INTERNAL CONTROLS OVER SPECIAL TESTS AND PROVISIONS – ENROLLMENT REPORTING
Bluefield State University, Blueridge Community and Technical College, Concord University, Fairmont State University, Marshall University, Mountwest Community and Technical College, New River Community and Technical College,...
INTERNAL CONTROLS OVER SPECIAL TESTS AND PROVISIONS – ENROLLMENT REPORTING
Bluefield State University, Blueridge Community and Technical College, Concord University, Fairmont State University, Marshall University, Mountwest Community and Technical College, New River Community and Technical College, Pierpont Community and Technical College, Shepherd University, West Liberty University, West Virginia Northern Community College, West Virginia State University, West Virginia University, and West Virginia University at Parkersburg
Assistance Listing Number 84.063, 84.268
Bluefield State University (BSU) response
Effective February 2024, BSU will review the final enrollment report and approvals will be signed off to submit the report to NSC, the third party will consistently retain a copy within our institution. BSU will retain the record count reconciliation between the final enrollment report, text file, and the number of files received by the NSC, including documentation on how any rejected records were addressed. BSU will retain the details of the validation of the student’s information included in the report for accuracy. BSU will consistently retain the NSC automated emails used as a quality checklist regarding due dates, and receipt of the text files by the NSC. The availability and completion of the Error Resolution Report, as well as the confirmation of certification and processing by the NSC report, will all be retained.
Blueridge Community and Technical College (BRCTC) response
BRCTC asserts that the Enrollment Reporting process is accurate and reviewed in a timely manner; BRCTC further asserts that the emails from the National Student Clearinghouse are reviewed. As a result of this finding, BRCTC will expand its internal control to include documentation of reviews internally and externally with the NSC. This
update to the internal control process was implemented in February 2024.
Concord University (CU) response
Effective February 2024, the internal controls at CU over the review and approval of the enrollment report sent to the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) have been updated to include the following control measures in addition to the current controls on file:
1. CU has contacted NSC to begin generating the email response for the receipt of the .txt file when submitting it to the NSC FTP portal. This email notification will be kept on file with the other report documentation.
2. CU has implemented a new checklist sheet to accompany the report and its documentation to provide a clear and organized outline of required documents and to ensure these requirements are provided. This sheet will be part of the Spot Check Letter that is included in the current control method and signed off on by two members of the Registrar’s Office staff.
3. CU has also included in this new checklist a space to document the number of student files submitted to NSC and the number of files submitted to NSLDS as noted by NSC. The printout of this notation provided by NSC will also serve as documentation attached to the report.
Fairmont State University (FSU) response
Effective February 2024, FSU will retain a screen shot of the record count received by the NSC and will document any rejected records and what the plan is to address the rejected records. FSU will review a portion of the enrollment records being submitted before the submission is uploaded to NSC. This review will include detailed documentation, for a select few, of how we validated the student’s enrollment status. FSU will keep a spreadsheet of the students that are validated and the Banner screens that are used to do so.
Marshall University (MU) response
Effective February 2024, MU will document that a record count reconciliation has been completed between the enrollment submission file and the number of files received by the NSC. MU will document and retain how any rejected records were addressed. MU will also document and retain records of the spot check validation for accuracy of student information included in the enrollment submission files.
Mountwest Community and Technical College (MCTC) response
Effective February 2024, a record count reconciliation between the final enrollment report and the number of files received by the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) will be completed. MCTC will have the NSC query historical data and have it provided in Excel format. This will be a new source of data that will be collected and retained. This file will be generated after every rejection error report that is returned to the NSC. Each file will be saved, and a copy will be sent to the Registrar’s Office. Transmission history can also be saved by table, that can be exported to Excel. These files will also be saved, and a copy sent to the Registrar’s Office.
For validation of student information, MCTC will being the process to collect data for the NSC submission first begin in audit mode. This will allow for review of the data to make any corrections that appear in the first stage of the report. Next, a second row of audits processed by the Associate Registrar will be conducted and confirm the data integrity. After this is complete, a copy of the final submission will be sent to the Registrar for final review and authorization. When approval is returned to the Associate Registrar, the data will be uploaded to the NSC.
New River Community and Technical College (NRCTC) response
Effective August 2024, the Registrar's office will run a random selection of 20 students from NSLDS to ensure students are correct in the clearinghouse, which will be done at least 50 days out from the time students were initially reported. The Registrar’s office will keep documentation of the sampled students. The Registrar’s office will keep records of how many files were accepted and how many were rejected. The Registrar’s office will provide documentation of validation of student information included in the enrollment report and retain emails by providing a file specially for NSC enrollment reporting emails received and sent regarding enrollment reporting. Emails to be retained are error resolution and confirmation of certification and processing by the NSC. The Registrar’s office will also create a checklist to follow and use as documentation to ensure all steps throughout the process are completed and checked off the list.
Pierpont Community and Technical College (PCTC) response
Effective February 2024, PCTC will complete the review of the file before it is submitted, not after it’s submitted. The Associate Registrar will pull the report prior to the due date to give those in the review process ample time to review the files before the Associate Registrar submits the document to the NSC.
PCTC will keep track of the due date of submission, the date the text file was sent to the NSC, the date the error resolution report was received, the date it was sent back, and the date the report was certified by the NSC. A new tab in the worksheet in Teams has been created that will be completed each time an enrollment verification is submitted to the NSC.
PCTC will note the actual enrollment count as of the time of the NSC submission, the enrollment count on the TXT file, the number of files received by the NSC, and the number of rejected files. This is to verify that all of the files intended to be submitted to the NSC were actually received by the NSC and processed. This information will be kept on each spreadsheet used to verify the information sent to the NSC.
Shepherd University (SU) response
Effective February 2024, SU will add a checklist to the existing reporting and retention structure that had already been established for Clearinghouse data transmission. The checklist will be completed with each transmission, organizing data retention efforts to ensure inclusion of the additional elements required.
West Liberty University (WLU) response
To comply with internal control over the review and approval of the enrollment reporting to NSC, WLU will enhance their policies and procedures. The update of these policies and procedures will be effective February 2024 and carry forward into future academic years. WLU will ensure that enrollment reporting policies and procedures are compliant with the US DOE standards and retain evidence of the internal controls.
Currently, WLU is reorganizing the processing of enrollment reporting from our IT System Administrator to our Enrollment Services Coordinator. This employee will add to the current policy a process by which a record count reconciliation will happen between the final enrollment report text file and the number of files received by NSC. There will also be documentation kept showing how many rejected records were addressed with each report. Proper documentation will also kept of a final review and approval signoff to submit the enrollment
report to NSC. Lastly, WLU will create an email specific to enrollment reporting where all communication from NSC will be stored for auditing and record keeping purposes.
West Virginia Northern Community College (WVNCC) response
Effective February 2024, the enrollment reporting to the Clearinghouse (NSC) is being moved from the Registrar/Records office to the Institutional Research (PIER office). All reports including determination of reporting intervals per Clearinghouse and SFA guidelines, will be scheduled by the IR office with the Clearinghouse.
The following items will be retained to match internal controls for each file sent to the Clearinghouse:
1) Retain internal emails or approval document regarding review and approval from two persons for file prior to sending to NSC
2) Retain verification of count of student record in file matching student enrollment at that time
3) Retain verification of record count with records received by NSC
4) Retain a spot check of students (approx. 8-10) from the file which were tested for accuracy including printout of where this was matched (usually SFAREGS time status page is printed)
5) Retain NSC Error Report for each file prior to resolution and document of resolution
6) Retain reminder email from NSC that the submission file is due
7) Retain initial txt file receipt email from NSC
8) Retain NSC posted error resolution report notification email
9) Retain NSC Completed Error Resolution report notification email
10) Retain NSC final processing email
The following information for each file will also need maintained (this information is usually obtained from the NSC reporting page under the enrollment reporting link for approximately an 18 month time frame, header records on the files also show file generation date and term date information for the students reported).
1) Scheduled transmission date
2) File certification date
3) NSC received date
4) NSC processed date
5) Academic term the file is sent for
6) Submission type of the file (first of term, subsequent of term, graduate only, etc.)
West Virginia State University (WVSU) response
WVSU utilizes the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) to update student’s enrollment and its effects on student’s direct loan and Pell statuses.
Thorough edit checks of student data for each semester will be produced by IT on a regular basis. The Office of the Registrar, in coordination with Admissions, Dual Enrollment, and other contributors of student data, will make sure these errors are corrected. Special focus will be placed on resolving these errors before each enrollment file is produced. (initial data integrity, first check).
On or around the 25th of each month, IT will produce the NSC enrollment file. Each time the file is produced, the file will be sent to the Registrar for review to ensure accuracy of the data being pulled from Banner. Registrar sends approval for upload to NSC.
Emails from NSC, IT, and files with student checks to be retained. (process integrity, second check) The file will be uploaded to the NSC by IT, ensuring NSC received the appropriate number of records. The data will then be reviewed and any discrepancies in the data, when compared with past data, will be resolved in a timely manner. The NSC error report will be reviewed and any errors corrected. The NSC process makes sure these errors are resolved before the data is reported to the NSLDS, it is the responsibility of the Registrar to make sure these are resolved with accurate data. Emails from NSC, and screenshots of errors will be retained. (data integrity, third check)
After resolution of errors, the NSC will perform a final review of data before sending to the NSLDS. This will be reported on the NSLDS Reporting tab of the Enrollment Reporting screen in the NSC website. If data is satisfactory, the submission will be marked with “Congrats. No Errors!” by the originator clearinghouse. The NSC sends emails whenever these items are updated. It is the responsibility of the Registrar to review and resolve any errors in a timely manner. Emails from NSC and screenshot of NSLDS reporting dashboard to be retained. (data integrity, fourth check)
The enrollment data is then submitted to the NSLDS. After NSLDS reviews the data, any errors will be reported back through the NSC in the same manner as NSC errors. Resolution of these errors is of special importance and will be given top priority. The NSC sends emails whenever these items are updated. It is the responsibility of the registrar to review and resolve any errors in a timely manner. Emails from NSC and any error documentation to be retained. (data integrity, fifth check). These policies and procedures will be implemented in August 2024.
West Virginia University (WVU) response
WVU’s Registrar’s office reviews rejected records and takes appropriate action to clear the rejections. Many of these rejections require additional information from students, therefore resolution is based on student discretion in providing documentation. Effective February 2024, WVU will ensure that documentation of the submission record count and rejection follow up is maintained.
West Virginia University at Parkersburg (WVU-P) response
Effective February 2024, WVU-P will reconcile the record count of enrollment records processed by taking the following actions:
1. Highlighting the record count at the end of the Banner-generated enrollment report file as part of the spot-checking review process.
2. Screenshotting the number of files received by NSC once they acknowledge that the file has been received.
3. Retaining documentation to show that if for some reason the file count does not match, research was done to locate the reason for the discrepancy, and the discrepancy was either resolved or WVU-P is able to document why it could not be resolved. Records and Financial Aid are working together now to develop procedures to properly document the error resolution process. WVU-P will have this process in place by April 2024, in time for the new process to be fully implemented beginning with the Summer 2024 term.
WVU-P will retain all documentation, including all emails sent by NSC throughout each enrollment reporting process, within a folder in a secure drive. The name of the folder will be the date that the enrollment report was sent to NSC.