Publication Date: April 10, 2002
DCL ID: ANN 02-03
This letter announces a two-day workshop on Tools for Ensuring Program Integrity.
April 2002
ANN-02-03
SUMMARY: This letter announces a two-day workshop on Tools for Ensuring Program Integrity.
Dear Partner:
FSA University is pleased to announce Tools for Ensuring Program Integrity, a two-day workshop that will be offered in 75 locations nationwide between May 29 and July 31, 2002. This important training program is recommended for all financial aid administrators (FAAs) who have direct responsibility for awarding and disbursing aid to students.
What will the workshop cover?
The first day of this training focuses on a variety of topics that are critical in ensuring that student aid is awarded correctly. In addition to identifying the various electronic tools available to assist you, we will cover areas such as resolving troublesome CPS eligibility edits, using the NSLDS Transfer Monitoring process, reviewing your verification policy, and using Quality Assurance tools to enhance your verification process. We will navigate the Schools' Portal website, and introduce you to the FSA Assessment website, which helps you assess the effectiveness of your school policies and procedures. For more experienced FAAs, this part of the training will be something of a refresher course, but all the topics covered are essential to the continuing good management of student aid processes.
Day Two will introduce you to the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) system. The COD system will be operational in May, 2002 and will be used by all schools for the 2002-2003 award year. This new system of reporting awards and receiving funds offers simplicity of reporting, increased efficiency of managing the funds, and increased access to your institution's data. You will learn how COD will impact the work that you and your business office do on a daily basis. We will be discussing the administrative and funding options you have with the COD system and what you need to be thinking about in order to fully implement the system at your school. You will also learn about the changes to the Pell Overpayment Project (POP) and new student and school identifiers
When, where, and how long are the workshops?
The Tools for Ensuring Program Integrity workshops will begin May 29 and continue through July 31, 2002. Twenty-five workshops will be held in the Regional Training Facilities, and 50 are being arranged at schools.
Each day's workshop begins at 9:00 a.m. and ends near 4:30 p.m., with appropriate breaks and a one-hour lunch break.
How do I register for the workshops?
Each workshop is limited to 50 people per workshop so registration is first-come, first-served. If you register and then are unable to attend, please cancel so that someone else may take your place. If FSA University changes or cancels a workshop, we'll notify you by e-mail.
To register, go to http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/fsa/index.html We're very pleased to announce that we have a new registration system to better serve your needs--we will be asking you to create an ID and password that you'll always use to logon to the system, and we will also request your OPE ID number. After we collect this information, we'll retain the data and will not require it each time you register for a course. The new system also allows you to search the course offerings, and it will retain your personal registration and transcript information.
If you need help with the registration process, call (202) 377-3941 or e-mail mailto:SFAInternetregistration@ed.gov. The training is free, but you must arrange and pay for your own transportation, meals and lodging.
Thank you for your interest in Federal Student Aid and in FSA University training. We look forward to your participation in our workshops and hope you will find them useful.
Sincerely,
Anne Teresa
Director, FSA University