SAP Item #11: S & P Grades Not Showing as 'MEET'
User Acceptance Testing (UAT) for Minimum Current GPA SAP Test
UAT Kick-Off Session
Session Date/Time: 10am to 11am on 8/9/2023
Webex UAT Session Recording: https://sbctc.webex.com/webappng/sites/sbctc/recording/7189adeb1904103cbeb6a6b93edd7ef6/playback
Slide Deck:
Key UAT Dates
UAT Testing Period: 8/9 to 8/25
UAT Sign-Off: Due EOB 8/25/2023
UAT Sign-Off Survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/9GD2DNK
Please ensure only one response is submitted per college that participated in testing.
Target Implementation: 8/31/2023
Testing Environment
Link to PQA Environment: https://pt-pqa.peoplesoft-nonprod-aws.ctclink.sbctc.edu/ptpqa/signon.html
Last Refresh Date: 8/4/2023
Username: Your EMPLID
Password: Will be shared with testers after the session
Questions?
Email Amanda Hoover ([email protected]) and CC Ana Ybarra ([email protected])
Trouble Logging In?
Email Caitlin Stein ([email protected])
Need to Report an Issue?
Submit a ticket to the Service Desk and provide as many details as possible, including screenshots, IDs used, and steps taken to produce the issue or error.
Link to ticketing system: https://servicedesk.sbctc.edu/
Request Type: ctcLink Support > Testing
Subject: UAT – FA SAP S/P Grades – [description of issue]
Eight tests are used to determine a Satisfactory Academic Status (SAP) status. Depending on the tests a college has activated, one or more tests will be executed when the SAP Process is run for an individual student or batch of students. The possible tests are:
- Academic Standing
- Maximum Attempted Units
- Maximum Attempted Terms
- Minimum Current GPA*
- Minimum Cumulative GPA
- Current Earned Units
- Cumulative Earned Units
- Two Year GPA
* The focus of this testing activity is isolated to the Minimum Current GPA Test.
While there other areas in the SAP program reported as having issues, they are being handled separately through enhancements being addressed through the larger FA SAP Maintenance Item list from FAST.
Minimum Current GPA Test Configuration
The Minimum Current GPA test determines whether a student's current GPA falls within a defined range of cumulative earned units in relation to a range of current GPA. The Minimum Current GPA test is also referred to as the Quarterly/Term GPA test. The test calculates a SAP status based on the values indicated for both the student's cumulative earned units and current/quarterly GPA.
The values resulting from this test are from the most recent term the student attended/completed, being the student’s Minimum Current GPA for this test.
Image: Minimum Current GPA Test configuration on SAP Define Set Up Criteria 2 page
Navigation: Set Up SACR > Product Related > Financial Aid > Satisfactory Academic Progress > Define Set Up Criteria >> Criteria 2 tab
Minimum Current GPA Rules
The setup should cover the entire range of units by Academic Program or Academic Program & Academic plan combination. If no rule match is found, the student is assigned the Career Pass Default Status code. The ranges and statuses that are set here are used to find students who are not making progress.
-
Academic Program: Select a value in the Academic Program field for an additional level of evaluation. If this field is populated, and the Academic Plan field is blank, the rule is used for all students with that Academic Program.
- NOTE: A blank indication for Academic Program would evaluate toward ALL programs not specified against the indicated Cum Earned Units From, Cum Earned Units To, MIN Cur GPA From and MIN Cur CPA To inclusive constraints.
- Academic Plan: Select a value in the Academic Plan field for the most specific level of evaluation. If this field is populated, all students with this Academic Program and Academic Plan are only evaluated for those specific rules.
- Cum Earned Units From: Enter the minimum value of the range of earned (passed) units to identify the minimum GPA range used to determine which SAP status should be used.
- Cum Earned Units To: Enter the maximum value of the range of earned (passed) units to identify the minimum GPA range used to determine the SAP status.
- Min Cur GPA From: Enter the minimum value of the range of minimum current GPA used to determine the SAP status.
- Min Cur GPA To: Enter the maximum value of the range of Minimum Current GPA used to determine the SAP status.
- SAP Status: Enter the SAP Status code to use if a student meets the rules of this test. The ranges and statuses set here are to find students who are not making progress.
"Special GPA Codes" are not used in the ctcLink system. The "Use Special GPA Code" should be left blank.
Common Setup
Often only a WARN status row is created with no indication for Academic Program or Academic Plan in order to capture all students that fall within the GPA range, regardless of program or plan.
Minimum Current GPA Value Source
Students who have completed classes that are configured with a Grading Basis of “SUS” or “PNP” are incorrectly failing SAP.
The situation occurs due to the way data must be stored on the student’s Term History in the Student Records module.
- Grading Bases of “SUS” and “PNP” are correctly configured with the “Include in GPA” checkbox set to ‘unchecked.’
- When the only classes a student attempts in a term are not included in the GPA, the system correctly posts the Attempted Units in the “No GPA” field on the Term History > Term Statistics page.
- When the only classes a student attempts in a term are not included in the GPA, the system posts the Attempted Units value of 0.00 in the “For GPA” field.
- When the only classes a student attempts in a term are not included in the GPA, the system posts a GPA value of 0.00 in the “GPA” field associated with the “For GPA” Attempted Units.
- The grades used in the “SUS” and “PNP” Grading Bases might have grade points assigned to them, but will still result in no GPA.
- The GPA field must have a numerical value and cannot be null.
- The FA SAP Program is attempting to read the GPA value associated with Attempted Units in the “For GPA” field even when no “For GPA” Attempted Units exist for that term, thus generating an inaccurate student SAP Status indicating failure to meet SAP.
Colleges should maintain the Course Exclusions list as Remedial and/or ESL courses are added at the college. You can export the Course Exclusions list to a spreadsheet and compare against a list provided by your college's Registrar to identify any courses that may need to be added.
Current GPA Value Calculation Logic
The current GPA comes from the GPA value in the Combined (Enrollment + Transfer Credit Units) section of the Student Career Term for the most recent term of enrollment prior to the SAP term being evaluated.
When calculating SAP for Fall term, if the student attended both Spring and Fall, then the GPA value will be the average of the two terms.
Image: Minimum Current GPA pulled from Student Career Term
Navigation: Records and Enrollment > Student Term Information > Term History
Students who have completed classes that are configured with a Grading Basis of “SUS” or “PNP” are incorrectly failing SAP.
The situation occurs due to the way data must be stored on the student’s Term History in the Student Records module.
- Grading Bases of “SUS” and “PNP” are correctly configured with the “Include in GPA” checkbox set to ‘unchecked.’
- When the only classes a student attempts in a term are not included in the GPA, the system correctly posts the Attempted Units in the “No GPA” field on the Term History > Term Statistics page.
- When the only classes a student attempts in a term are not included in the GPA, the system posts the Attempted Units value of 0.00 in the “For GPA” field.
- When the only classes a student attempts in a term are not included in the GPA, the system posts a GPA value of 0.00 in the “GPA” field associated with the “For GPA” Attempted Units.
- The grades used in the “SUS” and “PNP” Grading Bases might have grade points assigned to them, but will still result in no GPA.
- The GPA field must have a numerical value and cannot be null.
- The FA SAP Program is attempting to read the GPA value associated with Attempted Units in the “For GPA” field even when no “For GPA” Attempted Units exist for that term, thus generating an inaccurate student SAP Status indicating failure to meet SAP.
If your college has a Minimum Current GPA Rule where the GPA range starts with 0.001, it does bypass students with only Pass/No Pass or Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory grades in a term. However, it also skips students with an earned 0.000 GPA (e.g., only failing grades in a term). We recommend that colleges adjust the MIN Cur GPA value down to 0.000 after this solution is implemented in the Production environment to capture these students.
Image: Example of PNP Grading Basis where a "P" grade is not included in GPA
Navigation: Set Up SACR > Foundation Tables > Academic Structure> Grading Scheme Table
Image: Example of a student with a GPA value of 0.000 due to the only attempted units receiving a grade that is not included in GPA
Navigation: Records and Enrollment > Student Term Information > Term History
Image: Example of a student's Maintain Student SAP page where the Minimum Current GPA Test failed due to a false GPA of 0.000
Navigation: Financial Aid > Satisfactory Academic Progress > Maintain Student SAP Data
Clone the delivered PeopleSoft Financial Aid SAP Application Engine (AE) code and customize it to first determine whether the student took any classes in the previous term of enrollment that count toward the GPA, before determining if the GPA meets the configured rules for the Minimum Current GPA Test.
If none of the student’s classes have grade points that count toward the term GPA, then skip the evaluation process for the Minimum Current GPA Test. Then set the student's SAP status for that test to “NGPA”, if it exists in the college’s local configuration. If the college’s local configuration does not have an “NGPA” SAP Status, then this customization will not work, and the program will move to the delivered Minimum Current GPA Test process.
Set the college’s Minimum Current GPA Test to point to the new custom AE code.
Image: New NGPA SAP Status in Define Set Up Criteria
Navigation: Set Up SACR > Product Related > Financial Aid > Satisfactory Academic Progress > Define Set Up Criteria > Setup tab
Image: Example of a student whose Minimum Current GPA Test will now result in a more accurate NGPA status rather than SUSP
Local Configuration Adjustments
To circumvent the issue of S or P grades resulting in a negative SAP outcome, some colleges have set the "MIN Cur GPA From" value in the Minimum Current GPA Rules configuration. While this has allowed students with only S or P grades in a term to pass the Minimum Current GPA Test, it doesn't account for students who have a true GPA of 0.000 (e.g., received "F" grades that count toward the GPA). We recommend that, after implementation of the solution to Production, colleges adjust the "MIN Cur GPA From" 0.001 value to 0.000, as the SAP S&P Grades solution will allow the Minimum Current GPA Rule to differentiate between these two scenarios.
Image: Example of a Minimum Current GPA Rule that should be adjusted after implementation of this fix
Navigation: Set Up SACR > Product Related > Financial Aid > Satisfactory Academic Progress > Define Set Up Criteria > Criteria 2 tab
Colleges will have the option to modify the “NGPA” SAP Status configuration, which allows them to control the severity of the status and what the final SAP status result will be on the student Packaging Status Summary page. Using a unique SAP Status will also make it easier to identify these students, if they require additional review.
Run SAP for Minimum Current GPA:
- Select Student Population for Testing
- Calculate SAP Per Student - Run to test for individual students before attempting to test a larger group.
- Process SAP in Batch - Run to test for groups of students after attempting to test a individual students.
- Verify Test Outcomes
Test Scope
In Scope for Testing:
- Financial Aid applicants who have received only "Not for GPA" grades in the "PNP" and/or "SUS" Grading Bases in a term
Out of Scope for Testing:
- Students with all grades forgiven in a term. They will be picked up with the "NGPA" SAP Status, and will still require individual review.
Recommended Test Scenarios
- Students with S and/or P grades only in the previous term
- Students with S and/or P grades and a "For GPA" grade in the previous term
- Students with only "For GPA" grades in the previous term
- Pass 1
- Pass 2
- Student with true 0.000 GPA (e.g., F grades For GPA)
- Student without S&P grades, but GPA falls within GPA range in Rules
Selecting Your Student Populations for Testing
- Review the Recommended Test Scenarios section of this guide to ensure there are at least 2 to 3 students (although more than 3 is recommended) per scenario.
- Use Schedule Query to run the query QCS_FA_TEST_SAP11_MINCURGPA to capture students and relevant data for the test scenarios for this customization.
- Test for other data conditions beyond just those impacted by the customization itself to ensure that the program changes did not adversely affect other students' SAP Test results.
- If your college does not have a student that meets specific criteria you can work with the FA Support Team to determine if another college is covering this scenario or determine how to stage a student that meets those criteria.
Success Examples
| Test/Scenario | Expected Outcome |
|---|---|
| Students with only S or P grades in the previous term | Minimum Current GPA SAP Status of "NGPA" |
| Students with S or P grades and a "For GPA" grade in the previous term |
Delivered Minimum Current GPA SAP evaluation and outcome per local configuration of Minimum Current GPA Test |
| Students with only "For GPA" grades in the previous term | Delivered Minimum Current GPA SAP evaluation and outcome per local configuration of Minimum Current GPA Test |
| Student with true 0.000 GPA from "For GPA" grades | Delivered Minimum Current GPA SAP evaluation and outcome per local configuration of Minimum Current GPA Test |
| Student without S or P grades in previous term, and GPA that falls within GPA range in local Minimum Current GPA Rules | Delivered Minimum Current GPA SAP evaluation and outcome per local configuration of Minimum Current GPA Test |
| Student with current term SAP used Pass 1 processing | Should not impact delivered or custom SAP functionality |
| Student with current term SAP used Pass 2 processing |
Should not impact delivered or custom SAP functionality |
Failure Examples
- Students with only "Not for GPA" grades in the previous term and result in a negative SAP Status on the Minimum Current GPA Test
- Students with "For GPA" grades in the previous term and result in an unexpected SAP Status on the Minimum Current GPA Test
- Unexpected error message when selecting the Calculate button on the Student SAP page
- Unexpected error messages in Process Monitor (for the Process SAP batch process)
If the student's SAP won't calculate, you may need to check the student's FA Term and make sure that it has an Active row. (QRG: 9.2 Building an FA Term)
Image: Use Maintain Student SAP page to validate testing
Navigation: Financial Aid > Satisfactory Academic Progress > Maintain Student SAP Data
The information below provides those completing the Security Matrix Mapping templates with the Menus, Pages and Role names needed to execute the User Acceptance Testing relevant to this UAT guide.
Running SAP via Batch Process:
- MENU: Main Menu > Financial Aid > Satisfactory Academic Progress > Process SAP
- ROLE NAMES: ZC FA Funct Analyst and ZZ FA SAP Prcs
Running SAP via Maintain Student SAP Data page:
- MENU: Main Menu>Financial Aid>Satisfactory Academic Progress>Maintain Student SAP Data
- ROLE NAMES: ZC FA Funct Analyst and ZZ FA SAP Prcs
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