| PublicationDate: 3/26/98 Summary: Rescheduled Transition from PMS to EDCAPS/GAPS Author: CSB - SFA Customer Support Branch Posted March 31, 1998 EDCAPS Conversion: Please note the following letter from Donald Rappaport, ED's Chief Financial Officer, announcing the conversion from EDPMS to EDCAPS. This letter is being mailed to Chief Financial Officers. The mailing began on Friday, March 27, 1998. Diane Rogers, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Student Financial Assistance, has also sent a letter on the conversion to the Presidents, Financial Aid Directors, and Chief Financial Officers of all Title IV schools. The letter (GEN-98-9) is posted in the "Dear Colleague Letter" section of the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) Bookshelf. ************************************************************************ March 26, 1998 Dear Chief Financial Officer: On March 2, 1998, the U.S. Department of Education (Department) announced a temporary suspension of the conversion from its Payment Management System (PMS) to the Education Central Automated Processing System (EDCAPS), Grants Administration and Payment System (GAPS). The Department has established May 11 and May 13, 1998 as the revised dates for conversion completion. In order to convert recipient data, both the new and old systems will be unavailable from April 24 to May 11 and May 13, 1998 (see below). Recipients will not be able to receive funds during this period, and should plan draw downs accordingly. GAPS availability GAPS will be available to recipients to draw down grant award funds as follows: May 11, 1998, 8 a.m. local time: Recipients east of the Mississippi river May 13, 1998, 8 a.m. local time: Recipients west of the Mississippi river Recipients can request funds by connecting directly to GAPS through the Internet using a Web browser at http://gapsweb.ed.gov or by calling the Departments customer service hotline at 1-888-336-8930. Conversion procedures April 22, 1998 All final requests for ACH payments for all programs, including Direct Loans, must be placed with the Departments Service Bureau (NCS) no later than 3:00 PM EST in order for the payment to be processed prior to conversion to GAPS. NCS will not accept ACH payment requests between 3:00 PM EST April 22, 1998 and 11:00 AM EST May 11, 1998. April 23, 1998 FEDWIRE recipients requesting next day payments must place final payment requests by 6:00 PM EST. No additional FEDWIRE payments will be processed after this date. May 11 and 13, FEDWIRE or ACH users request funds on-line by grant PR/Award 1998 Number by connecting directly to GAPS through the Internet using (see above) a Web browser or by calling the Departments customer service hotline at 1-888-336-8930. Users will use current PMS ID and password to initially log onto GAPS and will be assigned a GAPS user ID and password at that time. These procedures are explained in Enclosure A, GAPS PRODUCTION SYSTEM SECURITY ACCESS FORM. May 15, 1998 A recipient Reconciliation Statement will be mailed listing all activity for open awards as of May 1, 1998. This report should be compared to internal records of awards and expenditures to ensure all grant awards and expenditures were converted to GAPS properly. A separate letter will be mailed explaining procedures for correcting and/or updating the data. DUNS numbers The DUNS number is an identification number for recipients and is part of a government wide project to use single identifiers for recipients of federal funds. Each recipient will be required to have a DUNS number. Recipients can contact Dun and Bradstreet at 1-800-333-0505 to request a new number or to verify an existing number. Training A GAPS training website is available for all recipients at http://gapsweb.ed.gov/training. The Department of Education Payee Guide is also available at http://gapsweb.ed.gov/training. The guide will provide detailed instructions on all GAPS processes. If your organization is not Internet capable, please call the customer hotline at 1-888-336-8930 and a guide will be mailed. Reporting With the implementation of GAPS, recipient reporting using 272s and other forms will be replaced. Instead, recipients will report by ensuring the information contained in the GAPS system, relative to draw downs by award, is accurate expenditure data. Information in GAPS is maintained by award number. Draw downs should be determined based on the anticipated expenditures to be made for a three day or regulatory period. Draw downs should be adjusted periodically to reflect actual expenditures by award. Recipients are responsible for maintaining accurate information in GAPS. This accurate information will replace the past practice of reporting actual expenditures manually to the Department on a periodic basis. Customer service hotline: 1-888-336-8930 The Department has established a hotline, 1-888-336-8930, which will provide technical assistance, answer questions, process payments, and provide any other support for recipients. The Department welcomes your comments and suggestions through this hotline. Additional information is available on the Departments home page at http://www.ed.gov/offices/OCFO. Thank you for your cooperation. Sincerely, Donald Rappaport Enclosure cc: Project Directors |