April 13, 2018

Webinar Reminder

In the last two issues of the SL News Brief, we have covered the Program Integrity Assurance (PIA) review process for FCC Forms 471.

For program participants who would like more information on this process, this is a reminder that we are holding a live webinar at 3:00 PM EDT on Wednesday, April 18. You will be able to pose questions during the webinar using the chat function. USAC staff members will be responding to individual questions in real time using the chat function, and the webinar facilitators will also respond to questions of general interest at the end of the webinar.

To register for the webinar in advance, go to the Webinars page in the Trainings & Outreach section of our website or click here. If you register but are unable to attend, you can click the registration link to watch a recording of the webinar.

USAC Seeks IT Enhancement Feedback

The USAC web page – Share Your E-rate Technical System Ideas – continues to be available for program participants to submit their ideas and feedback for improving and/or enhancing Schools and Libraries information systems. Information submitted to USAC through the feedback form on this webpage should only pertain to proposed changes to the E-rate related information technology (IT) systems. It should not include feedback on E-rate program rules or policy issues, or inquiries about specific applications.

To share your thoughts and ideas, go to the web page, enter your name and email address, identify your role in the E-rate program, and describe your idea. You can type directly into the text box provided or copy and paste text from another document. When you are finished, click the SUBMIT button at the bottom of the page.

We will display a message on your computer screen confirming receipt of your submission. If we have questions or would like more information about your submission, we may send you a request to the email address you provided, which you may respond to if you choose. The information provided on this form will only be used for internal purposes and will not be shared. If you do not wish to be contacted by USAC or decide to not participate in future E-rate software beta testing, you may send an email to privacy@usac.org with your request not to be contacted.

Please note that we cannot respond to specific inquiries or requests for assistance through this form. For these issues, submit a customer service case in EPC or call the Client Service Bureau (CSB) at 888-203-8100.

Selective Review Overview

Each year, some applicants undergo a selective review as part of USAC's review of their FCC Form 471. Selective review is a separate component of the application review process, and can actually run concurrently with a PIA review. The purpose of selective review is to verify that the applicant followed the required competitive bidding process and that it has the necessary resources to make effective use of the requested services.

Selective reviews take place at the billed entity level. If you as the billed entity are chosen for a selective review, we will review all the FCC Forms 471 that you certified for the funding year.

In this issue, we will cover the process of receiving the selective review notification and the deadline for responding.

1. USAC issues the selective review questions.

If your billed entity is chosen for a selective review, the contact person on your forms will receive an email from portal@usac.org notifying them that a Selective Review Information Request (SRIR) is available in EPC. The subject line will include the FCC Form 471 application number (or one of them, if the billed entity certified more than one) and the words "E-rate Review Information."

You can access the SRIR by clicking the link provided in the email. After you log in to EPC, you will be able to access the SRIR.

2. You confirm receipt of the SRIR.

The reviewer is required to confirm with the contact person that the SRIR has been received. You can confirm receipt by calling or emailing the reviewer using the reviewer's contact information featured on the email notification.

3. You respond to the selective review request and provide the appropriate documentation.

You can enter answers to the selective review questions in the fields provided in the SRIR in EPC. The questions asked are generally the same for all selective reviews.

For answers that also require documentation, you can upload documents or files by clicking the Choose File link or the +Add Document link and following the instructions.

If USAC has additional questions, we will contact you with another inquiry through EPC detailing the information needed.

4. You can request an extension if needed.

As with other reviews, you can request an extension of time to respond by choosing the appropriate extension option in the SRIR. Your first request is granted automatically for an additional seven days. The contact person can ask for a second extension, but that extension must be approved by USAC.

Update on PIA Reviewer Email Addresses

In the near future, USAC will be changing the domain for the email addresses of PIA reviewers from sl.universalservice.org to usac.org. Also, the convention for the reviewer's email address will change to firstname.lastname@usac.org.

The new email address will appear on communications from USAC related to your review. Although we encourage you to start using the new email addresses when they become available, USAC will continue to forward emails from the sl.universalservice.org domain to assure that communications continue to reach the appropriate reviewer.

We will announce in a future SL News Brief when this change has been completed.