[ctcLinkfinaidsupport] FA Weeklyish Bulletin 01/24/2025

Fri Jan 24 12:46:26 PST 2025

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A Financial Aid Focus

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Resources for Reconciliation

  *   SBCTC ctcLink Accounting Manual | Financial Aid Reconciliation:  ctcLink Accounting Manual | 50.50.60 Financial Aid Reconciliation<https://www.sbctc.edu/colleges-staff/programs-services/accounting-business/clam/student-financials/student-financials-fa-recon>
     *   Sections include:
        *   Who is responsible?
        *   Queries for FA, SF, and GL Account Analysis (FIN)
           *   With detailed pivot table examples!
        *   Drawdown/Billing/Refund Process
        *   Financial Aid Billing and Banking
  *   Fall BAR Session FA to SF Recon:  https://www.sbctc.edu/resources/documents/colleges-staff/commissions-councils/bar/bar-meeting-2024-oct/seattle-fa-sf-recon.pdf
  *   GEN-24-84 NSLDS and Addt'l Identity Verification for 24/25 (Updated Jan 10, 2025):  NSLDS Post-screening & Additional Identity Verification for the 2024-25 Cycle (Updated January 10, 2025) | Knowledge Center<https://fsapartners.ed.gov/knowledge-center/library/electronic-announcements/2024-07-09/nslds-post-screening-additional-identity-verification-2024-25-cycle-updated-january-10-2025>
     *   Post-Screening ISIR functionality will be available by early Spring 2025.  Until that time, FPP will not generate ISIRs for applicants with updated information (Pell LEU, UEH, Loan Aggregates, etc.) as a result of NSLDS post-screening.

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Query Corner

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In Case You Missed It:

  *   From Connie's 1/13/2025 email:

We had a college user notify us of an issue with query QCS_FA_ASSIGN_PKG_VARS_EI, used to pop update packaging variables as part of the FLF Service Indicator Process.

Issue: When packaging variables are manually updated & Var Num1 field is 0.00 (no enrollment for Fall term), Var Num 1-4 values are updated to 1.00. This overwrote the manual adjustments that were made and may have caused the FLF service indicator to get assigned to students whose aid was already adjusted.

Resolution: The query was modified to add criteria to look for a value greater than zero entered in Var Num1 or Var Num2 or Var Num3 or Var Num4 field of Assign Packaging Variable page.

We apologize for any additional work this may have caused in reviewing student awards & enrollment.

  *   The following queries have been updated to include the student email address:
     *   QCS_FA_POST_WITHDRAWN
     *   CTC_FA_WITHDRAWN_AID_AWARDS
     *   CTC_FA_WITHDRAWN_UNOFF_AID_AWD
     *   We also removed the middle name field from CTC_FA_WITHDRAWN_AID_AWARDS & CTC_FA_WITHDRAWN_UNOFF_AID_AWD to align with the format of the QCS_FA_POST_WITHDRAWN query.

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Financial Aid Learning Opportunities

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Calendar invites with Webex log in information already sent out to the ctcLinkfinaidsupport list serv:

Session:  Fin Aid Training:  PLUS Loan Refresher

When:  Tuesday, 01/28/2025, 9:00AM - 10:30AM

Audience:  New Financial Aid staff (and current staff needing a refresher) who are responsible for processing PLUS loans in ctcLink

Presenters:  Kelly Forsberg, FA Functional Trainer

Objectives:

  *   Understand awarding the PLUS Loan
     *   performing a credit check
     *   brief discussion about using loan request form vs. PLUS Loan application on studentaid.gov
  *   Understand how to establish the Parent Record in ctcLink
  *   Understand how to establish a student parent relationship
  *   Understand how to link the parent record to the PLUS Loan record
  *   Understand how to work with PLUS-denied students by awarding addt'l unsub

Session:  Intermediate Fin Aid Training:  Loan Exit Counseling Processing

When:  Tuesday, 02/18/2025, 9:00AM - 10:30AM

Audience:  Loan processing staff who are responsible for managing exit counseling notifications and email bounces

Presenters:  Kelly Forsberg, FA Functional Trainer

Objectives:

  *   Understand the difference between the emailed Loan Exit Counseling notification and the paper print out Loan Exit Packet options
  *   Understand how to work email bounces using Communication Management
  *   Understand how to test Loan Exit communications before sending them through Communication Generation
  *   Understand how to print batch Loan Exit Packets using Communication Generation

Session:  Fin Aid Work Session:  COD Show & Tell

When:  Thursday, 02/27/2025, 1:00PM - 3:00PM

Audience:  Only Financial Aid Staff with COD access, geared towards newer users

Presenters:  Guest Speaker: Chloe Hays, Assistant Director of Financial Aid (Lake Washington Institute of Technology) & Kelly Forsberg, (SBCTC) ctcLink FA Functional Trainer
Join your community colleagues to learn from our valued FA community member, Chloe Hays, Asst. Director from LWIT in a FA community Show & Tell on how to use COD to find student awards, MPNs, batch file information, PLUS loan batches, and all sort of other COD fun in a system YOU in FA need to perform your jobs.

Session:  Fin Aid Training:  ISIR Processing Refresher

When:  Tuesday, 03/18/2025, 9:00AM - 10:30AM

Audience:  New Financial Aid Staff (and staff who need a refresher) who are responsible for ISIR processing in the 25/26 AY

Presenters:  Kelly Forsberg, FA Functional Trainer

Objectives:

  *   Understand how to set/update User Defaults for the new AY
  *   Understand the steps in ISIR Processing
     *   Upload/download process
     *   FA Inbound
     *   Process Imported ISIRs
  *   Understand how to load ISIRs using the File List Driven process and the Single File process

Session:  Fin Aid Training:  ISIR Correction Fundamentals

When:  Tuesday, 03/25/2025, 9:00AM - 10:30AM

Audience:  New Financial Aid Staff (and staff who need a refresher) who are responsible for ISIR processing and file corrections in ctcLink for the 25/26 AY

Presenters:  Kelly Forsberg, FA Functional Trainer

Objectives:

  *   Understand how to make ISIR Corrections on specific scenarios
     *   Making Corrections on an Alien Registration Number
     *   Processing Dependency Override/Homeless Youth Determinations
     *   Processing Special Conditions/Special Circumstances/EFC Adjustment Request
  *   Understand how to Process ISIR Corrections in ctcLink using the following steps:
     *   Process ISIR Corrections
     *   Create Federal Data File
     *   Upload/Download File Process

Session:  Fin Aid Work Session:  EdConnect Show & Tell

When:  Thursday, 03/27/2025, 1:00PM - 3:00PM

Audience:  Only Financial Aid Staff with EdConnect access, geared towards newer users

Presenters:  Guest Speaker: Lorena Saucedo, Assistant Director of Financial Aid (Tacoma Community College) & Kelly Forsberg, (SBCTC) ctcLink FA Functional Trainer

Join your community colleagues to learn from our valued FA community member, Lorena Saucedo from TCC in a FA community Show & Tell on how to send/receive files in EdConnect, how to identify varying message class files, what to look for and just general functionality in a system YOU in FA need to perform your jobs.

Did you not receive a calendar invite?  As a reminder, you can go to the SBCTC Calendar<https://www.sbctc.edu/calendar> (filter by Calendar ctcLink Learning Opportunities > Financial Aid) to get the information and block out your own calendar for this time.

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Team Updates

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FA Support Team

  *   The Campus Solutions Financial Aid PRP 1.2 upgrade will be implemented in production on the evening of January 30th. SBCTC has created a supporting document that includes the changes the user will experience once the PRP is implemented.  The overview document is now available on the SBCTC website and can be reached at the following link:

Campus Solutions Financial Aid PRP 1.2 Overview - January 2025<https://www.sbctc.edu/resources/documents/colleges-staff/it-support/erp/ctclink-accessibility/campus-solutions-fa-prp-1.2-overview-2025-01.pdf>

As a reminder, if you are interested in learning more about these changes, SBCTC will host one Q&A session to answer any questions users might have on the following date:

FA PRP 1.2 Q & A Session (THIS SESSION WILL BE RECORDED)
Wednesday, January 29, 2025 10:00 am | 1.5 hours | (UTC-07:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada)
Join Session<https://sbctc.webex.com/sbctc/j.php?MTID=m9ab5128a8e0ea65bae5a2449136408b9>

The Q&A sessions are optional; however, we encourage users who are affected by these changes to attend.

Training Team

  *   Updates to Canvas Training courses and QRGs are ongoing and will be worked up to include screen updates from the 24/25 FAFSA Simplification.  Announcements will be made in Canvas when as the courses are completed.  This work is expected through January.
  *   Updates to Business Processing Guides will be made as time and resources allows.
  *   Trainings are planned out through March 2025.  As Aid Year Rollover (AYRO) progresses through February/March, trainings will be held only 1x a month during the AYRO process.  Once AYRO is completed for all colleges, new trainings will be announced in April.  2025 Trainings after AYRO will be offered twice a month, on Tuesdays at 9AM.

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Just for Fun!

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Today is National Belly Laugh Day!

BELLY LAUGH DAY - January 24, 2025 - National Today<https://nationaltoday.com/belly-laugh-day/>

Laughter fact:  On average, children laugh 300 times a day, while adults laugh only 15-20 times a day.

More laughter facts: 30 Laughing Facts that Will Tickle You | FactRetriever<https://www.factretriever.com/laughing-facts#:~:text=30%20Amusing%20Laughing%20Facts%201%20Humans%20are%20born,burn%20up%20to%2040%20calories.%20...%20More%20items>

How many times have you laughed today?  Do find some joy in your day today by LAUGHING!

TGIF,

~FA Support & Training

[Title: SBCTC logo - Description: Compass]
Kelly Forsberg
ctcLink Functional Trainer | Financial Aid
Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges
kforsberg at sbctc.edu<mailto:kforsberg at sbctc.edu> * o: 360-704-1066
sbctc.edu<https://www.sbctc.edu/> * Twitter: @SBCTCWashington<https://twitter.com/SBCTCWashington> * Facebook: @WASBCTC<https://www.facebook.com/wasbctc/>

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