2nd Annual Conference on Technology & Standards NCHELP’s ESC A History of Collaborating in...

2nd Annual Conference on Technology & Standards2nd Annual Conference on Technology & Standards

NCHELP’s ESCA History of

Collaborating in Standards Setting

Brian Allison, USA FundsRobert King, Citibank Student Loans

Rhonda Allen, SunGard SCTGary Allen, Oracle/PeopleSoft

2nd Annual Conference on Technology & Standards2nd Annual Conference on Technology & Standards 2

In the Beginning…and then some

Once upon a time…not so long agoTurmoil…disorderAs many different ways of doing business as

there were entities– Forms– Data Structures– Business Rules– Loan delivery

The larger your market, the more difficult it was to keep pace with all the changes and differences


In the Beginning…and then some

It was inconvenient, but no impetus for change Need community-wide impetus

– A paradigm shift– A change in the landscape

Force competitors to work together– Compromise their own interests– Work cooperatively for the common good

For student loans that impetus was Direct Lending – One entity, one way


Electronic Standards Committee (ESC)

Hence was born what has become the Electronic Standards Committee

Standing Committee of the National Council of Higher Education Loan Programs (NCHELP)

Broad, representative membership – guarantors, lenders, servicers, secondary markets, schools, software vendors, etc.

Initial task was to develop origination processing standards – Meet the “one way” challenge

The effort began in 1994


ESC and CommonLine

Developed and now maintains the CommonLine Origination Processing Standards– CommonLine 95, 96, 3.0– CommonLine 4.0 (data exchange basis for most

origination processing in the FFELP community)– Common Record: CommonLine (CRC)

Excellent success at broad implementation of CLR4 – Driven by regulation

Working on adoption of the Common Record: CommonLine XML-based standard


CommonLineCommonLine standards address all data

exchanges among participants in the FFELP student loan and alternative loan origination processing– Data layouts– Business rules– Error processing

Until CRC the CL standards were internal and not coordinated externally

CRC was fully coordinated with the PESC Core Components and XML standards


Electronic Standards Committee

Other Standards– Common Account Maintenance (CAM)

• In production among many trading partners (primarily between lenders, servicers, and guarantors)

• General Account Maintenance – Provides standard updates to information between partners

• Common Claim Initiative – Electronic pre-claim reporting, claim filing, and claim payment transmittals

– Imaged Document Transfer Standard• Still being documented


Electronic Standards Committee

Bottom Line on Standards– Everyone agrees that they are important and valuable– Adoption of standards is driven by self-interest as well

as overall benefit to customers doing business with multiple providers

• How should providers compete– Data and transport protocols?

– Customer service and value added services?

• What is needed to compete effectively• What are the competing priorities


Committee Structure – How it Works

The standing committee consists of about 50 voting organizations

Fully collaborative work effortsWork, discussion, proposals, votesESC does not make policy, but provides data

standards to facilitate the implementation of policy.

Strength of the committee is the work of its advisory teams

Teams are composed of committee members or other subject matter expert volunteers



The Advisory Teams are– Origination Standards Advisory Team– Testing and Certification Advisory Team– General Account Maintenance Advisory Team– Default Aversion and Claims Advisory Team– Electronic Exchange Advisory Team– School Advisory Team– Training and Communications Advisory Team

Each team has diverse membership and two co-chairs (generally representing different types of organizations)

This is where the real detailed work is done



Origination Standards Advisory Team– About 80 members– Develops and maintains all origination processing data

exchange standards– Creates and maintains implementation Guides– Covers all origination processing including changes

and disbursements– Resolves reported issues– Weekly conference calls to address issues and other

needs



Testing and Certification Advisory Team– About 27 members– Develops and maintains standard test tools available to

all participants– Tools used to perform testing that will reflect the

intended results and interpretations of requirements– Available for CLR5 and for CRC– Sets certification rules for standards compliance



General Account Maintenance Advisory Team-GAMAT– About 57 members– Develops and maintains the General Account Maintenance

Records in the CAM standard– Coordinates the standard with Program Operations and the

DACAT

Default Aversion and Claims Advisory Team-DACAT– About 53 members– Develops and maintains the Default Aversion and Common Claim

Initiative Records in the CAM standard– Developed the Image Document Transfer Record– Coordinates the standard with the DACS workgroup from the

Program Operations Committee



School Advisory Team– About 35 members– Special advisory team made up of school

representatives– Used by other teams/committees to review ideas and

processing concepts– Brings forward school concerns to be addressed– Works with ED on various policy and practice

questions



Electronic Exchange Advisory Team (EEAT)– About 30 listserv members– The most purely technical of the teams– Sets data exchange and encryption standards for the FFELP

industry – Has devoted much time and resource to support development of

the DTS

Communication and Training Advisory Team-CAT– About 12 members– Publishes a quarterly newsletter, CommoNews– Looks for agenda opportunities at industry conferences– Performs membership surveys– Maintains standards readiness tracking documents



Quarterly three-day meetings– Days one and two are set aside for Advisory Team

meetings– Day three is the formal meeting of the ESC voting

members– The meetings are open to NCHELP members

ESC efforts are supplemented by ad hoc work groups– E-sign Standards Workgroup



Committee co-chairs work across other NCHELP committees to make sure ESC efforts are coordinated at the levels these other committees address– Program Operations– Program Regulations– Debt Management– Legal Affairs– Member Education and Training


Current Major Efforts

Finalize the Imaged Document Transfer Standard and submit it to PESC

Continue support for all currently published and in production standards

Continue support of movement to the CRC standard– Training– Issue resolution– Development and execution of a controlled beta test– Submit the standard to PESC

Support the development of the DTS


PESC

FSANCHELP

ESC

Collaboration


Software ProvidersCommonalityCamaraderieFocus on constituents and their customers

– Administrators– Students, parents– FSA, lenders, etc.


Software Providers

Challenges– Data format standards– Staggered implementation– Adoption and ongoing support

Technology standards– Constantly emerging technology– Which standard will survive?– Adoption of a standard


Software Providers

Changing business models– Traditional models

• School to guarantor• Servicer model (ASP)• Department of Education Student Aid Delivery System

– Regulatory and processing changes• Federal• CommonLine• Customer requests


Software Providers

Define a visionDeliver on defined visionMonitor needs of the market

– Current clients– Prospective clients

Monitor trends in the industryUtilize resources to be the best stewards of

constituents investment dollars


Software Providers

Scholarships Pell SEOG Perkins loans Work study

– Federal– Non-federal

FFELP loans* Direct loans Alternative loans*

Grants Fee waivers Emergency loans 3rd party contracts Other resources Reporting Communication Self-service products Imaging products, etc.


Software Providers

XML is the endorsed industry standard of the World Wide Web Consortium

Real-time processingStreamlined processing for schoolsSimplified process for future enhancementsElimination of redundant dataEfficient utilization of resources industry-wideSupport CRC with these in mind


Software Providers

Other projects underway as result of the Common Record initiative: – XML ISIR– Entrance/Exit counseling – Post-secondary transcript – K-12 transcript– Degree audit

– State grants/scholarships (wishful thinking!)


Software Providers

Importance of PESC and standards– Streamlines product development timeline – Develops more cohesive, industry-wide business

approach – Develops culture for working together rather than

against each other

– Connects previously unrelated and disparate parties into common vision


Lessons Learned

Voluntary standards require effective and open collaboration– Collaboration on a large scale requires much work

and coordination– Requires cooperation and a common sense of

purpose among many different constituents– A vision of the future potential...a need to be able to

see the forest in spite of the immediate trees is essential

– Collaboration requires some level of trust among collaborators


Lessons Learned Continued

– All parties must be willing to compromise on behalf of the greater good

– Compromise must be balanced– Collaboration requires a commitment to the end

product in both its creation and individual company implementations

– There must be realistic expectations about implementation timing and urgency

– There will nearly always be some push back/questioning of voluntary standards. Meet it head on.


Questions


Contact Information

Brian Allison, USA Funds– [email protected]

Robert King, Citibank Student Loans– [email protected]

Rhonda Allen, SunGard SCT– [email protected]

Gary Allen, Oracle/PeopleSoft– [email protected]

2nd Annual Conference on Technology & Standards NCHELP’s ESC A History of Collaborating in...

Documents

Transcript of 2nd Annual Conference on Technology & Standards NCHELP’s ESC A History of Collaborating in...