Posted Date:August 29, 2017
| Author: | John Kane, Acting Service Director, Program Management, Federal Student Aid |
Subject: eCampus-Based Transition #1 - Preliminary Information: eCampus-Based Functions to Move to COD System in 2018
As part of our ongoing effort to improve efficiency and simplify our Title IV systems and processes, Federal Student Aid has identified an opportunity to retire the stand-alone eCampus-Based (eCB) System and implement a new solution within the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) System. As a result, we will begin the transition of processing functions for the Campus-Based programs to the COD System in spring 2018 with full functionality expected for the Fiscal Operations Report and Application to Participate (FISAP) cycle in September 2018.
In this announcement, we would like to provide the community with information about our high-level implementation plans for the eCB transition. Most importantly, we want to make clear that schools will experience no change in Campus-Based processing until 2018. Schools will continue to access the current eCB System for the 2018-2019 FISAP (due September 29, 2017) and for edit corrections (due December 15, 2017).
It is important to note that this transition is a consolidation of the Title IV processing platforms, intending to modernize the look and feel of Campus-Based processing through the same online interface as Direct Loan and Pell Grant processing. Some key points:
- There will be no change in the Campus-Based data reporting process or content.
- It will not require a schema change or student-level origination and disbursement records for Campus-Based awards in the COD System.
- There will be no change to the current methodology of calculating Campus-Based awards to schools.
eCB System to COD System – Transition Plan Summary
We plan to transition eCB processing functions to the COD System over the course of 2018 – the initial system implementation will be in spring 2018 with additional work occurring through fall 2018.
Authorized users will log in to the COD System and navigate to a new Campus-Based area of the COD Web Site. The new Campus-Based area will allow users to perform the functions that are in the current eCB System. While the website and platform for eCB processing functions will change, we plan to keep the methodology of those functions as similar as possible to current processes.
As we move through the transition project, we will provide operational guidance and updates through Electronic Announcements posted to the Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) website.
High-Level Transition Timeline
Spring 2018 – Underlying eCB system infrastructure added to COD System. This is a “laying the groundwork” phase during which we build the eCB system infrastructure within the COD System framework.
Spring 2018 – Fall 2018 – User access transition and eCB functions become available. eCB System users will begin the process to gain access to the COD System, if they don’t already have COD System access. Specific instructions about user access and how and when users will need to transition to the COD System will be provided in spring 2018.
We appreciate the community’s support as we begin this transition.
Additional Information
We understand that schools will have questions about this transition and, as noted above, more information will be posted as we finalize our transition plans. Schools should continue to monitor the IFAP website for additional eCB Transition information in 2018. We also are planning an interest session at the 2017 Federal Student Aid Training Conference this fall.