Campus
Partners
Update Newsletter
October 31, 2005 |
Download
a printer-friendly Update here! |
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| We will be closed on Thursday,
November 24 and Friday,
November 25 for Thanksgiving. Our online systems
will be available during normally scheduled hours. |
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Reauthorization
Threatened
In last month’s Update,
we announced that the Senate Committee on Health, Education,
Labor, and Pensions (HELP) had unanimously approved S. 1614,
The Higher Education Amendments of 2005, a bill reauthorizing
the Higher Education Act of 1965, which included reauthorization
of the Perkins Loan Program. Despite the progress that the higher
education community has made in saving the Perkins Loan Program
from elimination, the Perkins program is still in jeopardy.
COHEAO has notified its members that the Perkins program may
be targeted as the House and Senate explore ways to pay for
the damages associated with Hurricane Katrina. So far there
is no direct threat to the Perkins program, but it is reasonable
to assume that eliminating the program will be considered.
COHEAO advises its members to again contact their Senators and
Congressmen, and has prepared a letter that can be personalized.
We are attaching COHEAO’s Congressional leadership list
and sample leadership letter in this month’s Update,
and have posted this information to our Perkins
Funding Crisis Resource page.
Attachments: New
COHEAO Letter and Congressional
Leadership List
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Forbearance
Processing Completed
As we announced in our September
2005 Update, Campus Partners started the process
of processing administrative forbearances for borrowers affected
by Hurricane Katrina and Rita. Our population included borrowers
who have a loan or loans in repayment and have a mailing address
in a zip code within the FEMA-designated Hurricane Katrina or
Rita disaster area. We completed all forbearance processing
by our projected deadline, which was September month end.
For borrowers with Federal Perkins loans and institutional loans,
we processed a Type Y deferment which does not count against
the borrower’s three-year limit. For borrowers with HSPL,
NSL, PCL, and LDS loans, we processed a Type H deferment. All
borrowers were notified that we processed a forbearance and
that they may decline the forbearance or request that the period
processed be shortened. In all cases, your borrowers will be
billed at the end of the forbearance.
If you would like a list of borrowers for which we processed
the forbearances, please contact your Customer Service Representative.
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Institutional
Reporting and Application Deadline Extended
As a result of the extensive damage and
disruption caused by Hurricane Rita, on October 14, 2005, the
Department of Education (ED) published a Notice in the Federal
Register extending student aid institutional reporting and application
deadlines. This latest announcement provides a chart summarizing
the changes published in the Federal Register. To view this
information, go to http://www.ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/1017RitaAnnouncement3.html.
You
may easily view all hurricane announcements on the Department’s
IFAP Web site. Go to www.ifap.ed.gov
and click on Hurricane
Information.
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Guidance
for Requesting Approval to Make a Late Disbursement
ED has published Dear Colleague Letter GEN-05-13, which
updates the procedures for requesting approval to make a late
disbursement of Title IV aid beyond the 120-day late disbursement
period. These disbursements may be referred to as “late”
late disbursements. The letter supersedes GEN-05-07. For more
information, visit http://ifap.ed.gov/dpcletters/GEN0513.html.
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Product
Development Update
In last
month’s Campus Partners Update, we presented
an aggressive product development plan, which focuses on your
requests for products that will help you perform your job more
efficiently. Over the next several months, we plan to keep you
posted on recent product enhancements and update you on products
and enhancements that will be released in the near future as
a reoccuring column in this newsletter.
Some of the most exciting enhancements are coming up later in
the year. At your request, we are adding the Oldest
Bill Due Date and the Days Past Due
to System3i and allowing the display
of loans that are in collections or closed on System 3i.
In December, we will include all other loan types with E-Exit,
our online exit interview product.
| Recent System
III Enhancements |
| In August |
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Additional fields were added for input of
various costs – Schools can add and track various
types of costs, such as NSF fees. |
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The Cohort Flag was added to the New Placements
Report – This flag will help internal collectors,
as well as external collection agencies, identify newly
placed loans that are part of the current or projected
Cohort year. |
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The Borrowers to Receive a Notice Report is
now available as a daily report. |
| In September |
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An edit was added to block E-Exit interviews
for loans that were paid-in-full prior to the completion
of the exit interview. Confirmation was received from
the Department of Education that the borrower should not
be required to complete the exit retroactively. |
| In October |
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A new field was added for input of International Telephone
numbers on the BSUP screen. |
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| Planned System
III Enhancement |
| In November |
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We will add the RAAN number to the Masterfile. |
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| Recent Web
Enhancements |
| In September |
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E-Pay transactions
can now be entered with an Advance Payment Flag.
These payments will apply to future installments following
the existing advance payment rules. |
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Information was added to mycampusloan.com
to provide borrowers information regarding hurricane
relief. |
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The iPROMise status report is now available
in electronic format via FTP. |
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The borrower address update was enhanced to better facilitate
the input of international addresses. |
| In October |
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Banking information is now displayed on the AutoDraft
enrollment page for participating borrowers. This is to
allow borrowers currently enrolled in AutoDraft to review
the information on record with Campus Partners. |
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Various improvements were made to the colors of displayed
text for ease of reading. This includes providing more
contrast to links that have been previously viewed. |
| Planned Web
Enhancements |
| In November |
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The addition of the Oldest Bill Due Date and the Days
Past Due to display on System3i. |
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The removal of edits that prevent display of loans currently
in collection or previously closed. |
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Stay
tuned to the Update for Product Development information
each month.
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Student
Loan Consolidation – A Great Way to Reduce Payments by
50% or More
One of the best ways for student loan borrowers with more than
$7,500 in education loans to reduce their monthly payments is
through student loan consolidation. Another great benefit of
consolidation is that borrowers can convert multiple variable
rate loans into a single FIXED rate loan. The rate will remain
FIXED for the life of the loan and can provide borrowers, especially
new graduates, with an opportunity to enter the working world
with smaller debt burdens and some financial breathing room.
Student loan consolidation is a no-cost benefit offered to all
eligible student and parent federal education loan borrowers.
There are no fees associated with student loan consolidation,
i.e. no application fees, no credit checks nor closing costs.
Additionally, there are no repayment penalties should a borrower
choose to pay their loan in full or in part at any time ahead
of schedule.
Campus Partners, in partnership with Student Trust, Inc., its
sister company in Rockville, MD, is delighted to offer your
institution one of the nations lowest-cost student loan consolidation
programs available. And, as a valued Campus Partners customer,
we want to make you aware of this money-saving opportunity for
your student loan borrowers.
Student Trust offers a Loan Counseling Program whereby they
contact your borrowers, educate them about loan consolidation
and help them make the best choice for themselves. This service
is free to you and your borrowers and benefits you in another
important way. As Perkins loans are paid in full through consolidation,
the proceeds are returned directly to your Perkins loan fund
to lend again to other needy students.
Loan Counseling Opportunity
One thing borrowers need to consider when consolidating is whether
or not to consolidate Perkins, Health Professional (HPSL) and/or
Nursing (NSL) loans because there are deferment and cancellation
opportunities unique to these programs.
Campus Partners and Student Trust are committed to providing
all student loan borrowers the very best advice and counsel,
to ensure that their best financial interests are always in
the forefront. Student Trust will either suggest inclusion of
a Perkins loan or exclusion, if it appears the borrower’s
cancellation benefits may be at risk.
Specific details on the deferment and cancellation opportunities
for these borrowers can be found at www.EdLoanConsolidate.com
or by calling our professionally trained consolidation loan
counselors 24x7 toll-free at 800-859-5105 for expert advice
on whether or not consolidation meets their needs.
To join the Student Trust Loan Counseling Program, download
this form
and fax it to 336-607-2025.
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Regulatory
Wisdom from Sharon Cameron
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Question:
Where would I find a list of subject areas
for borrowers teaching in a federally designated teacher
shortage area?
Answer:
Click
here to determine the shortage areas.
The Department of Education plans to update this list
again in the Winter of 2006.
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Default
Management Tools: You Can’t Afford to Pass Them By
Many student loan adminstrators tell us that their biggest challenge
is managing their default rate so they can return dollars to
their campus-based loan funds. One of the benefits associated
with working with Campus Partners is the insight we can provide
in helping you control your delinquency rate. We have translated
our years of experience and knowledge of typical borrower repayment
patterns into two default prevention products, the Early
Intervention Program, for all borrowers and all loan
programs, and Cohort Right Track, which targets
cohort and projected cohort borrowers only. These programs offerfive
borrower phone calls, four letters, loan counseling, and skip
tracing to intervene with
your borrowers at the earliest stages (15 days past due) of
delinquency.
The best part--these products are very successful and have a
low cost associated with enrolling your borrowers in them. After
you pay a small set-up fee, your per borrower costs can be passed
along to delinquent borrowers and recouped when they pay their
bill. For more information about Early Intervention or Cohort
Right Track, contact your Customer Service Representative.
Also,
see "How
to Manage Your Cohort" in this month's Update.
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Disaster
Recovery Results
Campus Partners conducted a disaster
recovery test in conjunction with our mainframe data center
provider, Infocrossing Southwest (IFOX), during the period of
Oct 11 through 14, 2005. In addition to the successful recovery
operations associated with the mainframe migration, which occurred
in March 2005, this was our first disaster recovery test performed
under the auspices of our new service provider. While a few
small issues were encountered during the test, IFOX technical
support found and corrected them. Actual testing of online applications
proceeded and went well. We will conduct a disaster recovery
test annually.
We are pleased with the results, and you can be assured that
in case of disaster, your data is safe and can be recovered
easily and quickly.
Long-Term
Customers
We are celebrating partnerships with 20
long -term customers this quarter. Special recognition goes
to Lenior Rhyne College, our customer of 40
years and to Clark Atlanta University,
College of the Holy Cross, Dickinson
College, Elizabeth City State University,
Manhattanville College, University
of Baltimore, University of North Carolina-Charlotte,
all of which have been our customers for 35 years.
We also want to thank Campbell University,
the Professional Careers Institute, and Westfield
State College for allowing us to service their loans
for the past 30 years.
Names of all customers attaining 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 and
40-year anniversaries with us during this quarter are attached.
Customers reaching anniversaries with us during the first quarter
of 2006 will be listed in the January Update.
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Customer
Insight
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"When
we were looking at servicers, we had two questions. Will
our figures be correct and will we stay in compliance?
Our numbers always have been good, our reports are always
clean and easy to read, and we have never had to worry
about compliance issues since choosing Campus Partners,
and we are militant about compliance.”
Vincent Simonelli
Boston University
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Customer
Closeup
In this month’s
Update, we are profiling Vincent
Simonelli, Director of Student Loans
and Collections at Boston University.
Vincent is a modern day Renaissance man, who juggles a demanding
career, marriage, parenting, a writing career, and a 27-year
commitment to the same bowling league. Vincent is as unique
as his employer, Boston University, which is the third largest
private university in the United States. Situated in the heart
of Boston, the University enrolls 30,000 students, who come
from every state in the union and from 135 countries. An internationally
known teaching and research institution, it offers 250 degrees
at the undergraduate and graduate levels through its 17 Schools
and Colleges. More information about Boston University is
available from www.bu.edu.
Boston University has been a customer for 20 years, and we
look forward to many more years of working with Vincent and
the University! And speaking of Boston, check out the following
article about another school in the area that is coming back
home to Campus Partners.
Welcome
Home, Bay State College
Earlier this month Campus Partners welcomed an old friend
back to the family. Bay State College moved its loan servicing
business away from Campus Partners in July of 1998 and
spent approximately seven years with another service provider
before deciding it was in their best interest to come
“back home.” The decision has been a positive
one. Al Johnson, the school’s Bursar,
is impressed with the systems improvements his school
has inherited, and is very pleased with the upgrade in
reporting capabilities he has realized as a result of
the portfolio transfer. And speaking of the portfolio
transfer, it was that process that spoke volumes to Al
about the kind of company Campus Partners is to work with.
“You made this really easy. Thanks a million.”
said Al. Bay State opted for an Enhanced level of service,
which makes Financial Services Associate Val Cooper
happy. Having spent over 15 years at Delta Management
Group, Val understands the valuable role a quality loan
servicing company can play in the higher education business
office. During a recent on-site training session Val was
eager to get back to her “real work,” and
commented, “If I need to know something, I’ll
call my Customer Service Rep. I know you guys are going
to handle everything for us anyway.” You’re
right about that, Val!
Bay State College (www.baystate.edu)
is located in the heart of Boston, MA. The college offers
three Bachelor Degree programs and thirteen Associate
Degree programs in everything from fashion design to criminal
justice to entertainment management and medical assisting.
Campus Partners is proud to add Bay State to our long
list of Boston-area and Massachusetts customers.
Customer
Service Week
During the first week in October, Campus Partners celebrated
National Customer Service Week with a fun-filled week
of special activities and planned events. National Customer
Service Week was started in 1988 by the International
Customer Service Association and proclaimed as a national
event by the U.S. Congress.
Our Customer Service team is second to none when it comes
to providing high quality technology and premier service
to our internal and external customers. They work diligently
every day, all year long, to exceed your expectations.
Our Management staff thanked them by planning daily events,
special activities, and by giving away precious gifts.
Patrick Roberson,
Special Projects Analyst, and Daisy Bass,
Director of Customer Service, were responsible
for coordinating the events. A few of the fun and more
memorable events included:
| 1. |
Campus Partners “Modified
Jeopardy” & “Modified Jeopardy II”
– These were games designed to test the knowledge
level of both our customer service staff and managers.
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2. |
Don’t Be Scared “Let’s Have
Fun” – This was the title of our weird
dress contest. Each day, staff members wore a variety
of outrageous outfits to work. |
3. |
“Lunch
On Us” – Managers and Directors received
fund allotments from Campus Partners which they
used to take their departments out on group luncheons. |
All in all, it was another great celebration in which
our Customer Service Staff was recognized and appreciated
for the hard work they do. And although we had a fun-filled
week here at Campus Partners, we certainly do not want
to forget about our customers, without whom this week
would not have been possible. So on behalf of the employees
(see our photo
here), thank you for choosing Campus Partners
as your provider of transaction services.
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Holiday
Schedule for 2006
Campus Partners will observe the following holidays for 2006.
Our on-line systems will be available during normally scheduled
hours.
| New Year’s Day (observed) |
Monday, January 2 |
| Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday |
Monday, January 16 |
| President’s Day |
Monday, February 20 |
| Memorial Day |
Monday, May 29 |
| Independence Day |
Monday, July 4 |
| Labor Day |
Monday, September 4 |
| Thanksgiving Day |
Thursday, November 23 |
| Day after Thanksgiving Friday, |
November 24 |
| Christmas
Eve (observed) |
Friday, December 22 |
| Christmas Day |
Monday, December 25 |
Happy
40th Anniversary, Campus Partners
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|
Headlines
from 1965
Rolling
Stones record Satisfaction |
Teleseminar
Training
In addition to our Web conferences,
our popular teleconferences series continues. Offering this
training provides us the opportunity to reach out to schools
who cannot attend Student Loans 101 or 202 workshops
in Winston-Salem. Each teleseminar is geared toward understanding
a particular area of student loans and is an opportunity to
gain new insight, ask questions, and hear helpful feedback from
other schools.
Please see the 2005 Teleseminar Schedule below.
Teleseminars are usuallyoffered the second Monday of each month
from 2:00 to 3:30 ET. If you want to participate in these training
sessions, just e-mail Debra Pitts at dpitts@campuspartners.com
at least three days before the scheduled teleseminar, and she
will e-mail you the telephone number that you need to call.
The training is free and well worth your time.
2005
Teleconference Training Schedule
| November 14, 2005 |
2:00 p.m. ET |
| How to
Use and Interpret Reports from Campus Partners |
| December 12, 2005 |
2:00 p.m. ET |
| What is
Rehabilitation and How Borrowers Can Benefit* |
Workshops
The
Student Loans 202 workshop was held on October 6th and
7th at our corporate office in Winston-Salem, NC. The workshop,
facilitated by Account Managers LaShonda Hairston
and Pattie Mastin covered a vast amount of information
including Web developments, NSLDS Load Errors, Forms processing,
and information on the National Student Clearinghouse. Interactive
demonstrations of our eXpressReports, iPROMise
and E-Exit products were also featured. Guest speakers included,
Sharon Cameron, Audit and Compliance Specialist,
who provided Federal Regulations updates; Lando Little,
Director, Student Trust shared his expertise on loan consolidation;
and Customer Service Representative Andrea Thompson
led the discussion on Accounting.
Workshop participants included representatives from California
Maritime Academy, Norfolk State, Salisbury
University and Texas Southern University.
Delighted to have our customers in-house, several Campus Partners
employees stopped by each day to offer a warm welcome. Mike
Carey, President, Beth Bealle, Vice
President, Daisy Bass, Director of Customer Service
and Debra Adams and Kathy Riddle,
Customer Service Managers, all greeted our guests upon their arrival.
The participants were also led on a tour of our facilities, where
they were able to meet individuals from each department, including
the customer service representatives with whom they speak on a
daily basis.
Many positive responses were received about the workshop. Minnie
Wolridge, Supervisor of Accounts at Texas Southern
University said she benefited from the sections on Reports
the most. “If you’re unfamiliar with how to use the
reports, I highly recommend you attend. It was like having one-on-one
training; they really broke it down,” she commented. Beverly
Murphy, Default Coordinator at Norfolk State
was most impressed with learning of System3i’s
ability to create and print Loan Verification Certificates (LVC)
for you. She said, “I’ve always had to calculate them
by hand.” California Maritime Academy’s
Accounting Technician III, LaTanya Edington,
said she especially enjoyed networking with the other schools.
“It was a big help to be able to see how other schools handle
certain situations,” she expressed. Carolyn Collins,
Perkins Loan Manager at Salisbury University
and Tiffany Spates, Loan Collection Officer at
Texas Southern University both commented on how
welcome they felt at Campus Partners. “It was such a friendly
atmosphere,” Carolyn said. Tiffany added, “Very team
and family oriented.”
Campus Partners will
host the Student Loans 101 workshop on November 3rd and
4th... We will be publishing our 2006 Workshop schedule soon.
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Regional
Meetings
We have completed our Regional Meetings for this year and will
be publishing our 2006 schedule soon. We already have scheduled
a Pennsylvania Regional Meeting on February 21, 2006 at Gettysburg
College.
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Conference
Schedule
Representatives
from Campus Partners will attend the conferences listed below.
The PDG West
Coast Conference will be held On November 6-9 in Austin,
TX. Campus Partners is proud to be a Silver Standard Sponsor of
the PDG West Coast Student Loan Conference. For more information
about the conference, go to www.prodev.com/welcome.
Virginia’
s FOCUS Conference will be held November 17-18 at Old
Dominion University in Norfolk, VA.
The Illinois
Student Loan Administrators Association Conference will
be held December 9 in Chicago, Il. For more information,
call Norma Carmona at 773-702-6060.
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Cutoff
Dates
Cutoff
dates for September, October, November, and December are presented
below.
Transaction |
October
2005 |
November
2005 |
December
2005 |
January
2006 |
| Last day to receive collection payments |
10/25/05 |
11/23/05 |
12/27/05 |
1/24/06 |
| Last day to receive regular payments |
10/26/05 |
11/28/05 |
12/28/05 |
1/25/06 |
| Last day for online payments |
10/28/05 |
12/02/05 |
12/30/05 |
1/27/06 |
| Date final post begins |
10/28/05 |
12/02/05 |
12/30/05 |
1/27/06 |
| Report date used for final post |
10/31/05 |
11/30/05 |
12/31/05 |
1/31/06 |
| Last day deposits created for deposit to bank account |
10/28/05 |
11/30/05 |
12/30/05 |
1/27/06 |
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