Release 5.6 FAQ

Can anyone take Regent 5.6?  

• Any client currently using Regent Award must take Regent 5.6 for UAT and ultimately production upgrade in order to process 2022-2023 ISIRs..
• Any client currently using Regent Review must take Regent 5.6 for UAT and ultimately production upgrade in order to utilize the 2022-2023 Verification Worksheet.
• Any client currently using Regent Access may take Regent 5.6 for UAT and ultimately production upgrade.
• Any client currently using Regent Award may take the Regent 5.6 version of Student Experience for UAT and ultimately production upgrade.
• Any client currently using Regent Review may take the Regent 5.6 version of Student Experience for UAT and ultimately production upgrade.
• Any client currently using Regent Access may take the Regent 5.6 version of Student Experience for UAT and ultimately production upgrade. Note: All customer-specific functionality may not be available in the new Student Experience portal at this time.

What is included in Regent 5.6?

The 5.6.0.0 release addresses product defects as listed in the “Bugs” section of the Release Notes, and also enhancements and new features including:

• 2022-2023 Regulatory Updates for ISIR Processing
• 2022-2023 Verification Worksheet and Related Documents
• Nonterm 180-Day Rule Treatment
  
• Clock Hour R2T4 Automation
• Non-SSO Password Controls
• Packaging ‘Grids’
• New Fund Configuration Options
• Smart Form Confirmation Emails

Further details on enhancements/new features and a complete list of bug fixes can be found in the Release Notes. The 5.6 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.

What are the new Password Controls and who do they affect?

In order to comply with industry SOC 2 standards, new minimum password validation requirements will apply to:

• Non-SSO Student Experience Portal Access
• All Parent Student Experience Portal Access
• Non-SSO Staff Regent Login

The new password creation requirements are:

• Minimum 8 Characters
• Minimum 1 Upper Case Character
• Minimum 1 Lower Case Character
• Minimum 1 Numeric Character
• Minimum 1 Special Character
• Maximum 2 Sequential Numeric Characters
• Maximum 2 Sequential Repeated Characters
• Minimum 180 day Reset Password Frequency
• Minimum 12 Previous Password Allowance
• Minimum 5 Lockout Password Attempts
• Password cannot match logon name
• When a new account is created, password must be reset on the next login
• When an existing user account is reset, the password must be reset again on the next login

Password validation messaging has been updated accordingly.  Clients may use the standard CZ ticket process to request more stringent password configurations than the minimums/maximums listed above.

Note:  Customers may see the new password controls in the portal for students prior to upgrading their Regent Review/Award/Access instance to a version with the new password control functionality.

Will the 2021-2022 verification flow changes in 5.4.3 also apply to 2022-2023?

No. The Department of Education has announced that for the 2022-2023 year, all of the verification waivers introduced mid-year for 2021-2022 (except one) are rescinded.  This means that users will see verification requirements resume ‘as usual’ for 2022-2023 with the exception that institutions are no longer required to confirm high school completion status for students with ISIRs selected for V4 and V5 verification. 

Take the following steps to support your 2022-2023 verification processing:

• Ensure your 2022-2023 verification documents are configured to assign at ISIR import, even though you may have changed that configuration for your 2021-2022 documents. 
• Ensure your 2022-2023 setting for 'Set Verification Status' in Institution Setup has selected ISIRs configured to import in 'N' (Needed) status, not 'S" (Selected but not Verified).
• Ensure your SAIG ISIR processing message classes are properly configured for the new FAY.
• When reporting V4/V5 verification, do not use Values 4 and 6 beginning with the 2022-2023 FAY.  The following codes are still valid:
  • Value = 1   Verification of identity was satisfactorily completed by the applicant in person, and no issues were found.                    
  • Value = 2   Verification of identity was satisfactorily completed remotely by use of a notary, and no issues were found.      
  • Value = 3   Verification was attempted, and issues were found with identity.           
  • Value = 5   The applicant did not respond to the request for documentation or the applicant could not be located.                    

Regent made the following changes to the Verification Worksheet in support of 2022-2023 processing:

• All year references have been incrementally updated for the new Federal Award Year.
• IRS tax form line item references were updated to reflect the 2020 documents.
• Any references to 'virtual currency' and 'IRS 10040 NR EZ' have been removed.
• Any references to Selective Service and Drug Convictions have been removed – these no longer affect student eligibility.

        Contact Your Regent Account Manager to upgrade to the new Verification Worksheets

As a Regent Review client, how to I set up my documents for the 2022-2023 Federal Award Year?

Each year, annual documents must be added to a client's Document Setup before ISIRs are imported for the new year in order for Regent Review's Verification Worksheet to function properly. Please be certain to do this first in a QA environment before updating your Production instance. 

A list of the current Regent Review documents for existing clients can be found here:  2022-2023 Verification Support Document Configuration List.xlsx. Please follow the steps below to update the Regent Review document requirements for the 2022-2023 FAY.

Document Updates Step 1:

1. Confirm the following document requirements are configured in your Regent instance:
   1. Verification Worksheet
   2. Verification Worksheet - Changed
   3. Verification Worksheet - V5
   4. Verification Worksheet- Revised Request
2. Update the four document requirements listed above:
   1. If the document requirements above are configured and if the 'All FAYs' is not selected, add the FAY association for the new year.
   2. If the document requirements above are configured and the 'All FAYs' is selected, no further action is required for these requirements.
   3. If the document requirements are not configured at all, please create a Customer Zone ticket to receive guidance for adding or updating the document requirements.
3. Update the following documents, if necessary, to account for any changes you made when the 2021-2022 verification requirements were waived:   
   1. Verification Worksheet
   2. Verification Worksheet -V5
   3. Verification Worksheet - Change
4. Depending on what changes you made for the 2021-2022 year, you may need to update the 2022-2023 Verification Worksheets requirements as follows:
   1. On the General tab, update the Initial Status from Waived to Needed
   2. On the General tab, update the Scope by removing FAY 2021-2022 and adding FAY 2022-2023, if applicable
   3. On the General tab, if you used the expiration date, review the setup to see if any updates are necessary for your 2022-2023 processing
   4. On the ISIR assignment tab, enable the ISIR Assignment
   5. On the ISIR tab, update the Initial Status from Waived to Needed
   6. On the ISIR Tab, confirm the Correct FAY years are selected for Scope (excluding 2021-2022 as appropriate)

Document Updates Step 2:

Select one of the following two methods for this step.

Method 1:  Adding Documents via the Regent Award Export/Import Processes

1. Download documents in XML format from Regent Award:
   1. Click on the Export Processes under the Processes menu tab
   2. Select 'Export Setup Configuration' under the Process Type 
   3. Select 'XML' for Format
   4. Select Enterprise
   5. Select All or applicable Institutions
   6. Select All or applicable Campuses
   7. Select All or applicable Sites
   8. Add the Document, DocumentAssignmentISIR, and DocumentRequirementsSBLUDF templates
   9. Click Export
   10.  
   11. Click on the Process Log under the Processes menu tab 
   12. Click on the Download File(s) on the Export Setup Configuration Process Type for the process ran above
2. Update the XML document export file for the 2022-2023 FAY:
   1. Remove all documents that you will not be updating for the 2022-2023 FAY.  For example, if you have added other student-scoped or 'All FAY' documents to your system that will not need updated for the 2022-2023 FAY, remove them from the XML file. 
      1. Your current document configurations for these documents will remain unchanged in your Regent instance.
      2. Hint:  You will likely be removing any documents that do not have 2021-2022 or 2019 in the document name.
   2. Update the Document externalId for each document remaining in the XML document.
      1. These will be the new externalids for the new document requirements you are creating.
      2. The externalIDs must must be unique across all documents.
3. Update Document Names and add the 2022-2023 FAY: 
1. Search all FAY-scoped documents that do not have a year reference in the Document Name and have 2022 in the 'FAY List' and add the 2023 FAY to the 'FAY List'.
   1. Search all documents with a 'name' (document name) that contains 2022 and replace 2022 with 2023
2.  Then, search for documents with a 'name' (document name) that contains 2021 and replace 2021 with 2022
   1. Search for documents with a 'name' (document name) that contains 2019 and replace 2019 with 2020
1. Upload documents in XML format into Regent Award:
1. Click on the Import Processes under the Processes menu tab
   1. Select 'Import Student Documents XML' under the Process Type
   2. Select the updated XML file under the Import File
   3. Click Import
   4. Review documents under the Document Setup in the Regent Award User Interface

Method 2:  Adding New Documents Manually

1. Manually add new 2022-2023 document requirements under Document Setup in the Regent Award User Interface for the forms on this list: 2022-2023 Verification Support Document Configuration List.xlsx  
2. Important notes:
1. The Document Name must not be modified on these documents or it will affect the functioning of the Verification Worksheet in Regent Review.
2. Create a new, unique externalID for each new document requirement.
3. However, a customer can update the Document Message and can update the Document ID.  A Document ID is provided in these files and is required for the import process to work.  
4. Also, take note that any file attachments needed for these documents must be added manually through Document Setup. 
5. Finally, ISIRs for the NEW aid year should not be imported into Regent Award until this Document Setup is complete.

Other Annual Document Updates

Each year, our customers must also make Document Setup updates that pertain to general Financial Aid and Student processing, that are not specific to Regent Review's Verification Worksheet Functionality.  Clients are encouraged to do this work themselves, or they can engage with Regent under a paid SOW to complete the work. 

If you wish to assign due dates or expiration dates to specific documents, please see Document Setup Data Elements for more information on configuring those dates.

What types of fund awards should use the new Grid Packaging option in the Regent Award Packaging Philosophy?

This new approach is intended for non-Title IV funds that are awarded in different amounts to different groups of students.  For example, award amounts may vary by items such as GPA or EFC, or by both GPA and EFC.  Users can set up a table (‘grid’) to specify which percentage or dollar amount (depending on the ‘Package To’ option) will apply to students who fall in each cell of the grid.  Regent supports the use of GPA ranges, EFC ranges, or specific UDFs for each row or column of the grid.  A configured grid can either apply to All Students for the scope period (such as the 2022-2023 FAY) or can be assigned only to students in a specific group via UDF.  Note, if the only variable is that different dollar amounts are awarded by enrollment status, use the ‘Amount Per Payment Period’ configuration option in Fund Setup. There is no need for a grid to support this approach. 

Please see the 5.6 Product Brief and Release Notes for more information on Grid Packaging.

What other awarding rule options are included in the 5.6 Release of Regent Award?

In addition to the new Grid Packaging option, there are three new Fund Setup options available to users.

• When calculated award amounts are to be reduced on a per-unit basis for less than full time enrollment, the ‘Prorate Distribution Amounts’ checkbox option, when selected will prorate the calculated award amount on a percentage basis.  The percentage is calculated by the number of registered units over the minimum number of units in the program's full-time enrollment definition.  For example, if the minimum full-time definition is 12 credits, the term award amount is $1200, and the student’s current enrollment is only 8 credits, the award will be reduced to $800. The adjustments continue throughout the term. Anticipated periods use anticipated units to determine the enrollment level for this purpose.  This option will not be available for Title IV funds, nor will it be associated with a specific ruleset, nor does it apply to nonterm programs. 
• When using a Scheduled Academic Year (SAY), some funds may be distributed across all terms to include the Header/Trailer, and others may be distributed only among the regular terms in the actual SAY.  Checking the Exclude Headers and Trailers checkbox will instruct packaging to exclude terms configured as Headers or Trailers in the award distribution across term-based payment periods. If left unchecked, the distribution will be across all eligible terms including the Header/Trailer. This option will not be available for Title IV funds nor for those configured with a specific ruleset. 
• When a fund is awarded in different flat dollar amounts to students based solely on Enrollment Level, the 'Amount Per Payment Period Configuration' has been expanded to specify different dollar amounts for different enrollment levels, rather than just one amount per payment period for students at a specific level or range of levels.  Existing configurations for ‘Amount Per Payment Period’ will persist during the 5.6 upgrade.

What types of Documents can use the new Confirmation E-Mails?

Any Smart Form using e-Signature in the Student Experience portal can be configured to use the new template to generate a confirmation e-mail when a student or parent completes the signature process. The e-mail confirms submission, and if appropriate, identifies next steps (such as advising a Dependent student that the parent signature is still required).

If the Smart Form is configured as a ‘Financial Aid Application’ or as a 'Verification Worksheet' and an EFC is available for the FAY, the EFC will be included in the messaging.