[ctcLinkfinaidsupport] FW: FAFSA Update: Contingency financial aid awarding environment is ready; info sessions scheduled

Thu May 9 15:08:27 PDT 2024

FYI, this message was sent this afternoon to Presidents.
Thanks,
[Compass]Dani Bundy
Director of ctcLink PeopleSoft Customer Support
dbundy at sbctc.edu<mailto:dbundy at sbctc.edu> * o: 360-704-1028 * c: 360-619-8960 sbctc.edu<https://www.sbctc.edu/>

From: Grant Rodeheaver <grodeheaver at sbctc.edu>
Subject: FAFSA Update: Contingency financial aid awarding environment is ready; info sessions scheduled

Hello presidents:
As you may have heard from your financial aid team or read in yesterday's ctcLink CONNECT blog<https://www.sbctc.edu/blogs/ctclink-connect/2024/2024-05-08>, the contingency plan is set for financial aid awarding to begin.
The ctcLink Financial Aid Support and Application Services teams completed testing of the ISIRs and colleges may begin loading their ISIRs into ctcLink Production College Development (PCD) today, Thursday, May 9, if they choose to take advantage of this optional, alternate environment to begin the aid awarding process.
Considering the team didn't think it would have testing and documentation ready until early next week, this is a win!
I extend a huge thank you to Ana Ybarra, Associate Director Campus Solutions - Financial Aid, and the entire ctcLink Financial Aid Support team for getting this ready for the colleges to be able to move forward with serving students while we await the new code go-live on June 10.
Contingency awarding supporting materials
Yesterday morning, the college financial aid community received several reference materials to support their local efforts, including login guidance.
These documents were released in advance to allow colleges some time to "bump around" in PCD and get comfortable with the look and feel of the new ISIR:

  *   Comprehensive document to assist in viewing ISIRs in PCD and getting file review and awarding at the ready in PROD if a college so chooses.
  *   FAQ Technical document from ED<https://fsapartners.ed.gov/sites/default/files/2024-03/TechnicalFAQandKnownIssues.pdf> which colleges are strongly advised to read and note outstanding issues from the Department of Education, in tandem with the SBCTC Contingency document, while they embark on file review and awarding.
  *   "PCD remaining ISIR view bugs" spreadsheet, a list of four items from Oracle that are still "buggy," with additional notes/explanation for assistance.

Contingency awarding walkthrough sessions
The ctcLink Financial Aid Support team will walk colleges through the documents and ISIR pages in PCD in two repeating sessions:

  *   Tuesday, May 14, and Wednesday, May 15: Morning Walkthrough Session, 9 - 11 a.m.
  *   Tuesday, May 14, and Wednesday, May 15: Afternoon Q& A Session, 1 - 3 p.m.
Calendar invites with Webex login information were sent to the ctcLink Financial Aid Support listserv.
While all colleges may not ultimately choose to participate in this contingency option, there is strong interest in the FA community to learn more about how and whether this will work for their college.
As of late yesterday afternoon, 21 of 30 college districts indicated they plan to attend the Walkthrough Sessions scheduled for next week to learn more about the contingency awarding process.
Either way, this will be a lot of extra work, so please support your financial aid teams as they embark on yet another round of FAFSA Simplification learning and activities.
Oracle FA code implementation on track
As you heard, we received the new code from Oracle mid-April. After noting numerous bugs and issues when the code package was installed in the test environment, the team proposed an optional contingency awarding process for colleges.
In the meantime, the ctcLink Financial Aid Support team continues its primary charge to test and document FAFSA configuration changes received from Oracle.
Activities underway include functional testing, including security, technical, unique Washington state configurations, and system configuration documentation for college users.
Milestones ahead

  *   Saturday, June 8, 2024:  Financial Aid Support and Application Services teams move the Financial Aid PeopleSoft Release Patchset (PRP3) into production and conduct final readiness tests.
  *   Monday, June 10, 2024: Colleges get access to the new system.
  *   June 10 through June 21, 2024: ctcLink Financial Aid Support team will deliver hands-on financial aid support sessions for colleges.
As discussed during the last WACTC meeting, there will continue to be adjustments from the Department of Education (ED) and requisite coding changes from Oracle, so this is only the beginning.

Please reach out to me or Dani Bundy<mailto:dbundy at sbctc.edu>, Director of ctcLink PeopleSoft Customer Support, directly if you have any questions.

Thank you,

-Grant
[Compass]Grant Rodeheaver
Deputy Executive Director / CIO, IT Division
Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges
grodeheaver at sbctc.edu<mailto:grodeheaver at sbctc.edu> * o: 360-704-3939  * c: 360-280-4733
sbctc.edu<https://www.sbctc.edu/> * Twitter: @SBCTCWashington<https://twitter.com/SBCTCWashington> * Facebook: @WASBCTC<https://www.facebook.com/wasbctc/>

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