Parchment Sole Source Letter_Redacted.pdf

877.576.5364

6330 SOUTH 3000 EAST, SUITE 700

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH 84121

INSTRUCTURE.COM

Florida School for the Deaf & Blind Shelley Ardis

The following letter details our basis for sole source consideration. Instructure, with the Parchment Award product suite, is the only company that is 100% focused on the exchange of secondary and post-secondary credentials and is the only company to provide a comprehensive solution for the sending and receiving of digital transcripts. Our focus is evident by some of its accomplishments:

● Only vendor awarded a U.S. Patent (U.S. Patent No. 8,051,289 B2) for developing the cPDF

● Only vendor to offer a full exchange service to enable the sending and receiving of credentials in any format.

Parchment Award is Unique When it comes to electronic credentials, Parchment Award offers more than just delivery—we provide exclusive infrastructure. The following features represent our 'only-at-Parchment' innovations, designed to solve challenges that standard vendors can’t touch:

● Multi-credential platform: Parchment Award enables school administrators to issue transcripts, diplomas, certificates, and digital badges securely to their students. This single platform allows for the ordering, issuing, and delivery of all credential types, either print or digital. The platform also includes the ability for students to claim and share digital diplomas through verified links with employers and on social media.

● Transcript issuance and delivery: support for any format to any destination

● Comprehensive current student and alumni support: provides the ability to process transactions to both alumni and current students at both the district and school levels, with routing automation based on customized rules.

● Third party ordering: Enables each institution to implement a separate storefront/pricing for third parties like background check firms, employers, etc. to order credentials on behalf of your learners in a FERPA compliant manner.

● Transcript receiving inbox: support for any format from any exchange

● Security and privacy: multi-level strategy resulting in the only company to have a SOC II

Data Center Audit and certified secure PDF technology (Patent awarded)

● Analytics: cross-platform data available directly within the user interface

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Unrivaled Capabilities Parchment delivers a closed-loop ecosystem with capabilities you simply won’t find anywhere else. These proprietary features are unique to our network, providing a level of security and seamless integration that other vendors cannot replicate:

Credential Delivery in ANY Format: Parchment is the only vendor with the capabilities to deliver transcripts as PDF or TIFF images, along with XML or EDI data, and Paper formats. Additionally, Parchment is the only vendor serving the post-secondary community with the PESC (PK20 Electronic Standards Council) Seal of Approval, recognizing the ability to deliver transcripts in

XML.

● Aligns with PESC Standards: PESC enables cost-effective connectivity between data systems to simplify data access and research, and to improve data quality along the education lifecycle. Parchment is the largest facilitator of data interoperability using PESC standards, including being the first pilot of EdExchange, the only transcript provider to adopt the GEO Code global institutional identifier, and delivery of the most transcripts in PESC XML data formats.

● Academic, Experiential, Co-Curricular, and Clickable Transcript types: Parchment is the only vendor to have significant experience working with all types of transcripts.

● Exclusive API integration with over 90 different K12 Student Information Systems

● Exclusive integration with leading CRMs and Imaging Systems (used by Admissions offices) like Slate, AdmissionPros, OnBase by Hyland, Ellucian, Oracle Peoplesoft and others.

K-12 District Transfer: Parchment is the only vendor to offer an online student records exchange that enables school districts to centralize, manage, and track requests for student transfer documents alongside transcripts, supplementary college application documents, and diplomas in a single platform. Districts can easily and securely collect both intra and inter-district student records transfer requests, process and send the records, and receive detailed reporting in a simple and streamlined manner. With this solution, schools and districts can:

● Manage all student records requests on a single platform

● Save time with streamlined online processing

● Securely share records while maintaining FERPA compliance and privacy standards

● See trends in student mobility with robust reporting

Parchment’s comprehensive K-12 Award suite offers a level of institutional continuity that is unmatched in the marketplace, specifically through K-12 Document Management, K-12 Cumulative Folders, and K-12 District Transfer.

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K-12 Document Management: Parchment’s Document Management solution goes beyond simple digital storage by providing a purpose-built, secure repository specifically engineered for the unique lifecycle of K-12 student records. Unlike generic cloud storage, this platform is optimized for long-term digital preservation and high-volume retrieval, ensuring that institutional memory remains intact and accessible. By centralizing disparate record types into a single, searchable environment, Parchment allows districts to eliminate physical storage costs and mitigate the risk of data loss, providing a secure foundation for all student information.

K-12 Cumulative Folders: Our Cumulative Folders platform redefines how student progress is tracked by automating the aggregation of a student's entire academic history into a single, portable digital record. This proprietary technology ensures that critical data—from attendance and grades to health records and test scores—stays unified as the learner moves through the district. By digitizing what has traditionally been a manual, paper-heavy process, Parchment provides educators with an immediate, comprehensive view of a student’s journey, ensuring continuity of care and academic support that standard student information systems cannot provide on their own.

K-12 District Transfer: Parchment District Transfer is the industry’s only dedicated network designed to facilitate the instantaneous and secure movement of student records between school districts. This solution eliminates the administrative bottleneck of traditional "mail and fax" record requests by allowing districts to send and receive full cumulative files electronically within a closed-loop, verified ecosystem. By automating the verification and delivery process, District Transfer ensures that incoming students are placed in the correct programs on day one, significantly reducing manual labor for registrar staff while maintaining the highest standards of data security and FERPA compliance.

Security: Parchment’s multi-layer approach is the only FERPA compliant exchange to include a:

● SOC II Audited Data Center

● cPDF™ is tamper evident and will automatically validate to ANY recipient that the electronic credential is sent to without the need for recipients to join a membership list or register to receive the electronic transcript.

● Single Sign On integration APIs

● Encryption: All data in the Parchment system is encrypted at rest; Parchment is the only company that provides this level of security.

● PCI Compliance: Parchment provides secure credit/debit card payment processing for orders made on our site and abides by Payment Card Industry Standards.

Analytics: Parchment’s powerful analytics engine delivers dynamic, real-time reporting with insights to help make both immediate and longer-term strategic decisions, based on

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credentialing data that is only collected by Parchment. It is presented in a modern, easy-to-use interface with powerful charts and filters, and multi-format export capabilities.

● Enhanced data collection: Parchment tracks why learners order and where credentials are sent—whether in-network, out-of-network, electronic, or paper—while robust analytics reveal both the industries and specific organizations receiving them.

● Comprehensive activity tracking: Institutions can monitor utilization, order volume, credential types, and delivery methods. Trends and patterns support improved operational efficiency and simplified generation of custom reports.

● Administrator productivity insights: View order volume by staff member and audit active/inactive users to ensure proper access across services.

This allows for clients to answer key business questions such as but not limited to:

● What volumes of credentials were processed for any time period?

● Where are learners applying, being employed, or sharing their credentials?

● Where are diplomas/certificates being shared online (e.g., Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter)?

● Which graduates claimed, and which did not claim?

● What programs have the most engagement with digital diplomas/certificates?

● How many verifiers are viewing diplomas/certificates online?

Digital Diploma/Print Diploma

Parchment Award is the only platform that lets school administrators issue print and digital diplomas to their recipients, who can claim and share them with verified links to employers and on social media.

● Real-time Diploma Creation: Only platform that allows administrators to create and preview diplomas in real-time, before they are issued to graduates.

● Integrated Social Sharing: Unlike PDF-only digital diplomas, Parchment Award is the only platform that enables students to claim and share in a single click to Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

● Reporting: Only platform that enables reporting and analytics on credential claim rates and social sharing across social media platforms.

● Example: You could pull a report on how many students shared their diploma to LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

● Notifications: Only platform to offer customizable email and SMS text message notifications to students for claiming their diploma.

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● Issue Digital Diplomas: Only platform that enables you to schedule award of Digital

Diplomas at any date/time.

● Security: The cPDF™ Digital Diploma is tamper evident and will automatically validate to

ANY recipient that the electronic credential is valid without the need to verify on an institutional website.

● Verifiable: Only platform to provide a unique link to the Digital Diploma for third parties to be able to verify the validity of the credential.

● Credential Profile: Only vendor to provide a single place for learners to store and access transcripts, diplomas, certificates, and other credentials from multiple institutions.

Based on the unique technical capabilities and proprietary security standards outlined above, Parchment Award stands as the only provider capable of delivering this specific, integrated ecosystem for credential exchange. Instructure is committed to ensuring your institution benefits from the highest level of data integrity and a frictionless experience for your stakeholders. We look forward to the opportunity to support your digital transformation goals.

Sincerely, Account Executive - FL

Kevin.Cardaci@instructure.com

239-350-3324

04/20/2026