September 1, 2005

Dear Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama School Owners:

Did you lose your roof? Are students not coming to school? Recent hurricanes may have temporarily affected your ability to remain open and training students. The purpose of this letter is to advise you on relief that may be available to you.

1. You must notify NACCAS as soon as possible if:

· The school or a significant part of its facilities have been destroyed.

· You have ceased teaching students for any days not listed in your catalog.

· There are circumstances that might affect your ability to comply with accreditation standards or procedures.

These notices are required under Section 5.1 of NACCAS Rules of Practice and

Procedure.

If you would like the Commission to waive or grant an extension, or postponement for any requirement, please specify this in your letter or e-mail.

Example: If you are low on staff, if records need to be reconstructed, or if some other situation warrants it, NACCAS will grant you an extension to submit your 2004-2005 Annual Report.

Send your notice and any request, detailing your special circumstances, to the attention of Mr. Christopher C. Walck, Executive Director, at NACCAS.

2. You should also notify the United States Department of Education without delay.

The Department grants relief on a case-by-case basis. You should promptly send your Case Management Team a detailed description of the situation you are in and the relief, waiver, or extension you seek. The Case Management Team will forward your request to the policy group in Washington, DC. The Department will act on each case individually, based on its unique situation.

You may need to contact more than one office within the United States Department of Education.

Campus-Based Program Participants: Ask your Case Management Team.

IPEDS: After last year’s hurricanes, we were notified that IPEDS will not waive or delay due dates, however, they offered to help with data entry and error resolution for schools that have lost this capability. There are two ways to get this help:

a. Fax your data to IPEDS and IPEDS staff will enter the data and work with you over the phone to resolve any errors that the system detects.

b. IPEDS was also willing to send a staff member to your campus/office to do the data entry and error resolution on site using IPEDS computers. When IPEDS knows how many schools want a visit and where they are located, they may schedule visits

Contact Susan Broyles at (202) 502-7318 or Kathy Statham at (202) 502-7383, or

FAX: (202) 502-7460.

Loan Program Participants: Contact your lender. If your institution is located in a FEMA-declared disaster area, the lender may grant relief, such as a grace period.

Pell Participants: Contact your Common Origination and Disbursement Representative at 1 (800) 474-7268 for relief related to Pell Grant deadlines and reporting.

Return of Title IV: For relief in meeting return of aid deadlines, contact your Case Management Team.

The United States Department of Education has published “General Guidance for Disasters” that you may read on the Internet at www.ifap.ed.gov. Click on “Dear Partner/Dear Colleague Letters” then scroll down to GEN-04-04.

The sooner you submit your request the better. If you delay too long, the answer might not come in time to help you.

This is good advice for any relief you seek from NACCAS also. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the NACCAS office for assistance. We wish you the best of luck.

Sincerely,

Christopher C. Walck,

Executive Director

CCW/bh

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