SIS (Student Information System) integrations

Implementing enrollment updates via SFTP

IT personnel can use this document as a guide for setting up an SFTP connection with Verba in order to provide student enrollment data for use in Verba Connect.

Connecting to Verba’s SFTP server

Before you can connect to Verba’s SFTP server we'll need:

• Your OpenSSH key (public key)
  Here's our server info:
  
  • SFTP Server Hostname: sftp.verbasoftware.com
  • Port Number: 22
  • Username: Ask your Verba setup contact for your username

Once we have the connection established, work with your Verba setup contact to test your connection and make sure a file can be placed in the appropriate subdirectory.

Building your enrollment file

We'll use an enrollment file provided by the campus to populate student information in Connect, so we know which students are enrolled in Inclusive Access courses.

Required fields

• Term Name*
  Recommended column header: catalog_name
• Department*
  Recommended column header: department_name
• Course Number*
  Recommended column header: course_number
• Section Code*
  Recommended column header: section_code
• Student ID
  Recommended column header: student_identifier
  The student ID should be static and non-changing: we use it as the primary student identifier (if it changes, we will create a new student record). This ID will be used as a reference for billing, and for students opting out, so hopefully you have an ID that works for both.
• Student First Name
  Recommended column header: student_first_name
• Student Last Name
  Recommended column header: student_last_name
• Student Email Address
  Recommended column header: student_email_address
  We've had the best luck with campus email domains (it leads to less bounces/undelivered emails).
  

Your Verba setup contact can provide an example file for reference!

* For Term Name, Department, Course Number, and Section Code, these fields will need to match what is in your Point of Sale/Inventory Control system. Verba matches the student’s course data from the enrollment file you provide to term/course/section data we already receive from the store. If you have any questions about what your POS/ICS is sending to Verba, Verba can provide that information.

Formatting the file

The file needs to be named: "ia_enrollment.csv"

• The file needs to have column headers
• The column headers CANNOT change after they have been set on our end (changes will prevent your file from importing). If you need to make changes to your column headers please contact your Verba setup contact.
• Make sure the header lines have no trailing whitespaces
• The file can include ALL enrolled students for a term or only the specified courses/sections within the IA program (we recommend the ALL students option because it provides more flexibility and is less error prone)
• The file needs to contain all enrolled students every day, not just newly enrolled students
• Only UTF-8 encoding supported