Thursday, September 20, 2018
Academic policy updates
Two policies are currently posted for 30-day review prior to changes becoming effective: Credit and Grade Point Requirements for an Undergraduate Degree and Grading and Transcripts. The Credit and Grade Point Requirements policy has been revised, changing the limit for S/N credits permitted within the degree (UMTC only). The Grading and Transcripts policy has been revised to improve readability and to shorten the timeline for students to resolve incompletes. For more information or to submit your comments, visit the Policy Library.
Updated multi-institutional (multi-i) enrollment webpage
After months of collaboration, review, and refinement, the multi-institutional working group has signed off on the new multi-institutional content on the One Stop website. This working group included staff from financial aid, One Stop, student finance, and student records on all campuses, and they worked to provide more clarity for students considering multi-institutional enrollment. The group will continue its work by next moving on to documenting processes and will eventually work on improving the related form.
The new content went live on September 14, available on each campus’ domain at:
The new content went live on September 14, available on each campus’ domain at:
- https://onestop.crk.umn.edu/academics/multi-institution-enrollment
- https://onestop.d.umn.edu/academics/multi-institution-enrollment
- https://onestop.morris.umn.edu/academics/multi-institution-enrollment
- https://onestop.umn.edu/academics/multi-institution-enrollment
- https://onestop.r.umn.edu/academics/multi-institution-enrollment
Conference news
Fall—in-particular, October—is a heavy time of year for conferences. Here are some of the larger conferences staff are participating/attending:
Numerous University staff are not only attending, but will be presenting at Midwest Higher Education User Group (MidHEUG) Alliance conference in October:
Twin Cities will host Big Ten Registrar’s conference in October
Preparations are underway for the Big Ten Registrar’s conference, hosted this year by the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Registrars and records professionals from 14 schools meet annually to discuss an agenda made up of topics submitted by the membership. The goal of the meeting is to exchange ideas and best practices and tackle some of the hot topics currently facing registrars across the country. Previous topics have included graduation and retention initiatives, data governance, gender identity/preferred name/personal pronouns, and academic forgiveness, to name a few. Have a burning question for our Big Ten peers? Please send to Adrienne Bricker (abricker@umn.edu) by Monday, September 24.
Twin Cities will host the Big Ten Financial Aid Associate Director conference in October
Right after the Big 10 Registrars depart the Twin Cities, the Big 10 Financial Aid Associate Directors will be arriving on campus for their annual meeting. These meetings provide an opportunity to discuss with other Big 10 colleagues approaches to implementing federal regulations, new initiatives on campus, ways to support staff development, partnerships across campuses, best practices, and challenges we all face. Like noted above, if you have questions you would like posed to this group please send them to Michelle Curtis (mcurtis@umn.edu) by Wednesday, September 26.
- Student Loans & Receivables Collection conference - 9/23-26
- Dreamforce 2018 - (Salesforce CRM annual conference) - 9/25-28
- 2018 Transfer Specialist & DARS User conference - 10/1-4
- Midwest Higher Education User Group (MidHEUG) Alliance 2018 - 10/11-12
- Ad Astra conference - 10/13-17
- Midwest Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (MASFAA)conference - 10/14-17
- Institute for Student Services Professionals (ISSP) - 10/21-23
- Tableau conference - 10/22-24
Numerous University staff are not only attending, but will be presenting at Midwest Higher Education User Group (MidHEUG) Alliance conference in October:
- Deep Dive into Google Data Studio Visualization: David Norman
- Gender Identity and Personal Pronouns: Stakeholders, Systems, and Implementation: Max Herman, Stacey Tidball, and Julie Selander
- Veterans Benefits Implementation: Lana Rosario
- Automating Single-Term Packaging: Ken Kiehm, Lindsey Konerza, and Stephanie Kearley
- Oh Escheat! Please cash that check: Jack Kimmes
- Ditching Delivered and Customizing the Student Financials Payment Plan: Sarah Hoegger
- Student Debt Letter Project: Lessons Learned: Ken Kiehm
Twin Cities will host Big Ten Registrar’s conference in October
Preparations are underway for the Big Ten Registrar’s conference, hosted this year by the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Registrars and records professionals from 14 schools meet annually to discuss an agenda made up of topics submitted by the membership. The goal of the meeting is to exchange ideas and best practices and tackle some of the hot topics currently facing registrars across the country. Previous topics have included graduation and retention initiatives, data governance, gender identity/preferred name/personal pronouns, and academic forgiveness, to name a few. Have a burning question for our Big Ten peers? Please send to Adrienne Bricker (abricker@umn.edu) by Monday, September 24.
Twin Cities will host the Big Ten Financial Aid Associate Director conference in October
Right after the Big 10 Registrars depart the Twin Cities, the Big 10 Financial Aid Associate Directors will be arriving on campus for their annual meeting. These meetings provide an opportunity to discuss with other Big 10 colleagues approaches to implementing federal regulations, new initiatives on campus, ways to support staff development, partnerships across campuses, best practices, and challenges we all face. Like noted above, if you have questions you would like posed to this group please send them to Michelle Curtis (mcurtis@umn.edu) by Wednesday, September 26.
System Registrar Council (SRC) updates (September 2018)
The SRC met for an in-person meeting at the Duluth campus on September 17 and 18. Duluth graciously hosted this event, showing that great northern Minnesota hospitality. The council worked through a packed agenda over the course of the day and a half meeting, including beginning work to update the group’s charter.
System Student Finance Council (SSFC) updates (September 2018)
Nelnet upgrade
Nelnet release 2018.1 is delayed. This release continues to be reviewed and no new date has been scheduled for its deployment.
Encouraging direct deposit
In order to encourage students to sign up for direct deposit for their credit balance refunds, the campuses sent an email to students who received a check since January 1, did not enroll in direct deposit yet and had fall registration. Morris is exploring sending a follow up message to those students who received checks this fall.
Payments and Nelnet
We continue to work with Nelnet on the terms and conditions for accepting credit cards for tuition and fees. A response to the redline draft UMN sent them, was received from the FNBO (First National Bank of Omaha, the acquiring bank for Nelnet) attorney, with some information on the items they don’t agree with and why, or questions to help them understand the changes the UMN made. We are awaiting responses to this information from OGC, OIB, and the Controller’s Office. More to come. For the time being, the “stop gap” measure that Nelnet put in place in the spring is still working and students and families can still pay using a credit card.
One Stop website content review
The SSFC has completed reviewing their content pages on the One Stop website, updating information and some How-to guides. These pages included topics such as refunds, how to pay, payment plan, direct deposit and third party billing.
Nelnet release 2018.1 is delayed. This release continues to be reviewed and no new date has been scheduled for its deployment.
Encouraging direct deposit
In order to encourage students to sign up for direct deposit for their credit balance refunds, the campuses sent an email to students who received a check since January 1, did not enroll in direct deposit yet and had fall registration. Morris is exploring sending a follow up message to those students who received checks this fall.
Payments and Nelnet
We continue to work with Nelnet on the terms and conditions for accepting credit cards for tuition and fees. A response to the redline draft UMN sent them, was received from the FNBO (First National Bank of Omaha, the acquiring bank for Nelnet) attorney, with some information on the items they don’t agree with and why, or questions to help them understand the changes the UMN made. We are awaiting responses to this information from OGC, OIB, and the Controller’s Office. More to come. For the time being, the “stop gap” measure that Nelnet put in place in the spring is still working and students and families can still pay using a credit card.
One Stop website content review
The SSFC has completed reviewing their content pages on the One Stop website, updating information and some How-to guides. These pages included topics such as refunds, how to pay, payment plan, direct deposit and third party billing.
System Financial Aid Council (SFAC) updates (September 2018)
NASFAA annual webinar schedule
For those of you planning ahead, NASFAA has published its full year schedule for webinar training. Take a look at nasfaa.org/2018-19_webinars.
FAFSA going mobile
An article from the Washington Post announced that the government launched the first official mobile app to guide families through a task of filing the FAFSA the week of August 20. The app, called myStudentAid, can be downloaded to Apple and Android cell phones and can be used now, with a few caveats. Read the full Washington Post article.
For those of you planning ahead, NASFAA has published its full year schedule for webinar training. Take a look at nasfaa.org/2018-19_webinars.
FAFSA going mobile
An article from the Washington Post announced that the government launched the first official mobile app to guide families through a task of filing the FAFSA the week of August 20. The app, called myStudentAid, can be downloaded to Apple and Android cell phones and can be used now, with a few caveats. Read the full Washington Post article.
One Term Automated Packaging (OTAP)
This semester, UMN rolled out the functionality created as the result of the One Term Automated Packaging CS PS 9.2 Upgrade project. For the first time, fall undergraduate student awarding was done in an automated batch packaging process. This automation allows students graduating fall term to receive their financial aid package at the same time as students attending fall and spring. In addition it saves staff time, reduces manual errors, and allows better funds management.
Constitution Day 2018
Constitution Day 2018 has come and gone but all campuses met the requirement. The campuses coordinated efforts to ensure that all met the Constitution Day requirement to commemorate the September 17 signing of the Constitution. This is required in order to meet Federal Student Aid Consumer Information disclosure requirements.
This semester, UMN rolled out the functionality created as the result of the One Term Automated Packaging CS PS 9.2 Upgrade project. For the first time, fall undergraduate student awarding was done in an automated batch packaging process. This automation allows students graduating fall term to receive their financial aid package at the same time as students attending fall and spring. In addition it saves staff time, reduces manual errors, and allows better funds management.
Constitution Day 2018
Constitution Day 2018 has come and gone but all campuses met the requirement. The campuses coordinated efforts to ensure that all met the Constitution Day requirement to commemorate the September 17 signing of the Constitution. This is required in order to meet Federal Student Aid Consumer Information disclosure requirements.
FA communications aid year planning
The financial aid communications aid year planning spreadsheet used by Twin Cities has been expanded to include all campuses. It includes financial aid communications from PeopleSoft and is a helpful tool as we start planning for the upcoming year.
The financial aid communications aid year planning spreadsheet used by Twin Cities has been expanded to include all campuses. It includes financial aid communications from PeopleSoft and is a helpful tool as we start planning for the upcoming year.
Information Technology updates (September 2018)
Destiny One Registration System
The latest version of Destiny One software, v5.6, was delivered on July 29, 2018. New functionality includes:
Custom Solutions
The Custom Solutions development team continues their work to support the TADA project (uAchieve implementation) and will be testing progress toward degree data in uAchieve starting in October. The benefits of PTD encoding include:
Student Data and Analytics
The advising leadership working group has been granted access to two dashboards in a production like environment. Feedback they provided has been incorporated into the first release of a dashboard that delivers Progress Towards Degree data. This includes the ability to identify the count of students who are on track/off track, information on admission to the college as well as entry college information, enhanced details around degree applicable and excess elective splits, as well as a direct link to the students APLUS page.
Program and Plan data has been added to retention risk modeling related to a students career. The team is analyzing how the timing of when students add, drop, or carry multiple plans and relates to retention. The team has reviewed the current results based on the static training data with other data analyst around the institution.
The latest version of Destiny One software, v5.6, was delivered on July 29, 2018. New functionality includes:
- Conference letter of accreditation - If professional credits are awarded for a conference there is now the ability to configure a report in Conference Manager to display what was earned and additional text if needed.
- The conference registration confirmation email now includes session information.
- Functional testing of the Destiny One-Salesforce integration is scheduled to begin mid-September.
Custom Solutions
The Custom Solutions development team continues their work to support the TADA project (uAchieve implementation) and will be testing progress toward degree data in uAchieve starting in October. The benefits of PTD encoding include:
- Ability to provide more targeted service to students in their final year.
- Ability to identify and anticipate program bottlenecks.
- Foundational work for more innovative data analytics over time.
Student Data and Analytics
The advising leadership working group has been granted access to two dashboards in a production like environment. Feedback they provided has been incorporated into the first release of a dashboard that delivers Progress Towards Degree data. This includes the ability to identify the count of students who are on track/off track, information on admission to the college as well as entry college information, enhanced details around degree applicable and excess elective splits, as well as a direct link to the students APLUS page.
Program and Plan data has been added to retention risk modeling related to a students career. The team is analyzing how the timing of when students add, drop, or carry multiple plans and relates to retention. The team has reviewed the current results based on the static training data with other data analyst around the institution.
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