We will provide access to PDFs, copies, and screenshots with guidance so everyone can see what will be required. The SPOC will have to be the one to input the information into the electronic system for final submission.

Yes, we can do that for drafting and discussion. The final submission will have to be inputted through the electronic system.

A draft for comment will be posted the week of March 14 and finalized by March 23. It will be due in July, exact date still to be determined.

Maybe, it depends on how recently the revisions were submitted. Those submitted prior to the end of January, yes - they should all be there. If submitted in May, you will want to check to be sure the latest information is there.

At this point, we are planning on selected sections being locked. For example, some of the information provided in the CFAD that will auto-populate and cannot be changed, include the choice made between Fiscal Agent and Direct Funding and the allocation schedule. Those will remain locked. However, we may look into making some auto-filled sections in the Year 2 Plan editable, if need be.

Yes, Year 1 (2015-16) activities may be edited or added onto, but not deleted.

Only CFAD activities will be pre-populated.

No.

Depends on how the CBO was funded. If the CBO is a subcontractor – then they would be rolled up under their Fiscal Agent's expenses based on how they were funded (like object code 5000).

The AEP Office will release information and instructions related to the End of the Year data collection for Year 1 of the AEP Program. We anticipate this information to be released by April (if not sooner). The instructions are very similar to the WIOA student demographics and performance outcome reporting and the National Reporting System (NRS) framework.

In August, the state will release data submitted for Year 1, to be used for setting performance target goals for Year 2. We are all aware that Year 1 data will not reflect a full year of activities because for the late start to the year and that much of the data will be “fuzzy” until we have a fully operational data collection and tracking system that all consortia are integrated with. The state is working with experts in the field and consortium members in a focus group to develop this system. It is expected that an AEP Data Tracking system will be launched in the next few years. In Year 3 (2017-18), we hope to have our first full year of AEP data.

Each year, you will be asked to review your Governance structure and submit a form describing any changes. It would be a good idea for members to review their governance plan on an annual basis.

Yes, regardless of whether last year’s funding was MOE or Non-MOE – it all falls under the Adult Education Block Grant. MOE and Non-MOE members are required to use the funding to implement their Three Year and Annual Plans. If a district’s activities are not reflected in the various plans, use the amendment process to update them.

Consortia are responsible for checking and addressing those themselves. They should know whether the activities supported by the MOE and Consortium funds are both represented in the Three Year and Annual Plans.

Objective 4 is about filling gaps used for continuation of or expanding of "old activities." That should work for this.

Not all activities must be brand new. Addressing gaps in service can mean, for instance, reviving services that were reduced or eliminated in the recession. Working with Colleges to align curriculum and facilitate student transition, improve student support, etc. are just some of the many activities that align with the required objectives of the AEP. To be clear, in all our webinars and throughout the documents for the Three-Year and Year Annual Plan, it was emphasized that all AEP funds – MOE and Consortia Funding – must support the implementation of the Consortium’s Three Year and Annual Plans.

If a member is potentially in violation of AEP regulations, the consortium lead or primary should be contacted. The primary lead is responsible for the consortium annual plan. A suggestion may be for this to be discussed at the next consortium member meeting and a review of the program guidance and allowable use guide. The consortium can also request technical assistance from the State in helping resolve this issue.

That depends. Who was the Fiscal Agent in 15-16? How much did it cost for them to administer the consortium related activities (see Program Guidance)? If you are keeping the same Fiscal Agent, then that is already built into the budget. But you still need to find out the real cost, because it might not require the entire 5%.

Fiscal Agents are not necessarily “guaranteed” the same amount every year as stated in the legislation for members of a consortium. In other words, Fiscal Agents are not “protected members” of a consortium. These individuals and the amounts they receive can change (if the consortium votes on this change), and the percent negotiated for their services may also vary – it can be up to 5%, but does not “have” to be the full 5%. The amount paid to the fiscal agent would depend on the services rendered and terms and conditions negotiated with consortia.

On the other hand, if you go to Direct Funding, the consortium members would need to pool their resources together to pay the primary lead or designee for the cost of administering the consortium (which is still required under direct funding per all the State level deliverables). See Program Guidance for the list of those activities.

The amount of MOE funding amounts should already be filled out in the Year 1 Plan in sections 3 and 5, as requested in the charts. In your revision for the Year 1 Plan regarding activities that the MOE is funding, you can note that these activities are from that source and those providers. Just submit the changes as a revision/amendment with member signature or consortium minutes approved by members.

You are asked in the Year 2 plan to identify the KEY 3-5 strategies you are planning to implement to meet your 3-year goals. There will of course be many, many additional strategies that make up your implementation plan that you will want to share with members, partners, and stakeholders for their feedback and input, but for the Year 2 Plan submission, the state is just looking for the 3-5 high-level, most-important strategies that will characterize your efforts to achieve the AEP goals for that particular year.

The Annual Plan was always supposed to include the AEP activities for both MOE and Consortia Funds, as stated throughout the Year 1 Plan and Guidance. This continues to be the case.

The 3-Year Plan is the big picture, so you would only make revisions to that if your big picture plan is changing. The Annual Plans have more detail, so it is more likely that changes would need to be made in those. If your 3-Year Plan is changing, please contact the AEP office to discuss prior to submission.

Much of the form automatically saves upon entering values. However, just to be safe, you should be sure to manually save your work often.

Yes, there is a word limit on the narrative.

These links allow you to add or delete entries in the tables.

Something that you would want a legislative member, the public, and/or policy makers to read about and justify giving adult education $500M each year.

That is correct. The AEP Office is not currently planning to collect this information in this plan.

No – just the CFAD information will be auto-filled. Due to formatting and other changes, it was not possible to do any other auto-fill.

That's fine. Just let us know your progress and what you are looking at.

Please update your plans to reflect any major spending areas that you may have missed – like professional development, MOE activities, capital outlay, etc.

Yes.

The State needs the formal approved minutes, if those are provided instead of signatures. The form being used to submit revisions/amendments requires submitters to certify that the files they've uploaded have been formally approved.

You can use approved meeting minutes or a signed block signature sheet.

There is no need for minutes if we have the signatures: Signatures OR Minutes — just one file.

Choice of fiscal organization shouldn't necessarily change governance. If governance structure has changed, then that change must be shared with the AEP office through a revised Governance document submission.

There can be issues with such changes, so you will need to submit the revision. Basic rule: Make sure that you have a clear plan and can verify that the activities carried forth with the designated AEP funding is in alignment with your consortium’s approved annual plan.

Yes.

Starting July 1, 2016, revisions can start up again. You are right, the money follows the year in which the activities are taking place. This year’s activities -> this year’s revisions. Next year’s activities -> next year’s revisions. It is fine if activities are multi-year, but we need to have a clear relationship between when funds are expended and when the activities take place. The AEP Office has to report accurate information to the legislature based on information received from consortia.

The Year 1 (2015-16) Plan should show the activities taking place in that year and the timeline should reflect that actual projected finish date, even if in another year. Timelines in the Year 2 (2016-17) Plan should reflect the reality of implementation in that year, as in the successive years. An “on-going” designation is not adequate.

There are slight changes to the Governance Template (hence the new date), but nothing substantial. The Governance Plan needs to be reviewed by the consortium membership annually and Governance template needs to be filled out and signed and submitted annually. Though it is possible that there will be NO changes to the plan or the membership from year to year, it is unlikely. Annual submission of the signed Governance Plan is the evidence needed to show that all current members of the consortium are familiar with and in agreement on the consortium's governance structure.

No, they provide different kinds of information. The CFAD's information is time sensitive and is needed in May. There is more time available for gathering the Governance Information. This will be due July 15th with the Year 2 AEP Plan.

The AEP Governance Template is required. You may upload your by-laws but that is not required.

We understand the challenge and as we go forward, we are hoping to learn from your experiences on how to do this. To be clear - the requirement to project and report on expenditures by objective is a requirement of the legislature, not something the CDE and CCCCO came up with. The Legislators want to know to what extent and how funds are being spent to address the objectives put forth in AB86 and continued in AEBG per AB104. The strategies promoted in these objectives are the strategies they expect to see carried out in the consortia throughout the state. This is part of our accountability to legislators and taxpayers. We won't know the best way to meet this requirement until we try for a few cycles. One way to start can be to identify what objective or program benefits MOST from the activity. Expenditures by Object Code will also be collected.

The narrative fields are fixed at the size indicated and cannot be expanded. The reason for this is that the information in the Plan will be compiled for all of the 71 Consortia for a report to the Legislature. Due to the space available in the report, our office can only use so much information from each consortium – so please be succinct.

The Annual Plan was always supposed to include the AEP activities for both MOE and Consortia Funds, as stated throughout the Year 1 Plan and Guidance. This continues to be the case.

In the Annual Plan form, there are only two sections where you can upload information. Each location has specific formats and instructions for uploading. They are:
in Section 1, an organization chart and/or governance plan, and
in Section 3, the consortia expenditures.

The 3-Year Plan is the big picture, so you would only make revisions to that if your big picture plan is changing. The Annual Plans have more detail, so it is more likely that changes would be reflected there instead. If your 3-Year Plan is changing, please contact the AEP office to discuss prior to submission.

You will need to send an updated Governance Plan if your governance structure has changed, and/or if you have new members in your consortium. This is to verify that everyone is aware of and commits to adhering to the Governance structure throughout the program year.

You will need to send an updated Fiscal Management Plan if this process has changed, and/or if you have new members in your consortium. This is to verify that everyone is aware of and commits to adhering to the this Fiscal Management Plan throughout the program year.

It is used to get an overview of your ambitions and your progress in the implementation of your Annual Plans in support of your Three-Year Plan. The Annual Plan Executive Summaries are posted on our AEP website and shared with the Legislature.

No, you will just upload the individual member submissions. The AEP Office system will do the totaling for you.

We understand the challenge and as we go forward, we are hoping to learn from your experiences on how to do this. To be clear, the requirement to project and report on expenditures by objective is a requirement of the legislature, not something the CDE and CCCCO came up with. The Legislators want to know to what extent and how funds are being spent to address the objectives put forth in AB86 and continued in AEBG per AB104. The strategies promoted in these objectives are the strategies they expect to see carried out in the consortia throughout the state. This is part of our accountability to legislators and taxpayers. We won't know the best way to meet this requirement until we try for a few cycles. One way to start can be to identify what objective or program benefits MOST from the activity.

No, since this is not a fiscal declaration, the signature process is streamlined. The Primary Contact will certify that all members have approved the Annual Plan, and retain the minutes of the public meeting where this approval occurred. NOTE: It is important that true consensus of all members be reached and documented if we are to be able to use the Primary Contact’s certification going forward.

No – in the 16-17 annual plan, we ask for 15-16 to date expenditures by program, by objective, and by object code. We also ask for 16-17 planned expenditures by program area and objective. You won’t have to submit the 16-17 budget by object code until the Fall. For the remaining 15-16 carry over funds – use the online expense and reporting system to revise your budget going into next year, and update your 15-16 annual plan to reflect how those funds will be spent.

Please upload any revisions or changes to your annual plan via the AEP portal. Meeting minutes may be used in place of signatures, if the change or revision is referenced in the minutes and agreed upon by members. Deadline for revision is May 15, 2015.

There are four main documents/reports that AEP consortia are required to submit to the State. All elements are expected as indicated, provided funding for AEP continues to be signed into the state budget by the Governor each year. Due annually are:
1. Consortium Fiscal Administration Declaration (CFAD);
2. Annual Plan;
3. Student Data;
and 4. Annual Budget.

In addition, there is a Three Year AEP Consortium Plan. This is the big picture document that provides an overview of each consortium’s goals, objectives, and major efforts that will be taken to achieve the purpose of the AEP over the three-year period. This Plan would be updated every three years.

In June 2016, the state also released Data and Accountability funding to assist with building the capacity to submit Student Data. That required a one-time Data and Accountability Plan and Budget.

No, only two passwords per consortium are allowed. This is so that consortia can maintain control of the content and editing of the official documents submitted to the State on behalf of your consortia. Documents and information will have to be provided to the person(s) your consortium designates in order to be entered/uploaded, certified through signature of the Primary Contact(s), and finally submitted to the State.

The AEP portal does allow for up to two primary contacts to have access, so it is possible for co-chairs to both access the portal.

You will get notification that the system is open through the Primary Contact currently on file for 2015-16. If that person will not continue to be the Primary Contact for 2016-17, the current Primary Contact should send an email to the AEP inbox at aebg@cccco.edu with the request to change for next year. The request will be verified and the new Primary Contact(s) for Year 2 will get access. The verification process should only take about 24 hours.

The Primary Contact(s) can be the leader, co-leaders, or a designee of the consortium. This role is mostly about flow of information, not decision making. Because of the size and structures of many of our AEP consortia, we are retiring the term "Single Point of Contact." We encourage consortia to limit the number of Primary Contacts to no more than two per consortium so that information can flow predictably to and from the rest of the membership.

There are two levels of access to the AEP documents - View Only and Editor. In View Only, a person identified by the Primary Contact(s) can view all of the documents but they cannot edit them. View Only access can be granted to any number of people, and each person would be referred by the Primary Contact(s). The Editor is the single person who has the clearance from the consortium membership to submit official consortium documents and make changes to them. Just as with the View Only individuals, the Editor is identified by the Primary Contact(s). Access is based on passwords associated with email addresses.

The rationale for the two levels of access is to make sure that viewing and editing of official AEP documents is in the control of the Consortium membership. Primary Contacts will know who is asking for access to their documents and be assured that the only changes that occur are exclusively made by their Editor designee.

Not sure why that's showing up - but the fiscal report is not part of the annual plan. If you look at the template on the website - there is no fiscal section. The fiscal section is not part of the annual plan report. View the template on the website - we don't have a fiscal section - so I wouldn't worry about.

I don’t believe you can update the 3 year plan as posted. I would suggest you submit the updated changes in a separate document. Or submitted the whole plan with the changes noted so members of the public can see where changes were made.

Yes, this is the new version found in the portal. I have attached the latest work product to date. Although not complete, all other information has been entered without much of an issue. We had one problem which I worked out with Greg, which was to remove information from a cell which would not delete. That was corrected.

You can find the Annual Plan Template on the following AEP Web page:
http://aebg.cccco.edu/For-AEBG-Grantees/AEBG-Consortia-Reporting-and-Planning

The first link on the page above will provide the template for you. Once you access the template document, you will see that Section 2 provides the space to input your fiscal spending. 
If you are looking for the online expenditure reporting system, you can find that further down on the Web page shared above. You will need to log into your consortium's specific page within that system. 

Consortia and their members must agree to adhere to the general assurances listed as part of the annual planning process. For the purposes of evaluating Consortia and Consortium Member effectiveness, the California Department of Education and California Community College Chancellor's Office establish annual indicators of compliance. Failure to meet the requirements listed in the 2017-18 AEP General Assurances Document may result in a determination of non-compliance and lead to partial or complete loss of Consortium and/or Member funding. (See annual plan general assurances). Please note that all the items listed above for consortia and member effectiveness are also covered in the AEP General Assurances Document.

It will open the week of March 14 and be due May 2.

Each consortium member organization has one designated representative for membership, though they can have multiple colleagues at discussions. Only the officially approved member can vote on decisions, unless the consortium decides otherwise. As far as the state is concerned, there is only the one officially approved representative for each member organization.

Your consortium governance plan will specify on proxy and/or substitutes. However, on the CFAD, please list only the member representative that was approved by the member’s local board.

Enter the current representative’s information into the CFAD for each member organization. When replacement representatives are identified, you can do a revision to provide the new person’s name and contact information. You will also be able to update member information in the Year 2 Plan which will be due in mid-July.

Yes.

By adding them, they are automatically active. We will delete the old language that indicates other steps are necessary.

All members will need to sign the CFAD, which that allocation schedule is part of. In addition, you should keep meeting minutes and attendance sheets to document that you followed the Governance Plan for your Consortium in order to reach this agreement.

All members will need to sign the CFAD, which that allocation schedule is part of. In addition, you should keep meeting minutes and attendance sheets to document that you followed the Governance Plan for your Consortium in order to reach this agreement.

There are a couple of ways this can be done. One way is to print out the summary page with signatures blocks, then scan and upload the document into the electronic system. All signatures should be condensed in a single document; we do not want to have multiple summaries with one signature per document. Another way is to have signatures collected at a face-to-face meeting and signed on an iPad or similar device. We will provide instructions for this as we get closer to submission time.

The system has an auto-save, so you won’t lose anything when you close. When you sign on again, the system will pull up the information you entered earlier.

Yes, by 11:59 p.m. on May 2nd.

In the CFAD, there's a button in the Member area for active/inactive, as well as the space to add new members. Members who become inactive are identified as such, but not removed from the record. (If you have technical questions about using this feature, please email Greg Hill Jr at ghill@wested.org)

Both MOE and Consortium Funds are AEP funds. For the 2015-16 funding level, you will provide the combined total of both, by member.

Yes, it can. There's a link at the top of the page that will launch the print dialog box. We will look at the protocol for that print feature to make the font size more user-friendly.

So long as the signatures are combined into a single file, and it is clear that they have reviewed, agreed to, and are signing the current document (CFAD or Annual Plan), that should suffice.

Yes, voting members and as defined by the legislation.

We will set up an auto-confirmation of receipt of your submission, not to be confused with approval. Approval of the CFAD will take a bit longer and there may be follow up questions. Confirmation of approval will be a separate notification.

This is a term specifically used in the CFAD. Active indicates current members who are participating in your AEP implementation during the year in question. Inactive refers to former members who are not currently implementing your consortium’s AEP plan. An inactive member would not be required to sign or vote on the CFAD.

Much of the form automatically saves upon entering values. However, just to be safe, you should be sure to manually save your work often.

Because this is a fiscal declaration for funding each year. The State needs to have each official member representative sign that s/he is in agreement.

Much of Section 1 is auto-filled from the CFAD that consortia submitted in May.

The items that are locked are Consortium Grant Number and Name, Funding Channel, and Consortium Allocation Schedule. These are locked and cannot be changed until next May CFAD submission. This is because of the timeline requirements for fiscal programming at the state level. The rest of the items are also auto-filled from the CFAD but can be updated as indicated.

You will need to send an updated Organizational Chart if your organizational structure has changed, and/or if you have new members in your consortium.

Yes, you can add more than one document. Make sure the documents have different names or the new one will replace the old one.

It has been moved to the home page: http://aebg.cccco.edu/Home. Thank you for the heads up.

If they are added to the contacts table, they should appear. If not, they would need to be added by you selecting the "edit signature" block button at the bottom of the summary page.

The system has an auto-save, so you won’t lose anything when you close. When you sign on again, the system will pull up the information you entered earlier.

Please send an email to the AEP inbox at aebg@cccco.edu and we will check to see what the issue is. Primary Contacts are generally one person per consortium, occasionally two on a case-by-case basis, though more people can have Ready Only access.

It is: http://aebg.cccco.edu/portal

They will be on the Grantees tab on the AEP website - http://aebg.cccco.edu/For-AEBG-Grantees

We are no longer using the AEP portal as this is being replaced with the NOVA system. We are still developing the functionality to adjust member allocations and the CFAD. Stay tuned…

Yes, as long as all members are in agreement, you may alter your CFAD to lesser amounts than the prior year. (But you have to have 100% agreement). Please work with Nicole Alexander in the AEP Office to update your CFAD, and the process for submission.

You can update your 17-18 Member Allocation by navigating to the Member Allocations section from the left blue navigation pane (see screenshot below). You will need to submit a revised CFAD document with signatures based on the updated amounts. You should upload this document to the document library and select the box for “Amendment”.

We are working on creating a template for the CFAD updates, but in the meantime please print a copy of your CFAD and hand write the changes, sign and scan to upload as an amendment.

Changing allocations for your consortium members requires submitting a revised CFAD and obtaining signatures from all of your members that indicates agreement/approval of the allocation changes. I have attached the CFAD that was submitted in the AEP portal.

We are currently still developing the process to update member allocations in NOVA for direct funded agencies. We should have this functionality available before the end of the week. In addition, you will need to submit a revised CFAD document with signatures based on the updated amounts. You should upload this document to the document library and select the box for “Amendment”.

We are working on creating a template for the CFAD updates, but in the meantime please print a copy of your CFAD and handwrite the changes, sign and scan to upload as an amendment.

If you are Direct Funded, you will receive your apportionment in the first 12 months of the 16-17 state fiscal year. If you wish to alter or revise the amount you received, you may do so through the subcontracting process. If you have a Fiscal Agent, they will receive the consortium apportionment in the first 12 months of the 16-17 state fiscal year. If the Fiscal Agent wishes to alter or revise the amount being allocated to members, they may do so, with member agreement, through the subcontracting process.

A draft of the Year 2 Annual Plan for public comment will be released soon. You will see that it has not changed greatly from Year 1 - there are a few new items but it is largely the same. We don’t anticipate that the main approaches of the Plan template will change much (maybe add clarifications, etc.), so you can start your planning as soon as that draft is released.

Some of the dates are subject to change. The exact date for the Annual Plan submission in July has not been set yet, for example. The May 2nd deadline for the CFAD is firm, however, as are some other dates. We will clarify these dates as soon as possible on the website.

You will have a draft of the Annual Plan to begin working off of in March. It is not due until July so that gives you nearly four months.

There are a couple of ways this can be done. One way is to print out the summary page with signature blocks, then scan and upload the document into the electronic system. All signatures should be condensed in a single document; we do not want to have multiple summaries with one signature per document. Another way is to have signatures collected at a face-to-face meeting and signed on an iPad or similar device. We will provide instructions for this as we get closer to submission time.

It is a hard deadline for the Consortium Fiscal Administration Declaration. It was set because of the timelines that the state needs to follow for the program year. The Annual Plan of activities, which provides more detail, will be due in July.

Yes.

Here is an overview of the due dates:
- The CFAD is due May 2nd.
- Final revisions to Year 1 plans and/or budgets must be received by May 15th.
- The Year 2 Plan will be due in July, the exact date TBD.
- Student data for Year 1 will be due August 1st

You may submit revisions to your 3 year plan, annual plan, governance, etc., through the year – with the final deadline each year being May 15th. The portal opens each year on July 1st for updates/amendments.

Those revisions received prior to the portal being open will be reviewed as submitted and later posted. We will get back to you soon.

Here is an overview of the due dates to expect each year. The submission systems will accept documents until 11:59 p.m. on the date due. We encourage early submissions, as late ones could encounter submission errors and/or system overload. NOTE: if the date falls on a weekend, the document due date will be moved to the first Monday after that date.
The CFAD is due May 1st.
Final revisions to each year’s Annual Plan and/or budgets must be received by May 15th.
Student data for each year is due August 1st. For 2015-16 data, the due date is August 8, 2016.
Annual Plans for each new program year is due August 15th.

To stay up to date, check the Calendar on the AEBG website regularly: http://aebg.cccco.edu/For-AEBG-Grantees/Calendar-of-Due-Dates

Keep in mind that we also have the twice a year expenditure reporting by consortia via the online system housed at the Chancellor’s Office. These reporting months are January and July. Budget revisions must be submitted prior to the report month. Budget revisions are due 6/20 and 12/20, respectively.

The AEP Portal consortium pages should be up and running very soon. I apologize for this inconvenience. Please let me know anything else you need on this.

The AEP Portal has been undergoing maintenance for the past couple of weeks, so the consortium pages are unavailable to everyone at this time. This is not due to any user errors or glitches in the login information and the pages should be up and running very soon. I apologize for this inconvenience.

For this, you'll want to use the Print button in the upper right-hand side of the page. From within the print dialog, most modern browsers provide the option to save or print to .pdf.