Stand-Alone Academic Cohort Billing, Monitoring and Financial Reporting Guidelines

Stand-Alone Academic Cohort Billing, Monitoring and Financial Reporting Guidelines

Introduction

Stand-Alone Academic Cohorts

Stand-Alone Academic Cohorts can provide degree programs to groups of students enrolled in a particular specialized course or proceeding in lockstep through a DePaul degree program. They operate internationally, domestically, or locally, and generally involve coordination with a third party partner.

Scope & Purpose

These guidelines apply to any college or school within the University that has received written approval to establish a Stand-Alone Academic Cohort. The purpose of these guidelines is to facilitate the efficient and accurate set-up of the billing and reporting for the new cohort, and to ensure compliance with applicable University policies for ongoing monitoring and financial reporting.

Troubleshooting

For questions regarding these guidelines please contact the Financial Accounting Department staff member, within the Controller’s Office, who is responsible for International Programs. (http://financialaffairs.depaul.edu/directory.html for contact information).

GUIDELINES

To set up the billing, financial reporting, and monitoring of collections for a new cohort take the following steps:

Step 1:  Obtain proper approval for a course or degree program

Design and receive approval for the new Cohort according to appropriate University Policy and Procedures. In most cases, development of the cohort will require a contract that must be reviewed by the Office of the General Counsel (OGC). Please consult the “Contract Requirements and Procedures Policy” (http://policies.depaul.edu/policy/policy.aspx?pid=81) for more information. Due to their legal/tax complexity, International Cohorts always require a contract and review and input from the OGC, as well as Financial Affairs, Academic Affairs, and the International Program Office prior to approval and setup.

Step 2:  Create a new department

The Budget & Operational Reporting department within the Controller’s Offices set- up new departments only after express approval from all respective areas. To set up a new department, e-mail the Budget and Operational Reporting department (contact info available at http://financialaffairs.depaul.edu/directory.html) to request a Chartfield Modification Request Form. The department will work with you to properly complete the form and set up a new department.

Step 3:  Create/Transfer Budget

Each new department requires a budget for planned revenue and expenses, including one or many of the following:

§  tuition revenue

§  fee revenue

§  scholarship expense

§  salary and benefit expense

§  departmental expenses (administrative costs, professional service, etc.)

For a listing and explanation of revenue and expense accounts available for budgeting, go to http://financialaffairs.depaul.edu and select the Guide to Account Code Usage from the Financial Affairs Forms drop down menu.

All revenues and expenses for the new stand alone program should be budgeted using Fund 130 – Stand Alone Operation.

To create/transfer budget, complete the Budget Change Request form available at http://financialaffairs.depaul.edu/forms.html. Complete the form for the current fiscal year. If the budgeting cycle has already concluded for the subsequent fiscal year also complete a form for the subsequent fiscal year. Successive fiscal years should be budgeted during the appropriate budgeting cycle.

A guide to completing the form is available at: https://oaa.depaul.edu/FiscalAdministration/_downloads/createBudgetJournal.swf.

For further guidance on filling out the form, contact the appropriate individual within the Budget/Operational Reporting department as listed at financialaffairs.depaul.edu.

Step 4:  Create a Student Group

Creating a Student Group for the new cohort or program enables you to manage students within the group for campus-wide processes, such as billing, academic advising, or financial aid awarding.

Student Groups are necessary for the new cohort to conform to unique, pre-approved contract requirements, such as:

§  Charging a non-standard tuition rate

§  Charging fees unique to the program

§  Eliminating standard DePaul fees such as CTA U-Pass fee, Student Activity Fee, Athletic Fee, Lab Fee, etc.

To request a new Student Group in PeopleSoft, either follow the procedure established by your college or school or send an e-mail request to Student Records at . In the e-mail include the following information about the new Student Group:

1. The desired Student Group code (2-4 Characters).

§  This code should be an abbreviation of what the group is and should be as intuitive and descriptive as possible for an abbreviation.

2. The short description (up to 10 Characters) of the Student Group.

§  This is a short description of the group that users will be able to see when adding or inquiring about Student Groups.

3. The long description (up to 30 Characters) of the Student Group.

§  This description is what the users will see once the code has been selected, and is the space that should most accurately describe what the group is.

4. The Group Owner.

§  This should be the faculty or staff member who is in charge of the data of this group, and will confirm what other users should have access to the group.

Example of a Student Group setup:

Code: DPCL

Short Description: DePaul Central

Long Description: DePaul Central Student Group

Group Owner: John Doe

Student Group Security

Group Owners are able to control who can view and/or update the students who belong to their Student Group.

There are two security roles to which additional users can be assigned:

·  Inquiry/Update Access – the ability to add and/or delete students from a group. This access should be strictly limited given the impacts associated with Student Group membership.

·  Inquiry Access – the ability to view the members of a group. Given the various University offices impacted by a Student Group, the ability to see that students are members may be spread more broadly. This should help the offices better serve the students and trouble shoot issues.

In order to setup these security roles for a user, complete the PeopleSoft Access Request Form located on the Information Services website.

Under Description of Roles users should list: Student Group Access

Under the Notes section, specify the Student Group code and the access needed to that group. Access types should be specified as one of the following: Inquiry; Update; Inquiry/Update

Example:

If a user needs access to more than one Student Group, access for all groups can be requested using one form. Once the form is completed, submit the form online, and then print and sign the form and return it to Student Records.

Step 5:  Setup tuition rate, fees and tuition chartfields

NOTE: The following must be completed at least 3 weeks prior to the initiation of the program to ensure that all administrative support areas are able to set up, test and implement the required steps to support the new initiative.

In order to accurately bill, record, monitor and review tuition and fees related to the new cohort, e-mail the:

1) System Administrator for Student Accounts,

2) Associate Director for Accounts Receivable Student Accounts,

3) Associate VP, Student Accounts

4) Third Party Coordinator, Student Accounts

(see directory at http://studentaccounts.depaul.edu/contact/index.asp) and

5) Financial Accountant responsible for International Programs (see

directory at http://financialaffairs.depaul.edu/directory.html)

with the following information related to the new program or cohort:

§  Copy of signed contract related to the new program or cohort

§  Department ID (from Step 1)

§  Item Type Detail (Charge Description, , account, fund, program, class)

§  Student Group Code (from Step 3)

§  Academic Program (generally the college or school responsible for the program)

§  Tuition amount (from contract - flat rate or rate per credit hour)

§  Unique fees (from contract)

§  Standard fees

o  Includes registration fee, CTA U-Pass Fee, Athletic Fee, Student Activity Fee. Besides the registration fee, standard fees not listed in your e-mail will not be billed.

§  Start Term (e.g. Fall, Winter, Spring or Summer)

§  Cohort start date (from contract)

§  Cohort end date (from contract)

§  Registration dates (these dates should be established in consultation with Student Records)

§  Add/drop dates (these dates should be established in consultation with Student Records)

§  Payment & Billing terms (from contract)

Examples

o  Students pay DePaul directly – student should receive a bill

o  Third Party payor pays DePaul on behalf of students (include name of third party payor); unpaid charges are the responsibility of the student – student and third party should receive a bill

o  Third Party payor pays DePaul; unpaid charges are solely the responsibility of the third party – only third party receives a bill

o  Other (include description from contract)

§  Invoice dates (establish in consultation with Student Accounts, college or school office and the Controller’s Office)

§  Tuition due dates (from contract)

§  Consequences of non-payment (from contract - the consequences of non-payment must be clearly articulated in the agreement (e.g. registrations holds; collection due diligence))

Step 6:  Assign students to the Student Group

All students who applied, were accepted, had a student ID number assigned, and will be registered for classes as part of the new cohort should be enrolled in the cohort’s Student Group.

The Student Group must be monitored each term to ensure that it is correct. Students who are no longer a part of the program must be made inactive immediately.

For instructions on adding students to or dropping students from the new Student Group, contact Student Records at .

Step 7:  Register students for classes

Students must be registered for the appropriate classes. Registration cannot occur until the above Steps 1-6 are completed. Either the 1) college or school office responsible for the program or 2) the students themselves will enroll in the appropriate classes. For access to register students, contact Student Records at . For instructions or support regarding registration, contact Student Records at .

Step 8:  Setup billing

Third Party Billing

Note: All third party billing is approved and provided by Student Accounts on a term-by-term basis, and is based on the provisions in the signed operational agreement.

If cohort students pay DePaul directly, third party billing is not necessary. However, currently, these students are included in the manual generated bill to the sponsor with $0.00 amount due.

If the cohort students do not pay DePaul directly, the college/school office should contact the Student Accounts Staff member responsible for Third Party Accounts Receivable (see http://studentaccounts.depaul.edu/contact/index.asp for contact information). The staff member will assist in setting up a third party account, transferring charges from the accounts of students to the third party account, and issuing the bill to the third party payor.

Setting up third party accounts: Each stand-alone cohort should have its own unique third party account. To set up a third party account, the college/school office should send Student Accounts an e-mail with the following information:

§  Written authorization to bill the third party (in the e-mail itself; no attachments necessary because the signed contract with the 3rd party should have been provided in Step 5)

§  A listing of the student IDs that should be flagged for third party billing (the listing should indicate which, if any, students should receive an individual account statements, and which, if any, students are eligible for refunds of credit balances)

§  Third party sponsor demographic information (name, address, primary contact person, e-mail address, and phone number)

Billing Reminders: To help establish and meet deadlines for the third party billing process, at least 3 weeks prior to the initiation of the program, the college/school office should send Student Accounts calendar appointments or scheduled tasks in Outlook for each of the following dates:

§  Drop dates for each program, cohort, or course (based on Operational Agreement)

§  Final, and if applicable, preliminary or other invoice dates (based on Operational Agreement)

Verifying Charges, Transferring Charges, and Invoicing: See the Cohort Degree Program Billing Verification and Invoicing Procedures for the procedures for 1) verifying student charges, 2) transferring charges to 3rd party accounts, 3) verifying 3rd party charges, and 4) invoicing 3rd parties. In conjunction with these guidelines, the billing reminders (discussed above) for drop dates and/or preliminary invoice dates will serve as reminders for the college/school office and Student Accounts of the need to transfer charges from cohort student accounts to the third party account in preparation for generating an invoice.

Billing in a Foreign Currency: To setup billing in a foreign currency, please contact the Controller’s Office for approval.

Student Billing

If cohort students pay DePaul directly, after the students are registered for classes, the students will automatically begin receiving periodic e-mail notifications of the availability of a tuition account statement in Campus Connection. Students are responsible for viewing their account statement and paying any outstanding charges by the due date shown on the statement.

If the cohort students do not pay DePaul directly, but should still receive a tuition account statement, notify Student Accounts that the students in the cohort should receive notifications of the availability of a tuition accounts statements. After the students are registered for classes, they will automatically begin receiving periodic notifications.

Step 9:  Comply with ongoing monitoring requirements

After students are registered, the cohort, the Student Group, the charges, and the billing must be monitored by the Budget Manager or Budget Manger’s designee for accuracy and compliance with University financial reporting requirements.

Monitoring Student Group Security

Group Owners in the college/school office are responsible for monitoring and alerting SRSecurity of any changes in users who have access to view or update the students in the student group. Access requests should be sent to SRSecurity for any new users and all users who should no longer have access should have their access removed.

Monitoring Student Group Membership

Properly monitoring student assigned to the Student Group for the new cohort prevents billing and financial reporting errors that lead to time consuming manual adjustments.

Important: The Group Owner is responsible for maintaining the accuracy of the Student Group. All students must be added or deleted from the Student Group on a timely basis. Failure to monitor the completeness and validity of the students included within a Student Group will result in inaccurate billing and financial reporting.