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March 2009
Welcome to the March 2009 ISAC Update for financial aid administrators and business officers. This version of the electronic ISAC Update is a compilation of e-Messages sent through College Zone’s e-Messaging service throughout March. This e-Messaging service has replaced ISAC’s use of printed newsletters, the ILASFAA ListServ, and special e-mail lists as our primary means of communicating information to you. The articles in this Update have been organized according to the FAA Zone subscription groups to which the messages were distributed via College Zone’s e-Messaging service. Questions? Questions regarding information in this ISAC Update can be directed to School Services at 866.247.2172 or at schoolservices@isac.org. On occasion, you may be directed to a specific contact person or area; when this occurs, we will provide the appropriate information in the individual article or message. MULTIPLE SUBSCRIPTION GROUPS Money Smart Week Chicago: April 18-25, 2009 - Presentations Also Offered in Central Illinois NOTE: This page was revised after the original e-Message was sent to clients and partners on March 30th, in order to add information about the April 22nd "College Illinois!(SM) The Smart, Secure Way to Save for College" presentation. Money Smart Week Chicago 2009 will occur April 18th – 25th in the greater Chicago metropolitan area. The Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC) is partnering with The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago for the fifth consecutive year to promote financial literacy through this week-long event, which is designed to help consumers learn to better manage their personal finances. This year, ISAC will be presenting in conjunction with the Chicago Public Library system, and also offering sessions in central Illinois.
In addition to the events listed above, an education finance planning session entitled "College Illinois!(SM) The Smart, Secure Way to Save for College" will be presented from 12 - 1 p.m. on April 22nd at The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. The official Money Smart Week calendar of events is available online at moneysmartweek.org.
Commission Meeting to be Held Friday, April 3, 2009 The tentative agenda for the meeting includes:
There are no plans for a conference call briefing following this meeting.
Join ISAC for Free Lecture with Author of The Anatomy of Buzz 10:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. at the University of Illinois at Chicago. To register for the event, and for location information on campus, please e-mail Julie Henschel (jhenschel@isac.org) before April 2nd. Many of you will recognize The Anatomy of Buzz from ISAC presentations and our professional development series. In our nationally recognized "Guide to Outreach" a number of successful outreach strategies utilizing the principles from Rosen's book are highlighted. This event is a must attend for anyone involved in college access marketing, community outreach, policy implementation, or any endeavor in which traditional forms of marketing and promotion are impractical or financially out-of-reach. If you have ever wondered how to get better turnout at your public events, how to reach your target audience, how to launch a new program, how to differentiate your programs and services, or simply how to make more effective use of a limited marketing budget, you are sure to leave this session with more than a few very practical ideas. Emanuel Rosen is the author of the national best-seller The Anatomy of Buzz (Doubleday, 2000) and The Anatomy of Buzz Revisited (Doubleday, 2009). Prior to writing these books, he was VP of Marketing at Niles Software where he was responsible for launching and marketing the company's flagship product EndNote, which spread to a large extent by word of mouth. It was during this time that Rosen became interested in buzz and especially in how it can be accelerated. He started his career as a copywriter in Israel. For his work in advertising he won the Bronze Lion from the Cannes International Advertising Festival, as well as several national awards including two gold medals. He holds an MBA from the University of San Francisco and lives in Menlo Park, California. The Anatomy of Buzz "has managed to generate quite a bit of buzz itself," as BusinessWeek Online noted. The book hit The Wall Street Journal's business best-seller list and is now available in twelve languages. How much do you know about "word-of-mouth" marketing? Take the Buzz Quiz and find out. More information about the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs More information about the Illinois College Access Network
Mark Your Calendar for Upcoming Important Dates 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 regarding 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. Program-Specific Information April 1st: 2008-09 MAP and IIA Program Second Term Payment Claims Due 2008-09 Monetary Award Program (MAP) and Silas Purnell Illinois Incentive for Access (IIA) Program payment claims are due for second semester/quarter. April 15th: 2008-09 STS Program Second Quarter Payment Claims Due 2008-09 Student to Student (STS) Program of Matching Grants second quarter payment claims are due. Payment of second semester/second or third quarter claims will occur after June 15th (the STS claim deadline for second semester/third quarter), 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. By May 1st: 2009-10 Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholars Will Be Announced Be sure to regularly visit the Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship Program section of the ISAC Gift Assistance Programs area for updates regarding the announcement of 2009-10 new and renewal awards. May 15th: 2008-09 Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship Payment Claims Due Eligibility Certification/Payment Request Rosters for the 2008-09 Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship Program are due. Be sure to regularly visit the Payment Procedures for the Byrd Scholarship section of the ISAC Gift Assistance Programs area for updates regarding the 2008-09 payment cycle. May 25th: 2008-09 IVG Spring Term Payment Claims Due 2008-09 Illinois Veteran Grant (IVG) Program spring term payment claims are due. 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 student's accounts. June 1st: 2008-09 MAP and IIA Program Payment Claims Due 2008-09 MAP and IIA Program payment claims are due for third quarter, and for second semester at institutions where the second semester begins after February 15th. June 1st: 2009-10 Budget Packets Due On or before June 1, 2009, all participating Illinois schools must submit either a 2009-10 Gift Assistance Budget Packet [to report budget data for the MAP, IVG and Illinois National Guard (ING) Grant programs] or a 2009-10 Monetary Award Program Budget Packet (to report budget data for MAP only). ISAC anticipates having the budget packets, along with accompanying instructions and documentation, posted at College Zone no later than mid-April. June 5th: Last Date 2008-09 ISIR Data Will Be Accepted June 5th will be the last day 2008-09 Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR) data will be accepted. Any 2008-09 ISIR data received at ISAC on or after June 6, 2009, will not be loaded to MAPnet or ISAC's mainframe system. Also, no 2008-09 MAP or IIA Program application receipt acknowledgement letters will be provided to applicants from ISAC after this date. June 15th: 2008-09 STS Second Semester/Third Quarter Payment Claims Due 2008-09 STS Program second semester/third quarter payment claims are due. 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 2008-09 ISAC Gift Assistance Programs With the exception of the Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship Program (see the May 15th entry of this section, above, for information regarding the Byrd Honors Program), all submissions of 2008-09 payment requests (including initial claims and supplemental claims) for ISAC-administered gift assistance programs must be received on or before July 1, 2009. Adjustments (to cancel or reduce awards) will be accepted after this date for MAP and the IIA Program. Specific details regarding close-out of 2008-09 ISAC-administered gift assistance programs will be provided via a separate e-Message as we move closer to July 1st. In the meantime, continue to visit the Program News sections for individual gift assistance programs for status updates and operational details (including both the 2008-09 and 2009-10 academic years). Upcoming Commission Meetings The next regularly scheduled meetings of the Illinois Student Assistance Commission will take place as follows:
HOLIDAY SCHEDULES May 25th: Memorial Day July 3rd: Independence Day In observance of the Memorial Day and Independence Day holidays, ISAC offices will be closed on Monday, May 25th and on Friday, July 3rd, 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 2nd through 5 p.m. on Monday, July 6th will be processed on Monday night, and payment results will be available via MAPnet the morning of Tuesday, July 7th. 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).
March Webinar to Feature Nurse Educator Programs To participate in the Webinar: access the PowerPoint presentation on the Partner Training page in the e-Library at collegezone.com (it will be posted on the morning of March 31st), then dial 877.873.8017 and enter code 8324962# to access the audio portion.
Join ISAC in "Uniting Our Profession" at the ILASFAA Conference Sunday, March 22nd
Proration Rate for 2008-09 IVG Program Timely Fall Term Claims Timely Fall Term Claims Will Be Prorated and Paid at 83.22% Following the priorities by which claims are to be paid, ISAC has paid 2008-09 timely (in-district and out-of-district) claims for summer term at 100% of the claims. At this time, not enough ISAC funds remain to pay the timely fall term claims at 100%. Therefore, these claims must be prorated and paid at 83.22% (i.e., $83.22 will be paid for every $100.00 of eligibility). [Note: In recent years, the proration rate has been rounded to either the nearest whole percent or, in some instances, to the nearest tenth of one percent. This year, however, we are using a more specific proration rate (calculated to the nearest one hundredth of a percent) in order to optimize the remaining funds that are available for the 2008-09 IVG Program. A proration rate over 83.22% would overspend the remaining money, while a lower rate would underspend it.] Four-year public institutions will be responsible for a percentage (16.78%) of each eligible student's IVG timely fall award, and will be responsible for 100% of all eligible students' claims that are submitted for the spring term, as well as claims submitted after the due dates for each term's claims (i.e., late claims). Please be aware that although ISAC will not be able to reimburse institutions for spring term awards, payment requests must be submitted to ISAC so eligibility units can be assessed to students' accounts. Watch the IVG Program News area for an announcement regarding when 2008-09 IVG payment claim reports and invoice reports will be available to schools via My Zone (anticipated to take place in the coming weeks). Data will reflect the ISAC prorated amount paid to the institution for 2008-09 IVG fall term claims. Note: Community colleges will receive supplemental payments directly through the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB). Resources Available Online Detailed descriptions of the IVG Program payment claim reports and invoice reports are available via Illinois Veteran Grant (IVG) Program Reports at My Zone. Refer to the IVG area at My Zone and the IVG Online User Guide for instructions on accessing information and entering payment requests (online or via the FTP process). An overview of the IVG payment process is provided within the ISAC Gift Assistance Programs area at collegezone.com.
FFELP PARTICIPANTS Latest School DAAR Report Available The Notification of Student Loan Borrower DAAR Status report (School DAAR Report) for your school is now available on College Zone's My Zone. The School DAAR Report is non-cumulative and is available twice a month to those institutions with students for whom ISAC, as the guarantor, has received a Default Aversion Assistance Request (DAAR) during the reporting time period. Each time a new School DAAR Report is made available online, an e-Message will be sent to the "FFELP Participants" e-Messaging subscription group. Accessing School DAAR Reports at My Zone My Zone is a portal available in the FAA Zone at collegezone.com that allows postsecondary schools online access to student-specific data in a secure environment. If you have not yet signed up to participate in My Zone, proceed to the FAA Zone front page and select the My Zone Quick Link. For complete information and instructions to access your school's DAAR Report, proceed to the FAA Zone front page and select the My Zone Quick Link in the right margin of the page.
ISAC UPDATE GROUP Electronic ISAC Update for February 2009 The February 2009 edition of the ISAC Update is now available for your review within the ISAC Publications section of College Zone's e-Library. This version of the monthly electronic ISAC Update is a compilation of e-Messages sent to financial aid administrators and business officers in February via College Zone's e-Messaging service. Topics covered in the February 2009 ISAC Update include:
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© 2003-2012 Illinois Student Assistance Commission
