Update: November 10th, 2016

Greetings to all District Users:

The submission deadline for Fast Forward funding is upon us. I’d like to start by applauding you for all the efforts made in getting your students through the registration and application processes. The Advanced Ops team acknowledges that this was not an easy task. As we enter year three of Fast Forward, it is encouraging to see the tremendous growth and smoother implementation in the program.

Portal Updates:

Submission Deadlines: Please make sure to submit courses to the SDE by the end of the day on Friday (November 11^th).  Our team will begin processing this data in hopes to have it paid out by the middle of December.

Portal Update Release: On Monday, November 14^th, we will be launching an update to the portal system. If there are any areas of concern that come up, please feel free to bring them to our attention. With the update, you will find a hand full of features that are based on feedback that we received from you and you colleagues. You will be able to flag student accounts, filter report views for new accounts, and more. Perhaps, the most important addition coming with the update is the “Early Graduation Scholarship” Application.  This is a component of Advanced Ops that has not previously been a part of the portal.  Shortly after the release, we will deliver guidance around this access to ensure that students are able to get these funds. Please stand by for further information.

Other Updates:

Prevention Conference RFP: Many of you have attended or have heard of the prevention conference that our divisions hold in Sun Valley each year. If you, or someone you know is interested in presenting at this event, please submit the Request for Proposal.

Surveys: We are currently working with the State Board of Education to better serve schools in regard to the Middle School Credit System and High School Math Requirements. We’d like to get your feedback on these elements. If these areas impact your work, please take a moment to fill out these surveys to better inform our decision making.

·         Middle School Credit Survey

·         Math Graduation Requirements Survey

College and Career Readiness Training: The State Board of Education and State Department of Education are collaborating on a College and Career Advising Road Show coming up in just one month. The events will take place on the following dates, and will include topics on Advanced Opportunities, Advising Models, Career Information Systems, and more. Visit this link to Register.

·         December 5th—North Idaho College

·         December 6th—Lewis–Clark State College

·         December 7th—Boise State University

·         December 12th—College of Southern Idaho

·         December 13th—Idaho State University

·         December 14th—Eastern Idaho Technical College

Thank you again for all of your hard work. Please let us know if there is anything our team can do to support your local efforts.

Warmly,

Tina Polishchuk

Update: October 31st, 2016

Greeting to all Advanced Opportunities District Personnel,

I’d like to inform you of certain updates related to Advanced Opportunities.

Portal Notices:

·         SUBMISSION DEADLINE: The November 11^th submission Deadline is quickly approaching.  Course providers are working diligently to ensure that all students are verified well before the November 11^th deadline. Once you’ve met a 100% match in the portal and your button has turned red, please feel free to submit your data, even if it is prior to November 11^th. Late submissions will not be accepted for Fall payments. Late submissions will be rolled over into the spring payment at the end of the school year. Here is a link to a submission guide, which may be helpful as you get ready to submit your data to the SDE.

·         EDIT or DELETE COURSES: To edit/delete a funding request please select “Reports” and then “Courses Awaiting SDE submission”. Use the filters to find the student and course. Click on the title of the course and make any corrections necessary. Change the status to “Update Course”. Then save changes. If you are denying a submission, please change the amount to $0.00 and change the status to “Deny”. Save changes at the bottom.

·         MATCH STATUS: If you’d like to see which providers you still need to meet a match with, you can find this information under the “Reports” tab and “College Enrollment Status Match”.  In this report you will see a breakdown of the percentages, which will indicate colleges that you may still need to work with. Also, please note that there is a link on the portal homepage to the dual credit coordinators contact list.

Other Updates:

·         ADVANCED OPPORTUNITIES CONFERENCE: We need YOUR input!!! Our team is look forward to begin planning the Advanced Opportunities Conference. We are considering changing dates and locations, but would like some feedback from the field as to what time and locale would be best for the events. If you are interested in attending the conference, please take a moment to fill out this four question survey  by the end of the week, which will assist us in our planning.

·         GEAR UP SCHOOLS: Please join me in welcoming Idaho’s new GEAR UP team: CD Breshears and Jacque Deahl. They will be our partners in College and Career Readiness efforts across the state. If you are from a GEAR UP school, please defer to these individuals as your point of contact on any questions regarding Advanced Opportunities. This will expedite our ability to make sure your questions are answered in a timely manner.

Warmly,

Tina Polishchuk

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