CAPPS Notes - August 15, 2001

If you have questions about the topics covered in this document and you are NOT a CAPPS representative, please contact your CAPPS representative in lieu of the name(s) listed.

I.  Employee Express Update – George/Glenda Dorsey

The August EEX Meeting presented marketing and future growth issues.

Testing in Macon will be the week of August 20, 2001.

Child Equity Act: A proposal was presented to EEX to prevent employees who are coded for FEHB with a "C" in their master file record from making online FEHB changes (via EEX). The "C" applies to employees under a court order or pending a court order which mandates FEHB coverage for their children. Employees in this category will be required to make any FEHB changes via the HR office. Proposed effective date is those actions entered for the FEHB Open Season in November 2001.

II.  Implementation of the Information Technology Group Position Classification Standard – George

PINE changes are "on track" for pay period 17

New IT titles were sent out to CAPPS community and (FESI) front-end system users for data entry

New HR Title for old occupational series 0201

III.  Repayment of Student Loans – Cliff

OPM issued revisions to their Final Regulations - 7/31/01

NFC has issued the following bulletins:
01-7, dated 5/29/01, Student Loan Repayment Process
01-10, dated 6/25/01, Enhancements to Processing Student Loans

There appears to be some confusion on the entry process for student loans into SPPS. Users must complete and submit AD-343's to NFC to get the loan payments into the SPPS application. The system is not being updated to allow users to enter the student loans on the front-end. Data entry will be done at NFC after receipt of the AD-343. DOC has asked that the bulletin issued on 6/25/01 be amended to clarify that SPPS is not being modified to allow users to enter the loan payment data; that it is being modified on the back-end for NFC to utilize.

IV.  New HCUP Approach – Rick Minella/Lenny Bankston

Problems facing users attempting to enter/process a HCUP package have, up to this point, been resolved by phone calls to several sections within NFC (this includes the Customer Service Office, Manual Pay or Operations, the Application Systems Division and/or the NFC North Office). Our analysis has shown that over 95% of all HCUP packages that are called about are processing issues and not systems problems. Therefore, to better service the customers and allow for NFC developers time to resolve system issues, NFC is requesting that users consider establishing a process that would better serve the customers in getting their HCUP questions resolved.

Each agency designate a HCUP Expert. Users with questions or problems will contact that person as Step 1. Hopefully the problem will be resolved at this point but if the HCUP Expert cannot determine the solution, then the Expert will go to Step 2 which is to contact the CAPPS/HCUP Expert Staff (CHES)* and present the problem to them for resolution. If CHES cannot determine the problem, then the user would go to Step 3 and contact NFC Operations Staff directly for assistance.

*CHES will be a group of HCUP Experts from various departments who agree to work as a team in resolving HCUP problems from across the CAPPS community.

If you are a small agency and do not have a HCUP Expert, then you will skip Step 1 and go directly to CHES.

Agreement from the CAPPS community must be reached and volunteers must step forward to be part of CHES. Concerns over security with regard to one agency HCUP Expert reviewing information from another agency is not an issue since access to that agency*s database will not be granted. CHES will receive screen prints of the HCUP package to review and determine what action is needed on the agency's part to get the package to apply to the database.

If you are interested in this approach please let us know. Also, if you are willing to be part of CHES, let us know that also. Additional training on the new HCUP system will be provided to the agency experts and the CHES volunteers. We will be discussing this at the September CAPPS meeting. Send comments to Cliff Lee at CLEE@cfo.usda.gov.

 V.  TSP Issues – Jody/Glenda Dorsey

We discussed the changes that the Thrift Board outlined in their bulletin, TSP 01-4, dated 2/2/01 (available at www.tsp.gov). Essentially, many changes were being made (eg., Immediately eligibility for employee contributions, increase in percentage amounts, etc.); however, the changes would become effective with the May 15^th - July 31^st open season period which would be in pay period 13, 7/1/01.

NFC issued a bulletin 01-5, dated 04/26/01, which redefined the TSP Eligibility Codes based on these upcoming TSP changes; however, the edits to accommodate new codes worked the same as before. Agencies indicated they were unclear on the definitions and because of this coded TSP-1 documents with an incorrect code. There were also some concerns over the use of an override code to force TSP-1 documents to apply between pay periods 9 - 12.

Because of the difficulties, NFC issued a new bulletin, 01-13, dated 8/7/01, which was distributed at the CAPPS meeting (and is available on line at NFC's web page). This bulletin will hopefully clear up any misunderstanding on the TSP Eligibility Codes. We are asking all CAPPS Reps to distribute this bulletin to all affected parties within their agencies (to include benefits officers and data entry).

Reports were run for all pay periods (1 - 13) for 2001 and disseminated electronically to affected agencies. These reports reflected possible coding errors and requested CAPPS Reps to respond to the NFC North Office with information on what the correct codes should be. Once this information is received, NFC will run a sweep to categorize the types of errors and corrections and will place the correct code and date into the system. After the sweep is completed, CAPPS Reps will be notified to prepare and submit AD-343's for the collection of overpaid employee contributions and/or agency matching or 1% contributions.

NFC/ASD will continue running reports for the next several pay periods and quite possibly through the end of the year (and into next TSP Open Season) for quality assurance purposes. If we find coding errors, CAPPS Reps will be notified as to the correction process for those errors.

At this point, we are in need of a response from CAPPS Reps on the report sent out for pay periods 9 - 12 (email w/report attached issued on 7/30/01) and the report sent out for pay periods 1 - 12 (email w/report attached issued on 8/9/01). Please review these reports and let Jody Nyers know of any corrections that are needed. Do not make the corrections yourself. NFC will sweep the database and enter the correct code and date. Response date for the report for pay periods 9 - 12 is August 24^th and for the report for pay periods 1 - 12 is September 10^th. The reports had different data fields; however, duplication (ie., some employees will be on both reports) may occur. All questions regarding these reports should be directed to Jody Nyers at JNYERS@cfo.usda.gov.

VI.  Database Expansion Project – Glenda Dorsey

NFC is in the analysis stage of a new project, Database Expansion. They are collecting data and have asked CAPPS Reps to respond by 8/31/01. (see the email from Lynn Isbell, NFC/ASD, that was sent to CAPPS Reps on 8/10/01.) Glenda Dorsey attended the CAPPS meeting and indicated NFC is planning to collect from agencies their list of request, by priority. NFC will review the data collected, prioritize the request noting that legislative items (such as garnishments and military leave) will be at the top of the list and 'nice to have's' somewhere down the line. NFC is hoping to establish an 18-month cycle of database changes. Therefore, please realize that all of your requests will not be completed in the first cycle but possibly in a followup cycle.

A question was raised about the Pay Engine "TO BE" document and whether the items in that document are being included in this project and Glenda indicated they were.

A question was raised about previously submitted requests and reps were told to review all previous requests and compile a new list as some of the items may have already been completed and/or no longer valid.

It was suggested that CAPPS Reps alert their other staffs (eg., benefits offices, payroll offices) of this project to incorporate one agency report.

The analysis is ongoing at this time and output from it will be presented in January 2002. NFC anticipates a 6-month analysis period, followed by a 3-month coding of the changes period, followed by a 6 to 9-month period of testing prior to implementation. Items that impact FESI will be made available to FESI testors.

 VII.  Workgroup Updates

On August 1 & 2, the T&A Workgroup met with members of ASD programmers (Lenny Bankston, Cherie Landry, Rick Minella, and Eileen Youngblood) to discuss the CAPPS T&A requirements that were submitted in March 2001. Once final notes from the meeting have been prepared, the T&A Workgroup will begin detailing identified requirements so that they can be programmed.

Testing of the web version of STAR is scheduled next week. The testing schedule is:

August 23-24 -------8-3 ------at DOJ site
September 4-14 ---8-3 ------at USDA's CSO - Resource Room

To date only representatives from DOJ, Treasury, and USDA have volunteered to test. Workstation availability is limited. Testers are required to pick dates and times that they will be testing and are expected to.

The next T&A Workgroup meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, September 4^th at 9:00 in USDA's CSO Resource Room. If you wish to join the T&A Workgroup, please contact Jo Bonner at jbonner@cfo.usda.gov or call 202-720-8721.

Leave Share – Jo

In late July the Leave Share Workgroup began meeting for two days out of every pay period to finalize the T&A requirements. The data elements have been identified and the workgroup is in the process of detailing the operational functionalities that are needed. At times during the past year attendance has been good. However, in recent meetings only DOC, TR, and USDA have been attending. In order to ensure that everyone's needs are met, other clients are encouraged to send a departmental/agency representative. For those individuals that have been attending a special thanks is extended. They have contributed several hours of work and the package is currently at 420 pages and growing.

The next meeting is scheduled for September 5-6th from 9-3. Please contact JO Bonner at jbonner@cfo.usda.gov if you wish to attend so that materials to be discussed can be e-mailed to you for review prior to the meeting.

Awards – Jo

The alternative method of processing SPOT cash awards went into effect in PP-15. To date only SBA has utilized it.

When entering an 840/841 PAY the system is currently programmed to permit entry of any value in the generate payment field. If the user selects "Do not pay", the action will go to SINQ. The CAPPS community does not like this method. In accordance with the December decision to never generate payment for an 840/841 V3F, the CAPPS community would like to see the reverse for the 840/841 PAY (always generate payment). The philosophy is that if the user does not want the action to pay, s/he should use the V3F authority instead of the PAY. For PACT users the system should not permit entry into the generate payment field. For EPIC users the system should require selection of the "Pay" option. The PINE edit will remain in effect for FESI and BATCH users.

EPIC 2.0 Testing – Wanda Vaughan, DOJ

User Acceptance testing will continue thru the end of the month at the Dept of Justice's Training Center. Current testing is going well; however, testers have only been from Justice & Commerce. Wanda encouraged everyone who wants to test to contact her or Wendy Moore (at 202-616-6328) and to participate during the week of 8/20/01 and 8/27/01. User Acceptance testing will end on 8/31/01. Quality Assurance (QA) testing will begin the week of 9/10/01.

The next EPIC workgroup meeting is scheduled for 9/5/01 at USDA's Training Center, Lincoln 3, at 10:00am. Teleconferencing will be available. An email will be forthcoming with all details.

When development of PODS on the Web was placed on hold, agencies were informed that they needed to submit letters to the USDA OCFO indicating their interest in continuing the development of PODS on the Web. Responses to the letters indicated that the decision to place the development of PODS on the Web on hold was being reconsidered.

During the customer briefing, Mary Arnold, DOC, inquired as to the status of the reconsideration, and Wendy Snow indicated that they continued to look at the situation. Since the briefing, DOC has heard rumors that USDA OCFO is going to let the project "die" and they want to know what actions they can take to prevent this from happening.

NFC has received copies of letters from PTO and NEH. Others may have been sent but NFC has not seen them. The expectation was that more customers were interested in the development of PODS but the numbers of letters does not indicate this to be true. PTO seemed to think that this, may in part, be due to the fact that OCFO indicated the decision was being reconsidered making it seem unnecessary to send additional letters. Some agencies have also indicated they sent letters but that OCFO has not responded to them. Whatever the situation, OCFO still does not have a good idea of which agencies are interested in implementing PODS on the Web.

Mary Arnold, CAPPS Rep, DOC, is interested in writing a letter in support of the continuation of development of PODS on the Web. She will draft a letter for CAPPS review and then will work to obtain signatures. Agencies will also be asked to submit a letter from their agency officials in support of the CAPPS letter and agencies will also be asked if they are willing to become a member of a consortium to fund development via a reimbursable agreement with NFC.

A question arose if PMSO will become part of EPIC. Rick indicated that next year NFC may build a web front-end of PMSO for ease of data entry; however, they don't plan to connect it to EPIC.

At the August 8th meeting the group continued the review of the RIF specification package that was developed by Kay Fields and Mary Arnold. Some of the items discussed were sorting the report fields, and the printing of the performance rating years.

At the last meeting we encouraged members to bring in specialists with experience in running a retention register. One group member brought in a Personnel Specialist that was familiar with running a retention register. The specialist answers several questions that the group had on the actual RIF report.

If you are interested in joining the group please call Deborah Berry on (202) 418-0136 or contact her via email at dberry@fcc.gov.

No report provided.

 VIII.  Potpourri – ALL

Arleen Luc, NFC/FSD/CSO, inquired as to the preferred dates for the 2002 HR Customer Briefing in New Orleans. An email will be forthcoming from Arleen.

DOC inquired on an update on SPPS: New system features include the capability of entering the request to process an AD-343, the capability of researching actions that have already been processed; eliminate MANLOG functionality within DOTS and more. User Acceptance testing will occur in mid-September with production in November/ December time frame.

Glenda Dorsey discussed the issue of moving the remaining PINQ screens into IRIS. This was discussed at the March 2001 HR Briefing in New Orleans. Glenda does not want to duplicate efforts since resources are being used to place IRIS on the Web. Even though there is not a date for IRIS on the Web, it could occur within the next year or two and we don't want to put resources into moving the PINQ screens into IRIS when those same resources can be used in moving both IRIS (and the remaining PINQ screens) onto the Web.