PROSAM PROJECT STATUS REPORT
FEBRUARY 7, 2002


Accomplishments/Activities

?	The Financial Aid staff has had their first training on ProSAM.  Both an 
overview session and a hands-on session were conducted.
?	Randy Timmons, CEO of Sigma, was here to work on the interface 
between Sigma and our legacy student system.  The data is being 
successfully accessed, transferred and displayed.  However, there are 
some performance issues to be addressed.
?	The legacy system has been modified to handle the new ISIR file layout.  
The decision was made to continue to use the EDExpress in order to have 
convenient access to the data.  
?	The new ISIR preprocessing functionality has been tested and job scripts 
have been prepared.   Business rules have also been developed to handle 
corrected ISIRs and duplicate ISIRs.
?	The project team learned how to customize the data element dictionary to 
reflect Ole Miss specific codes, such as admissions status.  
?	User ID's have been set up in the production environment.     
?	Tables and business rules have been set up for 2003 testing.
?	Naming conventions for files, scripts, etc. have been established.
?	The team received training in verification processing.

Project Plan Status

The team is planning to load admitted students into ProSAM on Friday, verify the 
data, and load ISIRs on Monday when a Sigma representative is here.  Financial 
Aid staff has been asked to verify test results in QAS today in preparation for this 
conversion.   Verification will begin shortly thereafter.  

Tasks Behind Schedule

None.  However, we have been concentrating on getting the initial data loads 
performed; we must now look toward the next milestone which is awarding.  

Outstanding Issues

?	We are using a unique means for identifying graduate and undergraduate 
students.  It is not known what affect this may have on future processing.  
While Sigma has agreed to incorporate the capabilities of the integration 
shell into the XML interface, they have not yet communicated how this is 
to be done.    
?	There are performance issues with the interface that must be resolved 
quickly.
?	How nightly production jobs will be covered has not yet been addressed.
?	If the no-delay version of MicroFocus COBOL is required, there will be an 
additional charge for the software.  
?	There is not at the present time a method to prevent overawards.  

Major Activities Planned for the Next Two Weeks

?	Load the new software release.
?	Change the interface to operate in production, rather than QA.
?	Make required data element dictionary customizations.
?	Address interface performance issues.
?	Set up security in the production environment.
?	Test the results of the QA 2003 admissions data load and ISIR data loads.
?	Test the track assignments in QA 2003.
?	Establish procedures to FTP ISIR data from legacy to ProSAM.
?	Modify job scripts for the new award year, and for production.
?	Print sample ISIRs for comparison to ProSAM data.
?	Begin verification processing, including printing letters.
?	Address legacy ISIR load issues.
?	Begin creating notifications.
?	Assign budgets.
?	Assign responsibility for creating and executing test plans for budgeting, 
awarding and disbursement.