Handshake student data comes from information your institution provides, so it can differ from the records in your student information system (SIS). This article covers how to identify data discrepancies and resolve them.
Common causes of student data discrepancies
- Outdated student data that hasn't been refreshed recently
- Incomplete or inaccurate data coming from your institution's SIS
- Duplicate student accounts
Your institution's IT, Registrar, or data team manages the source data and is best equipped to reconcile discrepancies.
Handshake Support can explain the import process, confirm formatting requirements, and help your institution update its data in Handshake.
Note: Insights data refreshes nightly. Changes made in Handshake or through Importer may not appear in Insights until the following day.
Compare Handshake records against your SIS
1. From Insights, click the + icon to create a query.
2. Select Students from the list of available topics. The query builder opens with student-related fields available in the field picker.
3. Using the field picker, add the fields you want to include in the report. Include School Year Name and a unique identifier that also appears in your registrar data, such as Students Email - Primary.
4. If the Students Updated At filter appears automatically, click the three-dot menu next to the filter, then select Delete filter.
Removing this filter ensures that the query includes your institution's full student roster rather than only students updated within a specific period.
5. Click the Run query button, represented by the play icon, in the upper-right corner of the page.
6. Click the download icon next to the row count in the upper-right corner of the page. In the download window:
- Enter a file name.
- Select the file type.
- Under Row limit, select All possible results.
- Click Download.
7. Get an accurate list of current students from your registrar.
8. Compare the registrar list with the Insights report and identify any discrepancies. Use a unique value included in both lists, such as the student's email address, username, or authentication identifier, to match records.
Students who appear in Handshake but not in your institution's current records may include:
- Alumni
- Students who transferred, withdrew, or did not complete their degree
Resolve the discrepancies
Alumni. Update the student's School Year to Alumni. For instructions, refer to Importer: Updating Graduating Students to Alumni.
Students who transferred or did not complete their degree. If necessary, archive their accounts. For steps, refer to Importer: Bulk Archiving Students.
Use archiving sparingly. An archived student stays connected to your institution until they log in again. After logging in, they can continue using Handshake as an unaffiliated job seeker, but they're no longer connected to your institution. For more on this behavior, refer to What Happens When I Archive a Student?.
If you need to block a student from accessing Handshake while keeping them connected to your institution, instead of archiving them, refer to How to Block a Student.
Other student groups. Consider importing labels to identify and filter additional student groups in Insights. You can also download the Data Discrepancy Worksheet, attached at the bottom of this article, to organize your findings.
If a discrepancy remains after comparing and updating your records, contact Support.