Year 8 Window Closes - Now What?
Message Posted February 23, 2005
- Have you submitted your Item 21 Attachments?
- Was everything you requested in your technology plan?
- Do you have the non-discounted portion of your request in your 2005 budget?
Congratulations to everyone who successfully submitted and postmarked or ecertified their Form 471s by midnight February 18, 2005!
The next phase in the funding process is for the SLD to review the 36,000+ applications that were filed in the window, to determine if they have complied with all program rules and deserve funding. Listed below are the next steps that you should review.
1) ITEM 21 ATTACHMENTS: If you haven't done so already, don't forget to submit your Item 21 attachments that provide information (bills, contracts, etc) to support each funding request. Attachments were not required to be postmarked within the window, although the SLD cannot review your application until these are submitted. For detailed information on submitting Item 21 attachments, visit: http://www.sl.universalservice.org/reference/Form471item21Attachments.asp.
If you haven't yet submitted your Item 21 attachments, simply fax or e-mail them directly to PIA. It likely will shave 2-3 weeks off their review time waiting for them to be scanned in at the Lawrence, Kansas facility.
Send submissions by e-mail to attachments@sl.universalservice.org. (Do not send submissions other than Form 471 Item 21 Attachments to this e-mail address.) Documents may be sent in most commercially available word processing or spreadsheet formats. Scanned documents may also be sent. (TIF file format is preferred.) Total file size of the e-mail message must be limited to less than 10 Megabytes. If you have more than one Form 471 application, do not combine Item 21 Attachments from multiple Form 471 applications in the same e-mail message.
-- OR --
Send fax submissions to (973) 599-6511. (Do not send submissions other than Form 471 Item 21 Attachments to this fax number.)
2) FCCRN Numbers and NCES Codes:
NCES Codes: If you had any entities on your Block 4 that didn't have an NCES code (and you looked on the PDE spreadsheet and none was listed), you may want to include a cover page on your Item 21 attachments that states that these NCES codes were left blank intentionally because no NCES codes exist for that (those) particular building.
FCCRN Numbers: If you obtained any FCCRNs directly from the FCC website, you must submit those numbers to the SLD (just include them with your Item 21 attachments). If you obtained your FCCRNs from the SLD's bulk upload tool, those numbers haven't yet been generated and you should include a note with your Item 21 attachments stating that you have applied for these FCCRNs but that you haven't received them yet.
3) RECEIPT ACKNOLEDGEMENT LETTER REVIEW: For each 471 submitted, you will be receiving a blue envelope containing your Receipt Acknowledgment Letter
("RAL"). The RAL acknowledges receipt of the application and summarizes each of your funding requests. REVIEW THIS DATA PROMPTLY. If the summarized data is accurate, no applicant action is required. If errors are found, or if you would like to cancel an FRN, you can correct your application or cancel the FRN using the RAL but you only have 3 weeks to do it.
Unfortunately, you cannot increase your request... you can only decrease or cancel your request.
To make a correction, copy the first and last page of the RAL, cross out the incorrect information and write in the correct information beside it (or write CANCEL
next to the FRN). Then fax to the SLD per the instructions on the RAL.
4) PROGRAM INTEGRITY ASSURANCE REVIEW: This is a detailed application review conducted by PIA staff in Whippany, New Jersey. Inquires from PIA reviewers (identified by direct telephone numbers with a 973 area code) generally involve requests for clarification and/or additional documentation on product or applicant eligibility, discount rate calculations, contract status, etc. These are serious inquires that must be addressed in a timely fashion. PIA inquiries typically provide 7-day deadlines for response, although extensions may be granted upon request. PIA review is often a multi-step process. A reviewer may request additional data once he (or a higher-level review team) has reviewed an initial response, or may initiate a second request on an entirely different application issue.
5) SELECTIVE OR ITEM 25 REVIEWS: Special reviews are conducted by PIA under certain circumstances deemed questionable by the SLD. The "Item 25" designation refers to the Form 471 certification that the applicant has "...secured access to all the resources....necessary to make effective use of the services purchased as well as to pay the undiscounted charges for eligible services."
In our experience, such reviews are most often triggered by unusually large requests (relative to an applicant's size), the use of certain service providers, or a previous bad history with the E-rate program. Selective reviews typically begin with a faxed request (17 pages for a full Item 25 review) for additional information such as the original RFP, all bid responses, the technology plan on which the 470 request was based, and/or a copy of your 2005 budget showing that you have the funding to pay for your portion of the service. PLEASE MAKE CERTAIN YOU HAVE ALL OF THESE DOCUMENTS ON-HAND.
6) So sit back, review your RAL for accuracy, submit your Item 21 attachments if you haven't already done so, make sure your technology plan is up to date, make sure that your 2005 budget contains the non-discounted portion of the cost of the service, and wait for PIA to contact you! The next form to submit will be the Form 486, and you can't file that until after you receive your funding commitment decision letter. I'll explain more when that time comes.
Please e-mail me if you have any questions!
Julie Tritt Schell
jtschell@comcast.net
(717) 730.7133 (voice)
(717) 730.9060 (fax)
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