| Publication Date: September 3, 2008 Author: William Leith, Acting General Manager, Application, Operations and Delivery Services, Federal Student Aid Summary: CCRAA Operational Implementation Guidance (CPS, COD System, and EDESuite) - Implementation of Additional 2008-2009 COD System Functionality Posted on 09-03-2008 During the period September 26-27, 2008, we plan to update the 2008-2009 Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) System with functionality that supports Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant reporting functions as well as an enhancement to COD Web site password requirements. In addition to the implementation of the new functionality, we plan to perform a hardware upgrade for the COD Reports area of the COD Web site during the period September 25-28, 2008. Note: In two other Electronic Announcements posted on September 3, 2008, we provide comprehensive information related to activities and deadlines that coincide with the COD System implementation and reporting hardware upgrade. These announcements are about the September 30, 2008 end of the Federal fiscal year and the September 30, 2008 deadline for 2007-2008 ACG, National SMART Grant, and Pell Grant awards. Schools should refer to both Electronic Announcements to ensure that 1) all necessary reports are obtained and 2) all applicable 2007-2008 ACG, National SMART Grant, and Pell Grant origination, disbursement, and change records are submitted and accepted prior to the outages. In this announcement, we provide the following important information related to the implementation: - COD Report, Batch Processing, and Web Site Suspension and Outage Information
- COD System Processing Function Enhancements and Modifications
- Contact Information
We appreciate your patience and understanding as we complete these important activities. COD Report, Batch Processing, and Web Site Suspension and Outage Information In order to install the necessary system and Web site changes, the following suspensions and outages will occur: Reports - The COD Reports area of the COD Web site will be unavailable from 3:00 A.M. (ET) on Thursday, September 25, 2008 until 11:00 P.M. (ET) on Sunday, September 28, 2008. During this period, a school will not be able to access reports through its COD Reporting NewsBox.
- Daily reports will be sent to a school’s Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG) mailbox and available in the COD Reports area of the COD Web site (as applicable) according to the following schedule:
For Thursday, September 25, 2008 – Sent/Available Thursday, September 25, 2008 For Friday, September 26, 2008 – Sent/Available Monday, September 29, 2008 For Monday, September 29, 2008 – Sent/Available Tuesday, September 30, 2008 - Data requests submitted via the COD Web site or batch processing will be sent to a school’s SAIG mailbox according to the following schedule:
Submitted Thursday, September 25, 2008 – Sent Thursday, September 25, 2008 Submitted before 8:00 P.M. (ET) Friday, September 26, 2008 – Sent Sunday, September 28, 2008 Submitted after 8:00 P.M. (ET) Saturday, September 27, 2008 through Monday, September 29, 2008 – Sent Tuesday, September 30, 2008 Batch Processing - COD batch processing will be suspended from 8:00 P.M. (ET) on Friday, September 26, 2008 until 8:00 P.M. (ET) on Saturday, September 27, 2008. Records submitted during this period will be held and processed after 8:00 P.M. (ET) on Saturday, September 27, 2008.
- As explained in the announcement about the September 30, 2008 end of the Federal fiscal year, interruptions related to the end of Federal fiscal year processing will impact how t he COD System will process financial data and when schools can obtain funds for the Federal student aid programs. These interruptions coincide with our implementation period and are reiterated in this announcement to ensure that schools prepare accordingly.
During the period September 26, 2008 through October 1, 2008, the COD System will accept Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG), Federal Pell Grant (Pell Grant), National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent Grant (National SMART Grant), TEACH Grant, and William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) records. However, after 10:00 A.M. (ET) on Friday, September 26, 2008, CFL changes (as a result of actual disbursements) and funding will not be processed by G5 (formerly GAPS) until Thursday, October 2, 2008. All actual disbursements with a disbursement date from September 26, 2008 through October 2, 2008 must be received by the COD System no later than 10:00 A.M. (ET) on Friday, September 26, 2008, and subsequently accepted by the COD System, in order for them to be included in the funds available for drawdown prior to the shutdown. Disbursements submitted by the deadline but not subsequently accepted, disbursements submitted after the deadline, and disbursements with a disbursement date after October 2, 2008 will be processed and funded after G5 re-opens on October 2, 2008. Web Sites - The COD Web site will be unavailable from 8:00 P.M. (ET) on Friday, September 26, 2008 until 8:00 P.M. (ET) on Saturday, September 27, 2008.
An individual starting the process by 7:00 P.M. (ET) on September 26, 2008 will be able to complete his or her MPN before the Web site becomes unavailable. An individual attempting to access the Web site after the cutoff time will see a Web site maintenance message and will not be able to start the process or retrieve an existing MPN. An individual starting the process by 7:00 P.M. (ET) on September 26, 2008 will be able to complete his or her ATS before the Web site becomes unavailable. An individual attempting to access the Web site after the cutoff time will see a Web site maintenance message and will not be able to start the process or retrieve an existing ATS. COD System Processing Function Enhancements and Modifications As explained above, during the period September 26-27, 2008, we will update the 2008-2009 COD System with functionality that supports TEACH Grant reporting functions as well as an enhancement to COD Web site password requirements. Additional information about these enhancements is provided below. TEACH Grant System-Generated Reports for Schools Through previous communications, including a June 19, 2008 Electronic Announcement posted on the IFAP Web site, we have informed schools that after the September 26-27, 2008 implementation a school that participates in the TEACH Grant Program will receive the following system‑generated TEACH Grant reports: - Multiple Reporting Record (MRR) (automatically generated by the COD System when concurrent enrollment occurs)
- Pending Disbursement List
- Inactive Grant Report
- SSN, Name, DOB Change Report
- School Account Statement (SAS) Report
Note to EDExpress Users: On January 4, 2009, we plan to post EDExpress for Windows 2008-2009, Release 5.0 that supports TEACH Grant reporting functions. The updated EDExpress software will allow a school to import all available TEACH Grant reports. We encourage all TEACH Grant schools to refer to the TEACH Grant report information in the 2008-2009 COD Technical Reference. Detailed information about these reports (including business rules, record layouts, and examples) is available in Volume VI, Section 8 of the 2008-2009 COD Technical Reference. The message classes in which these reports will be sent to a school’s SAIG mailbox are fully outlined in Volume II, Section 2 of the 2008-2009 COD Technical Reference. Important notes about the September 26-27, 2008 implementation of TEACH Grant reports are as follows: - After the implementation, the newly available reports will be first generated for a school in accordance with the business rules for each report outlined in the 2008-2009 COD Technical Reference.
- The COD Reports area of the COD Web site will be updated to include a link for TEACH Grant reports. The three available report links will be Direct Loan, Pell (which includes ACG, National SMART Grant, and Pell Grant reports), and TEACH. A school that wants to access its TEACH Grant reports via the COD Web site will click on the TEACH link.
- The data request version of the TEACH Grant MRR will not be available via COD Web site request until March 2009.
- The TEACH Grant School Account Statement (SAS) Report will be sent to a school’s SAIG mailbox in Comma-Delimited format on a monthly basis. The SAS Report is similar to a bank statement and includes cash and disbursement information for the school as recorded in the COD System. The school may use the monthly SAS Report to reconcile TEACH Grant records and funding.
The COD System implementation for the 2009-2010 Award Year is scheduled for March 2009. After that implementation, the following TEACH Grant report functionality will be available: - A school will receive a system-generated ATS Discharge Report.
- A school will be able to request a TEACH Grant MRR via the COD Web site.
- A school will be able to request a TEACH Grant Rebuild File via the COD Web site for the purpose of rebuilding a record or records.
Note to EDExpress Users: In March 2009, we will post EDExpress for Windows 2009-2010, Release 2.0. This release will support all available TEACH Grant functionality. COD Web Site Passwords As part of our ongoing initiatives to ensure that data contained in the COD System is secure and accessed only by authorized users, we will implement an enhancement to COD Web site password requirements. The enhanced requirements will result in more robust passwords. The first time password creation or change is required by an authorized COD Web site user after the implementation, he or she will be presented with the enhanced password requirements and required to create a new compliant password. If the user needs assistance in creating a new compliant password when prompted to do so, he or she can contact the COD School Relations Center. Contact Information If you have any questions about this announcement, contact the COD School Relations Center at 800/474-7268 for Grants or 800/848-0978 for Direct Loans. You may also e-mail CODSupport@acs-inc.com. |
