| PublicationDate: 10/28/99 Summary: Year 2000 Day One Plans for CPS Author: PSS - Program Systems Service Posted on October 28, 1999 To: EDE Destination Points From: U.S. Department of Education Re: Year 2000 Day One Plans for CPS Date: October 28, 1999 This message explains the Year 2000 (Y2K) Day One plans for the Central Processing System (CPS) and the scheduled outages resulting from these plans. What We Are Planning The Department of Education (ED) had the CPS conduct tests to ensure it is Year 2000 compliant and develop contingency plans in case the date change prevents processing from occurring. The contingency plans ensure CPS will continue processing if (1) the Multiple Data Entry (MDE) contractor can not process data; (2) one or more matching agencies can not process the CPS data; and (3) the CPS can not calculate a correct EFC. As part of the Y2K planning process, ED and its contractors have developed Y2K Day One plans. Day One is January 1, 2000, and the details of the plan are listed below: 1. CPS will process data as usual on December 30, 1999 and then shut down for the holiday on December 31, 1999. Processing will occur at the normal times on December 30th. 2. The Virtual Data Center (VDC) where CPS is housed will take full system back ups prior to 11:59PM ET, December 31, 1999. The VDC plans to shut down all processes on the CPS computer and monitor the date change. On January 1, 2000, the hardware and the system software will be verified to ensure all are running properly. 3. On Monday, January 3, 2000, CPS resumes production. CPS personnel will carefully monitor each processing step and review the output to ensure the results are accurate. We believe no problems will be found and production will run smoothly. However, if any problems are found, production will be stopped so the system can be fixed and tested. If production is stopped, you will be notified by a message sent via Title IV WAN, and posted on IFAP and SFAtech. The monitoring and review takes time, so CPS may only process four (4) times during the week of 1/3/00. If that occurs, you will be notified via message. How This Will Affect You 1. You can expect to receive ISIRs by midnight on December 30, 1999. The next ISIRs will be sent to you by midnight January 4, 2000. If production is halted or the monitoring takes longer than anticipated, a message will be sent indicating when you can expect your next ISIR batch. 2. You can expect CPS to pick up your batches by 4:00AM CT on December 30, 1999. The next time CPS will pick up batches will be 4:00AM CT on January 3, 2000. If production is halted or the monitoring takes longer than anticipated, a message will be sent indicating when you can expect your batches to be picked up. 3. CPS On-Line Query will be unavailable starting at 12:01AM ET December 31, 1999. It will be available again starting January 2, 2000 at 12:01AM ET. 4. The 1999-2000 Renewal Application on the Web (ROTW) and Corrections on the Web (COTW) will be unavailable from 11:30PM ET on 12/30/99 through 12:01 AM ET on January 2, 2000. A message has been posted on the FAFSA on the Web (FOTW) site regarding this outage and the message will also display if a student tries to access the site during the outage. Once the site is backed up, students will be able to access it as normal. 5. The 1999-2000 FOTW and the 1999-2000 FAFSA Express download sites will be available the entire weekend of 12/31/99. 6. The PIN site will be available the entire weekend of 12/31/99. 7. The Federal Student Aid Information Center will not be taking calls on Friday, December 31, 1999 (due to the holiday) but will be available during their normal hours on December 30, 1999 and January 3, 2000. This applies both the toll free number (800-433-3243) and the toll number (319-337-5665). If You Have Any Questions About This Message If you have questions about the Central Processing System Y2K plans, please call CPS Customer Service at 1-800-330-5947, option 2. |