# Presentation: 258113

## Tools to Assist You in Processing Aid and Sustaining Compliance

- Ginger Klock
- Michael Cagle
- 2006 NASFAA Conference
- Seattle, WA

## This session will focus on:

- Web tools that can assist your school with _Processing Aid_ more efficiently
- Web tools that can assist your school with _Sustaining Compliance_ with the Title IV programs

**Notes:**
Ginger will cover those that fall under the first bullet (selected functions within FAA Access to CPS Online and R2T4 on the Web).
Mike will cover those that fall under the 2nd bullet (IA Tool and FSA Assessments)

## Some of the “Tools” in FAA Access we will look at today!

**Some of the “Tools” in FAA Access we will look at today!**

**Notes:**
This is the FAA Access to CPS Online Main Menu.  You’ll cover each of the functions that are “circled” in order, with the exception that R2T4 will be discussed prior to IA Tool.

## ISIR Compare

**Notes:**
The ISIR Compare feature is available as part of the Student Inquiry function.  Select Student Inquiry from the main menu and enter a student’s identifiers.  You’ll be taken to the Transactions page, where you’ll see a list of all the transactions for that student.  

The ISIR Compare feature is useful for a number of reasons, but here’s a specific example of how you can use it to help you process aid more efficiently.  Let’s say you’ve packaged all of your students and have completely verified all that were selected.  One day, out of the blue, you receive a new transaction for one of the students that you’ve verified. You determine that the transaction is the result of changes the student made on his own.  How do you know if you should pay on this new transaction, or the one that you’ve already verified?  Simple.  Use the ISIR Compare feature to compare the verified transaction with the new transaction.  You can easily see which fields have changed, allowing you to determine whether the changes were made correctly.

The following slides show screen shots of the ISIR Compare feature.

## Slide 5

**Notes:**
This is the Transactions page 
 If 2 or more transactions exist for a student, you can select ISIR Compare to compare the information on whichever 2 transactions you want   
 Select the 2 transactions by clicking the box in the ISIR Compare column for those that you want to compare, then select “Compare ISIRs”

NOTE: 
 if only 2 transactions exist, you don’t have to check the boxes.  
 The system will automatically select those 2 transactions when you click “Compare ISIRs” 

## Sort by Differences

**Sort by field**

**Sort by Differences**

**Notes:**
The results of the ISIR Compare.  
The default sort order is by ISIR Field.  
 If there is a difference between the fields,  
a “Y” appears in the Difference column.

If you want to change the sort order so that all the fields with differences 
 are grouped together and
 move to the top, click on the “Difference” heading. 

	(go to the next screen) 

## Sorted by Differences

**Sorted by Differences**

**Notes:**
This shows the ISIR Compare results with the data re-sorted 
  all differences at the top (especially helpful when you want to quickly see which fields changed).

If you  want to view one of the transactions, or make corrections to a transaction, 
click on the appropriate “Transaction” heading.  

This will take you to the “Processing Information” section in Student Inquiry.  
From there, use the left navigation bar to:
view different sections of the SAR, 
view/print the SAR by selecting Print Summary, or
go to Correction Entry by selecting Make Corrections from the bottom of any page.  

Also, from the FAA Information page, you can select Verification Tool, which we’ll discuss later. 

Also note that once data on the ISIR Compare screen is re-sorted with differences at the top, you can sort it again, back to field order, by clicking on the “Field” heading.

I’d like to take a moment to mention something new that you’ll begin seeing this month, as a result of changes made to FAA Access due to implementation of the HERA – The ACG eligibility questions will appear on the ISIR Compare screen.  You can view the student’s responses on a new tab in Student Inquiry called “ACG Eligibility Data”, or you can view the responses using ISIR Compare.  ISIR Compare will also allow you to determine on which transaction the student answered the questions.  The answers will be carried forward to all subsequent transactions for the student for this processing cycle, and the answers can not be corrected.

## Standalone FAA Signature

**Notes:**
The Standalone FAA Signature feature is available as part of the Student Inquiry function.  Select Student Inquiry from the main menu and enter a student’s identifiers.  If there is a transaction in a signature hold status, you’ll be taken to the Application Found page, where you’ll see general information about the transaction on hold, and you’ll be given the opportunity to apply signatures for the student, parent, or both.  

Here’s a specific example of how you can use this feature to help you process aid more efficiently.  Let’s say you know that a transaction is missing signatures, and you know that the student isn’t the most dependable of sorts.  If the student doesn’t sign and mail a signature page on his own within 14 days, or go online and sign with a PIN, the application will be held for 2 weeks before it is processed.  When it finally gets processed, it will reject and you’ll still have to wait for the student to provide the necessary signatures.  Now, if you can get the student into your office to sign a signature page, you can go ahead and notify the CPS that you’ve obtained the signature, allowing the transaction to be processed immediately.  This can drastically improve your turnaround time for packaging the student. 

The following slides show screen shots of the Standalone FAA Signature feature.

## Application Status

**Application Status**

**This tells you there are missing signatures**

**Notes:**
This is the Application Found page, which displays when an application exists, but has not yet been processed.  
If the application is on hold because it is missing signatures, you will know that because of what appears in the “Signature Status” field.
 To apply signatures, just click on the  “Apply Signatures” button at the bottom of the page.

## Slide 10

**Notes:**
This is the screen that appears when
  you select “Apply Signatures” from the previous screen. 

If you have already collected the necessary signatures (on a paper FAFSA, for example), you can merely select which signature(s) are being applied and then select Submit.  
Note the dropdown for step 2.  
 If only the student signature is missing, Student is the only option. 
  If only the parent signature is missing, Parent is the only option.  
 If both signatures are missing, options are Student, Parent, and Both.

If you have not already collected the necessary signature(s), you can select “View Signature Page” to print the signature page, collect the signature(s), and then submit them.

Note: You are responsible for maintaining the hard copy signatures for the appropriate record retention period.

## Slide 11

**Notes:**
This is the confirmation page, 
 showing that the signature(s) have been successfully submitted. 
 Continue takes you back to the “Application Found” page, where you’ll see “All Signature Requirements Met.”  

If signatures were applied to a Correction and that transaction is eligible for real-time processing, 
 Continue takes you to the “Transactions” page, where you’ll see the new transaction listed.
  You can select the transaction from that page to view it and/or print it in Student Inquiry prior to receiving the ISIR via SAIG.

We’ll talk about Real-time correction processing shortly.

## Corrections

**Notes:**
FAAs can use FAA Access to enter FAFSAs and Renewal FAFSAs on behalf of their students.  However, we’ve learned that the majority of schools do not use these features very often – but most schools do use Correction Entry on a regular basis.  So, I’ll spend a few minutes discussing some features in Correction Entry that can help you process aid more efficiently.

You can access the Correction Entry feature by selecting Corrections from the main menu and then entering the appropriate student identifiers.  You may specify the transaction number that you wish to correct, or leave the Transaction Number field blank to make corrections to the most recent transaction for that student.

## Slide 13

**Notes:**
This is the lower portion of the Correction Entry page.  I’ve circled both the Calculate EFC button and the List Changes button since I’d like to talk about both of those.  In addition, I’ll spend a few moments discussing Real-time correction processing. 

## Slide 14

**Notes:**
This is the page that appears if you select Calculate EFC from the previous page.  Note that this page is also available within FAFSA entry and Renewal entry.

Many FAAs like to be able to see the EFC before submitting an application.  In addition, many FAAs like to be able to see (and sometimes print) the intermediate values.  This page addresses both of those needs, and it also provides a summary of the answers to all of the FAFSA questions (you would scroll down to see that data).  Additionally, you can only reach this page if the application has passed all of the built-in edits, so if you select Calculate EFC and this page appears, you know that all of the data you entered is OK.

This feature helps to make processing more efficient in that you can use the data for preliminary awarding of aid.  Of course you can not officially package a student without the official results from the CPS (you need match results, etc.), but this page can certainly give you a good idea of what a student will qualify for.  It can be particularly helpful when you are considering PJ.  This allows you to see the results of the data changes before you submit anything to CPS.  Just remember that if you are doing a PJ, you’ll need to set the FAA Adjustment flag before you submit the data to CPS.

Before I continue, I’d like to take a moment to talk about another change that you’ll see as a result of the HERA. This change only applies to FAFSA and Renewal entry – not correction entry, but this seems like as good a place as any to mention it.  When you enter a FAFSA or Renewal application on a student’s behalf and select “Calculate EFC”, you’ll be taken to the page shown here.  If the student is Pell eligible and a U.S. citizen, this page will now contain additional text that indicates the student may be eligible for ACG.  If you wish to answer the ACG questions on the student’s behalf, you’ll click on a link contained within that text, and you’ll be taken to a series of screens on which you can answer the questions.  The answers will be submitted to CPS with the FAFSA data, and you can view them in Student Inquiry once the transaction is processed.  Note that you are certainly not required to answer the questions.  For instance, if your school cannot award ACG because you’re a grad school or a non-degree granting school, just don’t click the link and proceed as normal.

Now, back to Corrections. On the previous slide, I showed you a button labeled “List Changes.”  That same button is also available at the bottom of this Calculate EFC page.  If you want to see a list of just the fields that you corrected, select List Changes (note that you could also select Submit from this page, or return to the Correction Entry page).

## Slide 15

**Notes:**
This is the “List of Changes” page.  Again, it only shows the fields that you corrected.  This can help you to process aid more efficiently in that it is an easy way to verify that you’ve made all the changes you intended to make.  I’m sure this has never happened to anyone in this room, but it happens to me all the time.  I’m smack dab in the middle of something, and my phone rings or someone comes by my desk to talk to me.  Of course, when I get back to what I was doing,  I can’t remember where I left off.  Sound familiar?  Anyway, if you’ve entered a few changes and then get distracted, it is easy to figure out where you left off.  Just select List Changes from the Correction Entry page and take a look at this resulting list to see which fields you’ve already corrected so that you know which ones you still have to do.

Note that you can easily print this out by selecting Print this Page if you like to keep things like this on file.

## Links to SAR

**Links to SAR**

**Notes:**
This next slide shows the Confirmation Page, which appears when you submit an application or Correction.  In Correction entry, not only does it show you the EFC and serve as proof that you’ve submitted the application successfully, it also let’s you know if the transaction has been processed in real time.  A correction transaction is eligible for real-time processing if no changes were made to fields that would have to be re-sent for any of the matches (like citizenship status or name) and if no new school codes were added. You can tell whether the transaction has been processed in real time by looking at the portion of the page that shows the EFC.  If the text says “the student’s estimated Expected Family Contribution” then the transaction is not real time – the EFC is still estimated.  But if it says “the student’s Expected Family Contribution” (just like what you see on this slide), then the transaction was processed in real time.  If this is the case, you’ll see additional text that contains a link to the SAR information in Student Inquiry.  If you link to Student Inquiry, you can view or print the SAR, use ISIR Compare, or even see if the transaction was selected for Verification.  This ability to view the official results so quickly allows you to package and process aid for these students more efficiently. 

## Verification Tool

**Notes:**
Verification Tool is an optional tool that you can use to assist you with the verification process. You can access the Verification Tool feature by selecting Verification Tool from the main menu and then entering the appropriate student identifiers.  You may specify the transaction number that you wish to verify, or leave the Transaction Number field blank to retrieve the most recent transaction for that student.

The Verification Tool is different then the ISIR Analysis Tool that will be discussed later in the session.

The Verification Tool helps to make processing aid more efficient by doing the tolerance calculation for you.  Once you’ve obtained the documentation necessary to verify a student’s data, you can enter the information in Verification tool and easily determine whether a Correction is required.  If a Correction is required, or if it isn’t required but you want to submit a correction anyway, you can simply select Make Corrections and carry the information you entered over into correction entry.  Let’s take a look.

## Enter values from tax returns and verification worksheet, then click on “Calculate”

**Enter values from tax returns and verification worksheet, then click on “Calculate”**

**Notes:**
This is the page that appears once you’ve entered the student’s identifiers.  You can see that the left column shows the fields required for verification, and the middle column shows the values reported by the student on the transaction that you are verifying.  Using tax returns, the verification worksheet, and other documentation, all you have to do is enter the correct values in the last column.  We made this even more efficient this year by no longer requiring you to enter a value in every field.  You can still do that if you want to, of course, or you can only enter the values that are different from what is on the ISIR.  When you’ve finished entering the data, select the Calculate button at the bottom of the screen.

## This column appears and shows differences

**This column appears and shows differences**

**Notes:**
When you select Calculate, a new column appears, which you can see on the far right.  This column let’s you know if there are differences between the ISIR data and the data you just entered for any of the fields.  

## Slide 20

**Notes:**
Selecting Calculate also results in the calculation of Verification Totals and the tolerance.  As you know, the tolerance is one of the things that you need to determine in order to know if you are required to submit a correction.

A correction is required if the tolerance is greater than $400, if income earned from work has changed for a tax filer, or if number in HH or number in college was updated.  Based on your entries, if a correction is required, you’ll know because the message highlighted on this slide will appear.  This message does NOT appear if none of the listed criteria is met.  So, it’s pretty easy for you to know if you must submit a correction.  

To submit a correction, select “Make Corrections” to be taken to the correction entry page.  For those fields that show a Yes in the Difference column, the new value will carry over into the correction entry page.  You can make additional corrections as needed, or simply submit the correction from there.  Note that the correction features discussed a little while ago apply.  If you want to view the EFC and intermediate values or view a List of Changes before submitting, you can do that.  Also, upon submitting the correction, if the transaction was processed in Real-time, the Confirmation page will let you know that.

Note an additional feature here within Verification Tool.  If you want to print the page (before linking over to correction entry), select View Printable Page.   Some FAAs like to have a printed copy on file.

## Return toTitle IV on the Web

**Notes:**
R2T4 on the Web is available from the FAA Access to CPS Online main menu.  This feature makes calculating and processing Title IV refunds more efficient because it is more automated than the manual worksheets, and it includes various reports that allow you to track the status of refunds.  For example, you can see where specific students fall in the process – whether they are waiting to be notified, whether you still need to return funds, etc.  Note that the PC version of R2T4 has been archived, and is not being updated to address changes to the calculation resulting from the HERA.  So, if you’ve used the PC version in the past, now is a really good time to go online and become familiar with the web version.  I think you’ll really like it!

## Slide 22

**Notes:**
This is the R2T4 Welcome page. 
Some basic setups that you must do before you can begin creating student records.  
 Institutional Charges 
 School Calendar

Once you’ve done your setup, you can begin creating new records.  As you know, the HERA changed the way the calculation is performed for students who withdraw after July 1, 2006 (is it after, or on or after?).  So, we’re making the necessary changes to the Web site.  Currently, because the changes are still being tested, if you attempt to perform an R2T4 calculation on the web with a WD date after July 1, 2006, you’ll get a message letting you know that you’re too early – but use the paper worksheets for now or try back later.  However, once the updates are implemented, here’s what will happen.  When you attempt to create a new record, you’ll be asked to enter the award year, the school calendar profile code (you can choose this from a list of those that are available), and the WD date.  Based on the WD date, you’ll automatically be directed to the appropriate worksheets – pre-HERA calc or post-HERA calc. 

## Slide 23

## Slide 24

## ISIR Analysis Tool

**Notes:**
As we mentioned earlier, the ISIR Analysis Tool is available through FAA Access.

The ISIR Analysis Tool allows schools to test the effectiveness of both CPS selected and institutionally selected populations.  Schools can use the data to support ongoing efforts to improve the accuracy and efficiency of Federal Financial Aid Processing.

## Getting Started

**Uploading Records**
**Decide who to analyze**
**CPS Selected ISIRs**
**Analyze how effectively the CPS edits are working at your institution.**
**Discretionary Verification **
**Analyze how effectively your own discretionary verification is working at your institution.**
**Analysis Results**
**Discuss your verification results and revise your verification policies.**

**Notes:**
You may want to analyze several ISIR groups, but we will discuss two with you today. We provide you a link to the ISIR Analysis Tool Guide that describes additional groups that you may want to consider.

Must upload an initial and paid on transaction for each record
Tool compares changes from initial to paid on

CPS Selected – If you decide to bring in a sample of CPS selected records, You can determine if specific types of applicants flagged for federal verification are more or less likely to experience a change to aid eligibility than other types of applicants selected by the CPS edits.
Discretionary Verification: If you decide to bring in a sample of Students you selected on your own, you can validate whether your “gut” feeling about verifying additional cases is right. Is discretionary verification making a difference in terms of the EFC and Pell eligibility of those applicants you choose to verify in addition to the federal edits? Determine if discretionary verification is worthwhile for all the types of applicants it targets.

Verification Results: You can use the data you learn from the ISIR Tool to make changes to your verification policies and procedures.  This could include making changes to your consumer information to help students provide better information “up-front.”
Wouldn’t it be nice to know the top ISIR elements that experience change for only YOUR applicants?  

What I would like to show the ISIR Analysis Tool process that the school that decided to analyze one of their discretionary verification criteria:  Dependent Students, Pell Eligible, whose Parents are Estimated filers.   Before we do that, let’s talk about all of the reports available in the ISIR Analysis Tool.

## ISIR Analysis Tool Reports

- Sample Summary – Dashboard
- Verification Summary – Dashboard
- Field Change
- Pell Eligibility for Dependents
- Student Listing
- Student Detail
- Field Increment Report
- Verification Tracking Flags

**Notes:**
After you have uploaded your records into the tool, you can take advantage of all the reports the tool has to offer. There are 8 Standard Reports. The first two reports, as we will discuss in just a moment, automatically run and appear on the dashboard for you. However, all 8 reports can be run separately and allows you to run filters on the reports. You can obtain a plethora of information without every having to run an adhoc report.

The advantage is that these reports are “canned reports”  No queries need to written.  You simply push a button.

Read Slide.

I am going to show you how you can select them from a “Standard Reports” menu or from within other reports.

## The Dashboard

**Notes:**
Once you upload your ISIR records into the tool from the data mart the tool will automatically generate 2 of the 8 standard reports. The Sample Summary Report and the Verification Summary Report.

This sample summary and Verification Summary shows the details of the sample population of students that were just uploaded into the tool.  
Let’s take a closer look at the summary of the data that was just uploaded.   

## Pell Elig/IneligibleDep & Indep

**Pell Elig/Ineligible****Dep & Indep**

**Total Fields Changed**

**Initial vs. Paid On**

**Pell Increases**

**Pell Decreases**

**Initial Pell Eligible and Ineligible**

**Total Paid on Pell Eligible & Ineligible**

**Notes:**
First the Sample Summary:  What does this report tell us and what should we be looking for?

        What students are in my database?
        What was the aggregate impact of change on Pell eligibility?

First look at how many records are in the database. If you have recently built or added records to your database, make sure that this number reflects all the records you want to analyze.

Get a sense of what percentage of records fall into the four categories defined by the combination of dependency and Pell eligibility status. In this example, we have many more dependent students than independent students. 

## Verification Summary Dashboard

**Notes:**
This is an example of the Verification Summary Dashboard.  The Dashboard provides an interactive look at the records in the database.  We can view the records who were selected by the CPS, the School, or Not Selected by the CPS or school.  You can also view them in terms of EFC increases or decreases as well as by Dependency status.  An important thing to remember about institutional selected records is that if any of the records you uploaded were selected by you, you would need to set the verification flag in the tool so that the tool would reflect those records within the reports you run. 
Comparing the relative heights of “increase” and “decrease” bars lets you see if EFC increases are more common (taller) or less common (shorter) than EFC increases within a particular verification group. This let’s you know if your verification criteria (CPS and School) are detecting equal proportions of potential over-awards (EFC increases) as they are detecting potential under-awards (EFC decreases).  
Comparing the combined height of EFC increases and EFC decreases to the total bar for the verification group of interest, provides a sense of how efficient and accurate the verification effort may be. Ideally visually stacking the EFC increase and EFC decrease bars in your mind’s eye would nearly reach the top of the two total verification count bars (School and CPS). That would mean that your school is concentrating verification efforts on student with EFC changes. 

The neat thing about the bars is that you can click on each individual bar, and it would link you to the Field Change Report applicable to the records associated with that bar.  We will talk about the Field Change Report in a few minutes.

## Running Reports

- Click on the report name from the menu on the Standard Reports Folder.
- Then click “Run” the report.

**Notes:**
When you run reports, you can easily run them from the Domain Tree.  You can also get to the reports from the graphs as we mentioned on the prior slide.

Let’s spend a couple of minutes looking at some of the reports.  Due to time constraints, I would like to show you the Field Increment Report and the Field Change Report.  Since this school wanted to look at Dependent Students who were Pell eligible, and whose parent’s were estimated filers, we will review the reports with that criteria in mind.

You can set your report filters to any criteria that meets the goal of what you will be analyzing.

## Field Change Report

**Notes:**
I want to point out a few areas of particular interest on this screen. The first is the uppermost left item that shows the criteria we entered on the filter screen.  We chose dependent students that are pell eligible,, and the parents indicated they “will file” their tax return.  

When you run the Field Change Report, it will show you the ISIR elements that experienced a change. Notice that the fields are hyperlinked and you can click on them for more information or a continuation of that data.  We call this “Drilling Down” into the details. 

What does the Field Change Report Tell us?  This report tells you that based on the criteria we entered (Pell Eligible, dependent students whose parent’s are estimated filers) all of the ISIR elements that experienced a change from the initial transaction to the paid on transaction.

This is where you can start your detective work.  As you can see on the screen, the top ISIR Fields that experienced a change were income related ISIR elements.  For our example, we chose to click on the Parent’s Adjusted Gross Income.  There were 170 records that experienced a change to  Parent AGI. When we click on this field, it brings us to the Field Increment Report associated with these 170 records.  We can then choose the the increments to view.  I chose to view in terms of PRIMARY EFC.  The results are on the next slide.

## Field Increment Report based on Records with Parent AGI changes (viewed in Primary EFC increments)

**Notes:**
Once we clicked on the ISIR Field PARENT AGI, we drilled down to the Field Increment Report.  This report shows the distribution of records with changes to Parent AGI across various EFC value ranges. The corrections to Parents' AGI and EFC changes seems to be more prevalent looking at this sub population than the association with any change that we saw in the previous report. This is especially true for low EFC values ($1-3,000 EFC range).

This means that in the sample, verifying Parent AGI within the EFC ranges of 1-3,000 is more likely to catch potential overpayments (EFC increases) as well as catch a small but statistically significant amount of potential underpayments (EFC decreases).  This information should be taken into consideration when staff discuss ways in which the current selection criteria can be modified.

What about the 0 EFC Range?  Note that 27.6% of records corrected only resulted in 12.4% EFC increases.  This indicates that much work went into verifying these records with little result. Consider helping this group with consumer information, rather than selecting them for verification.

## Field Increment Report (viewed in Increments of Parent AGI)

**Notes:**
We can also time view it in terms of Parent AGI Increments (where the changes are occurring in terms of Parent AGI).  To do so, we would use Parent AGI as the increment instead of Primary EFC.  The result would show us where changes are occurring in terms of Parent AGI.

This report shows that Parent AGI ranges between 20,001 and 50,000 had the highest percentages of records corrected that resulted in an EFC increase. In addition, there is a small but statistically significant group of records that resulted in an EFC decrease.  

## Analysis Conclusions

- Discuss options to focus discretionary verification for Dependent, Pell Eligible, Parent Estimated Filers on:
- EFC Ranges 1-3,000 and Parent AGI between 20,001 and 50,000
- Provide enhanced Consumer Information for 0 EFC applicants

**Notes:**
Remember, we showed you one way to analyze institutional discretionary verification.  We compared changes to EFCs for the entire sample population for the Verification Criteria (Dependent students, Pell Eligible, Estimated Filers) to those that had changes to Parent AGI.

Based on the analysis, The school may decide to modify existing discretionary verification criteria for Dependent Students who are Pell Eligible and Parents are Estimated Filers to focus its verification efforts on the EFC ranges of 1-3,000 and Parental AGI between 20,001-50,000.  They might also decide not to verify 0 EFC applicants and instead provide them with more Consumer Information to help these applicants provide more accurate information on their applications.

Remember, you can use this same approach to look at CPS edits or even other groups of students you select for discretionary verification.

If you analyze your CPS edits, you can determine the top FAFSA errors and income ranges where those errors occur, and target those CPS selected records first.

The Tool has so much analytical potential and if you spend sometime analyzing your data, you can make a difference in your verification efforts and build a better verification foundation.

## Helpful Information

- Refer to Guidance on the QA Website:
- _[http://www.ifap.ed.gov/qamodule/guidance.html](http://www.ifap.ed.gov/qamodule/guidance.html)_
- Click on link to 2005 ISIR Guide
- Tapes of Live Sessions
- _[http://ifap.ed.gov/qamodule/training.htm](http://ifap.ed.gov/qamodule/training.htm)__ _
- You can view sessions about uploading data, analyzing data, and other sessions related to using the ISIR Analysis Tool

**Notes:**
Once you determine the group of applicants to analyze, you will need to upload an initial and paid on ISIR for each record. Why? because the tool compares any changes to the initial and paid on transactions in order to provide analytical comparisons.

Since we are limited with time, I highly recommend that you visit the websites on the slide.

The ISIR Tool Guide has great information about how to upload records once you have determined who to analyze.

You can also view some great sessions that will help you with various topics related to using the ISIR Analysis Tool.

## FSA Assessments

**Notes:**
Now let’s discuss the another Tool available to you.  This tool is called the FSA Assessments. 

The Assessments can help you with sustain compliance with Title IV regulations as you determine eligibility and disburse aid to your students.

## What are the FSA Assessments?

-    Tools to prevent and/or identify compliance issues, and implement Management Enhancements (Action Plans) for areas that need improvement

**Notes:**
First, what are the FSA Assessments?

The FSA Assessments are tools to help you prevent and/or identify compliance issues, and implement management enhancement (or action plans) for areas that need improvement.

## What are the FSA Assessments?

- 22 modules updated with hyperlinks to _Regulations _and the _Student Financial Aid Handbook_
- Currently being re-designed as a more streamlined product that will help you find information quickly.
- The newly designed assessments are scheduled to be deployed Mid August 2006

**Notes:**
Currently there are 22 assessments that contain hyperlinks to Regulations, Student Financial Aid Handbook, and other resources.

The Assessments are currently being re-designed to be more user-friendly and activity driven.  Users will still be able to take advantage of hyperlinks, but will be encouraged to complete activities to test compliance.  The new process will help users find information quickly and efficiently.

Be looking for the newly designed assessments to be unveiled on August 11, 2006.

## Where can I find the FSA Assessments?

- The assessments can be accessed from the following websites -
**School’s portal (http://fsa4schools.ed.gov) **
**Under “Resources & Training”, click on FSA Self-Assessments**
**IFAP (http://ifap.ed.gov) **
**Under “Tools for Schools”, click on FSA Assessments**

**Notes:**
You can get to the FSA Assessments by accessing either the IFAP website or the Schools Portal.  Again, since they are under re-design, you will be able to access them from when they are back up after mid-August

## FSA Verification Assessment

**Notes:**
Although there are currently 22 FSA Assessments, let’s briefly review some of the ways you can use the Verification assessment.  

The other assessments are designed the same way, so when you see what is available in the Verification assessment, it will entice you to take a look at some of the other assessments later (after August 11 of course).

## Verification File Review Activity #10

**Notes:**
The Verification Assessment includes a File Review. This review provides your school with an opportunity to pull a sample of students (Dependent or Independent) that you verified to determine that the files were verified correctly.

The beauty is that these file review worksheets are the same worksheets used by program reviewers and would be the same process your auditor would use when they review your school.  If you use these worksheets, you can find problems and correct them before they become findings in Program Reviews or Audits!

## ISIR Comparison Charts

**Notes:**
Another nice feature of the Verification Assessment is  the ISIR Comparison Charts.

These charts are updated yearly and provide you with all of the ISIR Elements that need to be verified, and the applicable locations of these elements on the FAFSA or SAR, IRS Forms, and even the PR Tax forms.

This would be a great “Cheat Sheet” to have posted at the desk of those on your campus who perform verification.

## Conflicting Data Activity #7

**Notes:**
Conflicting Data is an important issue and often times can be confusing.

The Assessment includes a conflicting data activity that can be useful to ensure you and your staff understand the requirements.  It also provides you with links to the regulations related to Conflicting Data and provides examples of what the Department considers conflicting data (required items that need to be resolved and what would be considered a good practice (may not be required to resolve but might be a good practice).

## Professional Judgment Activity #13

**Notes:**
Professional Judgment is also another topic that is important from a compliance perspective.  The assessment includes a great activity for Conflicting Data that includes a file review and links to the Law.

## New Design

**Notes:**
Since the assessments are currently being redesigned, I wanted to provide you with a screen shot of what the new design will look like.  All assessments will have this design.  They will begin with an activity which might lead the school to other areas.  There will also be an activity bar and additional Web Resources link provided all in a user-friendly format.

Again, look forward to that new and improved product in August.

## Summary

- We demonstrated an umbrella of tools that can assist your school with _Processing Aid_ more efficiently and _Sustaining Compliance_ with the Title IV Programs
- ISIR Compare
- Standalone FAA Signature
- Corrections
- Verification Tool
- R2T4
- ISIR Analysis Tool
- FSA Assessments

**Notes:**
We demonstrated several Web tools that are available on FAA Access to CPS Online and R2T4 on the Web.  We also reviewed the FSA Assessments.

We hope these Umbrella of Tools can assist you with processing aid more efficiently and sustaining compliance on your campus!

## Resources

- ISIR Analysis Tool Additional Information:
- _[http://ifap.ed.gov/qamodule/guidance.html](http://ifap.ed.gov/qamodule/guidance.html)__ __(ISIR Tool Guide)_
- _[http://ifap.ed.gov/qamodule/training.htm](http://ifap.ed.gov/qamodule/training.htm)__ _
- 	(Links to Web Recordings)
- FAA Access to CPS Online: _[http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/FOTWWebApp/faa/faa.jsp](http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/FOTWWebApp/faa/faa.jsp)__ _
- FSA Assessments: _[http://ifap.ed.gov](http://ifap.ed.gov/)_

**Notes:**
There are many resources available to assist you with this umbrella of tools.

We encourage you to take advantage of these resources.

## Questions???

- We appreciate your feedback and comments.
- 		We can be reached at:
- 			_[Ginger.Klock@ed.gov](mailto:Ginger.Klock@ed.gov)_
- 			_[Michael.Cagle@ed.gov](mailto:Michael.Cagle@ed.gov)__ _

**Notes:**
We thank you for your time today. We hope you enjoyed the session.  We are available to answer any questions.