[ctcLinkfinaidsupport] FW: FAFSA Update

Fri May 31 14:00:46 PDT 2024

Good afternoon,
Please see the below message that was shared with your presidents this afternoon.

Thank you,
[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>
Sent: Friday, May 31, 2024 12:45 PM

Subject: FAFSA Update

Good afternoon, presidents:

The first series of Financial Aid 2024-2025 Go-Live Support Sessions for colleges to process ISIRs and begin awarding aid will be held Monday through Friday, June 10-14, 2024. Each day follows the same schedule, with the ctcLink Financial Aid Support team providing hands-on guidance to college financial aid team members:

·        9 a.m. to 12 p.m., support session

·        12 – 1 p.m., lunch break

·        1 - 4 p.m., support session continues

During the Webex on Friday, June 14, the FA community will evaluate its specific needs for the week ahead. Just in case, colleges are asked to block out June 17-18 and June 20-21 for the same time. (June 19 is the Juneteenth holiday.)

College FA teams need your support and patience

Your college financial aid teams and leaders are defying great odds during this historic U.S. Department of Education FAFSA fiasco and deserve all the appreciation, support, and resources you can send their way.

As reported during the WACTC Presidents business meeting last Friday, 24 colleges had already loaded ISIRs in the contingency awarding alternative environment and three colleges had begun awarding aid in ctcLink production.  Since that date, 26 colleges have loaded ISIRs in the contingency awarding alternative environment and four colleges have begun awarding aid to students.

If you haven’t already seen this Inside Higher Education article, ‘The Last Straw’ for Weary Financial Aid Officers,<https://www.insidehighered.com/news/workplace/staff-issues/2024/05/31/financial-aid-officers-are-burnt-out-after-fafsa-fiasco?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=20de25294b-DNU_2021_COPY_02&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-20de25294b-237244581&mc_cid=20de25294b&mc_eid=1702cd723a> please take time to read it. A recent survey<https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2024/05/09/report-half-financial-aid-officers-likely-switch-jobs>  by the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources found that over half of financial aid professionals are likely to switch jobs in the next year. Many colleges have a staff of fewer than five financial aid officers; a handful lost all their staff and had to outsource the office’s work<https://www.insidehighered.com/news/workplace/staff-issues/2023/12/05/colleges-outsource-financial-aid-offices-amid-staffing>  to a third party.

FAFSA milestones ahead

·                  June 4 and June 5, 2024

o        The FA community has been invited to attend FA PRP Q&A Sessions to review changes the user will experience in financial aid once the Campus Solutions FA PeopleSoft Release Patchsets (PRPs) upgrade is implemented the evening of June 6.

§     Campus Solutions Financial Aid PRP 1.3-2.6 Overview - June 2024<https://www.sbctc.edu/resources/documents/colleges-staff/it-support/erp/ctclink-accessibility/campus-solutions-fa-prp-1.3-2.6-overview-2024-06.pdf> 

§     Campus Solutions 24-25 Financial Aid PRP Accessibility Overview – June 2024<https://www.sbctc.edu/resources/documents/colleges-staff/it-support/erp/ctclink-accessibility/campus-solutions-fa-prp-2425-accessibility-update-overview-2024-06.pdf>

·                  Thursday, June 6, 2024

o        Financial Aid staff have been advised to cancel all recurring or prescheduled processes and jobs that they have scheduled in ctcLink no later than 3 p.m. Financial Aid users will refer to the Process Take-Down Instructions QRG<https://ctclinkreferencecenter.ctclink.us/m/81602/l/1468473-process-take-down-instructions> for detailed instructions.

o        SBCTC Application Services teams will take down the FA portion of the system at 4 p.m. to move all the latest PRPs from Oracle into production and FA Support will conduct final readiness tests.

·                  Monday, June 10, 2024

o        Colleges get access to the updated system and will begin loading ISIRs during the support session. To prepare, college FA officers were asked to read the PowerPoint slides distributed May 24 to the FA Support listserv<https://www.sbctc.edu/resources/documents/blogs/ctclink-connect/loading-isirs-2024-06-10.pdf>. While this information was covered during the Aid Year Rollover sessions, colleges are asked to read instructions specific to June 10.

·                  Week of June 10 and, if needed, week of June 17, 2024

o        ctcLink Financial Aid Support team will deliver hands-on financial aid support sessions for colleges.

o        Please be advised there is no set agenda for these support sessions. We are approaching this as a "go-live" event, and it is crucial for all Financial Aid staff to attend. The sessions will cover essential information needed to proceed with loading ISIRs, utilizing checklists, creating budgets, and managing the packaging and awarding of students for the 2024-2025 academic year.

Oracle PRP Testing Progress

FA Support is currently working on the latest release of bugs from Oracle to address some of the known issues already presented in previous PRPs.

There will continue to be adjustments from the Department of Education (ED) and requisite coding changes from Oracle, so this effort will be ongoing as FA Support waits for further releases from Oracle.

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
sbctc.edu<https://www.sbctc.edu/> • Twitter: @SBCTCWashington<https://twitter.com/SBCTCWashington> • Facebook: @WASBCTC<https://www.facebook.com/wasbctc/>

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