4.9.0.0 - Product Brief

Product Release Summary

This Product Brief includes a summary of Release 4.9.0.0 and direction to additional documentation and information.  The last major release was 4.8.0.0. 

Product Release Description

This release addresses product defects as listed in the “Bugs” section of the Release Notes, and also enhancements and new features including:

• 2020-2021 Regulatory Updates to EFC calculations, ISIR import, Verification, ISIR Corrections, and SAR comment codes.
• 2020-2021 Verification Worksheet
• Treatment of Marital Status Changes
• R2T4 Automation for Refunds
• Crossover Awarding for Direct Loans
• Passive vs Active Acceptance Options

Release Notes

Further details on enhancements/new features and a complete list of bug fixes can be found in the Release Notes.   The Release Notes are made available externally via Customer Zone.

The Release Notes also contain information on new configuration options, and a list of updates to the Admin Guide and User Guide. This will be included in the final version.

Other Documentation

In addition to the Product Brief, the following documentation is also available:

System Requirements

Any client currently using Regent Award may take the 4.9.0.0 version for UAT and ultimately production upgrade. The late summer update will be available to all Regent Award clients for UAT and then production upgrade.

Any client currently using Regent Review may take the 4.9.0.0 version for UAT and ultimately production upgrade. The late summer update will be available to all Regent Review clients for UAT and then production upgrade.

Any client currently using Regent Access may take the 4.9.0.0 version for UAT and ultimately production upgrade. The late summer update will be available to all Regent Access clients for UAT and then production upgrade.

New Features Overview for Initial 4.9.0.0 Release 

• 2020-2021 Regulatory Updates:  Required updates to EFC calculations, ISIR import, Verification, ISIR Corrections, and SAR comment codes.

• 2020-2021 Verification Worksheet:
  • The worksheet has been enhanced with a non-FAFSA question about the tax filing status of married students so tax filing or verification of non-filing document requirements can be assigned or waived automatically, rather than requiring a manual assignment.  
  • Additionally, as processing of student marital status changes that occur after the FAFSA is filed is a matter of institutional choice, Regent is providing configurable automation to support review/approval of student marital status changes for selected students within the Verification Worksheet flow.  Students will be asked if the ISIR marital status is correct and if not, advised to update marital status on the FAFSA.  If the marital status change is on/after the FAFSA filing date, Regent Review will persist a document requirement for proof of marital status. The FAFSA update will result in a Reject 21 that school users may override if they wish once they have reviewed the proof of marital status documentation provided by the student.

• R2T4 Automation for Refunds:  With this release, in addition to R2T4s that are fully earned and fully disbursed and those resulting in PWDs, Regent automation will support processing of R2T4s resulting in Refunds.  Clients will submit institutional cost information in the R2T4 node of the Student Batch Load (SBL) file, and then Regent Award will process the R2T4 and any required refunds.  Additionally, clients can configure automation of Step 10 grant overpayments so, if desired, those overpayments will process back to their source automatically as well.  Users will be alerted to Step 10 amounts via configurable tasks.

• Crossover Awarding for Direct Loans: With the new configurable "Auto-Assign Loan Crossover FAY Based on ISIR Availability" option, Regent will detect cases when the “prior” year ISIR for a crossover academic year is not present but a valid ISIR exists for the next year.  Even if the configured Default Academic Year Crossover date directs that the academic year be awarded from the prior year, Regent will go ahead and package the student’s loans from the “next” Federal Award Year.  Full automation will continue to apply to these loans, as there is no longer any need to have them treated as "manual" to retain such a change.

• Passive vs Active Acceptance Options:  Users configure funds for Active acceptance flow by having fund awards created in "Offered" status.  The student must "Accept" the award before it will process for payment.  For Passive acceptance flow, the fund is created in "Accepted" status, and while students are advised of the amounts, the awards will process without further direct student intervention.  Users may now configure a secondary acceptance flow for an award by identifying specific combinations of sites and programs that will use the non-default flow.  For example, students in undergraduate programs could use Active acceptance for their student loans, while students in graduate programs could use Passive acceptance.

Known Issues for Release 4.9.0.0  Will be provided in final version.