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October 2008
Dear Student Support Services Project Director:
I am writing regarding the Student Support Services (SSS) annual performance report (APR) submission for program year 2007-08. The deadline for submitting the APR via a Web site maintained by our data processing contractor is December 1, 2008.
You will use the same online Web application and registration process developed for the 2006-07 APR submission with minor modifications discussed below. All SSS projects must use the online reporting application to submit the 2007-08 performance report which will be available on November 3, 2008. The instructions for submitting the report and the links to the secured Web site maintained by our contractor are at the following Web address:
http://www.ed.gov/programs/triostudsupp/report.html
Prior to beginning the process, please review again the OMB approved form and instructions for the 2007-08 APR available on our Web site. Also, you may want to download a copy of the SSS APR Web Site User's Guide available at https://trio.ed.gov/sss.
As was the case in the past two years' submissions, there are still four options for starting the data submission process for Section III:
- Download an Excel file of last year's submitted data; update the file and then upload directly to the Web form.
- Upload an Excel/CSV file directly to the Web form.
- Transfer last year's data submission to the Web form and update and add records online.
- Enter student data directly into the Web form.
Beginning in 2006-07, the Download feature does not include the social security numbers (SSNs) of your participants, even though the file you provided us contained this information. This change was made to better protect the personal information contained on the data file and prevent inadvertent misuse of information provided by the Department of Education. However, as was requested in 2006-07 data submission process, the participant data file you prepare for the 2007-08 APR should include the SSNs of all participants, as this is the primary identifier used to match participant records across project years.
The changes we have made include: (1) annual updates to the form and instructions for the 2007-08 data collection; (2) one change to the options for field #27 (degree/certificate completion) - option #7 has been dropped to eliminate confusion with combining certificates and associate's degrees; and (3) a few additional data quality checks to the on-line Web application to ensure that you provide internally consistent data. In addition, you may drop from the 2006-07 data file any participant that was a prior participant no longer enrolled (field #15, option 4) on your 2006-07 participant data file, unless the participant re-enrolled at your institution in 2007-08. There are four sections to the SSS APR as noted below. Grantees who completed Section II of the APR in 2005-06 and 2006-07 will only need to complete Sections I and III. Grantees who completed Section IV in 2006-07 will be required to complete either Section II or IV in addition to Sections I and III.
Section I: Project Identification, Certification and Warning;
Section II: Verification of Number Funded to Serve and Prior Experience Standard Objectives (To be completed by SSS projects that began their new grant/project period in 2007-08);
Section III: Record Structure for Participant List; and
Section IV: Project Performance Objectives (To be completed by those SSS projects whose 2007-08 budget year is part of a grant/project period that began prior to 2005).
Thank you for the time and effort you dedicate to performance reporting each year and for your commitment to providing complete and accurate data. Please retain source documents in a readily accessible form so that they can be verified during an on-site visit. If you encounter technical problems accessing the Web site or using the Web application, please contact the Help Desk using instructions provided at the site. Also, remember that after you submit the completed APR electronically you must also submit, via fax, a signed copy of Section I of the report form that certifies that the information submitted electronically is readily verifiable and that the information reported is accurate and complete. The fax number is (703) 995-4812. Should you have questions regarding the performance report requirements, please contact your program specialist directly. To ascertain your program specialist's name, telephone number, and e-mail address, please visit:
http://www.ed.gov/programs/triostudsupp/staff.html
Sincerely,
Eileen S. Bland
Team Leader
College and University Support Team
Federal TRIO Programs
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