4.8.0.0 - Product Brief

Product Release	4.8.0.0
Release Date
Keywords	Product Brief
Additional Documents
Status	DRAFT
Authors	Ron Dinwiddie Susan Sherrick Sharon Clough Steve England

Product Release Summary

This Product Brief includes a summary of Release 4.8.0.0 and direction to additional documentation and information. The last major release was 4.7.0.0. These materials include information about features that will be available in a late summer second phase of the Release.

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:

Initial 4.8.0.0 Release

Phase 2 of R2T4 Automation
R2T4 Post Withdrawal Disbursement (PWD) Enhancements
Additional Automation for Loan Aggregate Calculations

Late Summer Update for Release 4.8.0.0

Mobile Friendly Student Experience
Access 2020-2021 Questionnaire
ISIR Format Export File for Access

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.

System Requirements

Any client currently using Regent Award may take the 4.8.0.0 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 4.8.0.0 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 4.8.0.0 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 4.8.0.0 Release

Automated R2T4 PWDs: The main new feature in the 4.8.0.0 Release is automation of R2T4s resulting in Post Withdrawal Disbursements (PWDs). Our previous release supported full automation for R2T4s resulting in neither refunds nor PWDs for R2T4s initiated by information provided in the Student Batch Load (SBL) file - the student's financial aid for the R2T4 period was both fully earned and fully disbursed. This release expands that automation to support R2T4s resulting in PWDs as well. Regent Award will determine which PWD disbursements are eligible to be disbursed or offered to the student, and will either disburse them via EST or (with current communications functionality) will generate an offer communication to the student. For R2T4s created after upgrade to 4.8.0.0, there is no longer a need to assign a payment-period scoped document to the student to block loan PWD disbursements until they are accepted. When a student does contact the school for a PWD, the user will update the award(s) in the PWD grid to initiate the requested disbursements and/or cancellations.

PWD "Do Not Offer" and Cancellation Features: Release 4.8.0.0 includes additional features for clients who have activated R2T4 automation as well as for those who are still using a "manual" process. Regardless of whether any specific R2T4 automation is activated, users will see improvements for all R2T4s resulting in PWDs. Rather than a user researching each PWD loan offer to see if it is a second or subsequent disbursement, for example, even fully "manual" R2T4s will have the "Do Not Offer" information pre-populated in the PWD section of the template. Additionally, the layout of the PWD information on the template has been redesigned to include disbursement level information - it is not unusual for two disbursements from a single award to receive different treatment in a PWD scenario. Additionally, users will be able to configure an offset date by which any offered PWD disbursements that have not either been disbursed or cancelled will automatically cancel.

Initial R2T4 Refund Automation: While not the main release for R2T4 Refund automation, users electing to Activate Refund automation will be alerted via task when a student's R2T4 requires institutional costs. The specifications for provision of institutional cost data via the SBL are in place and are available to clients in support of SBL modifications to fully utilize Regent's R2T4 automation in a future release.

Automation of Calculations for additional Aggregate Loan Scenarios: With the release of 4.8.0.0, Regent Award has updated treatment of data received in NSLDS Financial Aid History (FAH) files to properly calculate current aggregates for open loan periods without use of a delay to allow time for COD processing. This improvement was previously applied to loan data received in ISIR files, so now data from both sources will receive the same treatment. This Release also includes a new task notification to users when NSLDS information received via either data source includes a loan with pending disbursements processed by another institution. In these cases, Regent is not the source of additional data on those loans, so the amount applied to the aggregate as reported in the data source is used for packaging. The task alerts that there could potentially be additional paid disbursements on the loan, so users can research and manually adjust the aggregate if appropriate. Regent loans with pending disbursements from closed periods will be addressed in a future release. In the interim, users are encouraged to continue the regular request and import of NSLDS FAH files so Regent can package with updated information on those records.

Additional Improvements: The 4.8.0.0 Release also includes a number of improvements to Regent Award features including:
- Treatment of breaks for Nonterm R2T4s
- COD web file processing improvements
- Option for NSLDS TSM alert disbursements
- Enhanced Academic Plan display with Dependency Status and Total COA
- New BBAY anchor option
- Fund adjustment option for past payment periods in a current award period
- New Data Views and Updated Versions (continue to communicate with Account Managers about ongoing deprecation process for old data view versions)
- Use of a third Federal Award Year in a lengthy nonterm academic year.
- Triage Self Help Guide

New Features Overview for Late Summer Update

New Student Experience: Regent will debut the first phase of the new responsive and mobile-friendly Student Experience which highlights needed actions for students and provides clients with direct control over the content of the introductory language for each of the My Financial Aid, My Documents, and My Messages modules, as well as direct control over the content of the My Useful Links module.

Access 2020-2021 Questionnaire: The new Federal Award year application will allow undocumented students to apply for state financial aid for the 2020-2021 award year.

Access ISIR Export: Regent Access users will be able to export fields mapped to ISIR data fields in an ISIR file format.

Known Issues for Release 4.8.0.0

Issue Key	Summary	Suggested Workaround
RS-13600	Errors when processes BP and SAP are run with Institution Setting "Enable Delay SAP Calculation Due to Missing Grades" is turned on.	None.
RS-13962	Split Weeks not functioning as expected for Abbreviated Loan Period.	None.
RS-14001	Certain TEACH Grant awards not being assigned a CPS Transaction Number for COD export.	Process the TEACH award at COD-on-the Web.
RS-14053	Dependent students in credential program not packaged with loans.	Utilize the Override Eligibility Rules feature of the Add Award Wizard to award the loans.
RS-14122	Pell Awarded above 150% when EFC is between 601 and 700 (2 students).	Manually override via Modify Award Wizard.
RS-14124	Nonterm Academic Year End Date is incorrect when the student returns after absence greater than 180 days.	None.
RS-14150	Error message: the student is already undergoing a program change..."	Request that the script in PS-1969 is run for the student.
RS-14358	Student Course Details Report receives an error indicating too much data returned.	None.
RS-14395	Automatic "cancel/recreate" to update the Loan Fee percentage is exporting incorrectly when all disbursements are anticipated.	Cancel initial loan at COD-on-the Web.
RS-14932	Incorrect Subsidized Loans for certain students when packaging to Direct Costs for high EFC students.	Adjust award amount via Modify Award Wizard.
RS-14963	Modified Date incorrect on cost adjustment due to time zone treatment.	None.
RS-14975	R2T4 Wizard error thrown for a graduate student when Pell cancelled after program change - "PP Start Date must be before the Scheduled PP End Date"	None.
RS-15136	Adding waiver grants and discounts to manual loan periods via Add Award Wizard receives 'Loan Period Not Found' Error for ManualAY1	Reduce awards by the amount of discount(s)/tuition assistance and annotate record.
RS-15202	In certain scenarios, the configured Alt-EFC Rounding Option is not applied.	None.
RS-15271	Loan cancellation-reinstatement logic is blocked by SULA truncation logic when registration renewed for a withdrawn term.	Add a zero dollar manual loan for the period works in some cases.
RS-15409	All run-time parameters are not fully captured in the Process Log.	None.
RS-15432	Multiple Zero Dollar Grad PLUS Awards reported for certain students.	None.
RS-15466	History Tab display not updating with new ISIR data.	Manually update History tab.
RS-15473	SBL-provided historic SAP status applying to terms outside of SAY review period.	None.
RS-15483	Task checkbox on the Task Tab doesn't clear out once an update is made.	Click the box again to clear it.
RS-15520	Error when attaching documents with special characters in the file name.	Do not use special characters in the file name.
RS-15547	Total Hours in Period do not populate in clock hour R2T4 templates.	Manually populate this field.
RS-15606	Certain manual paid disbursements retain a Disbursement Status of scheduled.	None.
RS-15708	Cannot adjust certain loans in Modify Award Wizard when aid disbursed before term start and there is no current enrollment.	Make a temporary manual course adjustment to a course in the term.
RS-15943	Pell disbursements scheduled outside of the term in limited cases with multiple disbursements.	Use Modify Award Wizard to correct the scheduled disbursement dates.
RS-16229	Certain nonterm R2T4 reversals receive a message: R2T4 Reversal Error: InitialAmount Must Be >=0	None.
RS-16306	2019 -2020 Verification Worksheet dropdown is missing the option to report 8 children.	Set a different document to establish family size and income for these students.
RS-16322	In certain cases, after an R2T4 that resulted in 100% aid earned is reversed, the funds are cancelled and replaced.	None.
RS-16543	In certain cases when eligible Pell is not fully disbursed for a previous term, Pell LEU calculation results in an underaward.	Update the Pell amount using the Modify Award Wizard.
RS-16666	Cost Setup is not properly supporting Cumulative Units configuration	None.
RS-16770	MAW not updating loan on Default Loan Period to support 'Reprocess' Student in WB Queue	None.