Update: October 13th, 2016

Greetings!

 

Now that the September 30^th deadline is passed, I want to give folks an update on things related to Fast Forward funding.

Communicate with Course Providers:

Between now and November 10^th, course providers will be verifying data in the Advanced Opportunities Portal. If there are any errors, duplicates, or mismatched data, we ask that you communicate with the course provider. Here is a contact list for dual credit providers, and overload course providers. Each course provider may have different enrollment procedures and policies internally, please make an effort to keep open lines of communication with their offices to understand exactly what is expected from students as they enroll in courses.

Edit/Delete Courses:

To edit or delete courses select the Reports tab and select Courses Awaiting SDE Submission. Use the filters to find the course and click on the Course Name. Only a few of the fields are editable. If you need to make a correction to a field that is not editable, please deny the course and re-enter it correctly.

Add/Re-enter Course Requests:

To add or re-enter course requests, select Request Funding tab at the top of the screen.  Students are no longer able to enter any funding requests until next semester, therefore, any additions must be made by school personnel. Also, if you are adding any late courses, please reach out to the course provider. Any late additions may cause disruptions in their invoicing/verification processes. It is critical that you communicate with their offices on this effort.

Future Deadlines: Attached, you will find a graphic describing the process for data in the portal. It is correlated with the following deadlines.

Advising:

As you advise students, many folks ask what courses students should be taking. The SDE recommends that students be encouraged to follow the GEM framework. I’ve attached a template for the GEM framework. To find out more about which specific courses fit into the GEM framework, please visit www.idtransfer.org and select “GenEd Courses” at the bottom of the page. Additionally, many schools are making concerted efforts to ensure have the entire framework available on site at the high school.

As always, thank you for your efforts in making this program accessible to our students. Please feel free to contact the me, your regional coordinator, or your GEARUP coordinator with any questions.

Warmly,

Tina Polishchuk

Data Flow for Advanced Ops Portal

Below is a diagram that demonstrates the workflow of the Advanced Opportunities Portal

Update: September 22nd

Greetings!

I’d like to welcome all of you to the new school year. Now that most of you have had a moment to settle down and settle in, I’d like to give you an update on all things related to Advanced Opportunities. Many of you are experiencing significant growth in program participation due to the increased funding. Please know that our support team is available to assist in any way we can.

FY17 Deadlines:

Here are the following deadlines for the upcoming school year.  Submission dates are early than last year based on feedback from the field.

Term	Student Access/ Data Entry Window		Verification/ Data Clean-Up Window		Submission
Fall	Aug 15th	Sep 30th	Oct 1st	Nov 10th	Nov 11th
Spring	Jan 11th	Feb 24th	Feb 25th	May 4th	May 5th
Trimester 1	Aug 15th	Sep 30th	Oct 1st	Nov 10th	Nov 11th
Trimester 2	Nov 9th	Dec 23rd	Dec 24th	May 4th	May 5th
Trimester 3	Feb 1st	Mar 31st	Apr 1st	May 4th	May 5th

Entering “OTHER” Courses:

All naming conventions in the portal must describe the course accurately.  Not doing so may result in denied funding requests by the SDE. If you are entering a College “OTHER” course, please enter it in the portal in the following format: “ENG 101 English Composition”.  This will allow both students and college personnel to identify the course appropriately.

Student Data/Information & Questions:

Do not sent student identifiable information in correspondence with the SDE. Please note that all correspondence with our office is subject to public records requests and may put this information at risk. Please avoid using names or EDU-ID numbers. Instead, we encourage you to please pick up the phone and call our support team.

BYU-Courses:

BYU Independent Study is now in the portal. Please note that these are different from BYU-Idaho or BYU-Utah.  Any courses from BYU-Idaho or BYU-Utah should still be entered as “Other” in the Advanced Opportunities portal.

Sample Documents & Policies:

We are collecting sample documents, letters, learning plans and policies to share with other school districts. These are getting posted to the Advanced Opportunities website and our blog. You can visit our site for ideas, or send in your document if you feel it may be helpful for other schools.

AmeriCorp Volunteers:

The Department of Labor has AmeriCorp vista’s and volunteers available to assist school districts in their efforts with College and Career Readiness Advising. This is a great opportunity for all district across that state to have additional personnel to assist with these efforts at a very low-cost. For more information, please contact Sara Scudder at (208) 334-3705 ext. 3246.

Useful Documents:

Attached, you will find several documents that you may find helpful. This includes the most recent graduation requirements, a GEM framework or courses that should be a focus, and a generic six-year learning plan that you can use to advise students

Thank You for Your Patience:

Due to the extensive growth in Advanced Opportunities and newly hired Career Advisors across the state, our team is experiencing a large volume of inquiries. As a result, you may have noticed that our response time is not as quick as normal. Most inquiries are addressed within 72 hours, however we encourage you to visit our site for information if you do not get a response immediately.  In the “Training” tab at the bottom of the webpage, you will find all the pertinent information about the portal and other program questions.  Additionally, here is a link to the Advanced Opportunities Portal District Manual. We are glad to assist as needed, please be patient with us as we attempt to respond to all questions coming in.

As always, thank you for all that you are doing for Idaho students. We appreciate and support your efforts tremendously.

Warmly,

Tina Polishchuk

Update: August 22nd

Greetings!

I’d like to start off by welcoming all of you back. I hope that you enjoyed your summer and had opportunities to kick your feet up and relax. Now that it’s mid-August, we’re rolling up our sleeves to kick off the new school year. I will be sending out updates regarding Advanced Opportunities, including deadlines, activities, and FAQ’s. If you’d like to be taken off this list, please let me know. Or if you have a colleague that you feel needs this information, let me know and I’ll be happy to add them to my email list.

Summer Submissions:

Submission deadline for summer activity is September 2^nd. If you are still entering data for summer activity, please prioritize this task.  Course provider need time to verify and match the data before your district can submit to the SDE. You can view your match rate on the “College Enrollment Status Match” under the reports tab.  Each provider must match 100% before your district is able to submit. Payments will go out at the end of September. Late submissions will not be paid until January (which may result in account holds for your students).

Co-mingled Data:

Please do not co-mingle data between terms. Before you begin approving your fall requests from students, please make sure you’ve submitted your summer data.  If you begin approving requests for the fall, you will not be able to match your data in time with colleges to submit summer requests by September 2^nd.

Deadlines for FY17:  

Below you will find deadlines for data entry and submissions for this year.

Term	Student Access/ Data Entry Window	District Submission Deadline
Summer 2016	July 1st – July 30th	Friday, September 2, 2016
Fall 2016	August 15th – September 30th	Friday, November 11th, 2016
Spring 2017	January 11th – February 24th	Friday, May 5th, 2017
Trimester 1- 2016	August 15th – September 30th	Friday, November 11th, 2016
Trimester 2- 2016	November 9th – December 23rd	Friday, May 5th, 2017
Trimester 3- 2017	February 1st- March 31st	Friday, May 5th, 2017

Student Resources:

On the state department website you will find several new student resources including a 5 minute video that you can use to help student register for an account and apply for funds, as well as sample learning plans. Please know that personnel at the various colleges and universities are available to assist with transition advising, and planning for your students.

Conference:

It was a pleasure to see so many familiar and new faces at the conference. We also appreciate the contributions of all those who helped put it together. If you were unable to make it to the conference, but want to access resources, presentations can be found on the conference website under the “Workshops” tab.

As always, the Advanced Opportunities Support team is here to help. We are experiencing a large volume of inquiries because students are coming back to school. Please know that we will get back to you just as quickly as possible. Thank you for all that you do for Idaho’s kids.

Warmly,

Tina Polishchuk