Bulletin ID
DLB - 97 - 13
| PublicationDate: 4/1/97 BulletinID: DLB - 97 - 13 April 1997 DLB-97-13 SUMMARY: This letter contains interim guidance regarding the Quality Assurance component of the Direct Loan Program. REFERENCE: For further assistance, please refer to the 1997-98 Direct Loan Quality Assurance Planning Guide which is included in the 1997-98 Direct Loan Training Guide and will be included in the 1997-98 Direct Loan School Guide (available soon). You may also refer to the 1997-98 EDExpress 'On-line User's Guide" Dear Colleague: Section 484 of the HEA of 1965, as amended, requires that institutions participating in the Direct Loan Program will " ... provide for the implementation of a quality assurance system, as established by the Secretary and developed in consultation with institutions of higher education, to ensure that the institution is complying with program requirements and meeting program objectives." The U.S. Department of Education (ED) believes that the Direct Loan program represents an opportunity to build quality assurance (QA) processes into a student aid program from its inception at your institution in order to maintain program integrity and maximize service to students. To this end, institutions are encouraged to use self- assessments to examine their procedures and take action on an ongoing basis to strengthen areas of vulnerability. Problems can be detected and corrected before they become institutional liabilities in audits and program reviews. A Quality Assurance program is based on the concepts of continuous improvement, which uses: - Strategic planning; - Employee involvement; - Structured problem solving; - Performance measures; and - Corrective action. DIRECT LOAN QUALITY ASSURANCE With the advent of the Direct Loan Program, ED sought community input into developing the Direct Loan Quality Assurance component. The initial guide has now expired. While the Department works with schools to develop a new guide, incorporating that which we have learned during our first three years, this letter serves to provide guidance to insure institutions' compliance with the statute. During this transitional period, the Department will not mandate the method by which schools meet the Quality Assurance requirement. Instead, the Department provides tools to assist institutions in conducting qualitative quality assurance activities for Direct Loans in the Direct Loan QA Planning Guide (QA Planning Guide) and by providing quantitative MEASUREMENT TOOLS as a module in the EDExpress software. These tools were developed to ease implementation for institutions that are new to quality assurance. The QA Planning Guide serves as an OPTIONAL technical assistance document for a Direct Loan QA system and contains a five-step quality assurance model and quality assurance worksheets. An interim version of The QA Planning Guide will be available to institutions during Year 4 Direct Loan training which begins in May 1997. Schools may also obtain a copy by contacting the Regional Direct Loan Client Account Management Group using the enclosed QA contact listing. THE MEASUREMENT TOOLS in the EDExpress software consists of additional OPTIONAL reports that institutions may use for monitoring current operations, procedures, and program status. Institutions can meet the QA requirement in the Direct Loan Program by conducting any one of the following options: - Completing the Direct Loan Management Assessment contained in the QA Planning Guide appendix and implementing corrective actions; - Completing the Title IV Wide Management Assessment contained in the QA Planning Guide and implementing corrective actions; - Running the Measurement Tools contained in the EDExpress software and assessing the results in order to implement corrective actions; - Utilizing the NASFAA Self-Assessment Guide; or - Utilizing any comparable quality assurance methodology or analysis. NOTE: Institutions participating in BOTH the Department's Quality Assurance Program (QAP) AND the Direct Loan Program are not required to complete the Direct Loan Management Assessment or adopt any additional self-assessment. These institutions will complete the Title IV Management Assessment worksheets prescribed by the Department's QA Program. Although some institutions may be worried about implementing a QA system, it gives institutions the opportunity to develop resource- effective and institution-specific procedures that: - Support integrity in the Direct Loan Program; and - Are tailored to an individual institution's characteristics and needs. BASIC CONCEPTS OF CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT As in the Direct Loan QA system provided in The Direct Loan Quality Assurance Planning Guide, your quality assurance system should be based on accepted quality assurance practices that focus on program integrity and customer needs. For example, the Direct Loan QA system consists of a five-step model. The steps are: - STEP ONE: Setting the Directions: Making a realistic and good faith effort to maintain a program focused on continuous improvement by involving top institutional managers; planning and designing an implementation schedule; and focusing on improving service to students; - STEP TWO: Involving Staff: Seeking broad-based involvement of staff at all levels and across all offices to develop and be committed to creative solutions; - STEP THREE: Assessing Operations: Using the Direct Loan Program Management Worksheet (included in the QA Planning Guide) to evaluate operations and prioritize areas of vulnerability that need to be addressed; - STEP FOUR: Taking Action: Using the Management Action Plan Work Worksheet (included in the QA Planning Guide) to plan corrective activities and monitor progress; and - STEP FIVE: Reviewing Progress: Performing on-going assessments; focusing on areas in which changes were introduced or where federal requirements have changed. The steps are structured, progressive, interrelated, and cyclical. Each step builds on the step that precedes it. Additional information in the QA Planning Guide will help schools establish their own QA systems for Direct Loans by providing them with the information necessary to: - Assess how well their systems are performing; and - Decide where to focus resources to improve performance. MEASUREMENT TOOLS IN EDEXPRESS SOFTWARE Included in the EDExpress software are Measurement Tools designed to assist the school with a quantitative self-evaluation of its Direct Loan Program policies and procedures. The Measurement Tools consist of a set of reports that are a part of the Direct Loan Program QA component. These reports provide valuable information for schools to use for monitoring current operations, procedures, and program status. The school decides which reports to use, when to run them, and what action to take as a result. After taking action to improve the process the reports can be used to review the program as part of ongoing, continuous improvement. REPORTING There is no reporting requirement to ED on direct loan quality assurance activities. However, institutions should maintain documentation regarding quality assurance system activities in a QA Master File at the institution in order to establish compliance with the statute. This file must be made available to Department reviewers or auditors, in the case of a program review or audit. Inquiries about the Direct Loan Quality Assurance requirement should be directed to the Regional Direct Loan Client Account Management Group that serves your institution. General information about quality assurance principles and activities, should be directed to the Performance and Accountability Improvement Branch (PAIB). You can contact the Regional Direct Loan Client Account Management Group and/or the PAIB using the enclosed list of QA contacts. We appreciate your continued support of the Direct Loan Program. Sincerely, Joe L. McCormick, Chair Direct Loan Task Force Enclosure Direct Loan Client Account Management Group Regional Offices and Quality Assurance Contacts REGION I (MA, ME, NH, VT, RI, CT) 10 Causeway Street, 3rd Floor - Room 341, Boston, MA 02222 Gene Greene, DL Quality Assurance Contact PHONE (617) 565-6911 FAX (617) 565-8636 REGION II (NY, NJ, PR, VI) 75 Park Place, 12th Floor, New York, NY 10007 Rogelio Carvallo, DL Quality Assurance Contact PHONE (212) 264-8012 FAX (212) 264-1666 REGION III (PA, MD, VA, WV, DE, DC) 3535 Market Street, Room 2304, Philadelphia, PA 19104-3309 Joe Kern (215) 596-1717, DL Quality Assurance Contact PHONE (215) 596-1716 FAX (215) 596-1726 REGION IV (GA, FL, AL, MS, TN, KY, SC, NC) 61 Forsyth Street, SW - Room 18T20-A, Atlanta, GA 30303 John Pierson (404)562-6269 and Brian Barber (404)562-6262 DL QA Contacts PHONE (404) 562-6259 FAX (404) 562-6283 REGION V (IL, WI, MI, IN, OH) 111 North Canal, Room 830, Chicago, IL 60606-7206 PHONE (312) 886-8766 FAX (312) 886-6737 REGION VI (TX, OK, LA, AR, NM) 1200 Main Tower, Room 2150, Dallas, TX 75202-4325 PHONE (214) 767-9607 FAX (214) 767-9604 REGION VII (MO,KS, NE, IA) 7505 Tiffany Springs Parkway Suite 500, Kansas City, MO 64153-1367 Pam Cannavan, DL Quality Assurance Contact PHONE (816) 880-4090 FAX (816) 891-8713 REGION VIII (CO, WY, MT, UT, SD, ND, MN) 1391 N. Speer Boulevard, Suite 800-A, Denver, CO 80204-2512 PHONE (303) 844-3677 FAX (303) 844-5756 REGION IX (CA, AZ, HI, NV) 50 United Nations Plaza, Room 121, San Francisco, CA 94102-4987 Jennifer Anderson, DL Quality Assurance Contact PHONE (415) 437-8843 FAX (415) 437-8852 REGION X (WA, OR, ID, AK) 1000 Second Avenue, Suite 1200, Seattle, WA 98104-1023 Charles (Chuck) Hirman, DL Quality Assurance Contact PHONE (206) 287-9840 FAX (206) 553-0800 PERFORMANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY IMPROVEMENT BRANCH (PAIB) U.S. Department of Education 600 Independence Avenue, S.W., ROB-3, Room 3925 Washington, D.C. 20202 PHONE (202) 260-4788 |