Functional Statements > Federal Student Aid

## C. Next Gen FSA Program Office

The Next Gen FSA Program Office is responsible for the management of all aspects of the Next Gen FSA program. The Next Gen FSA Program Office’s mission is to ensure: 1) program strategy, outcomes, goals, and objectives are clearly documented and fully understood by all program participants; 2) program outcomes are delivered within established scope, schedule, and budget; 3) program decisions are made and implemented through a disciplined, fact-based governance process, documented and communicated promptly and accurately across all FSA and contractor staff, reflected in a Master Program Plan and Schedule, and tracked to completion; and 4) all program systems and processes are effectively integrated to avoid duplication, identify and resolve conflicts or gaps, and ensure effective delivery and execution. The Next Gen FSA Program Office is expected to sunset on or about 9/30/2022 and will transition Next Gen FSA elements as they become operational to permanent organizational units within FSA. To accomplish this mission the Next Gen FSA Program Office is comprised of the following units:

- Decision Support Directorate
- Execution and Delivery Directorate

### Decision Support Directorate

The Decision Support Directorate is responsible for overseeing Next Gen FSA governance, coordination, and reporting; budget and cost control; and program communications activities. In performing these activities, the group coordinates closely with all Next Gen FSA project teams and is responsible for:

- Establishing and maintaining effective program governance processes, including ensuring that program governance processes are fully integrated into FSA corporate governance structures;
- Developing and maintaining program scope management, schedule management, cost management, resource management, quality management, risk management, and procurement management plans and processes;
- Developing and maintaining detailed budget and cost estimates for program activities, as well as procedures to review, approve, and oversee program expenditures and budgets;
- Providing oversight in the development and execution of strategies, policies, materials, and presentations to effectively disseminate information about Next Gen FSA goals, plans, activities, and accomplishments to the public, including interest groups, other Federal agencies, congressional committee members and staff, oversight organizations such as the OIG and the U.S. Government Accountability Office, students, borrowers, FSA's business partners, and FSA contractors; and,
- Monitoring performance metrics to measure outcomes and eliminate pain points (shared responsibility with The Execution and Delivery Directorate).

In performing these activities, the Decision Support Directorate coordinates closely with enterprise organizations such as the Strategic Communications Directorate, the Enterprise Technology Directorate, and the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, as well as all operational groups.

### Execution and Delivery Directorate

The Execution and Delivery Directorate is responsible for managing and integrating all Next Gen FSA projects to ensure prompt and effective delivery of program outcomes. Key project areas include Digital Customer Care, Enhanced Processing Solution, Optimal Processing Solution, Business Process Operations, Partner Participation and Oversight, Identity and Access Management, and Enterprise Data Management & Analytics Platform Services (EDMAPS) enterprise data solution.  In addition, the Execution and Delivery Directorate provides shared services for all Next Gen FSA Program Office activities. Shared services include acquisitions and procurement expertise, information technology expertise, data management and hosting expertise, design architecture and integration expertise, security expertise, project planning and scheduling expertise, system and process integration expertise, change management oversight and integration expertise, and quality assurance management and oversight expertise.

These skillsets will be leveraged to deliver products and services that can be leveraged by FSA to provide products and services on par with leading financial institutions. These products and services will need to either refine existing solutions, replace existing solutions, or create new solutions. In all cases, the products and services will need to be focused on the needs of customers and partners and the desired delivery methodology, thoroughly tested prior to implementation, then actively monitored to ensure the solution is meeting the customer and partner needs. Once established and verified, the product or service can be transitioned to the appropriate operational business unit for ongoing management and oversight, as well as descoping of any legacy contracts that previously provided comparable products or services. This transition of micro-products or services will require coordination and consultation between the Next Gen FSA Program Office and the operational business unit due to the high degree of integration amongst and within the key project areas.