Batch Packaging
Batch packaging gives you the ability to perform automated packaging for groups of students at the same time, rather than executing the process on each individual student record. This allows you to create aid packages more quickly and efficiently for your student populations.
Once you initiate the batch packaging process for a group of students, PowerFAIDS evaluates each student in the selection set for the associated academic year by the packaging order you specify. You can choose from the following options:
|
Packaging Order |
Description |
|---|---|
|
By formula, then by SAI |
This option packages students by order of packaging formula, then by ascending SAI (all students in formula 1, starting with lowest SAI and then working up to the highest; then all students in formula 2, starting with lowest SAI and then working up to highest; etc.). |
|
By formula, then by need |
This option packages student by order of packaging formula, then by descending need (all students in formula 1, starting with highest need and then working down to lowest; then all students in formula 2, starting with highest need and then working down to lowest, etc.). |
|
By SAI only |
This option packages students with the lowest SAI first then highest SAI last. |
|
By need only |
This option packages students with highest need first then lowest need last. |
For each student in the selection set, PowerFAIDS performs the following steps to create each student's aid package:
- Selects the appropriate packaging formula: The system determines which packaging formula should be used for the student by first determining if they have a specific formula specified in the Packaging Formula Override field on the student's Aid Package, and then if not, checking if the student meets the criteria of the selection set associated with each packaging formula and then using appropriate sequencing.
- Determines the student's award eligibility: Then, the system compares the student's attributes and unmet need against the eligibility for each fund group and fund in the packaging formula and adds associated awards to the student aid package as appropriate.
- Produces a results report: The system produces a results report that tells you, student by student, the packaging formula used, which funds were awarded and the award amounts, and reasons why a student was or was not awarded during the process.
Note: If Run in Simulation Mode is set to Yes, PowerFAIDS will go through the packaging process and produce a results report without committing the change to the student aid packages.
Suppose that for the following student population, your institution has $3000 of funds available to award, and each student that is successfully awarded will receive $1000. The table below shows each student's eligible packaging formula, SAI, and need:
|
Student |
Eligible packaging formula |
SAI |
Need |
|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Formula 3 |
4,500 |
25,000 |
|
2 |
Formula 1 |
6,000 |
31,000 |
|
3 |
Formula 1 |
10,000 |
24,500 |
|
4 |
Formula 3 |
16,000 |
26,000 |
|
5 |
Formula 2 |
25,000 |
13,000 |
For this student population, the packaging order selected would affect packaging outcomes as follows:
|
Student |
By formula, then by SAI |
By formula, then by need |
By SAI only |
By need only |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Not awarded |
Not awarded |
$1000 |
$1000 |
|
2 |
$1000 |
$1000 |
$1000 |
$1000 |
|
3 |
$1000 |
$1000 |
$1000 |
Not awarded |
|
4 |
Not awarded |
Not awarded |
Not awarded |
$1000 |
|
5 |
$1000 |
$1000 |
Not awarded |
Not awarded |
As there were limited funds available to award this student population, the packaging order option used affected which students ended up receiving an award. For this reason, it is important to choose the packaging order that aligns with your institution's packaging philosophy, and run batch packaging in simulation mode to check the results before committing the changes to student records.
Advantages to Batch Packaging
Batch packaging makes many aspects of the financial aid packaging process easier. Some advantages to batch packaging include:
- Efficiency of creating multiple aid packages at once: In just a few steps, you can create student aid packages for entire groups of students, saving you the time and effort of navigating to each individual student record to execute packaging.
- Equity across student subpopulations: When you create student aid packages in batch, you can equitably distribute limited funds to students based on eligibility.
- Ability to run packaging in simulation mode: By setting Run in Simulation Mode to Yes, you can run the packaging process and view a detailed results report without committing the change to student records. This allows you to test the effects of your institution's packaging formulas and helps you determine how many students will be packaged with how much money before committing the awards to students.
Before Batch Packaging
Before initiating batch packaging, it is helpful to first take the following steps:
- Set up the components used by packaging in PowerFAIDS – Packaging is the culmination of the financial aid application process, so before initiating this process, setup must already be complete for most of the other features in PowerFAIDS. The product map shown below lists the features from top to bottom that need to be set up before initiating batch packaging:
- Define your institution's packaging objectives – The packaging formulas and fund parameters set in System Administration translate your institutional policy into action, so setting them up requires an in-depth understanding of your institution's particular financial aid philosophy and practice. Determining things like how maximum award amounts are calculated and how students will be prioritized when there is a limited amount of aid will allow you to set up packaging parameters that best serve your institution's goals.
- Add manual awards to the student record and shield – Some of your students may have known awards, such as third-party scholarships not controlled by your office, that you want to add manually to the student record. Be sure that manual awards are shielded, as seen in the image below.
Caution: If an award is not shielded, it will be removed from the student record when you run batch packaging. If the award is shielded, PowerFAIDS Cloud will complete the rest of the package according to the parameters you set in the packaging formula. For more information on manually adding awards to a student record, see Manually Packaging a Student.
Once you have completed the required system components, defined your institution's packaging objectives, and added and shielded any manual awards needed to student records, you are ready to begin using batch packaging.
Packaging in Batch
To automatically create an aid package for multiple students at once, complete the following steps: Choose how you want the student population to be ordered and sorted in the packaging process from the Packaging Order list. You can choose from the following options: Packaging Order Description By formula, then by SAI This option packages students by order of packaging formula, then by ascending SAI (all students in formula 1, starting with lowest SAI and then working up to the highest; then all students in formula 2, starting with lowest SAI and then working up to highest; etc.). By formula, then by need This option packages student by order of packaging formula, then by descending need (all students in formula 1, starting with highest need and then working down to lowest; then all students in formula 2, starting with highest need and then working down to lowest, etc.). By SAI only This option packages students with the lowest SAI first then highest SAI last. By need only This option packages students with highest need first then lowest need last. Tip: Optionally, select Preview Students to view the population prior to running automated packaging. This will show you a list of students in the selection set. Select Package to run automated packaging. Note: The packaging process in PowerFAIDS is asynchronous, meaning that you can navigate away from this page to other student records, modules, or pages, or even close PowerFAIDS completely without disrupting the packaging process. Once completed, a message will appear in the top right of the page letting you know the packaging process was completed successfully or that there was a problem, and it was unable to be completed. Either way, a results report is generated with more information. A window appears with detailed information on Tip: There are many customization options available within tables in PowerFAIDS so you can use and organize the data to your liking. This includes rearranging the columns, searching the table, filtering the data, and exporting the table. For more information, see Working with Tables.
