Maine's Public Universities - University of Maine System

Process Title

What does this Process accomplish?

Process Similarities amongst campuses

Process Differences across campuses

Comments

Implementation Considerations

Process 0

-will PSSA accommodate different FA calendars?

-Review financial and other  implications of establishing one entity versus seven entities -establish and implement common definition of “home campus” -review one office for seven entities

Process 1 - Install and test new regulation release and update programs

Install new software for upcoming aid cycle

-All do it -All assisted by FINANCIER technical support working with UNET -release is tested in 3 environments before use by FA community -install for 2 years: current and upcoming years -software arrives in 2 packages: Wolff Pack and INAS

-size and technical savvy of staff impacts ability to perform major software regression testing -All, except UM, use “Grouping” to define cohorts, run edits and make updates -timing for awards – e.g., USM chooses to distribute awards sooner than other campuses (3/1), which pushes program testing -

-how does PSSA handle ongoing software maintenance and updates? -will PSSA accommodate different FA calendars?

-should we consider to use “Grouping”? -who will provide “Grouping” support and maintenance? -review summer as a header or trailer – is the aid counted for last year or for next year? (e.g., for UMPI and UM (and soon UMFK) summer is a trailer) -review role of technology support and who will provide it (installations and upgrades must occur throughout the year)

Process 2- Load records, including budgeting and application requirements

Load application data into new software

-all do it -for students who are on our files, all campuses request documents based on series of edits (i.e., application requirements) -all campuses develop individual  standard cost of education budgets and adjust manually if appropriate -all use similar document names -those campus that use grouping, use a set of common definitions -campuses establish edit criteria for necessary documents

-type of records loaded (e.g., some campuses only load records for students with active admissions records or active registration status); cost of attendance budgets differ by campus, level, enrollment status (full time, part time, etc.), term, and residency; timeline for loading records

-can one student have multiple classifications at different campuses during a single term? -does PSSA provide ability to construct or update a budget by pulling various tuition rates from each campus? -will PSSA allow students to see their direct and indirect cost of attendance budgets?

-explore whether cost of attendance budgets should be consistent across campuses -explore consistent method for charging tuition and fees across UMS for undergraduate and graduate courses -consider multi-campus tuition rates and their impact on student budgets -discuss whether we should use actual tuition and fees to determine the budget?

Process 3 – Send requirement notices (ARNs or DRNs) including duplicate requests

Request required data from student applicants

-all campuses send ARNs (application requirement notices) -federal and campus policies drive these requests -all customize forms

-only some campuses send DRNs (disbursement requirement notices) -campus policies differ slightly -method for producing notifications varies (i.e., mainframe and in-house) -use of electronic notifications vary by campus and population (i.e., e-mail, IVR and web-DSIS) -frequency of subsequent reminder notifications differs between campuses -method for entering documents into FINANCIER (e.g., logged until entry, recorded as received, etc.) -timing of when ARNs are sent (USM sends awards prior to ARNs, while all others request ARNs before making awards) -size of staff and budgeting -priority filing dates

-larger campuses restricted on run time (twice each week rather than daily) -review possibility of sharing  documents (e.g., tax documents) between campuses -review hardware requirements -explore standard methods of notification, standard edits and standard processes for requesting documentation -explore common priority filing deadline dates

Process 4 – Receive and enter data from applicant documents

Update applicant information on database

-all perform this process -based on federal and campus policies and procedures

-campus policies and procedures vary -campuses receive data in variety of ways (e.g., paper, web, IVR) -USM images all of its documents (UM and UMF will begin document imaging soon) -campuses handle incomplete and unsolicited information differently -some campuses enter corrections manually, while others require students to forward changes to federal gov’t

-will PSSA allow us to scan a document and appropriately populate its fields?

-explore possibility of establishing clearinghouse to collect information, enter forms and disburse data to appropriate parties -review who can accept and enter documents (should university centers be allowed to do so?) -explore consistent use of imaging and assignment of codes to document types

Process 5 – Process verification, correction & rejected records

Verify applicant information

-all perform this process and transmit data to federal government to create updated SAR and new record -all hold disbursements of federal aid until process is complete at individual campus -timeline for verification

-whether this process occurs prior to or after award -whether process is manual or mechanical -criteria for selecting students for verification -use of IVR -frequency of notification and transmittal to federal government -campuses handle rejected records differently

-consider effect of asynchronous courses on SAP, billing, withdrawal, grading, budgeting

Process 6 – Establish overarching administrative policies

Set governing parameters for administration of financial aid programs  

-all campuses and FA community are involved -3 major activities: project funding availability, determine FA cost of attendance budgets, set-up packaging parameters for awards -all campuses assess impact of federal mandates and institutional policies and respond to regulatory changes

-decision makers vary by campus (some presidents want to be involved, while others do not), -institutional FA funding varies by campus, dollar and program -packaging parameters including tentative packaging and goals differ by campus  

Does PSSA have projection fund modeling software to project Perkins funds available and cash on hand? -explore ability to review and analyze historical spending trends (i.e., data type and format) -does PSSA have ability to track variables by campus and system, including unmet need? -Does PSSA have ability to display unmet need?

-consider effect of asynchronous courses on SAP, billing, withdrawal, grading, budgeting -Explore whether advocacy should be campus or system effort? -Explore methods of expediting funding levels and budget components so awards can go by deadline (try to get BoT to set tuition,  fees, room and board earlier)

Process 7 – Award and notify students

-what specific levels of self-service does the PSSA portal provide? -explore web-based communication tools through workflow -does PSSA have ability to look at cross-campus registrations in real time at specified times of the year and for different terms?

Process 8 – Adjust awards (e.g., outside scholarships, state scholarships, enrollment, housing, level0

Make award adjustments for variety of reasons

-all do it based on add/drop time frame and over awards -very manual process -multi-campus registrations are considered by this process

-staff (professional and support) -use of technology to notify students (e-mail, hardcopy letters, etc.) -notification of scholarships and other assistance varies between FA and business office (USM posts mechanically from business office, while others do so manually)

-how will PSSA address impact on loan eligibility and indebtedness if tuition is adjusted to actual rates rather than home rates? -does PSSA provide “from” and “to” values (effective dating) for specific data fields?  Is this viewable to students and staff? -need ability to provide individualized communication to students (can this be achieved through workflow?) -As campuses move to electronic communication, how should we disseminate information to parents?  Will the portal separate non-confidential information from confidential information?  Will PSSA provide access to non-students for certain information and data? -How much workflow will be used to communicate events to students through web portal? When will it be instituted? (applies to all Student Administration modules and most processes)

-consider effect of asynchronous courses on SAP, billing, withdrawal, grading, budgeting -common academic calendar to provide consistent add/drop periods -consider multi-campus issues due to lack of unified view of schedule and bill -review quality of notification to students – do students understand  communica-tion? -cannot insert specific information in e-mail – instead direct student to secure website -review recognition of different tuition rates and weigh over-awards and under-awards -review process for charging fees to multi-campus students -explore redistribution of extra work-study funds (campuses look at work-study money as their funds, while students consider it to be their own)

Process 9 – Process loans (Perkins, Direct, Stafford, Plus, Alternative, Institutional , Other)

Process loans

-all participate in Perkins and FFELP aka Stafford -all process parent loans (aka PLUS) and Alternative loans

-only UMA and UMPI participate in Direct lending –all process loans and accept loan applications differently -use different Middleware technology to process or service loans -some campuses have institutional loan programs (UM, UMA, USM) -emergency loan guidelines vary by campus -inconsistent use of EFTs and checks -USM, UMPI and UMA issue nursing loans -USM uses a different academic year calendar for its law school -USM and UM have specific loan offices for handling Perkins, Institutional and nursing loans -only UM determines eligibility for institutional loans based on fund description, while other campuses do not award institutional loans -USM uses “hold and release” for its loans -disbursement eligibility determination varies by campus from FA to business office -use and level of technology vary -loading of acknowledge-ment data into FINANCIER -methods for notifying students of loan processing vary by campus (e.g., web, e-mail, hardcopy letter)

-can PSSA deal with varying academic calendars within a single institution? -can PSSA handle Perkins promissory notes?

-consider effect of asynchronous courses on SAP, billing, withdrawal, grading, budgeting -consider participation in same loan programs by all campuses -consider use of same lenders by all campuses - review collection of nursing, emergency and institutional loans: who, when -explore loan collection issues for system including consolidation of services, etc. -review consistent use of EFTs (including roster) rather than checks -review Perkins master promissory note and ensure usage is implemented -consider disbursement of Stafford loans through FA

Process 10 – Manage institutional scholarships (budget, notify, select, process, post)

Select recipients for specific scholarship funds, etc.

-all perform -manual selection process

-participants, number of accounts, funds availability, timing of  selection process -UMFK and UMA lack centralized development office

-can PSSA interface with compliance assistant software for NCAA?  -can PSSA manage a large number of individual scholarship accounts? -will PSSA provide searchable database for students and web application? -can PSSA provide scholarship fund description and budget information to colleges and academic, athletic and administrative departments?

Process 11 – Perform Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Review

Process 12 – Process withdrawals including Return to Title IV (R2T4) calculations

Adjust aid for students who withdraw  

-all do it and use R2T4 software

-use of L grade -manner of posting returned funds (UMPI refers collections to DoE)

-can PSSA calculate refunds? -will PSSA accommodate multi-campus registrations? -can PSSA load billing information into R2T4 from multiple campuses?

-consider effect of asynchronous courses on SAP, billing, withdrawal, grading, budgeting -create common definition of “withdraw course” and “withdraw student” for multi-campus registrants -consider “withdrawal” status for multi-campus students and process for  communica-ting that status to affected campuses -consider impact of academic calendar -track changes in enrollment levels across campuses at packaging, add/drop,  disbursement, and other points in time -what information will be reported to Clearinghouse and when will student loans be placed into repayment? -communicate between campuses with respect to exit interviews/ deferments for a transferring student

Process 13 - Disburse funds including electronic funds transfers (EFT)

Disburse aid to student accounts

-all do it

-frequency of disbursement varies by size of file (campus), method for disbursing  Stafford loans, method of fund receipt (EFT including roster, or manual), whether EFT information is loaded into FINANCIER, role of disbursement requirements and use of DRNs to control disbursement, use of FINANCIER to control disbursement of Perkins loans

-apart from the PSSA registration process, can PSSA automatically flag (and provide visual cue on every screen) when a student enrolls at another campus? - for multi-campus students, explore PSSA methods and priority of aid disbursement from home campus to other campuses OR assumptions of charges by home campus (single bill)  

-review hardware and technology support issues related to timely delivery of disbursements -multi-campus enrollments are easily overlooked due to tedious manual process -Very manual process for “away” students (i.e., not taking any courses at home campus) -Consider disbursement of all loan funds through FA office -Establish common procedures for tracking events -provide real-time dynamic notification alert to student (and other offices when appropriate) of account changes -For multi-campus students, explore methods and priority of aid disbursement from home campus to other campuses OR assumptions of charges by home campus (single bill)

Process 14 – Process summer aid

Process summer aid

Process 15 – Manage system-wide scholarships

Select recipients for system-wide scholarships, etc.

-all campuses are involved in recipient selection

-UM manages the process and performs all steps for all other campuses -only a subset of funds are available to some campuses, although all campuses have access to some funds

-does PSSA provide ability to disburse to students on other campuses?

-examine role of system coordinator -examine system-wide scholarship program -can any of these scholarships be used for recruiting/ retention purposes? -explore development of funds that can be awarded to students and applied at any campus (different strategy to promote retaining students in state) -explore searchable database of scholarship offerings -examine monitoring of cross-campus expenditures (integrates with accounting and  disbursement issues)

Process 16 – Complete FISAP

Comply with federal reporting requirement

-all campuses perform this online reporting process -all campuses run series of programs to complete this process

-participants (who provides information?)  

-ease of doing ad hoc reporting including student income grids? -does PSSA include standard (“canned”) reports?

-explore common work-study pay periods for reporting work-study earnings across campuses -discuss easy method for identifying multi-campus students for FISAP purposes

Process 17 – Manage NCAA and other athletic conference regulations and requirements

Comply with athletic conference regulations and requirements

-Only UMA does not complete this process: UM:  NCAA Division I, UMM/UMPI/ UMFK:  Division NAIA, UMFK:  NCAA Division III for skiing, USM and soon UMF:  NCAA Division III -each category has different reporting requirements (e.g.,  Division I has extensive financial and compliance reporting requirements, while NAIA requirements are very time consuming)

-how does PSSA handle athletic-related reporting and monitoring requirements? -will PSSA interface with NCAA compliance software?  (May need 2-way interface) -does PSSA have capability to set flexible cohorts in student record to facilitate identification of various student groups?

-explore 2-way interface with NCAA compliance software (i.e., FA and eligibility software) -investigate ability for athletic and related departments to support data processing needs through PSSA rather than through NCAA software -review requirements for Title IX gender equity report

Process 18 – Participate in audits and compliance reviews

Comply with federal financial aid regulations and requirements  

-all campuses complete this process annually and manually -this process is outlined for the annual federal A133 audit

-participants

-does PSSA enable auditors to perform job more expeditiously and independently? -investigate PSSA audit controls and software capabilities

-can information be accessed centrally and electronically to ensure continuous and consolidated audits? -investigate warehouse reporting needs -identify types of documents that various departments need and make them electronically available -explore centralized method for collecting information for audits other than the A133 audit

Process 19 - Prepare publications and consumer information

Inform students, parents, etc. on variety of topics

-all do it -federally mandated -all contribute to recruiting efforts via publications -some federally mandated information is passed to other departments within UMS (e.g., crime statistics)

-technologies, timelines, number and type of publications -some campuses receive financial support from outside vendors for publications -level of sophistication is based on size of staff, student population type, and budget

-can PSSA’s portals include information that meets federal requirements?

-can we consolidate production efforts? -need ad hoc reporting abilities -be cognizant of need to employ web and paper communica-tion resources -maintain quality publication standards

Process 21 – Conduct entrance and exit interviews

Comply with federal regulations

-all do it because it is federally mandated -completion of entrance interview affects disbursement on all campuses -failure to complete interviews results in an audit finding

-interviews are completed by different offices on various campuses -some campuses record interviews in FINANCIER -UMF performs debt counseling for various loan programs -Methods for completing interview vary by campus (e.g., IVR, web, in person, group, individual) -level of interview detail varies by campus and program -entrance interview procedures differ from exit interview procedures

-what is PSSA’s mechanism for reporting previous borrowing by program?

-explore automation of exit interview process and consistent use of related communica-tion tools (e.g., due diligence notices) -develop mechanism for dealing with student’s comprehensive total indebtedness across UMS and within each college, rather than fragmented indebtedness to individual programs -explore most effective method for managing debt and achieving loan repayment -explore UMF’s process for providing comprehensive total debt counseling -need more timely and  consistent way to identify students who require an exit interview (i.e., informal withdrawals)

Process 22 – Manage funds

Provide fiscal oversight for all funds  

-all do it using common naming conventions for funds and associated attributes

-participants, monitoring mechanisms to ensure oversight, numbers of funds overseen

-what types of reports will PSSA provide? (e.g., make appropriate fund attributes available for reporting)

-note that some funds are forward funded and UMS spends anticipated earnings -some accounts involve draw downs -explore better methods for managing cash, including making timely draw downs and alerting campuses of fund availability -explore mechanism for reconciling EFT accounts -explore mechanisms for automating fund management of system-wide scholarship accounts

Process 23 – Transmit and reconcile federal and state funds

Manage administrative requirements for Pell Grant, Direct Lending & Maine State Grant

-periodically transmit data, draw down and reconcile funds -for Pell and Maine State Grant programs, use same account numbers with different campus identifiers -very automated process for all campuses for all 3 programs

-only UMA and UMPI participate in Direct Lending -timing

-who will manage and maintain programming requirements? (requirements change annually)

-explore synchroniza-tion of expenditures and draw downs -explore maintenance options to manage programming requirements for UMS -explore centralization of reporting and draw downs - explore web interfaces for various legacy applications  

Process 24 – Manage unique student populations

Award specific student populations

-all campuses have unique populations -manual process -Examples of unique student populations include: away students, multi-campus students, North American Indians, veterans, Merit scholars, waiver recipients, and others

-variety of populations and some are unique to specific campuses (e.g., only UM codes its athletes) -all campuses mechanize at least a portion of the process (e.g., UM mechanizes initial portion of process) -campuses differ on whether specific funds are electronically disbursed or manually posted (e.g., veteran’s dependent waiver, North American Indian waiver)  -verification mechanism for veteran’s benefits varies by campus

-does PSSA have capability to set flexible cohorts in student record to facilitate identification of various student groups? -does PSSA monitor specialized cohort compliance?  

-investigate consistent certification of veteran’s benefits -explore cross-campus certification and coding of specific populations -consider better ad hoc reporting and warehouse support for reporting - explore web interfaces for various legacy applications -explore automation and workflow with respect to employee and dependent tuition waivers, including automatic posting

Process 25 – Manage debt levels of students and institutional default rates

Maintain low default rates for students and institutions

-all campuses strive to achieve low default rates -default rates for Perkins, Stafford and Direct Lending have prescribed calculations -campuses are individually responsible for managing its default rates

-emphasis on managing debt and maintaining low default rates varies by campus -default rates differ across campuses, while large campuses have more stable default rates due to student population base

-explore consistent student directory information releases -explore calculation of default rates for PLUS and Alternative loans -explore centralized loan collections -understand administrative policies related to this process: weigh student’s indebtedness issues against institution’s interests - make as much money available as possible, if goal is to increase enrollment

Process 26 – Manage documents

Comply with UMS, federal and state regulations on record retention and retrieval

-all perform this time consuming process

-USM uses imaging to scan and store FA documents and student records

-how does PSSA handle imaged documents?

-explore thorough destruction of confidential SA records, including images -explore time and expense associated with destroying and managing documents -documents must be accessible for auditing purposes -explore methods for identifying files that require destruction

Process 27 – Manage student employment and federal work-study

Employ students

-all campuses participate in federal work-study -all track and monitor earnings and all keep track of them in “Community Service,” “America Reads,” and “America Counts” -all campuses maintain an employer file on FINANCIER

-who performs functions associated with this process, and employment programs vary by campus (UMF handles entire process for all student employment programs) -UM has an office of student employment -UM and UMPI utilize job locator and development programs to develop off-campus jobs -web availability of student -employee handbooks varies -method of check distribution varies by campus -criteria for summer employment varies by campus -some campuses have institutional work-study programs, in addition to federal work-study programs -only UM pays both monthly and bi-weekly, while all others pay only bi-weekly -different wage scales on each campus -who performs (and frequency of) billing for outside employers varies -for work-study program, campuses match work-study amount differently or not at all

-does PSSA accommodate an employer database?  -Does PSSA monitor payments from outside employers?  -does PSSA provide a report to employers on individual student earnings?

-explore capability to monitor students working on other multiple campuses -explore direct application of student earnings to account balance

Process 28 – Conduct Programming

-Will PSSA eliminate need to program against multiple databases?

Process 29 – Respond to requests for financial aid information

Provide appropriate financial aid data and information

-all perform this process -all campuses respond to variety of entities (e.g., college surveys, presentations to legislature

-participants -outreach activities -campus and FA office expectations

-need user- friendly report writer

-explore need for consistent reporting and survey completion across campuses -explore degree to which we want to centralize student-specific data by campus and establish substantial walls between campuses

Process 30 – Maintain electronic FAFSA records

Maintain ADD file in FINANCIER

-all perform this process -extremely labor intensive -maintenance of records is performed daily

-campuses perform this process in a variety of ways

-how does PSSA handle this process?

Process 31 – Advise and counsel students and interested parties

Provide quality customer service

-all perform this process -significant expectation for all FA offices across campuses is that students will receive on demand advisement and counseling -labor intensive and time consuming

-ability to comply and level of contact and training vary by staff size

-how user-friendly are PSSA screens for frontline staff?

-provide consistent answers within FA office, campus and UMS -explore possibility of system-wide and/or campus help desk/ generalist to provide one-stop for UMS and campuses (e.g., phone, online, FAQs) -weigh complexities of multi-campus and technical college issues