March 26, 2018<\/p>\n
Attached:\u00a0PIA Review Guide FY 2018<\/a><\/p>\n ~ PIA reviews have begun! ~<\/p>\n The Program Integrity Assurance (PIA) process is a detailed USAC review of each Form 471 to determine whether the products and services requested are eligible for E-rate funding, whether your requested discount rate is valid, whether you have stayed within your Category 2 budget, and whether you are an eligible entity.\u00a0 This year we also are seeing a major emphasis on substantiation of requested dollar amounts, including taxes.\u00a0 In general, all PIA inquiries are done in EPC, and all applicant responses to these inquiries also must be submitted via EPC.<\/p>\n 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, with a link to the actual PIA inquiry(s) in EPC (you must be logged-in to EPC to see it).\u00a0 To see the questions, click on “Respond to Inquiries” at the top right corner of the page, which will then make the Inquiry Name a blue hyperlink.\u00a0 Click on the hyperlink and the list of questions will appear.\u00a0 You must respond to all of the questions in an inquiry at the same time. \u00a0If a question is not applicable, but the text box will not allow you to proceed without an answer, simply list N\/A.<\/p>\n If you are unclear about the questions being asked, you may e-mail the PIA reviewer to request clarifications.\u00a0 Use the e-mail address that was listed on the original PIA reviewer\u2019s message.<\/p>\n Deadline to Reply:\u00a0 These are serious inquires that must be addressed in a timely fashion. \u00a0PIA inquiries typically provide\u00a015-day deadlines for responses but I encourage you to respond as soon as you receive the e-mail.\u00a0 The sooner you respond, the sooner you’ll receive your E-rate FCDL. \u00a0If you haven\u2019t responded to the PIA inquiry within 7 days of the initial request, PIA will send you a reminder.\u00a0 If you haven\u2019t responded after 15 days, USAC may act on the information they already have to make a funding decision (which typically means denial).<\/p>\n Need an Extension? You can request a single, 7-day extension of the original deadline if you need more time. \u00a0To do so, access your PIA Inquiry in EPC, choose Related Actions<\/strong>, then Request Extension<\/strong>. \u00a0The first extension request will be automatically granted.\u00a0 If you still need more time, you must have a really good reason to need extra time, and the PIA reviewer will seek approval from their manager to determine if your extra extension can be granted.<\/p>\n NOTE: USAC appears to be on a forced march this year to have all applications decided by September 1.\u00a0 This means they are likely to be stingy with their second extension approvals, and may be reluctant to \u201cdefer\u201d applications as they have in previous years.<\/strong><\/p>\n A guide to the EPC-based PIA review process, including screenshots of the EPC PIA inquiry pages, is attached.\u00a0 Page 11 of the guide also shows where to find the current status of your Form 471 application. \u00a0Many applications are already in \u201cWave Ready\u201d status, despite not receiving any PIA inquiries.<\/p>\n If you have any questions about your PIA inquiries, please don’t hesitate to contact me at jtschell@comcast.net<\/a>.<\/p>\n — Julie<\/p>\n Julie Tritt Schell penn*link<\/p>\n\n
\nPA E-rate Coordinator
\n717-730-7133 – o
\n717-730-9060 – f
\njtschell@comcast.net<\/a>
\nwww.e-ratepa.org<\/a><\/p>\n