Common Origination and Disbursement

COD Processing Update

August 12, 2005

Direct Loan
COD News

Unlocking And Resetting COD Web Site Passwords (08/12/05)

COD would like to remind COD Web site users that Security Administrators (COD Web
NEW!
site User Level 5) are able to unlock and reset passwords for the users (User Level 1-4) they
established at their school or organization. However, if the Security Administrator needs
his or her password unlocked or reset, the Security Administrator must contact the COD
School Relations Center.

In order to unlock users, a Security Administrator should log in to the COD Web site,
www.cod.ed.gov, and complete the following steps:

Step 1: From the Welcome to Common Origination & Disbursement Web Site screen, click
on the User tab on the blue bar at the top of the screen. The User Search screen
displays.
Step 2: Enter the search criteria for the user and click on the submit button at the bottom of
the User Search screen. The Search Results screen displays and lists users that
match the search criteria.
Step 3: On the Search Results screen, select the name of the user that needs to be unlocked.
The User Information screen displays.
Step 4: Click on the Modify button at the bottom of the User Information screen. The
Update User Profile screen displays.
Step 5: The Locked Out box on the Update User Profile screen contains a checkmark.
Click on the Locked Out box to remove the checkmark.
Step 6: If a new temporary password is not needed, skip this item and go to Step 7. If a
new temporary password is needed, enter the new temporary password in the New
Password field. Then re-enter the new password in the Re-enter New Password
field to confirm. The user will need to change this password to one of his or her
choosing.
Step 7: Click on the submit button at the bottom of the Update User Profile screen. The
Update Your Profile screen displays.
Step 8: On the Update Your Profile screen, click on the Submit button to confirm the
updates made to the user’s profile.

This information is also posted on the COD Web site in a document entitled “Unlocking
And Resetting COD Web Site Passwords.” To access the document before you log in to the
Web site, click on the “Click here if you are looking for more information on Common
Origination and Disbursement” Link. To access the document after you log in to the Web
site, click on the “Today’s Updates” link at the bottom of the page.

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 Common Origination and Disbursement

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Schools can refer to the Electronic Announcement on the IFAP Web site,
http://www.ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/0316UpdateCODWebsiteaccessforschools.html,
for information regarding COD Web site access. Third party servicers can refer to the
Electronic Announcement on the IFAP Web site at
http://www.ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/0316UpdatedCODWebsiteaccessforthirdpartyservi
c.html.

COD System Maintenance Planned For Sunday, August 14, 2005 (08/10/05)
The COD System will undergo routine maintenance on Sunday, August 14, 2005 from 2:00
A.M. until 8:00 A.M. (ET). During this period, users will not be able to submit or retrieve
data via the COD Web site. Additionally, batches submitted by schools will be held and not
processed until after the COD System comes back up. COD apologizes for any
inconvenience this outage may cause. If you have any questions, contact the COD School
Relations Center.

Extended Direct Loan Electronic MPN Web Site Outage For Sunday, August 14, 2005
(08/10/05)
As a reminder, the Direct Loan Electronic Master Promissory Note (MPN) Web site is
unavailable every Sunday morning from 5:00 A.M. until 11:00 A.M. (ET) while routine
maintenance is performed. During this period, borrowers are not able to complete new
MPNs electronically or retrieve existing MPNs that were completed electronically.

Due to COD System routine maintenance on Sunday, August 14, 2005, the Direct Loan
Electronic MPN Web site will be unavailable for an extended period of time from 2:00
A.M. until 11:00 A.M. (ET). As previously noted, borrowers will not be able to complete
or retrieve MPNs during this extended period.

COD apologizes for any inconvenience this outage may cause. If you have any questions,
contact the COD School Relations Center.

COD Web Site Performance Problem Corrected [07/25/05 (Updated 08/09/05)]

From July 21, 2005 through August 3, 2005, COD users were experiencing intermittent
problems with the COD Web site. When trying to navigate the Web site, users experienced
lags in searches as well as missing links and log errors.

During the afternoon on August 3, 2005, the COD development team resolved this issue,
and no new occurrences have been reported to date. COD apologizes for any inconvenience
caused to users.

2003-2004 Closeout Information [08/01/05 (Updated 08/09/05)]

The closeout processing deadline for the 2003-2004 Direct Loan Program Year was
July 29, 2005. All records that were submitted to the COD System by 8:00 P.M. (ET) on
Friday, July 29, 2005, and subsequently accepted by the COD System, was included in a
school’s final Ending Cash Balance for 2003-2004. All records received after the
processing deadline will be rejected by the COD System unless the school is approved for
extended processing. (See DLB-05-13 posted on the IFAP Web site at

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 Common Origination and Disbursement

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http://www.ifap.ed.gov/dlbulletins/DLB0513.html for more information about extended
processing.)

To be considered successfully closed out, the school must have an Ending Cash Balance of
$0 and Total Net Unbooked Disbursements of $0, as reflected on the School Account
Statement (SAS) Report. On August 6, 2005, COD sent a final 2003-2004 SAS Report to
all schools, including those that are at a zero balance or that have previously closed out
for the 2003-2004 Program Year. Please review this SAS Report very carefully. The
Ending Cash Balance in this SAS Report will be used by FSA to determine whether or not a
school has successfully closed out.

If you have any questions about 2003-2004 closeout, contact the COD School Relations
Center.

Reports and Data Requests

This section contains important notices regarding reports and/or data requests. While we
NOTICES encourage you to review this section, note that some schools may not be impacted by the
information presented below.

Delay In Availability Of COD Web Site Reports [08/01/05 (Updated 08/02/05)]

COD has identified an issue with generating reports on the COD Web site. Beginning July
28, 2005, reports have not been available on the COD Web site. Schools attempting to
retrieve reports from the COD Web site receive the error message “Application Error.”
This issue does not affect sending reports to schools’ SAIG mailboxes, and COD has sent
all reports to schools’ SAIG mailboxes according to schedule.

On July 30, 2005, COD began restoring the report functionality on the web; however, COD
is delayed in generating the majority of reports on the web. Continue to refer to this section
of the COD Processing Update for a list of reports that become available. If your school
needs a report that is usually available on the COD Web site but is currently not displayed,
notify the COD School Relations Center via e-mail ([email protected]). In follow
up, COD will send the report to your school via e-mail. In order for your request to be
processed successfully, please include “Report Request” in the subject line of your e-mail
and the following information in the body of your e-mail:

• School Name
• School ID
• E-mail Address
• Report Name
• Award Year
• Report Date
• Program (Pell Grant or Direct Loan)

Note: For Funded Disbursement List requests, please include the Batch ID and dollar
amount associated with the report.
COD Processing Update
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 Common Origination and Disbursement

COD Processing Update

Except as listed below, all Direct Loan reports and data requests are available as specified
ISSUES in Volume VIII, Section 8 of the 2004-2005 COD Technical Reference and Volume VI,
Section 8 of the 2005-2006 COD Technical Reference posted on the IFAP Web site at
www.IFAP.ed.gov/. There are issues with the following Direct Loan reports and/or data
requests:

• Direct Loan Rebuild File— Schools in need of this file should contact
the COD School Relations Center.
[08/25/04 (Updated 07/12/05)]

Resolved Issues
Described below are “Current Issues” that have been resolved. A full description of each
issue will remain in this section for 7 calendar days following the “Updated” date. If a
clean up is required, the title of the issue will then be moved to “Resolved Issues In Clean
Up.”
For the full description of a resolved issue after it is removed from this section, refer to
previous postings of the COD Processing Update on the IFAP Web site,
www.IFAP.ed.gov/. The COD Processing Update is posted to the IFAP Web site each
Friday.
“Outgoing Message Queue Not Available” Error Message On The COD Web Site
[07/27/05 (Updated 08/08/05)]
Previously, some users received the error message “Outgoing Message Queue Not
Available. See Log For Details” after updating and/or creating records via the COD Web
site. Additionally, the records were not processed in the COD System. As a result, a web-
based response did not display on the web, and schools with a Web Activity Response
Option set to "Y" did not receive a response for web-based transactions in their SAIG
mailboxes.

On August 3, 2005, the COD development team resolved this issue, and users no longer
receive this error message. Additionally, records submitted via the web are processed
successfully. COD apologizes for any inconvenience caused to users.

Current Issues

“No Response From Server” Error Message On The COD Web Site [07/25/05
(Updated 07/27/05)]
Schools are receiving the error message "No Response From Server" after updating and/or
creating records via the COD Web site, and a web-based response is not displaying on the
web. However, the records are processed in the COD System. Schools with a Web Activity

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 Common Origination and Disbursement

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Response Option set to "Y" are receiving a response for web-based transactions in their
SAIG mailboxes.

COD is researching the cause of this issue and will provide updates as more information
becomes available. In the meantime, when a school receives this error message, it will need
to access the batch screen to determine if the records were accepted or rejected.

COD Incorrectly Rejecting For COD Edit 039 [12/27/04 (Updated 04/15/05)]
COD became aware of an issue that results in schools receiving COD Edit 039 (Incorrect
Award Amount) in error. This sometimes occurs when schools submit changes to awards to
lower the amount to zero through either batch or online processing.

COD has made significant progress in analyzing the issue and is currently developing a
code fix. COD will continue to provide updates as more information becomes available. In
the meantime, please do not resubmit your records. We appreciate your patience as we
work to resolve this issue.

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 Common Origination and Disbursement

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Pell Grants
COD News

Unlocking And Resetting COD Web Site Passwords (08/12/05)

NEW!
COD would like to remind COD Web site users that Security Administrators (COD Web
site User Level 5) are able to unlock and reset passwords for the users (User Level 1-4) they
established at their school or organization. However, if the Security Administrator needs
his or her password unlocked or reset, the Security Administrator must contact the COD
School Relations Center.

In order to unlock users, a Security Administrator should log in to the COD Web site,
www.cod.ed.gov, and complete the following steps:

Step 1: From the Welcome to Common Origination & Disbursement Web Site screen, click
on the User tab on the blue bar at the top of the screen. The User Search screen
displays.
Step 2: Enter the search criteria for the user and click on the submit button at the bottom of
the User Search screen. The Search Results screen displays and lists users that
match the search criteria.
Step 3: On the Search Results screen, select the name of the user that needs to be unlocked.
The User Information screen displays.
Step 4: Click on the Modify button at the bottom of the User Information screen. The
Update User Profile screen displays.
Step 5: The Locked Out box on the Update User Profile screen contains a checkmark.
Click on the Locked Out box to remove the checkmark.
Step 6: If a new temporary password is not needed, skip this item and go to Step 7. If a
new temporary password is needed, enter the new temporary password in the New
Password field. Then re-enter the new password in the Re-enter New Password
field to confirm. The user will need to change this password to one of his or her
choosing.
Step 7: Click on the submit button at the bottom of the Update User Profile screen. The
Update Your Profile screen displays.
Step 8: On the Update Your Profile screen, click on the Submit button to confirm the
updates made to the user’s profile.

This information is also posted on the COD Web site in a document entitled “Unlocking
And Resetting COD Web Site Passwords.” To access the document before you log in to the
Web site, click on the “Click here if you are looking for more information on Common
Origination and Disbursement” Link. To access the document after you log in to the Web
site, click on the “Today’s Updates” link at the bottom of the page.

COD Processing Update

www.cod.ed.gov Page 6 of 10
 Common Origination and Disbursement

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Schools can refer to the Electronic Announcement on the IFAP Web site,
http://www.ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/0316UpdateCODWebsiteaccessforschools.html,
for information regarding COD Web site access. Third party servicers can refer to the
Electronic Announcement on the IFAP Web site at
http://www.ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/0316UpdatedCODWebsiteaccessforthirdpartyservi
c.html.

COD System Maintenance Planned For Sunday, August 14, 2005 (08/10/05)
The COD System will undergo routine maintenance on Sunday, August 14, 2005 from 2:00
A.M. until 8:00 A.M. (ET). During this period, users will not be able to submit or retrieve
data via the COD Web site. Additionally, batches submitted by schools will be held and not
processed until after the COD System comes back up. COD apologizes for any
inconvenience this outage may cause. If you have any questions, contact the COD School
Relations Center.

COD Web Site Performance Problem Corrected [07/25/05 (Updated 08/09/05)]

From July 21, 2005 through August 3, 2005, COD users were experiencing intermittent
problems with the COD Web site. When trying to navigate the Web site, users experienced
lags in searches as well as missing links and log errors.

During the afternoon on August 3, 2005, the COD development team resolved this issue,
and no new occurrences have been reported to date. COD apologizes for any inconvenience
caused to users.

Pell Grant Year-To-Date Record [12/01/04 (Updated 07/14/05)]

The Pell Grant Year-to-Date (YTD) record (PGYRxxOP) can be used to assist a school
with its year-end and ongoing reconciliation processes. Due to a COD System issue that
continues to affect the Pell Grant YTD record and that has taken longer than expected to
resolve, we continue to caution schools not to use the YTD record for rebuilding a complete
student record or Pell database until the issue is resolved.

The issue is as follows:

In some cases, when we process more than one disbursement transaction for the same
disbursement number on the same day, the individual transactions are currently not
reflected in the YTD record and on the COD Web site. Instead, one combined
disbursement transaction is reflected with the correct disbursement amount, the correct
disbursement date, and the highest disbursement sequence number.

Note: If a school encounters difficulty processing further disbursement activity through its
software for a disbursement affected by this issue, the activity can be performed on the
COD Web site.

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 Common Origination and Disbursement

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Reports and Data Requests

This section contains important notices regarding reports and/or data requests. While we
NOTICES encourage you to review this section, note that some schools may not be impacted by the
information presented below.

Delay In Availability Of COD Web Site Reports [08/01/05 (Updated 08/03/05)]

COD has identified an issue with generating reports on the COD Web site. Beginning July
28, 2005, reports have not been available on the COD Web site. Schools attempting to
retrieve reports from the COD Web site receive the error message “Application Error.”
This issue does not affect sending reports to schools’ SAIG mailboxes, and COD has sent
all reports to schools’ SAIG mailboxes according to schedule.

On July 30, 2005, COD began restoring the report functionality on the web; however, COD
is delayed in generating the majority of reports on the web. Continue to refer to this section
of the COD Processing Update for a list of reports that become available. If your school
needs a report that is usually available on the COD Web site but is currently not displayed,
notify the COD School Relations Center via e-mail ([email protected]). In follow
up, COD will send the report to your school via e-mail. In order for your request to be
processed successfully, please include “Report Request” in the subject line of your e-mail
and the following information in the body of your e-mail:

• School Name
• School ID
• E-mail Address
• Report Name
• Award Year
• Report Date
• Program (Pell Grant or Direct Loan)

Note: For Funded Disbursement List requests, please include the Batch ID and dollar
amount associated with the report.

Keep in mind that the delay in generating COD Web site reports does not impact your
ability to submit data requests via the COD Web site’s Pell Data Requests screen.

Except as listed below, all Pell Grant reports and data requests are available as specified in
ISSUES
Volume VIII, Section 8 of the 2004-2005 COD Technical Reference and Volume VI,
Section 8 of the 2005-2006 COD Technical Reference posted on the IFAP Web site at
www.IFAP.ed.gov/. There are issues with the following Pell Grant reports and/or data
requests:

• Pell Year-to-Date (YTD) Records— For all award years, are being sent to schools' SAIG
mailboxes (Message Class PGYRxxOP). The YTD

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 Common Origination and Disbursement

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record can be used to assist a school with its year-
end and ongoing reconciliation processes. Until
resolution of a current COD System issue affecting
the YTD record, we caution a school not to use the
current YTD record for rebuilding a complete
student record or Pell database. See the “Pell Grant
Year-To-Date Record” item in the COD News
section of this document for an explanation of the
issue. [10/05/04 (Updated 02/09/05)]

Resolved Issues
Described below are “Current Issues” that have been resolved. A full description of each
issue will remain in this section for 7 calendar days following the “Updated” date. If a
clean up is required, the title of the issue will then be moved to “Resolved Issues In Clean
Up.”
For the full description of a resolved issue after it is removed from this section, refer to
previous postings of the COD Processing Update on the IFAP Web site,
www.IFAP.ed.gov/. The COD Processing Update is posted to the IFAP Web site each
Friday.
“Outgoing Message Queue Not Available” Error Message On The COD Web Site
[07/27/05 (Updated 08/08/05)]
Previously, some users received the error message “Outgoing Message Queue Not
Available. See Log For Details” after updating and/or creating records via the COD Web
site. Additionally, the records were not processed in the COD System. As a result, a web-
based response did not display on the web, and schools with a Web Activity Response
Option set to "Y" did not receive a response for web-based transactions in their SAIG
mailboxes.

On August 3, 2005, the COD development team resolved this issue, and users no longer
receive this error message. Additionally, records submitted via the web are processed
successfully. COD apologizes for any inconvenience caused to users.

Resolved Issues In Clean Up

COD has implemented code fixes for the issues listed below and is cleaning up the affected
records. After a clean up has been completed, its status will be updated and it will remain
in this section for an additional 7 calendar days.
Issue In Progress Completed
Pell Grant Information Not Updated In √
NSLDS

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 Common Origination and Disbursement

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Current Issues

“No Response From Server” Error Message On The COD Web Site [07/25/05
(Updated 07/27/05)]
Schools are receiving the error message "No Response From Server" after updating and/or
creating records via the COD Web site, and a web-based response is not displaying on the
web. However, the records are processed in the COD System. Schools with a Web Activity
Response Option set to "Y" are receiving a response for web-based transactions in their
SAIG mailboxes.

COD is researching the cause of this issue and will provide updates as more information
becomes available. In the meantime, when a school receives this error message, it will need
to access the batch screen to determine if the records were accepted or rejected.

COD Processing Update

www.cod.ed.gov Page 10 of 10