Dear National Service Colleagues,
We want to let you know about an unexpected development with a technology contractor and tell you what we’re doing about it.
On Friday afternoon, Infonetic - our primary information technology contractor - filed for bankruptcy and laid off many staff assigned to the Corporation. These contractors worked on a wide range of projects, including eGrants, eSPAN and several of our help desks.
Our current systems – eGrants, eSPAN, My AmeriCorps portal, the online recruitment system – continue to operate normally. However, the loss of staff will mean a temporary reduction in the level of customer support we can provide on the eGrants help desk and may also affect the timing of planned upgrades to our systems. We are developing an inventory of exactly which systems will be affected and we will share that with you – in the meantime, these are the priority items we’re keeping a close eye on:
- Processing of VISTA and NCCC member living allowances through eSPAN
- October Progress Reports and Financial Status Reports for Senior Corps and VISTA
- The October 25 launch of the new progress reporting system for AmeriCorps State and National
- The November 1 launch of Phase 2 of the My AmeriCorps portal
If you’re applying for the Summer of Service grant competition – please note that we have extended the deadline to October 17.
Our top priority will be supporting the payroll system for VISTA and NCCC members serving in the field. Our eGrants help desk will remain open to answer questions from grantees and grant applicants, though callers are likely to experience more delays than usual. We will keep you updated about our progress. If a system upgrade or deadline needs to be pushed back, we will quickly let you know, and give you adequate time to adjust.
We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience.
In service,
David Eisner CEO, Corporation for National and Community Service
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