September 2009

Dear Student Support Services Project Director:

I am writing regarding the Student Support Services (SSS) annual performance report (APR) submission for program year 2008–09. The deadline for submitting the APR via a Web site maintained by our data processing contractor is November 30, 2009. Please be advised the Website will not be available after November 30, 2009. Because OMB approval of the form expires on that date, there will be no opportunities for late submissions or extensions of the deadline date. If you have not successfully transmitted your APR information by the deadline date of November 30, 2009, we will not have the data we need to determine if you have earned prior experience (PE) points for the 2008-09 project year, therefore, you will not be awarded any PE points for 2008-09. Please note that we will not accept a hardcopy of the APR.

You will use the same online Web application and registration process developed for the 2007-08 APR submission with minor modifications discussed below. All SSS projects must use the online reporting application to submit the 2008–09 performance report which will be available on October 1, 2009. The instructions for submitting the report and the links to the secured Web site maintained by our contractor are at the following Web address:

http://www.ed.gov/programs/triostudsupp/report.html

Prior to beginning the process, please review again the OMB approved form and instructions for the 2008-09 APR available on our Web site. Also, you may want to download a copy of the SSS APR Web Site User's Guide available at:

https://trio.ed.gov/sss

As has been the process for the APR data collections for the past three years, there are four options for starting the data submission process for Section III:

• Download an Excel file of last year's submitted data; update the file and then upload 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.

Beginning in 2006-07, the Download feature did not include the social security numbers (SSNs) of your participants, even though in most cases the file you provided us contained this information. This change was made to better protect the personal information contained on the data file and prevent inadvertent misuse of information provided to the Department of Education. However, as was requested in the 2006-07 and 2007-08 data submission process, 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.

The changes we have made include: (1) annual updates to the form and instructions for the 2008-09 data collection; and (2) a few additional data quality checks to the online Web application to ensure that you provide internally consistent data.

For the 2008-09 reporting period, you will only need to complete two sections of the APR Section I (Project Identification, Certification, and Warning) and Section III (Record Structure for Participant List) because all grantees have implemented their new objectives and as such have already completed Section II (Verification of Number Funded to Serve and Prior Experience Standard Objectives).

Thank you for the time and effort you dedicate to performance reporting each year and for your commitment to providing complete and accurate data. Please retain source documents in a readily accessible form so that they can be verified during an on-site visit. If you encounter technical problems accessing the Web site or using the Web application, please contact the Help Desk using the instructions provided at the site. Also, remember that after you submit the completed APR electronically, you must also submit, via fax, 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. The fax number is (703) 832-1360. Should 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/programs/triostudsupp/staff.html

Sincerely,

Eileen S. Bland
Team Leader
College and University Support Team
Federal TRIO Programs

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