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5/7/2008

The Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC) would like to make you aware of the following information, which may be of interest to you and/or your students.

You may either scroll through the entire message, or click on the appropriate link(s) to go directly to details about a specific topic:

UPDATES
Operational dates and other announcements, including close-out of 2007-08 ISAC-administered gift assistance programs

HOLIDAY SCHEDULES
Processing schedules for Memorial Day and Independence Day holidays

UPDATES

All links in this section launch pages located at collegezone.com.

2007-08 Processing (Includes Close-out Information)

May 16th: 2007-08 Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship Payment Claims Due

Eligibility Certification/Payment Request Rosters for the 2007-08 Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship Program are due on or before May 16, 2008. Further details are available at the Payment Procedures for the Byrd Scholarship section of the ISAC Gift Assistance Programs area.

May 25th: 2007-08 IVG Spring Term Payment Claims Due

2007-08 Illinois Veteran Grant (IVG) Program spring term payment claims are due on or before May 25, 2008. Although schools will not be reimbursed for spring term awards or late claims, payment requests must be submitted to ISAC so eligibility units can be assessed to students' accounts.

June 1st: 2007-08 MAP and IIA Program Payment Claims Due

2007-08 Monetary Award Program (MAP) and Silas Purnell Illinois Incentive for Access (IIA) Program payment claims (for third quarter, and for second semester at institutions where the second semester begins after February 15th) are due on or before June 1, 2008.

June 5th: Last Date 2007-08 ISIR Data Will Be Accepted

June 5, 2008 will be the last day 2007-08 Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR) data will be accepted for MAP and the IIA Program. Any 2007-08 ISIR data received at ISAC on or after June 6th will not be loaded to MAPnet or ISAC's mainframe system, and no application receipt acknowledgement letters will be provided to applicants from ISAC after this date.

June 15th: 2007-08 STS Second Semester/Third Quarter Payment Claims Due

2007-08 Student to Student (STS) Program of Matching Grants second semester/third quarter payment claims are due on or before June 15, 2008. Payment of second semester/second or third quarter claims will occur after this date, once we have determined what proration factor, if any, will be necessary for STS Program awards for these terms. If proration is necessary, then no late claims will be paid.

July 1st: Final Close-out Date for 2007-08 ISAC Gift Assistance Programs

With the exception of the Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship Program (see the May 16th entry of this section, above, for information regarding the Byrd Honors Program), all submissions of 2007-08 payment requests (including initial claims and supplemental claims) for ISAC-administered gift assistance programs must be received on or before July 1, 2008 (click on the following links to access payment information for each program):

* Note that, for MAP and the IIA Program, July 1st is the last date to submit adjustments that will increase an award. Cancellations and adjustments to previously-paid awards that decrease an award (i.e., result in refunds) will continue to be accepted and processed via MAPnet through (including) July 25th.

Continue to visit the Program News sections for individual gift assistance programs, and watch for future e-Messages, for status updates and operational details (including both the 2007-08 and 2008-09 academic years).

July 25th: Last Date to Submit 2007-08 MAP and IIA Changes

The deadline to submit 2007-08 cancellations, refunds, or reductions via MAPnet for MAP and the IIA Program is
7 p.m. on July 25, 2008.

August 1st: 2007-08 MAPnet Application Available for Historical View Only

The MAPnet application for 2007-08 becomes available for only historical view on August 1, 2008.

Reconciliation Reminders

You are encouraged to finalize reconciliation activities on your campus, and report all cancellations as soon as possible, by following the cancellation guidance provided in the Processes section of the FAA Zone. Payments must be reconciled on a student-by-student basis. Due to the offset process for MAP, the IIA Program and the IVG Program, funds should be returned to ISAC only after a final reconciliation has been completed to close-out the regular school year.

Letters detailing the outstanding amount each institution must refund to ISAC for MAP and IIA for the 2007-08 academic year will be mailed to financial aid directors this summer.

2008-09 Processing

June 1st: 2008-09 Budget Packets Due

On or before June 1, 2008, all participating Illinois schools must submit either a 2008-09 Gift Assistance Budget Packet [to report budget data for the MAP, IVG and Illinois National Guard (ING) Grant programs] or a 2008-09 Monetary Award Program Budget Packet (to report budget data for MAP only). The budget packets, along with accompanying instructions and documentation, may be accessed online via the Budget Reporting - MAP, IVG & ING area within the Processes section of the FAA Zone.

July 15th: 2008-09 Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship Eligibility Certification Forms Due

Byrd Scholars must return the Eligibility Certification document to ISAC on or before July 15, 2008, so that their colleges will be able to request payment on their behalf for the fall term. Further details are provided at the Award Determination and Notification for the Byrd Scholarship page.

Upcoming Commission Meeting

The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Illinois Student Assistance Commission will take place on Friday, June 27, 2008, at Carl Sandburg College in Galesburg.

A listing of tentative agenda items will be available prior to the meeting via the ISAC's Governing Board: The Commission section of the e-Library. Dates and locations for all meetings scheduled in 2008 are available at the
e-Library's Commission Meeting Schedule page. Agenda and meeting schedule information can also be accessed by selecting the link that appears beneath the "Resource Center" heading at the College Zone home page.

HOLIDAY SCHEDULES

A complete listing of 2008 holidays on which ISAC staff will be unavailable is provided at the ISAC Events Calendar.

May 26th: Memorial Day
July 4th: Independence Day

In observance of the Memorial Day and Independence Day holidays, ISAC offices will be closed on Monday, May 26, 2008, and on Friday, July 4, 2008, respectively. Our offices will reopen on the first business day following each holiday.

Loan records received at ISAC on the holidays, as well as disbursement records received at the National Disbursement Network (NDN), will be processed the following business day. This means that, for holidays that fall on a Monday, CommonLine or Common Account Maintenance (CAM) files will be processed on the following Tuesday, with results available on Wednesday (or the next available day for any schools opting to receive NDN files on specific days of the week). For holidays falling on a Friday, CommonLine or CAM files will be processed on the following Monday, with results available on Tuesday (or the next available day for any schools opting to receive NDN files on specific days of the week). Note that ELM Resources will continue to process and transmit files on the holidays.

Although ISAC's offices will be closed on those days, MAPnet will be available during regularly scheduled hours and will reflect records processed by the Central Processing System (CPS) through the last business day immediately preceding each respective holiday. MAP payment requests submitted from 5 p.m. (CT) the preceding business day through 5 p.m. (CT) the first business day following each holiday will be processed the evening of that first business day, and payment results will be available via MAPnet the next morning. For example: with the Independence Day holiday, payment requests submitted from 5 p.m. (CT) on Thursday, July 3rd through 5 p.m. on Monday, July 7th will be processed on Monday night, and payment results will be available via MAPnet the morning of Tuesday, July 8th.

For Assistance

Remember that you can access collegezone.com anytime, or send an e-mail message to ISAC's School Services Department. With the exception of holidays (such as those indicated above), ISAC staff will review and respond to messages during regular business hours (Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. CT).

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You are receiving this message because you registered for College Zone's e-Messaging service through one or more subscription groups within the FAA Zone.

If you have any questions regarding this e-Message, please contact ISAC's School Services Department by calling toll free at 866.247.2172 or sending an e-mail message to schoolservices@isac.org.