Direct Assignment of Sponsorships - FINF4300

Purpose

To assign sponsors and record sponsorship details where students are sponsored either for individual fees or for all fees within a course attempt

Subsystem

Student Finance

Structure

Four blocks

Student Course Attempt
Student Course Attempt Fee Sponsorship
Fee Category Calendar Instance Sponsorship (overlay)
Fee Liability Sponsorship (overlay)

Navigation buttons invoke:

Fee Category Calendar Instance Sponsorship block
Fee Liability Sponsorship block

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A sponsor agrees to make payment of all or some of a student's fee costs for a particular course. This form is used to assign a sponsor or sponsors to individual student course attempts and to maintain the sponsorship records. Sponsorships can be cancelled in this form.

Sponsors can undertake to pay (in part or in full) all fees pertaining to a course attempt within specified fee periods, or only individual fees within the attempt. For example, a sponsor may agree to pay 75% of a student's tuition fee, but not contribute to their general service fee. A sponsor can also place a limit on the total amount they are prepared to sponsor for the course attempt.

Before they can be assigned in this form, sponsors must be recorded in the form FINF4100. Where a student is sponsored by more than one individual, corporation or other body, each sponsor must take responsibility for different fee liabilities relevant to the course attempt. It is not possible within the system to split the cost of the course attempt as a whole between two or more sponsors.

Timing

Sponsorships must be linked to fee periods in this form. Once active, the sponsorship applies to relevant fees for which a sponsored student is liable throughout the fee period. This includes debt that has already been notified; if sponsorship details are added after an assessment cycle for the period has begun. In this situation, the sponsor's liability is calculated when a relevant student is next reassessed (by running FINJ3500 or FINJ3001) and their person payment schedule amended (by running FINJ6111). The student's liability is adjusted accordingly.

It is also possible, where exceptional circumstances dictate, to apply sponsorship retrospectively to a student's records for a previous fee period. This can be done as long as the relevant student/s can be reassessed and new schedules created for that period - that is, the retro date has not passed and the period has not been finalised.

Ending sponsorship

Sponsorships can expire or be cancelled.

The job Expire Fee Sponsorship (FINJ4430) is run to automatically change the status to one equivalent to the system value EXPIRED for those sponsorships for which the end date has passed. Related fee periods and fee liabilities will also be set to expired, but sponsorship will still be in effect for any fee period in which there has already been sponsorship activity.

Sponsorships may be end-dated automatically by the job ADMJ3850 (Clean Up Unconfirmed Student Course Attempt Process) if applicants through Admissions do not confirm enrolment in the relevant courses.

Unlike expiry, cancelling either a sponsorship or specific commitments ends the sponsor's responsibility for any debt (both paid and unpaid) at the time of cancellation. Setting a CANCELLED status is done in this form.

Fee Sponsorship Status

This status operates at three levels in this form. Normally only statuses equivalent to PLANNED, ACTIVE or CANCELLED will be set in the form. The EXPIRED status is set by the system. The INFRINGED status currently (September 1999) has no system functionality.

An ACTIVE status can only ever be changed to CANCELLED, and vice versa.

Only PLANNED records can be deleted, and only if they do not have dependent records. For example, a planned course attempt sponsorship can be deleted as long as it has no dependent fee period or fee liability records.
In this documentation

Recording a sponsor or sponsors
To assign a single sponsor
To record fee period/s
To assign specific fees to a single sponsor
To assign multiple sponsors
To activate a planned sponsorship
To change sponsorship details
To cancel sponsorships or a sponsor's commitment for fee periods or fee liabilities

 

Recording a sponsor or sponsors:

The Student Course Attempt block operates in query mode only.
  • Select the student to whom a sponsorship applies or will apply, either by entering a known person ID or by selecting the button to use the Find Person facility (ADMF1211).
  • Select the student's relevant course attempt by scrolling through the retrieved records (on the keyboard, use the down arrows or Page Down).

Rules and Notes:

A single sponsor can undertake to pay –

  • all or a proportion of every fee for which a student is liable in specified periods of a course attempt. This is achieved by entering details in the Student Course Attempt Fee Sponsorship and Fee Category Calendar Instance Sponsorship blocks only

or

  • only a specific fee or fees – in part or in full – for the course attempt and specified period. This is achieved by additionally entering details in the Fee Liability Sponsorship block.

If a student has more than one sponsor for a course attempt, each sponsor must take responsibility for a different fee or fees. Details must be entered in both the Student Course Attempt Fee Sponsorship block, the Fee Category Calendar Instance Sponsorship block and the Fee Liability Sponsorship block, for each sponsor.

Because slightly different methods apply, single and multiple sponsors are dealt with separately in this documentation.

To assign a single sponsor:

Use the Student Course Attempt Fee Sponsorship block to –
  • select the sponsor code from those sponsors shown as active in the list of values
  • set the sponsorship status to an equivalent of PLANNED (defaults to a planned status – this can be altered if more than one user defined status corresponds to the system status of PLANNED)
  • enter a start date for the sponsorship, or accept the default of the current date
  • optionally, enter a end date
  • optionally, record a currency amount as a sponsorship limit. The total of all fee amounts which the sponsor has undertaken to pay in the course attempt cannot exceed this limit
  • record a percentage representing the proportion the sponsor is prepared to pay of each fee for which they have undertaken responsibility (the default is 100%)
  • save the record
  • add the required fee period/s (see below)
  • if a single sponsor intends to pay only specific fees, add these as liabilities (see below)
  • activate the sponsorship, if required at this time (see below)
  • save the record.
    •

A reminder warning is given on exiting the form if no fee period has been assigned to the sponsorship, or if the sponsorship has not been set to active.

  • The start and end dates in part determine the fee periods available for sponsorship. Fee periods must fall wholly or partially within these dates (see below).
  • It is possible to apply sponsorship retrospectively to a student's records for a previous fee period. This can only be done if the relevant student/s can be reassessed and new schedules created for that period - that is, the retro date has not passed and the period has not been finalised.
  • The end date may be left open. If given, it is used by the job FINJ4430 (Expire Fee Sponsorship).
  • A new sponsorship record for the same sponsor can be added if an existing sponsorship record has been cancelled and has an end date, and the start and end dates of the two sponsorships do not overlap.
  • Where a sponsorship limit applies, this is in the currency of the fee category shown in the Student Course Attempt block. (Currencies are recorded for fee categories in Maintain Fee Categories, FINF2800).
  • A lamp is displayed if a contract rate will be effective at any time within the sponsorship period for any fee sponsored.
  • Where a sponsorship limit has been set, the sponsor undertakes to pay whichever is the lesser of
    • the amount given as a sponsorship limit across all relevant fee liabilities during the entire span of the sponsorship, or
    • the total when the agreed percentage of each sponsored fee is calculated.
  • Sponsors are only liable for sponsorships which, when the job to maintain person payment schedules (FINJ6111) is run, have a status equivalent to the system value ACTIVE, or which have been active in the fee period but are now set to EXPIRED.
  • Once saved the start date is protected.
To record fee period/s:

Access the fee period overlay block (Fee Category Calendar Instance Sponsorship) via the Sponsorship Calendars button, and record –
  • the fee period/s for which sponsorship of this student is to apply
  • the status of the sponsorship in this period (equivalent to PLANNED - given as default)
  • save the record, and use the Back button to return.
  • A student must have a fee category (assigned during admission or enrolment) before a fee period can be selected.
  • The list of values (LOV) displays active or planned fee periods which are recorded (in FINF2800) for the fee category or categories matching the student's fee category or categories, and which fall wholly or partially within the start and end dates recorded in the previous block.
  • An advisory warning is given if a planned rather than active fee period (fee category calendar instance) is selected, but this does not prevent its selection.
  • For a long-running sponsorship, new fee periods may need to be added when fee calendars are rolled over.
To assign specific fees to a single sponsor:

Access the liability overlay block via the Fee Liability Sponsorship button, only available once a fee period has been entered.

Use the Fee Liability Sponsorship block to -

  • select the fee liabilities (fee type in a fee period) for each fee the sponsor is prepared to pay either in full or in part, as indicated by the percentage value recorded in the previous block
  • set the sponsorship status to an equivalent of PLANNED (the default)
  • save the record.
  • A warning is given if inactive fee types are selected, but these can still be recorded against a sponsorship.
  • Sponsors are liable for fees which, when the job to maintain person payment schedules (FINJ6111) is run,
    • have a fee sponsorship status equivalent to the system value ACTIVE,
    • or fees where the sponsorship has been active in the fee period but is now EXPIRED.
  • The list of values for fee type displays those fee liabilities recorded against the fee category shown for the student and available in the fee periods associated with the sponsorship.
  • A lamp is displayed if a contract rate will be effective at any time within the sponsorship period for a sponsored fee. The dates of the contract are shown.
  • Where fee structures have been 'rolled over' several years in advance, future fee liabilities can be selected from the LOV. Alternatively, for a long-running sponsorship, the relevant fee liabilities for the upcoming year will need to be selected in this form after each yearly rollover. (Refer to the rollover job, FINJ2A00.)
To assign multiple sponsors:

Because two or more sponsors of a course attempt must each take responsibility for different fee liabilities, existing active sponsors must have fees assigned in the Fee Liability Sponsorship block before subsequent sponsors can be made active in the Student Course Attempt Fee Sponsorship block.

The method of entry would be to

  • assign a fee liability or liabilities to an existing active sponsor as indicated in 'To assign specific fees to a single sponsor' . If required, a liability status equivalent to the system value PLANNED can be recorded for sponsorships
  • create each subsequent sponsor following the method given in 'To assign a single sponsor'
  • in the Fee Liability Sponsorship block assign different fee liabilities for each subsequent sponsor, with statuses equivalent to PLANNED
  • activate the new sponsorships, as described below.
  • For multiple sponsors of a student, liabilities must be assigned for each fee period specified for each sponsor.
To activate a planned sponsorship:

Either

  • set the sponsorship in the Student Course Attempt Fee Sponsorship block to ACTIVE. When saving, the user is asked to confirm that related fee period and fee liability records should also be set to ACTIVE by the system

or

  • set the required fee period to ACTIVE. The course attempt sponsorship to which it relates will be set to ACTIVE by the system.
  • A fee liability can only be set to ACTIVE if the associated course sponsorship and fee period are active.
  • Related fee liabilities will not be activated if using the second method (activate a fee period).
To change sponsorship details:
  • New fee periods and liabilities may need to be added to long-running sponsorships after calendar and fee period rollovers
  • If an end date is not recorded initially, but added later, expiry after the end date (by running FINJ4430) will preclude sponsorship of any associated fee periods which start on or after the new end date. Current fee periods in which activity has already occurred will continue to operate with sponsorship, even when expired.
  • A sponsorship limit can be changed during the sponsorship. Note that this limit will also be applied to past fee periods if person payment schedules are retrospectively rerun for those periods.
  • A percentage contribution cannot be decreased once any payment has been received from the sponsor, but can be increased at any time.
  • Changes to sponsorship details are reflected in the person's payment schedule (FINF3800) and in the manual fee assessment (FINF3610) and inquiry forms, once the Process Person Payment Schedules job (FINJ6111) has been rerun.
To cancel sponsorships or a sponsor's commitment for fee periods or fee liabilities:
  • Student Course Attempt Fee Sponsorship block.
    A sponsorship can be cancelled by changing an active status shown against a sponsor code to the equivalent of the system value CANCELLED.

A message invites you to authorise cancellation of related fee periods, fee liabilities and any sponsored amounts for this sponsorship. Select OK to authorise.
  • Fee Category Calendar Instance Sponsorship block.
    The sponsorship for a particular fee period can be cancelled by changing an active status shown against the calendar to the equivalent of the system value CANCELLED.

A message invites you to authorise cancellation of related fee liabilities and any sponsored amounts for this sponsorship. Select OK to authorise.
  • Fee Liability Sponsorship block.
    A sponsor's responsibility for a specific fee can be cancelled by changing an active status shown against a fee type to the equivalent of the system value CANCELLED.

A message invites you to authorise the cancellation of any sponsored amounts for this fee. Select OK to authorise.

  • All debt in the current period, both paid and unpaid, is reassigned to the student if a sponsorship is cancelled. Amounts already paid by the sponsor are available for refund.
  • Where cancellation is not authorised in response to the displayed message, the status reverts to an active state.
  • A cancelled sponsorship can be reactivated by first recording as active at the sponsorship level, and then at fee period and liability levels.
  • A new sponsorship record for the same sponsor can be added if an existing sponsorship record has been cancelled and has an end date, and the start and end dates of the two sponsorships do not overlap.
  • Cancelling a sponsor's record in the form FINF4100 (without cancelling their sponsorship/s in this form) prevents the selection of that sponsor for any future sponsorship, but does not affect existing sponsorship.

Updated 5 February 2003