| PublicationDate: 3/3/98 Summary: EDCAPS/GAPS Conversion Postponed Author: CSB - SFA Customer Support Branch Posted March 3, 1998 The following is a letter from the U.S. Department of Education's Chief Fiscal Officer concerning a delay in the implementation of GAPS. There will be more information on this subject forthcoming tomorrow. ******************************************************************* March 2, 1998 Dear Chief Financial Officer: Effective immediately, the U. S. Department of Education has postponed the conversion, communicated in our January 21, 1998 letter, of the Education Central Automated Processing System (EDCAPS) Grant Administration and Payment System (GAPS). The Department's Payment Management System (PMS) continues to be available to process payments for your organization. We realize your organization may have drawn down funds for the two week conversion period in anticipation of our GAPS conversion. Your organization will not be penalized for excess cash related to these advance draw downs, however, it will be required to comply with the regulations for amounts drawn down subsequent to March 2, 1998. We urge you to learn about our new process on the GAPS training website which is available so you can familiarize yourself with the payment request process. This training website is located at http://gapsweb.ed.gov/training. The Department of Education Payee's Guide is also available at http://gapsweb.ed.gov/training. The guide will provide detailed instructions on all new GAPS processes. If your organization is not Internet capable, you may also contact Sandra Rush at (202) 401-2102 to request a hard copy. The Department looks forward to servicing its recipients through the new payment system and streamlining many of the procedural and reporting requirements. We appreciate your patience and cooperation during the transition period. We will provide you with more detailed information once we have finalized the GAPS conversion schedule. You may also obtain further information by accessing the Department's home page at http://www.ed.gov/offices/OCFO or calling your Account Representative. Finally, a hot line is being established to provide assistance and will be available starting on March 9, 1998. The Toll Free Hot Line Telephone Number is 1-888-336-8930. Sincerely, Donald Rappaport cc: Grantee Project Directors |