FY 2017 PIA Reviews Have Begun
May 23, 2017
Attached: PIA Review Guide 2017
The Program Integrity Assurance (PIA) review is a detailed review of each Form 471, conducted by USAC representatives in Whippany, New Jersey. Inquiries from PIA reviewers generally involve requests for clarification and/or additional documentation on product or applicant eligibility, discount rate calculations, etc.
In general, all PIA inquiries will be sent in EPC, and all responses to these inquiries also will be submitted via EPC. (There were a few PIA inquiries sent via e-mail last week because of a small glitch in EPC, but that has been corrected and all future PIA inquiries and responses will be done via EPC).
The PIA review process will be identical to last year, which is that the Form 471 contact will receive an e-mail indicating that the application is in the review stage and will provide a link to the actual PIA inquiry(s) in EPC (you must be logged-in to EPC to see it). To see the questions, click on “Respond to Inquiries” which will then make the Inquiry Name a blue hyperlink. Click on the hyperlink and the list of questions will appear. Be sure to respond to all of the questions/inquiries at the same time.
Deadline to Reply: These are serious inquires that must be addressed in a timely fashion. PIA inquiries typically provide 15-day deadlines for responses but I encourage you to respond as soon as you receive the e-mail. The sooner you respond, the sooner you’ll receive your E-rate FCDL. If you haven’t responded to the PIA inquiry within 7 days of the initial request, PIA will send you a reminder. If you haven’t responded after 15 days, USAC may act on the information they already have to make a funding decision (which typically means denial).
Need an Extension? You can request a single, 7-day extension of the original deadline if you need more time. To do so, access your PIA Inquiry in EPC, choose Related Actions, then Request Extension. The first extension request will be automatically granted. If you still need more time, you must have a good reason to need extra time, and PIA will review your extension request before making a decision.
A guide to the EPC-based PIA review process, including screenshots of the EPC PIA inquiry pages, is attached. Page 7 of the guide also shows where to find the current status of your Form 471 application. In some cases, applicants’ FY 2017 Form 471s are already in “Wave Ready” status, despite not receiving any PIA inquiries.
If you have any questions about your PIA inquiries, please don’t hesitate to contact me at jtschell@comcast.net.
– Julie
Julie Tritt Schell
PA E-rate Coordinator
717-730-7133 – o
717-730-9060 – f
jtschell@comcast.net
www.e-ratepa.org
penn*link