SAP Guidance - Summer 2020

Summer 2020 SAP Appeals were due April 15, 2020. Financial Aid will accept appeals/documentation for Summer 2020 SAP appeals through May 1, 2020 (this extension is not advertised online).

Protecting student’s ‘Personally Identifiable Information’ (PII) is a huge concern for Financial Aid.  This is why Financial Aid cannot allow students to email documents directly to them. The IT security team says our email is not secure enough to send PII as it could be hacked and students could have their identities stolen. Financial Aid deletes all student emails with attachments. They are currently configuring an online tool for students to complete forms and upload other documentation electronically. It’s been taking a while because each form must be tested by IT to ensure it is secure. The hope is that it will be ready sometime in May (in time to be utilized for the largest SAP group for Fall 2020).

If students schedule appointments with you for support with submitting a SAP appeal for Summer 2020, the Financial Aid office needs your signature on the contract page. You can use electronic signatures in Adobe (for those with printers/scanners at home – you can also print/sign/scan/email if this is easier for you). You should email the signed contract page to FinancialAid@montgomerycollege.edu and in the subject line of the email list which type of SAP you assisted a student with: Max Time, PACE or GPA; in the subject line also include the student’s M# (this is not PII); in the message of the email be sure to include the student’s name. Please alert Financial Aid if forms are coming separately from the student in snail mail.

As a reminder, the ‘old SAP forms’ are still in circulation. We confirmed again with Financial Aid that Counseling Faculty do not have to complete the ‘calculation’ on the page. They really just need to know what courses the student still needs to complete to complete their program of study for their catalog year on file in Banner. You can make a note on the page that your signature verifies the academic planning component, not the calculation. For the Fall 2020 SAP group, new forms will be provided that do not include the calculation section on the form we sign.

Students also need to submit their signed contract page, as well as their appeal form, statement, and supporting documents. It is within the statement and supporting documents, where there is concern about PII being shared. Financial aid is checking physical ‘snail mail’ every two weeks. The next time they are visiting campus to check the mail is April 23, 2020. Students should ‘snail mail’ their signed appeal form, statement, and supporting documentation to the Germantown campus:

Office of Student Financial Aid

20200 Observation Drive, SA -110

Germantown, MD  20876

Additionally, Financial Aid shared the following:

Withdrawals before March 13, 2020 will not be considered COVID related

Withdrawals after March 13, 2020 can be considered WC if meets criteria