November 25, 2009

Dear Upward Bound Project Director:

It is time to prepare your annual performance report (APR) for program year 2008–09. Most regular Upward Bound projects and all Upward Bound Math-Science projects must submit their reports by January 8, 2010; regular Upward Bound grants with start dates of December 1, 2007 have until February 26, 2010 to complete their APRs. The online data collection Web site for the UB programs will be available to you on December 1, 2009 via the Upward Bound and Upward Bound Math-Science "report" pages: http://www.ed.gov/programs/trioupbound/performance.html; http://www.ed.gov/programs/triomathsci/performance.html.

New APR and online Web application implemented last year: As you will recall, in fall 2008 you responded to a revised APR using a new online Web application that employed data checks to increase accuracy, completeness, and efficiency of submissions and to capture on one data file all student records and data fields needed to calculate PE points. As was the case last year, your 2008–09 file must include one record for each student in the reporting year and in previous years who had an expected high school graduation cohort year of 2008 or later, even if project didn't serve some of those students in 2007–08 or 2008–09. As you know, cohort years are highly important because they play a part in two of the UB prior experience (PE) calculations.

TRIO'S LETTER OF OCTOBER 15, 2009

In October all grantees received a letter from Linda Byrd-Johnson via e-mail concerning two categories of data. For continuing and prior participants, the fall 2008 Web application identified instances in which grantees' data did not include certain participants recorded in earlier reports; the application also identified cases in which the APR's expected high school graduation cohort year provided for a participant did not agree with the student's cohort year in TRIO's system of records. In these situations, the Web application asked grantees either to accept the data in our system of records or to explain the differences.

Those of you who entered explanations in these sorts of situations in last year's APR needed to know whether or not TRIO accepted those explanations so that you could properly prepare your 2008–09 APR. Accordingly, by October 23, 2009, 674 UB and UBMS grantees received a special mailing via our contractor, NORC, with one or more tables conveying whether or not TRIO had accepted the explanations.

Resolving the differences: We will use the 2008–09 APR to resolve the differences between your 2007–08 APR and TRIO's system of records. For records on the tables of accepted explanations, no action is needed on your part. For records listed on the tables of explanations that we did not accept, you should review the table carefully; if you agree with our determination, you should change your 2008–09 data file accordingly. If you do not agree with our decisions about your explanations, submit what you believe to be accurate data in your APR, even if it differs from the table(s). As was the case last year, the Web application data checks will prompt you to provide an explanation for those differences between your APR and our records. We will receive your data and explanations through the APR process and contact you in 2010 if we are unable to resolve questions by referring to your explanations or to other data in your APR.

NEW THIS YEAR

Extent to which prior participants should remain on your data file: You may be aware that the Department is currently preparing to revise the program's regulations in response to the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA). These revisions will not apply directly to the current APR or to the way objectives and PE points are calculated under the current grant cycle, but they will of course apply to the next competition and grant cycle. Because the HEOA's outcome (PE) criteria include a new objective for postsecondary completion, in anticipation of the new regulations grantees should track and include on their APRs all prior participants (beginning with the 2008 expected high school graduation cohort) through completion of postsecondary education. In the next grant cycle, having this data may help you to demonstrate your success in meeting this new objective. This is a change from past guidance in our APR instructions on how long a grantee must track participants.

Expected high school graduation cohort years (field #23): To determine the cohort of new participants, you may wish to consult the new Grade-Date-Cohort table in this year's instructions. (For new participants, the online application also has data checks to ensure that you enter the correct cohort.)

Postsecondary institution last attended (field #46): While in 2007–08 the APR requested the school code for the postsecondary institution last attended during the reporting year, in 2008–09 we are asking simply for the postsecondary institution last attended. Please note also that, if a student began attendance in fall 2009 (that is, after the end of the 2008–09 reporting period), we do ask that you provide the code of the institution in the 2008–09 APR.

HELP DESK AND SUBMITTAL

You will use the same online Web application and registration process as that of 2007–08; we have added some additional data checks to increase accuracy. You may find the instructions for the report and links to the secured Web site maintained by our contractor at http://www.ed.gov/programs/trioupbound/report.html.

Prior to beginning the process, please review the form and instructions for the 2008–09 APR available on TRIO's Web site. You may also want to download a copy of the User guide for the APR Web site available at https://trio.ed.gov/ub.

Help Desk: If you encounter technical problems accessing the Web site or using the Web application, please contact the Help Desk by either telephone at (703) 846-8248 or e-mail at UBWEB@cbmiweb.com. Please note that the Help Desk will try to contact projects within 24 hours of receiving the telephone call or e-mail. The Help Desk will be available to respond to your questions from December 1, 2009 to January 8, 2010 and will assist regular UB projects first funded on December 1, 2007 until February 26, 2010. During the holidays and peak times, from January 4–8, 2010, it may take longer for you to receive a response; thus, I encourage you to prepare and submit your performance report as soon as you have collected complete data.

Please remember that, after you submit the completed APR electronically, you must also fax to 703-832-1360 a signed copy of Section I of the report form that certifies that the information submitted electronically is readily verifiable and that the information reported is accurate and complete. If for any reason you need to revise your performance report data after it has been submitted, please do not fax in the corrections. You should contact the Help Desk for information on revising your report and re-submitting it electronically. If you have questions regarding the performance report requirements, please contact your program specialist directly. To ascertain your program specialist's name, telephone number, and e-mail address, please visit http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/trio/staffdirectory-cupt.html.

Thank you for the time and effort you dedicate to performance reporting each year and your commitment to providing complete and accurate data. Please retain the source documents in a readily accessible form so that they can be verified during an on-site visit.

Sincerely,

Geraldine G. Smith
Team Leader
College and University Preparation Team
Federal TRIO Programs

Addendum

Help | Online APR | UB Report page | UBMS Report page |
| UB Home | UBMS Home | TRIO Home |

ADDENDUM: TECHNICAL REMINDERS FOR COMPLETING THE APR

Individual participant data (Section II of the APR): As was the case last year, the new Web application provides four options for starting to submit data for Section II:

--Download an Excel file of last year's submitted data; update the file and then upload it directly to the Web form.
--Upload an Excel/CSV file directly to the Web form.
--Transfer last year's data submission to the Web form and update and add records online.
--Enter student data directly into the Web form.

If you choose to download the Excel file with your last year's data, please note that, for security reasons, the download feature does not include the social security numbers (SSNs) of your participants, even though the file you provided us contained this information. However, the participant data file you prepare for the 2008–09 APR should include the SSNs of all participants, as this is the primary identifier used to match participant records across project years.

Participant list and data error report: Once you have uploaded the file or entered the data online, a Participant Review List Table (also known as the "Table View") will be generated listing all of the students on your data file. For each participant record with errors, the report will display the specific data fields that require corrections. This report will display two types of errors:

--An invalid data value exists when a data field for the participant record includes a value other than one of the "Valid Field Content" options provided in column 4 of Section II. For the great majority of fields, a blank constitutes an invalid data value; thus many of these errors that you see on the screen might be eliminated by looking for data that you still need to add to bring the participant's record up-to-date. To correct invalid data value errors online, you may click on the student name hyperlink and then enter a valid option in the identified data field(s). In some cases--for example, if you need to provide data for many participants to replace an existing blank field--you may wish to work offline, then save and upload.

--A data validation error identifies data fields that are in conflict with each other. By clicking on the student name hyperlink, you will see an error message that explains the error; you may then correct the data online or, if it would be more efficient, offline.

Two-tiered system of data checks: The Web application includes a two-tiered system for evaluating your data. The first tier data checks include the Funded/Served Rate report and the Critical Fields report. You will be required to correct data errors in the 2008–09 participant data file and pass the first tier data checks prior to submitting the APR.

After the initial submission of the APR, the second tier data checks compare the 2008–09 participant data with data from previous years in the UB system of records. These checks include the Match to Prior report, the Expected High School Graduation Cohort Year report, and the New Participant Verification report. You will need to resolve any discrepancies raised in the Tier 2 reports within one week; you will then resubmit. When all Tier 2 reports are in order, the system will rerun Tier 1's Funded Rate and Critical Fields reports to reflect the inclusion of any participants whom you might have added at Tier 2. Once your APR has passed both the Tier 1 and Tier 2 stages, TRIO will accept your report.

Help | Online APR | UB Report page | UBMS Report page |
| UB Home | UBMS Home | TRIO Home |