This article explains how the Virginia SIF model has been set up, which objects and elements are being messaged, and the Campus configuration required to successfully use SIF version 3.6 only.

Business Requirements

Report state-mandated student data in a timely and automated manner. The Schools Interoperability Framework (SIF) is the chosen medium by which to accomplish these goals.

Virginia uses the SIF-based Student Locator object to assign a stateID to newly enrolled students. The state Student Locator Frameworks (SLF) uses the StudentPersonal and StudentSchoolEnrollment objects.

Version

The SchoolInfo, Student Personal, and StudentSchoolEnrollment objects use SIF version 3.6.

Architecture

Virginia uses the SIF North American data model 4.3 (aka “Unity”) and the SIF Infrastructure model 3.6 to automatically retrieve state student unique identifiers (SSIDs).

State SIF v3.6 Model

Continuous Publishing and Subscribing

In each SIF Unity zone, the Campus is the one provider for that zone and context. Campus publishes Add and Change Events on the StudentPersonal and StudentSchoolEnrollment objects whenever the data in the database is changed. After the student is enrolled, the process consists of the following steps:

1. User enrolls student.

2. Campus sends Add Events for StudentPersonal and StudentSchoolEnrollment.
Note: Each Event is sent as a collection with a single object in it.

3. Student Locator Frameworks (SLF) retrieves SSIDs from the ID system and issues Update Requests.

4. Campus processes the update requests and updates the database.

Synchronization Process

The synchronization or “Sync” process is usually conducted once per year, in the summer after the New Year Rollover. It may, however, be conducted at any time to correct errors. The Sync process consists of the following steps:

User initiates process in Student Locator Frameworks (SLF) console.
2. SLF requests SchoolInfo objects.
3. Campus responds with SchoolInfo objects.
4. User selects schools to be synchronized.
5. SLF requests the StudentSchoolEnrollment and StudentPersonal objects for selected schools.
6. SLF retrieves SSIDs from the ID system and issues Update Requests.

SIF Message History

The SIF Message History tool can be used to generate a report which includes detailed information about messages sent for a specific SIF object within a specific time frame, agent, and zone. This report allows you to review recent SIF activity and is especially useful for troubleshooting errors to and from a SIF reporting entity. For more information, please see the SIF Message History article.

Objects and Elements

See the sections below for details on Virginia-specific elements for the objects using SIF version 3.6.

Object	Link to Document
RoomInfo	Room Info (April 2026)
SchoolInfo	School Info (April 2026)
StudentPersonal	Student Personal (April 2026)
StudentSchoolEnrollment	Student School Enrollment (April 2026)
StaffPersonal	Staff Personal (April 2026)
StaffAssignment	Staff Assignment (April 2026)

Additional SIF Unity Tools

The SIF Unity tools allow users to set up, manage, and maintain SIF data.

SIF Unity Configuration	SIF Unity Tools
SIF Unity Configuration	Object Viewer Message History Sent Record History Record Deleter Person Data Certificates Error Log Event Queue Statistics Report

SIF (Virginia)