Use of Electronics in the

Administration of Title IV Aid

Jeff Baker
Program Development Division
Student Financial Assistance

Paul Hill
Office of Chief Information Officer
Student Financial Assistance

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 Session Agenda
H Guide to Getting Started
H Developing a Vision for Your Office
H Steps for Implementing Process
H The Impact of IT on Your Process
H Finding the Resources Available
H On the Horizon
H Understanding the Benefits

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 Use of Electronics
In the Administration
Of Title IV Aid

Guide to Getting Started

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 Developing a Vision for Your Office

Initial Vision “How

“Howcould
couldwewedo
do
Statement things
thingsdifferently?”
differently?”

HWhat
HWhatisisthe
therole
roleof
ofyour
your
office
officeon
oncampus?
campus?
n
n
Overall
Overall HWhat
HWhatdo doyour
yourcustomers
customers
Process
Process expect?
expect?
HWhat
HWhatareareyour
yourlong
longterm
term
goals?
goals?

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Developing a Vision for Your Office

Key Process
Characteristics “How
“Howwill
willititwork?”
work?”

HWill
HWillthe
thecurrent
currentstaffing
staffinglevels
levels
handle
handlethe
thenew
newprocess
processwell?
well?
nnFlow
Flow HWhat
HWhatare
arethe
theminimum
minimumhardware
hardware
nnOutput
Output software
softwarerequirements
requirementsfor foryour
yourFA
FA
nnPerformance
Performance business
businessprocess?
process?
nnOrganization HDo
HDoyou
youhave
havethe
theright
rightteam
teamto to
Organization achieve
achieveyour
yourdesign
designobjectives?
objectives?
nnTechnology
Technology HDo
HDoyou
youhave
havesenior
seniormanagement
management
buy-in?
buy-in?
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 Developing a Vision for Your Office

Performance
Measures and “How
“Howwell
wellwill
willititwork?”
work?”
Objectives
HCan
HCanyou youcomplete
completethe
thebusiness
business
cycle
cyclewhen
whenyou
youwant
wantto?
to?
HHave
HHaveyou youconsidered
consideredthe
the
nnCosts
Costs school
schoolbudget
budgetprocess?
process?
nnQuality
HCan
HCanyou youmeasure
measurekey
keyprocess
process
Quality improvement?
nnCycle improvement?
CycleTime
Time HWhat
HWhatare arethe
thecustomer
customer
nnResponsiveness
Responsiveness requirements?
requirements?
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 Developing a Vision for Your Office

Critical
“What
“Whatthings
thingshave
haveto
togo
go
Success right?”
right?”
Factors
HWill
HWillthe
thetechnology
technologydeliver
deliverthe
the
process
processeffectively?
effectively?
HDo
HDoyou
youhave
havethe
theright
rightpeople
peopleonon
nnPeople
People the
theteam?
team?
nnTechnology
Technology HWill
HWillthe
theproducts
productsbe bedelivered
deliveredonon
nnProducts
Products time?
time?
HWill
HWillthe
thenew
newprocess
processmeet
meetthe
the
customers
customersexpectations?
expectations?
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Developing a Vision for Your Office

Potential
Barriers to “Why
“Whymight
might
Implementation they
theynot
notgo
goright?”
right?”

HAre
HArethe
thestakeholders
stakeholderson onyour
your
Resource campus
campusready
readyfor
forchange?
change?
nnResourceallocation
allocation HAre
nnOrganizational,
HArethe
theimplementation
implementationdates
dates
Organizational, reasonable?
reasonable?
cultural
cultural HDo
HDoyou
youhave
haveaacontingency
contingencyplan?
plan?
nnTechnical
Technical HWhat
HWhatarearethe
thestate,
state,local
localand
and
nnProduct federal
federalrules
rulesor
orpolicies
policiesyou
ProductFactors
Factors you
nnMarket/environment
must
mustconsider?
consider?
Market/environment
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 Steps for Implementing the Process
HIdentify
HIdentifyand
andselect
selectprocesses
processesforforredesign
redesign
HIdentify
HIdentifyenablers
enablersfor fornew
newprocess
processdesign
design
HDefine
HDefinethe
thebusiness
businessstrategy
strategyand
andprocess
processvision
vision
HUnderstand
HUnderstandthe thestructure
structureandandflow
flowofofthe
thecurrent
currentprocess
process
HMeasure
HMeasurethe theperformance
performanceofofthe thecurrent
currentprocess
process
HDesign
HDesignthethenew
newprocess
process
HPrototype
HPrototypethethenew
newprocess
process
HImplement
HImplementthe theprocess
process
HCommunicate
HCommunicateongoingongoingresults
resultsofofthe
theeffort
effort
HBuild
HBuildcommitment
commitmenttoward towardthethesolution
solutionatateach
eachstep
step

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 The Impact of Electronics on Your
Process
HAutomation
HAutomation Eliminate
Eliminatehuman
humanlabor
laborfrom
fromthe
the
process
process
HInformation
HInformation Capture
Captureprocess
processinformation
informationfor for
purposes
purposesofofunderstanding
understanding
HSequence
HSequence Change
Changeprocess
processsequence,
sequence,or orenabling
enabling
parallelism
parallelism
HTracking
HTracking Closely
Closelymonitor
monitorprocess
processstatus
statusand
and
objects
objects
HAnalytical
HAnalytical Improve
Improveanalysis
analysisofofinformation
informationandand
decision
decisionmaking
making

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 The Impact of Electronics on Your
Process
HGeographical
HGeographical Coordinate
Coordinateprocesses
processesacross
acrossdistances
distances

HIntegration
HIntegration Coordination
Coordinationbetween
betweentasks
tasksand
and
processes
processes
HIntellectual
HIntellectual Capture
Captureand
anddistribute
distributeintellectual
intellectual
assets
assets
HConsolidation
HConsolidation Eliminate
Eliminateintermediaries
intermediariesfrom
fromthe
the
process
process

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 Finding the Resources Available

HInformation for Financial Aid Professionals

(IFAP) - www.ifap.ed.gov
HNASFAA - www.nasfaa.org
HThird Party Vendors and Software
Providers
HYour Institutions’ IT Department
HYour Colleagues

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 On the Horizon
H School Portal
H Common Origination and Disbursement
Process
H Notice of Minimum Electronic Capability
requirements
– Letter to Institution Presidents and CEOs

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If I had to shop for a computer
today….
H IBM or fully Compatible
Pentium 600 MHz or better
H 128 MB total memory or more
H 20 GB Hard Drive
H 56 K Modem
H Windows 95 keyboard
H Microsoft compatible mouse
H 32-bit operating System
H Super Video Graphics Adapter
(SVGA) or higher
H Laser Printer capable of printing
standard paper

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 On the Horizon
H School Portal
H Common Origination and Disbursement
Process
H Notice of Minimum Electronic Capability
requirements
– Letter to Institution Presidents and CEOs
H Paperless Promissory Note???

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 On the Horizon
H School Portal
H Common Origination and Disbursement
Process
H Notice of Minimum Electronic Capability
requirements
– Letter to Institution Presidents and CEOs
H Paperless Promissory Note???
H Dear Partner letter on Regulatory
Opportunities for the use of Electronics

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 Use of Electronics
HGov’t Paperwork Elimination Act
HExecutive Orders
HOMB Guidance
HDOJ Guidance/Electronic Signatures
HSFA Objectives
HPartner Initiatives

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 Use of Electronics

HMost of the provisions are neutral or

silent on the use of technology
HWithin the constraints of the
regulatory context, most provisions
in the regulations can, and should,
be read as allowing the use of
electronics
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 Use of Electronics

HUnless specifically prohibited or

conditioned, regulatory provisions
that include such terms as “written”,
“notification”, “submission”,
“transmission”, and other similar
concepts, can be interpreted to allow
the use of electronic technologies

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 Use of Electronics

HRegulatory provisions that require

certification or signature can only be
met using electronics if, (1) the
regulation specifically authorizes it,
or (2) when the Secretary announces
in the Federal Register that a
provision can be met electronically

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Portal -- Version 1.0, Sept. 2000
3 Customizable Home Page for content management
3 Links to all existing SFA sites
3 Integrated search through all open, unsecured
data on SFA sites
3 SFA Calendar of Events
3 SFA Headlines
3 Feedback Mechanism
Sign Sign Sign Sign Sign
On On On On On

NSLDS CPS

RFMS DLOS DLSS

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 School Portal V1.0 Functionality
H Integrated access to existing resources through
meaningful categories:
– Exchange Data
– Check Student Records
– Book Store
– Training & Conferences
– Online Library
– Contact Us
– Program Participation and Funding

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Portal -- Version 2.0 TBD
3 Increased customization
3 Apply content management to IFAP data
3 Single sign-on to operating systems

Single Sign-On

NSLDS CPS

RFMS DLOS DLSS

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 Portal -- Desired Outcome
3 Customization by single user
3 Direct interface with operating systems
3 Access to query, download from
operating systems and data warehouse
3 Ability to create data marts for analysis

Origination and
Student Applicant Data Disbursement
(Pell, Campus-Based,
Direct Loans)

Financial Management

School Eligibility Data Loan Servicing

Data Warehouse

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 Portal Development
H Evolutionary Process
H Use “best available” data during initial years
H Move toward “real-time” data as operational
systems are re-engineered
H School Portal V1.0 - September 30, 2000
– Design/Build during June, July & August with
community
– Test during August & September with community

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Proposed Minimum Browser
Requirements for the Portal
H Netscape 4.5 and above
H Internet Explorer 4.01
Service Pack 2 or higher
H Refer to the minimum
hardware requirements
specified by the
manufacturer for the
operating system and
software
H Still under technical
review
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 On the Horizon, The Goals of COD
H Common Process
– Open process inclusive of FFEL, State Grants, etc.
– Full access to data for those with a right to know
– Best possible source as close to real time as possible
– Pilot for 2002-03 roll-out
H Common Definitions
– Shared data definitions across programs
– Common core processes: originating, reporting, reconciliation
H Best Data
– From best possible source, eliminating redundancies

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 On the Horizon, The Goals of COD
H Easy Access
– Internet-Based
– Leverage latest technology for seamless interfaces
H Edits focused on data integrity/compliance
– Same edits across programs
– Elimination of intra-system edits
H Key functionality
– Access to student history data for those with the “right to
know”
– Access to institutional research data
– Utilization of a common process for all programs

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 Understanding
Understanding the
the Benefits
Benefits
H Achieve high quality, low cycle-time products and
services that fit your environment and satisfy customer
demand
H Take advantage of incentives offered by funding
partners
H Reduce costs and increase efficiency of your employees
and your institution
H Deliver funds to students in a timely manner
H Enhance the coordination and management of the
business process for management, the Financial Aid
Office, and other business units on your campus
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 Understanding
Understanding the
the Benefits
Benefits
H Better leverage technology for short term improvement
activities that are headed in the right long-term
direction
H Increase your flexibility to adapt to evolving customer
demands and meet your competitive goals
H Receive 24 X 7 state of the art web-based interaction
H Develop seamless interfaces for you and for your
students
H Access data real-time

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Questions and Answers

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