Management’s Corrective Action Plan
Soka University acknowledges the finding and the recommendation regarding improving procedures.
Finding 2023-001 - Special Tests and Provisions – Enrollment Reporting: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance
After addressing the identified defic...
Management’s Corrective Action Plan
Soka University acknowledges the finding and the recommendation regarding improving procedures.
Finding 2023-001 - Special Tests and Provisions – Enrollment Reporting: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance
After addressing the identified deficiency in our enrollment reporting process, a thorough evaluation was conducted to rectify the issue and prevent its recurrence. We recognized that alterations in students' academic plans, prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, led to delays in fulfilling mandatory graduation requirements such as study abroad requirements, resulting in delays in posting study abroad grades to the Soka transcript. Consequently, during end-of-term degree audits by the Office of the Registrar, students with pending study abroad grades or
incomplete grades in their final term were inadvertently not updated to a withdrawn status, thereby failing to trigger updates to the National Student Clearinghouse and subsequently National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS).
In collaboration with the Office of the Registrar, robust internal controls have been implemented to mitigate this issue going forward. Following the conclusion of each term, the Registrar will generate a comprehensive report listing all students who have applied for degree completion. This report will be annotated to identify students who have fulfilled all degree requirements, enabling their degrees to be conferred promptly. Additionally, students with incomplete grades will be flagged, and their status will be promptly changed to withdrawn. In both scenarios,
enrollment status updates will be transmitted to the clearinghouse and subsequently NSLDS. The Registrar will inform the Office of Financial Aid of graduates and students with updated statuses for NSLDS reporting, and
Financial Aid will request an ad hoc enrollment request on NSLDS. To ensure accuracy, a manual spot-checking process will be conducted in NSLDS on 20% of the updated student records in NSLDS.
Upon notification of completed incomplete grades, the Registrar will promptly update transcripts, review degree requirements, and confer degrees where applicable. Following this update, the Registrar will manually update the clearinghouse and ask the Office of Financial Aid to request an Ad hoc enrollment report on NSLDS, ensuring timely and accurate reporting. This manual request will be verified on NSLDS after the ad hoc report has been run.
Students failing to meet degree requirements due to failed coursework and are enrolled to return in subsequent terms will not be updated to withdrawn status unless they fail to return as scheduled.
These measures aim to enhance the integrity and accuracy of our enrollment reporting process, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements and minimizing the risk of future deficiencies.
Anticipated Completion Date: February 2024
Scott Brandos
Director of Financial Aid
Soka University of America
949-480-4048