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Performing Mass Packaging Using Application Data

This section discusses how to:

Page Name

Definition Name

Navigation

Usage

Mass Packaging Select

RUNCTL_FA_BPKG

select Financial Aid, then select Awards, then select Mass Packaging, then select Select Students, then select Mass Packaging Select

Run mass packaging selection, which selects the students that you defined on the Mass Packaging Select Students page. This is the first of the three processes for Mass Packaging.

Mass Packaging by Students

FA_BPKG_STDLIST

select Financial Aid, then select Awards, then select Mass Packaging, then select View Results by Students, then select Mass Packaging by Students

Review a list of the student selected using the Mass Packaging selection definition in the Mass Packaging Student Select process.

Mass Packaging Assign

RUNCTL_FA_BPKG_ASN

select Financial Aid, then select Awards, then select Mass Packaging, then select Assign Plans, then select Mass Packaging Assign

Assign packaging plans by running the second step in Mass Packaging, associating a packaging plan (or series of packaging plans) with the students who have been selected for Mass Packaging.

Mass Packaging Plans Assigned

FA_BPKG_PLANQRY

select Financial Aid, then select Awards, then select Mass Packaging, then select View Results by Query, then select Mass Packaging Plans Assigned

Review the packaging plans assigned to students, who are sorted by ID. You can also view students not assigned a packaging plan.

Mass Packaging Students by Plan

FA_BPKG_STDPLAN

select Financial Aid, then select Awards, then select Mass Packaging, then select View Results by Plan, then select Mass Packaging Students by Plan

Review the packaging plans assigned to students sorted by the Sort Field field designated on the Mass Packaging Assign page. This page displays one packaging plan at a time.

Mass Packaging Process

RUNCTL_FA_BPKG_PRC

select Financial Aid, then select Awards, then select Mass Packaging, then select Process Mass Packaging, then select Mass Packaging Process

Process mass packaging. Initiate the eligibility review and award calculation routine, which is the third and last step in the Mass Packaging process.

Access the Mass Packaging Select page (select Financial Aid, then select Mass Packaging, then select Awards, then select Select Students, then select Mass Packaging Select).

Image: Mass Packaging Select page

This example illustrates the fields and controls on the Mass Packaging Select page. You can find definitions for the fields and controls later on this page.

Mass Packaging Select page

Selection of students is based on the Selection Tool criteria defined in the query, equation, or external file. No other assessment is used to filter students for the Mass Packaging process.

Population Selection

Population selection is a method for selecting the IDs to process for a specific transaction. The Population Selection group box is a standard group box that appears on run control pages when the Population Selection process is available or required for the transaction. Selection tools are available based on the selection tools that your institution selected in the setup of the Population Selection process for the application process and on your user security. Fields in the group box appear based on the selection tool that you select. The fields behave the same way from within the group box on all run control pages and application processes. If your institution uses a specific delivered selection tool (PS Query, Equation Engine, or external file) to identify IDs for a specific transaction, you must use it.

See Using the Population Selection Process.

Field or Control

Definition
Selection Tool

Displays if Population Selection check box is selected. Select from: Equation Engine, PS Query, or External File, or enter a tool that your institution created to select the IDs to assign to the student group. Additional parameters are displayed for your selected tool.
Query Name

Displays only when PS Query is selected in the Selection Tool field. Select a PS Query that uses one of these bind records:

  • Use SFA_BPKGX_BIND if your criteria is not career-dependent.

  • Use SFA_BPKG_BIND if Career is a criteria element.
Equation

Displays only when Equation Engine is selected in the Selection Tool field. Select an equation that is defined with the application prompt Mass Packaging Selection.

Parameters

Field or Control

Definition
Institution and Aid Year

Enter the institution and aid year for which to run Mass Packaging.

Access the Mass Packaging by Students page (select Financial Aid, then select Awards, then select Mass Packaging, then select View Results by Students, then select Mass Packaging by Students).

Image: Mass Packaging by Students page

This example illustrates the fields and controls on the Mass Packaging by Students page. You can find definitions for the fields and controls later on this page.

Mass Packaging by Students page

Field or Control

Definition
Process Status

Indicates whether the student is packaged with this batch of students in the next two steps of Mass Packaging.

Invalid: The student is not included in this Mass Packaging run.

Valid: The student is processed during this Mass Packaging run.

You can delete the student's row or change the Process Status to Invalid to remove any students you do not want to be included in this packaging batch. If students have multiple careers, a row exists for each career for which they are packaged.

Access the Mass Packaging Assign page (select Financial Aid, then select Awards, then select Mass Packaging, then select Assign Plans, then select Mass Packaging Assign).

Image: Mass Packaging Assign page

This example illustrates the fields and controls on the Mass Packaging Assign page. You can find definitions for the fields and controls later on this page.

Mass Packaging Assign page

Select the Mass Packaging Selection Definition that you are using to select your students for the current Mass Packaging run.

In the Packaging Plan Parameters group box, select one or more packaging plans the system should apply against the current group of students selected for Mass Packaging.

Field or Control

Definition
Career

The career you select here determines the packaging plans available in the Plan ID field.
Plan ID

The ID of the packaging plan to apply to eligible students in this Mass Packaging run. Only packaging plans associated with the selected career are available. It does not matter in what order you list the plan IDs on this page. If you list multiple packaging plans, the packaging plans are applied against the selected students based on the processing order defined for each packaging plan in the packaging plan setup. You can review the students and the packaging plans that have been associated with them after you run the process.
Sort Field

Select a field on which to sort students within each plan. You must then choose to sort the students in either ascending or descending order. For example, you could sort students based on ascending EFC or descending federal need. The third step of the Mass Packaging process evaluates students in the order in which they are sorted. The fields by which you can sort students are:

  • ADJ_PAR_CONTRIB (Adjusted Parent Contribution)

  • AGI_PAR (Parents' Adjusted Gross Income)

  • AGI_STU (Students' Adjusted Gross Income)

  • EMPLID (Employee ID)

  • FED_EFC (Federal Effective Family Contribution)

  • FED_NEED (Federal Need)

  • FED_PARENT_CONTRB (Federal Parent Contribution)

  • FED_STDNT_CONTRB (Federal Student Contribution)

  • INST_EFC (Institutional Effective Family Contribution)

  • INST_PARENT_CONTRB (Institutional Parent Contribution)

  • INST_STDNT_CONTRB (Institutional Student Contribution)

  • PRORATED_EFC (Prorated Effective Family Contribution)

  • TRANS_PROCESS_DT (Transaction Process Date)

Do not use FED_EFC for packaging plans that have a non-standard award period. FED_EFC represents the PRIMARY_EFC, which is the 9–month EFC that is synonymous with the academic award period. Therefore, all non-standard award period FED_EFC values equal 0.00. If you sort by FED_EFC for non-standard plans, the system defaults the sort order to EMPLID.

Field or Control

Definition
Asc (ascending)

Select this option to have the students sorted in ascending order.
Desc (descending)

Select this option to have the students sorted in descending order.
Run

Run the Mass Packaging Plan Assignment process (FAPPKASN) when you are ready to assign packaging plans.

Access the Mass Packaging Plans Assigned page (select Financial Aid, then select Awards, then select Mass Packaging, then select View Results by Query, then select Mass Packaging Plans Assigned).

Image: Mass Packaging Plans Assigned page

This example illustrates the fields and controls on the Mass Packaging Plans Assigned page. You can find definitions for the fields and controls later on this page.

Mass Packaging Plans Assigned page

To identify each packaging plan, the page displays three fields from the Mass Packaging Assign page—Packaging Plan ID, Academic Career, and Sort Packaging by— and the Plan Order from the packaging plan setup. The plan order is the processing order for the packaging plan. Use the scroll arrows to view the other packaging plan IDs used for this Mass Packaging session.

For each packaging plan, the page displays the students selected for the packaging plan in ascending ID order. The list provides the student's ID, name, and value for the field identified in the Sort Packaging by field (the name of the third column changes to match this field). Click Remove to remove a student from the list and prevent the student from being packaged during the final step of the Mass Packaging process.

Access the Mass Packaging Students by Plan page (select Financial Aid, then select Awards, then select Mass Packaging, then select View Results by Plan, then select Mass Packaging Students by Plan).

Image: Mass Packaging Students by Plan page

This example illustrates the fields and controls on the Mass Packaging Students by Plan page. You can find definitions for the fields and controls later on this page.

Mass Packaging Students by Plan page

To identify each packaging plan, the page displays three fields from the Mass Packaging Assign page—Packaging Plan ID, Academic Career, and Sort Packaging by—and the Plan Order from the packaging plan setup. The plan order is the processing order for the packaging plan.

For each packaging plan, the page displays the students selected for the packaging plan, sorted by the field identified in the Sort Packaging by field. The list provides the student's ID, name, and value for the field identified in the Sort Packaging by field (the name of the third column changes to match this field). Click Remove to remove a student from the list and prevent the student from being packaged during the final step of the Mass Packaging process.

You can view students who were not assigned a packaging plan by selecting a career but no packaging plan when you open the page.

Access the Mass Packaging Process page (select Financial Aid, then select Awards, then select Mass Packaging, then select Process Mass Packaging, then select Mass Packaging Process).

Image: Mass Packaging Process page

This example illustrates the fields and controls on the Mass Packaging Process page. You can find definitions for the fields and controls later on this page.

Mass Packaging Process page

Select the selection definition you want to use to run the Mass Packaging process.

Select Simulation or Live as the mode for which you want to run this Mass Packaging. If you select Simulation, you can review the results before deciding to update all award tables. If you select Live, the process updates all award-related tables.

Note: It is highly recommended that you run the Mass Packaging process in Simulation mode at least once before running it in Live mode.

A student can receive one, none, all, or some of the awards defined in the packaging plan assigned to them. The system applies your financial aid item type rules, federal eligibility rules, fiscal limits, and aggregate aid rules to determine whether the student receives a particular award as part of their package. The Mass Packaging process also determines award amounts, disbursement plans, and split codes for each award.

When you run the third step of the Mass Packaging process in Live mode, the process updates various tables including student awards, student disbursements, student aggregate history, loan information, fiscal item types, and the award activity log. If the Mass Packaging process encounters an error, the Posting process provides a message regarding the reason the student was not packaged and the student is displayed on the Mass Packaging Errors page. The Mass Packaging process continues packaging students and writing errors to the Mass Packaging Errors page until it reaches the number of errors allowed by the Background Errors Allowed field on the Financial Aid Defaults page. When the allowed errors limit is reached, the Mass Packaging process stops.

Note: Students whose award record encounters posting errors during Mass Packaging Live mode appear on the Mass Packaging Details component select (Financial Aid, then select Awards, then select Mass Packaging) as well as the Mass Packaging Errors page. However, these students have not actually been packaged. The Mass Packaging Details pages displays the awards the student would have received if there were no posting errors.

Run the Mass Packaging process (FAPPKBKG) when you are ready to package students.