GSFC 411 e-newsletter [Apr. 2009]

Welcome to the Online GSFC411 Newsletter Archive
APRIL 2009 Newsletter
GAcollege411 Partner Update The latest news about the GAcollege411 website. View Update
Transcript Exchange Update The high school Transcript Exchange process for 2009 Preliminary HOPE GPA calculation is complete. Read Full Article
Apply To College Week Date Set The first annual Georgia Apply to College Week (GACW) was a huge success! The event, held November 11-13, helped over 950 high school seniors from eight Georgia high schools submit applications to Georgia colleges and universities using the GAcollege411.org web site. Read Full Article
GSFC May Board Meeting GSFC's Board of Commissioners meets Savannah on April 30, 2009 and May 1, 2009. Read Full Article
Compliance Corner Compliance Corner features policies and procedures and frequently asked questions regarding Compliance reviews of GSFC's scholarship and grant programs. Read Full Article
Georgia Student Finance Commission 2082 East Exchange Place Tucker, Georgia 30084 (770) 724-9000 or 1-800-505-GSFC (4732) FAX (770) 724-9089

Transcript Exchange Update
The high school Transcript Exchange process for 2009 Preliminary HOPE GPA calculation is complete. Transcript processing for Preliminary HOPE GPA and GPA Verification ended March 16, 2009. Processing went very well and was well ahead of last year's preliminary processing.
Out of 674 high schools and over 103,500 senior students:
591 schools uploaded transcripts and received GPA calculations 537 schools verified their GPA results 97,667 senior students were uploaded and calculated 91,185 senior students GPA calculations were verified by their school 34,530 senior students were identified as eligible and verified by their school 97.3% of the eligible senior students were verified
We commend all high schools for the tremendous job they did with Preliminary HOPE GPA this year. The number and percentage of senior students calculated and verified exceeds any previous year for Preliminary HOPE submissions. The list of all these eligible senior students has been and will continue to be available to all post secondary schools in the state through the SURFER system. Senior students continue to have access to their Preliminary HOPE GPAs through their secure My411 Account on GAcollege411.
The HOPE Progress Report for ninth through eleventh grade students is also available. The service will allow students, parents and counselors to monitor a students' progress towards HOPE eligibility as early as the ninth grade.
The 2009 Final HOPE GPA process will begin in early May, with a deadline for submission and verification of all results by June 30, 2009.
Georgia Student Finance Commission 2082 East Exchange Place Tucker, Georgia 30084 (770) 724-9000 or 1-800-505-GSFC (4732) FAX (770) 724-9089

Georgia Apply To College Week Sets New Date
By Sarah Wenham, Director of Student Access, Board of Regents
The first annual Georgia Apply to College Week (GACW) was a huge success! The event, held November 11-13, helped over 950 high school seniors from eight Georgia high schools submit applications to Georgia colleges and universities using the GAcollege411.org web site. Approximately 20 colleges waived their application fee for the duration of the event providing students the opportunity to apply to college. The primary goal of GACW is to encourage more high school seniors to apply to college in Georgia, particularly low income, first generation and underrepresented students; and encourage students to apply to college earlier in their senior year.
Over 50 volunteers from Georgia colleges and universities, the Georgia Student Finance Commission and other community organizations assisted students as they worked on their admission applications. Students received handbooks prior to the event that guided them through the process of setting up a My411 account and researching colleges using the GAcollege411 web site. The site coordinators and volunteers also received handbooks to help guide and prepare students during the event. GACW received support from the U.S. Department of Education through the College Access Challenge Grant (CACG).
Positive feedback was received from participating students and staff from the eight high schools, as well as volunteers. The high schools indicated that they felt the event helped their students and that they are very interested in holding the event again next year.
94.2% of students rated the event as either excellent or good 79.6% said the event influenced their decision to apply to college
The following is a sample of the feedback received from students participating in the event:
"Georgia Apply to College Week really helped me because prior to the event I had so many questions that got answered. Plus, I am a procrastinator and this event pushed me to go ahead and apply early. It helped me a lot!"
"My mother will be so proud of me. I will be the first in my family to go to college, and I will finish."
This year, the GACW will take place November 9-13, 2009 and up to 50 high schools will be selected to participate. Letters have been sent to Georgia high school principals inviting their school to apply for participation in the 2009 event. Instructions for submitting an application were included in the letter as well. The Georgia Department of Education, the Georgia Foundation of Independent Colleges, the Georgia Student Finance Commission, the Technical College System of Georgia, and the University System of Georgia are sponsors.
For more information on Georgia Apply to College Week, please visit the website, http://www.usg.edu/apply-to-college/ or send an email to gacw@usg.edu. We hope that you will consider applying!
Georgia Student Finance Commission 2082 East Exchange Place Tucker, Georgia 30084 (770) 724-9000 or 1-800-505-GSFC (4732) FAX (770) 724-9089

May GSFC Board of Commissioners meeting
The next quarterly meeting of the Georgia Student Finance Commission (GSFC), Georgia Student Finance Authority (GSFA), and Georgia Higher Education Assistance Corporation (GHEAC) Board of Commissioners will be held April 30 May 1 in Savannah, Georgia at the Westin Savannah Harbor Golf Resort. The agenda:
Thursday, April 30, 2009 Public Policy and Law Committee of the Whole 1:30 2:30 p.m.
Finance and Business Operations Committee of the Whole 2:30 4:30 p.m.
Audit Committee of the Whole 4:30 5:00 p.m.
Friday, May 1, 2009 Strategic Planning Committee of the Whole 9:00 11:30 a.m.
General Board Meetings of the Georgia Student Finance Commission, Georgia Student Finance Authority and Georgia Higher Education Assistance Corporation 1:00 2:00 p.m.
These are open meetings, and the public is invited to attend.
Georgia Student Finance Commission 2082 East Exchange Place Tucker, Georgia 30084 (770) 724-9000 or 1-800-505-GSFC (4732) FAX (770) 724-9089

Compliance Corner
Incorrect Reporting of Data
One of the most frequently cited findings for institutions during a Compliance Review is an Incorrect Reporting of Data (IRD) finding. While an IRD finding has a low benchmark value, the impact of a misreporting of hours to GSFC could be very significant for both the students and the State Scholarship and Grant Programs. In the case of over reporting the hours, it could mean students don't receive State funds for what he or she was entitled to receive. In the case of under reporting the hours, it could mean that students receive State funds for which he or she is not eligible, impacting the State Scholarship and Grant Programs' financial status.
The potential effect on students and the State Programs is the reason the Compliance Team includes comparing the reported number of hours by the institution through SURFER to the actual hours as shown on students' transcripts and requests institutions to correct the misreported hours as part of the institutions' responses to Compliance Reviews.
Correcting hours requires filling out a Data Correction Form (see attached), which will be included with the Compliance Review Report, for each student that needs a change to his or her hours with all the relevant information and sending the completed Data Correction Forms to GSFC Operations. The institution's assistance with this process will help ensure that students are correctly awarded State Scholarships and Grants.
The GSFC Compliance Team is committed to its partnership with our institutions in the administration of the State's Scholarship and Grant Programs, and is always available to assist them with all aspects of the Compliance Program Review process. Institutions may contact the GSFC Compliance Team at ComplianceTeam@gsfc.org or Richard Hawkshead, Vice President of Internal Audit & Compliance, at 770-724-9012 or Richard@gsfc.org.
Georgia Student Finance Commission 2082 East Exchange Place Tucker, Georgia 30084 (770) 724-9000 or 1-800-505-GSFC (4732) FAX (770) 724-9089