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ISSS Classic: RTI Connect Actions > Selecting and Downloading Data > Student and EV Lists Follow

This article explains how to download and work with the data scraped from SEVIS RTI Student and Exchange Visitor lists.

NOTE: The DSO/ARO who initiates the list download is recommended to not do any other actions in RTI-Connect until the list has successfully been downloaded. 

This article discusses the following topics:

 

Downloading Lists

To download Student and Exchange Visitor Lists:

  • Log in to RTI Connect.
  • Click on the relevant campus link.
  • Click on Student Lists
  • Click on the link of the list you wish to download.
  • SEVIS RTI returns the data for the selected list, and the data displays in RTI Connect.
  • Click the Download RTI Data button to download the data from SEVIS RTI.  You will have the option to download the displayed records or download the entire list.

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  • Data will start downloading from RTI. The data will be saved in a temporary database. After the data has downloaded, a report page with the data will display.
  • A progress bar labeled Download RTI Records will display, showing the progress of the download process while the download is happening.
  • You can close the window anytime without impacting the download process.
  • Reopen the progress bar window again by clicking on the link on the RTI dashboard. 


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Students and Exchange Visitors whose records do not exist in Terra Dotta will be flagged. Terra Dotta and RTI data will be compared in the background for students and Exchange Visitors who do have Terra Dottarecords.

The Download RTI Data button will display after you have successfully logged in to RTI. This button will appear only for the reports that can be downloaded. After you begin downloading a list RTI, the button becomes disabled, and displays a message saying "A download is in progress" will be displayed next to it. Only one download at a time is permitted for a list.

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Data Display: After RTI data starts downloading, it will be displayed on a report page. The name of the report page will match the list downloaded from RTI. The page lists the records downloaded from RTI. RTI records which are different in Terra Dotta will be flagged. While the report is downloading, Terra Dotta and RTI data will be compared in the background. Terra Dotta records that do not match with RTI will be flagged with the following status:

  • Discrepancies in <field names>. Up to five SEVIS field names will be listed. If it is more than five, the column will then indicate "and more."
    •  "Discrepancies in Passport Name, Gender, Visa Type, Campus Name"
    •  "Discrepancies in Passport Name, Gender, Visa Type, Campus Name, country, and more..."
  • Not in Terra Dotta - When  a SEVIS ID is not found in Terra Dotta, the record will be flagged as "Not in Terra Dotta." For these records, "Surname/primary" and "Given Name" fields will not be links; they will display as text only. When a record doesn't exist in Terra Dotta, you cannot go to the comparison screen.
  • A match in Terra Dotta -  When every field in RTI-Terra Dotta matches, the following fields will be imported from SEVIS. The admin need take no further action
1. SEVIS ID

2. Surname/Primary Name

3. Given Name

4. Suffix

5. Passport Name

6. Preferred Name

7. SEVIS Legacy Name

8. Country of Birth

9. Date of Birth

10. Country of Citizenship

11. Gender

12. Foreign Address

13. U.S. Address

14. Address Status

15. Override reason

16. Email Address

17. Telephone

18. U.S. Number  

19. Foreign Number

20. Status

21. Date of Last Event

22. Termination Reason

23. Visa Type

24. School Name

25. School Code

26. Campus Name

27. I-20 Issue Reason

28. Education Level

29. Major

30. Secondary Major

31. Minor

32. Program Start Date

33. Program End Date

34. Normal Length of Study

35. Current Session End Date

36. Next Session Start Date

37. School Requires English Proficiency

38. Student Has English Proficiency

39. English Is Not Required Because

40. Remarks

41. Number of Months

42. Tuition Fees

43. Living Expenses

44. Dependent Expenses

45. Other Costs

46. Other Costs Comment

47. Total Expenses – calculated in SEVIS, sum of tuition fees, living expenses, dependent expenses, and other costs

48. Student's Personal Funds

49.Funds From This School

50.School Fund Type

51. Funds From Other Sources

52. Source Type

53. On-Campus Employment

54. Total Funding – sum of student's personal funds, funds from the school, funds from other sources, and on-campus employment

55. Initial Session start date 

56. Length of Next Break/Vacation 

57. Study/Research Abroad 

58. Thesis/Dissertation 

59. Country of issuance (passport) 

 

 

Comparing and Updating Data Discrepancies

To compare and update data discrepancies between SEVIS and Terra Dotta information, begin with the scraped report page.

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  • The discrepancies will be listed in the far right column titled Verified against SEVIS.
  • Click the linked name of the record to open the comparison window.


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  • The top of the list will indicate the discrepancies. Identical data in SEVIS is included; you may expand or collapse the identical information as it does not require your review.
  • Check the box of the data discrepancy you wish to update.
  • Scroll to the bottom of the page.


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  • Click the Update Selected Fields in Terra Dotta button to update the information in your site to match the information in SEVIS.
  • Update the Academic Objective and Profile Button will update the Academic Objective and the user's profile.
  • Update SEVIS Registration will update or create the registration record.


You may also enter profile comments for the Terra Dotta record. Unresolved discrepancies will remain in the report until you resolve them. Terra Dotta will not automatically update discrepant information here.

 

 

OPT List Management Best Practices

The following best practices will help your office effectively manage the data for your students on OPT via the list scrape function in RTI Connect.

The OPT list scrape from SEVIS to Terra Dotta will compare the OPT start date and employer data.

When a student's employer information is compared to existing OPT employment, Terra Dotta requires a matching start date and employer name. Terra Dotta will not override the data in the existing OPT Employment Update record that you have selected to compare. If these fields fail to match, Terra Dotta will create a new OPT Employment Update record. At present, Terra Dotta does not alert you to the creation of a new record. 

If your office requires that students on OPT report their employer update information in the SEVP Portal, and NOT through Terra Dotta, we recommend that you scrape both the OPT list and the Active list to facilitate data comparison.