate navigation bar and select Slate Template Library in the Configurations section.
   

2. Locate and select the Users heading. Locate the Parchment Service Account line and click the Add link.
   

3. Click Database on the Slate navigation bar and select User Permissions in the Users & Access section. The Active Users page appears.
   

4. Select Service Account, Parchment. The service account summary page appears.
   

5. Click Edit User. The Parchment Service Account popup appears.
   

6. Select the Roles tab.

7. Locate the  SFTP Access area and click the Reset Password link. A popup appears to confirm resetting the password. Enter RESET in the popup and click OK.
   
   

8. Copy the generated password and paste it into a temporary document. This is the server password that you will enter in the Parchment SFTP Account Configuration procedure that follows. After selecting Save, this password will not appear again. However, the Reset Password link allows you to generate a new password if necessary.
   

9. Copy the Command Line line value, starting at parchment=. This is part of the server address that you will enter in the Parchment SFTP Account Configuration procedure.
   

10. Click Save to save the generated password.

Caution: Do not change any other settings for the user account. These settings are required for Parchment to successfully connect to Slate.

Parchment Configurations

Perform the following steps in Parchment to turn on the integration with Slate.

Note: The Slate configuration procedure (above) must be completed prior to the Parchment configuration procedure.

SFTP Account Configuration

1. Sign in to Parchment and select Settings > Inbox > SFTP Locations > Add.

2. Fill in the fields as follows:

   • Name (mandatory): Give this SFTP location a name, such as Slate SFTP.

   • Description (optional): Describe the SFTP location.

   • Server Address (mandatory): Enter the server address that you copied from Slate in the Parchment User Account configuration step, and append /incoming/parchment (for example, "[email protected]/incoming/parchment").

   • Server Password (mandatory): Enter the server password that you copied from Slate in the Parchment User Account configuration step (for example, b5d5132d9906494aaf71c449a7c992c2)
     

3. Click Test.

   • If you get a successful notification on the screen, click Create.

   • If you do not get a successful notification, then something is not configured correctly. Make sure that your server URL is correct and that you have added /incoming/parchment to the end of the Server Address value. 

Destination Configuration

All documents delivered using SFTP must be routed through a Parchment destination.  In this final step, create and configure the destination that will connect to your Slate SFTP.

Note: The following steps will deliver all documents to Slate. If there are any documents (such as school profiles) that you do not want delivered to Slate, you can set up a filter to prevent them from being sent.

1. In your Parchment account, select Settings > Inbox.

2. Select Add next to Destinations.
   

3. Enter Name (mandatory) and Description (optional).

4. Select SFTP under Delivery Method.

5. From the list under SFTP Server, select the SFTP destination you set up in the Parchment SFTP Configuration step above.
   Note: In the example, Slate SFTP is selected because that is the name we gave this SFTP location in the previous procedure.

6. Select Auto Routing.

   • By default, this automatically routes all documents that come into the Parchment Receive Inbox to the Slate SFTP location you configured, and then Slate imports them.

   • If you would like to route specific documents only, such as only transcripts, select Create New Filter and choose which documents you would like delivered.

7. Select Zip under Package format.

8. From the list under Format, select Image.

9. Select Create. 

Final Slate Configuration

Once you have received at least one file from Parchment, you will be able to confirm and customize the remap settings and activate the import for automatic processing.

Remap Settings

The remap settings of the Source Format tells Slate how to process the data for the uploaded files. As with other standard Source Formats, standard fields have been pre-mapped, but you are able to make adjustments to these standard mappings.

1. Select Database on the top navigation bar and select Source Formats.

2. Select the Parchment Source Format.

3. Click the Remap button.

4. Confirm and customize any destination field settings as desired, with the following exceptions.

   Do not change these mappings:

   • The Material Filename destination is what allows Slate to determine which document in the zip file is related to the particular row in the index file, so this destination should not be changed.

   • The Material Code destination is what tells Slate which material type the document should be assigned to.
     

   • Do not map these items:

     • SSN: This field contains only the last four digits of the social security number. It is recommended to use this data to help determine potential duplicate records.

     • Common App ID: This field contains an unverified, hand-entered Common App ID. Just as with the SSN field above, it is recommended that you do not map this field, but rather utilize this data to help determine potential duplicate records.

5. Go to the Value Mappings page and provide the value mappings for any unmapped values, including those for the Material Code destination.
    

EAB/Royall Application Partner Process

If your institution has configured EAB/Royall as its application partner and will receive the application PDF and completion documents via Parchment Receive instead of the Royall App Materials process, Parchment will send the Royall ID in the Application # column of the index file.  This column must be mapped to your institution's application-scoped Royall ID field to allow the documents from EAB/Royall to match onto the appropriate application record in Slate.

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1. Select Database on the top navigation bar and select Source Formats.

2. Select the Parchment Source Format.

3. Click the Remap button.

4. Map the Application # to the application-scoped Royall ID field.
   Note: This should be the same destination field that is mapped for the Royall ID source field in the Royall App Responder source format.

   Note: If you do not see the message, "This field is configured as unique and will be used for automatic merging," then this field is not configured as unique for merging in the Fields tool.  Perform the steps in the Royall ID Unique Field section below to enable matching using this unique field value.

   

5. Navigate to the Prompt Value Mappings page.

6. Map the Application document type to the Slate material that should store the application PDF from EAB/Royall. 

EAB/Royall Application Partner Process - Royall ID Unique Field

If your application-scoped Royall ID field is not configured as unique for merging, perform the steps below to enable this feature.

1. Select Database on the top navigation bar and select Fields.

2. Select your application-scoped Royall ID field.

3. Click the Unlock link on the bottom right corner to enable changes to the settings.

4. Click OK when prompted to confirm.
   

5. Update the Unique for Merging setting to Value contains a unique ID which identifies a single record for merging.

6. Click Update to save the change.
    

Remap Activation

Once finished customizing the Remap settings, turn on the import using the following steps:

1. Select Database on the top navigation bar and select Source Formats.

2. Select the Parchment Source Format.

3. Set the Remap Active flag to Active.

4. Select Save.
    

Frequently Asked Questions

I am not getting a 'successful connection' when adding my SFTP credentials to Parchment.

Confirm that the server address that you are entering is correct. The URL scheme is username@host/path.
For example, parchment=slate-demo.technolutions.net@ft.technolutions.net/incoming/parchment.

How often are documents delivered?

Parchment delivers the zip files to Slate hourly, and Slate sweeps the SFTP directory for new files approximately every 15 minutes. The maximum number of documents in each zip file is 1,000. If you have 1,500 documents in the Destination, then two zip files will be delivered at around the same time to your Slate SFTP, each with a unique file name.

Will documents that I previously received through Parchment be delivered to Slate?

No. Only new documents coming in will go to the new Destination (and then into Slate). However, if you would like to send documents previously received to Slate in this way, you can do this. Go to your Parchment Library, search for the documents you would like to send to Slate, and drag them to the new Destination you set up.

Why are we seeing documents go to Batch Acquire?

Documents will be sent to Batch Acquire for the following reasons:

• The Parchment Source Format is configured to not create new records (via the Update Only setting), and an existing matching record could not be found in Slate.

• Not enough data was included in the index file to match onto an existing record or create a new record.

• The document's filename was not included in the index file.

• The index file did not contain a document type or the document type sent in the index file was not mapped to a material type in Slate.

• The document type was mapped to a school-scoped Slate material, but the index file did not include a school.

Why are duplicate person records being created in Slate?

Sometimes a school may send more than one document for a student, such as a transcript and a letter of recommendation. If the school sends these documents at the same time, they are likely to be delivered in the same zip file, which means the same student will be listed in two rows in the index file. If the Source Format is configured to allow record creation, it is not configured to dedupe records within the source, and that student does not yet exist as a record in Slate, then two records will be created for that record. The duplicate records can be merged via Consolidate Records in Slate.

I forgot to map a document type, and now a bunch of documents are in Batch Acquire. Is there a way to assign these documents in batch? 

Yes! After you map the document type that was not mapped before, you can run a Retroactive Refresh. Any material in Batch Acquire from the selected sources will be eligible for the refresh. If the Slate material type that you selected is school-scoped, you will need to select the school destinations for the refresh in addition to the Material Filename and Material Code destinations. Otherwise, only the material destinations need to be selected.

Support Resources

For assistance and support on any of the steps in Parchment, log in to Receive and select Support. You can then contact Parchment via a web form or get the administrator phone number to speak to someone directly.