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Setting Up FAN Printing Using the Forms Engine

This section provides an overview of Forms Engine FAN printing and discusses how to:

Prior to 2003-2004, printing FAN letters required you to initiate a process within the Packaging feature of Financial Aid. Navigate to Report Manger to view the results and print the FAN. Through the use of Forms Engine, an Application Engine program that outputs information in PostScript format, you can print FAN letters directly to your PostScript printer without leaving Packaging. Using Forms Engine for printing FAN eliminates the need for JetForm, Crystal Reports, and Word Merge.

The process prints the award notifications and updates a communications table to indicate that an award communication has been sent. You can initiate a process to print a single FAN letter for an individual student or for students in batch.

The previous process for printing FAN letters remains available. However, the new process is more streamlined and efficient than the previous process.

Page Name

Definition Name

Navigation

Usage

FE Award Notification Form Types (forms engine award notification form types)

FANLTR_FORM_TYPE

select Set Up SACR, then select Product Related, then select Financial Aid, then select Forms Engine Notification, then select Define Notification Form Types, then select FE Award Notification Form Types

Set notification form types.

FA Process Demographic Use

FA_PRCSDEMO_TBL

select Set Up SACR, then select Product Related, then select Financial Aid, then select Define Demographic Data Use, then select FA Process Demographic Use

Indicate from where the student's data should be gathered.

Sort Order Names

SORT_NAME_TBL

select Set Up SACR, then select Product Related, then select Financial Aid, then select Forms Engine Notification, then select Define Sort Order Names, then select Sort Order Names

Set the default criteria for the Setup Defaults and Run Controls.

FE Award Notif. Select. Eqtns (forms engine award notification selection equations)

FANLTR_EQTN_SEL

select Set Up SACR, then select Product Related, then select Financial Aid, then select Forms Engine Notification, then select Define Selection Equations, then select FE Award Notif. Select. Eqtns

Set up the table for FAN equations.

Printer Name

PRINTER_TBL

select Set Up SACR, then select Product Related, then select Financial Aid, then select Forms Engine Notification, then select Define Printer Names, then select Printer Name

Set up table for list of available printers. It allows you to define local printer options.

FE Award Notification Defaults (forms engine award notification defaults)

FANLTR_DEFAULTS

select Financial Aid, then select Awards, then select Notification Letter, then select Award Notification Defaults, then select FE Award Notification Defaults

Set award notification default information.

Access the FE Award Notification Form Types page (select Set Up SACR, then select Product Related, then select Financial Aid, then select Forms Engine Notification, then select Define Notification Form Types, then select FE Award Notification Form Types).

Image: FE Award Notification Form Types page

This example illustrates the fields and controls on the FE Award Notification Form Types page. You can find definitions for the fields and controls later on this page.

FE Award Notification Form Types page

Field or Control

Definition
Form Type

Identifies the form type for this award notification.
Description

Describes the delivered form type. Form Type 1 is the initial notification of financial aid. Form Type 2 is shorter version of the initial notification.
Group

Identifies in which group of letters this letter code exists.
Letter Code

The code from the Campus Community Standard Letters page for this communication. You can define the letter code for the FE FAN process.
Category

The communications category associated with this letter code. You can define the category for the FE FAN process.
Context

The context from the Campus Community Communications Context page that is included in this category. You can define the context for the FE FAN process

This setup uses the Campus Community components to evaluate Address and Name Usage processing requirements and to indicate from where the student's demographic information should be gathered.

Access the FA Process Demographic Use page (select Set Up SACR, then select Product Related, then select Financial Aid, then select Define Demographic Data Use, then select FA Process Demographic Use).

Image: FA Process Demographic Use page

This example illustrates the fields and controls on the FA Process Demographic Use page. You can find definitions for the fields and controls later on this page.

FA Process Demographic Use page

Select the appropriate option for each of the fields.

Field or Control

Definition
Process Name

Award Notification process is new to FE FAN. You must insert a new row and select Award Notification as the process name.
Address Usage

Reserved for financial aid processes and is not used for loans.
Perm Addr Usage (permanent address usage)

Used to set the permanent address for loan processing.
Mail Addr Usage (mail address usage)

Used for temporary address.
Name Usage

Indicates which name to use for the student or borrower.
Phone Usage

Indicates the type of phone such as business phone or cellular phone. Used to select phone usage table settings defined in Campus Community setup.
Email Usage

Indicates the type of email address such as home, business, dorm, campus, or other. Used to select email usage table settings defined in Campus Community setup.
Address Usage Table

Click to access the Address Usage page to define or review address usages.
Name Usage Table

Click to access the Name Usage page to define or review name usages.
Phone Usage Table

Click to access the Phone Usage page to define or review phone usages.

You can sort the data by field to control the order in which the output documents generated by a batch print process appears. Two sort sequences are delivered with the system. FAN PROC 1 displays information by Record, Field Name, Length and Long Name. FAN PROC 2 displays information by Field Name, Long Name, Record, and Length. You must set up any other sort sequences for your institution.

Access the Sort Order Names page (select Set Up SACR, then select Product Related, then select Financial Aid, then select Forms Engine Notification, then select Define Sort Order Names, then select Sort Order Names).

Image: Sort Order Names page

This example illustrates the fields and controls on the Sort Order Names page. You can find definitions for the fields and controls later on this page.

Sort Order Names page

Field or Control

Definition
Sort Name

The name of the sort sequence.
Seq (sequence)

The hierarchy of how you want data to sort. Use a Zip Code sort to obtain information in the order to use for a bulk mailing.
Field Name

The name of the field.
Length

The character length of the previous field.
Field Long Name

The full name of the field displayed.
Decimal Positions

Displays how many positions appear after the decimal point if this is a numeric field.

Access the Printer Name page (select Set Up SACR, then select Product Related, then select Financial Aid, then select Forms Engine Notification, then select Define Printer Names).

Image: Printer Name page

This example illustrates the fields and controls on the Printer Name page. You can find definitions for the fields and controls later on this page.

Printer Name page

Field or Control

Definition
Printer Name

Enter the printer name and location of the path.
Description

Enter the description of the printer.
Printer Location

Enter the printer location.

Access the FE Award Notif Select. Eqtns page (select Set Up SACR, then select Product Related, then select Financial Aid, then select Forms Engine Notification, then select Define Selection Equations).

Note: You must create equations using the Equation Engine prior to setting up the FE Award Notif Select. Eqtns page. See Equation Engine documentation for more information on setting up and using the Equation Engine.

Image: FE Award Notif Select. Eqtns page

This example illustrates the fields and controls on the FE Award Notif Select. Eqtns page. You can find definitions for the fields and controls later on this page.

FE Award Notif Select. Eqtns page

Field or Control

Definition
Equation Name

Select the name of the equation.
Description

The description of the equation.

Access the FE Award Notification Defaults page (select Financial Aid, then select Awards, then select Notification Letter, then select Award Notification Defaults).

Note: This page is designed to define the initial setup for the One-Up Print Process and Batch Print Run Controls.

Image: FE Award Notification Defaults page

This example illustrates the fields and controls on the FE Award Notification Defaults page. You can find definitions for the fields and controls later on this page.

FE Award Notification Defaults page

Field or Control

Definition
Career

Define the options for financial aid processing. Examples of standard career options are undergraduate or graduate.
Award Period

The award period that is used in packaging. Values include: Academic, Non-Standard, and Both.
Academic Program

Academic program values that are used for financial aid processing.
Form Type

Define and create the values using the Forms Engine. Initial Notification 1 and Initial Notification 2 (Short FAN) are delivered with the system.
Group

Define this in the Setting Up the Forms Engine. It identifies the Form Type to a specific processing group.
Letter code

The code for the letter associated with this communication. You define this on the FE Award Notification Form Type page.
Category

The communications category associated with this letter code. You define this on the FE Award Notification Form Type page.
Context

The context from the Campus Community Communications Context page that is included in this category. You define this on the FE Award Notification Form Type page.
Equation Name

Define this using the Equation Engine. FANLTRSEL (Award Letter Selection Criteria), FANLTRDTRANG (Award Letters within a Date Range), FANLTRNONEED (Students with No Need) are delivered with the system.

Note: There is a change to the logic behind the FAN letter selection criteria. If you indicate in any of the run controls that cancelled and declined awards should print, the new version of the FANLTRSEL equation excludes letters for students who only have cancelled and declined awards.
Sort Order

Defined using the Sort Order Set Up. Sorts FE FAN output by sorting preferences.
Address Usage

Defined using the Process Demo Set Up. Allows you to override Address Usage options.
Name Usage

Defined using the Process Demo Set Up. Allows you to override Name Usage options.
Printer Name

Defined using the Printer Names Set Up. Allows you to select defined printer.
Aid Application Status

The values are based on Packaging Status Summary. Initially set to Active.
Service Impact

Determines whether or not to print a notification based on service impacts.
Award Status

Values are based on the Packaging Award Status field. Initially select Accepted or Offered.
Package Status

Values are based on the Aid Packaging Status field on the Packaging Status Summary page. You should set this option to Completed and never to Repackage.
Aid Packaging Method

Values are based on how aid packages were created. Values are Blank, Auto, Counselor, and Not Packaged. Initially select Blank to ensure that the program evaluates all options.
Packaging Methodology

Values are Federal Methodology and Institutional Methodology.
Retention Period

Indicates the length of time that Forms Engine keeps historical data.
Retention Units

Indicates the unit used in Retention Period. Use Years as the unit to facilitate audit requirements.
Budget Type

Values are Budget Categories (Institutional) and Pell Categories.

Date Time Format Override

(Optional) As a default, the FE FAN prints the date and time format defined for message catalog entry (138,1), which displays throughout the system. For example, if the message catalog entry is set as dd:MMMM:yyyy, which defines a system date-only format, and you need to display a date and 24-hour format for FE FAN only, enter dd:MMMM:yyyy:HH:mm:ss. For more information on defining date and time formats, see the explanation field for the Message Catalog Entry (138,1) in PeopleTools: System and Server Administration, "Using PeopleTools Utilities."
Include Revisions

Select to include revisions made to aid packages in the print job.
Display Notification Number

Select to print the number on the aid notification.
Print Cancels

Select to print the information if an award is cancelled.
Run Simulation

Select to run this print job in simulation mode.
Print Via Script

Select to allow for multi-platform printing.
Display NID

Select to display the student's National ID.
Display Customized Messages

Select to display customized, on demand user-defined messages from the FE Award Notification Student Defaults page Comment Box.
Display COA Only

Select to display the Cost Of Attendance/Budget information on the Aid Notification. The system does not display the resource information on the printed aid notification if you select this option.
Display Form Name

Select to display the name of the form on the printed aid notification.
Print Declines

Select to print the information if a student declines an award.
Duplex - Print Both Sides

Select to allow printing of both sides of a page.