One of the most common questions we hear from our K12 members is, “What is Parchment’s relationship with Naviance and Naviance eDocs?” In this blog we’re going to explain Parchment’s relationship. As you read this, the biggest take away for you to know is that Parchment and Naviance are different companies offering distinct services, and that Naviance eDocs does not use Parchment technology to send admissions documents.
In every electronic admissions document delivery, there are two sides: the high school that is sending the documents, and the admissions office that is receiving the documents. Parchment competes with Naviance for sending high school admissions documents, while at the same time, Parchment partners with Naviance to enable admissions offices to receive documents from both services. Even though we compete, we want it to be easy for admissions offices to receive and process incoming documents from multiple high school services through a common interface.
The technology world has a term for situations where an organization partners and competes with another organization, “Coopetition.” In the case of electronic delivery of admissions documents, Coopetition makes sense, ensuring both choice and interoperability.
Since 2014, Parchment has engaged in a strategic partnership with Naviance to allow Parchment to be one of the receiving mechanisms Naviance uses to deliver electronic admissions documents to colleges and universities. The Parchment technology that enables this is called the Parchment Unified Inbox.
The Parchment Unified Inbox experience makes it easier and more efficient for receivers to collect and work with their incoming documents electronically. In addition to the network of 3,700+ high schools and colleges that use Parchment to send admissions documents to Parchment Receivers, the Unified Inbox collects documents from organizations such as:
Documents coming from each of these sending organizations can arrive into a central interface we call the Parchment Unified Inbox, letting the admissions office download and work with them easily. Students benefit from document status updates and high school staff get the peace-of-mind that students’ academic credentials are received and acknowledged by admissions offices. The admissions offices get the benefit of one technology interface and experience through which they can process admissions documents from multiple services.
On the sending side of electronic admissions documents, Parchment and Naviance are distinct companies that offer different service experiences based on their own technologies.
Some high schools use eDocs to send their admissions documents. Some use a combination of Parchment and eDocs (for example: current students are handled with eDocs, while alumni are handled with Parchment). And some high schools choose to use Parchment instead of eDocs.
Schools that choose to use Parchment to handle processing transcripts and other documents tell us that the easy-to-use platform is a game-changer. Here are a few of the reasons they decide Parchment is a good fit for them:
Parchment is focused on creating a simple and secure platform to order, send, and track the sending and receiving of records. For schools that are looking for a way to automate the record request and fulfillment process, Parchment offers a comprehensive sending solution, avoiding a heavy price tag for features your counseling office doesn’t use.
Because Parchment and Naviance eDocs compete as high school sending services and partner to enable simpler university receiving, it’s not surprising that high schools have asked questions over the years about our relationship. Hopefully this blog has helped clarify how Parchment competes with Naviance eDocs and also how we partner. Please let us know if have questions or comments below!
