Enrollment Audits

Enrollment Audits. The e-Audit is a web based application designed to assist the MCCB staff in conducting the enrollment audits as required by law. The e-Audit is based on a prior existing manual procedure and is divided into four phases, (1) Pre-Audit Phase, (2) Upload & Validation Phase, (3) Sample Testing Phase, and (4) Follow-up & Evaluation Phase. A. Pre-Audit Phase The public community and junior colleges offer online classes through the Mississippi Virtual Community College (MSVCC). The MSVCC system is maintained and operated through the MCCB. Participating colleges offer their online classes through the MSVCC. The Pre-Audit Phase is designed to insure that the course identification (id) for each online course in the MSVCC system matches the course id for the same online course in district’s student system. Each district must compare the online course id’s. If the id’s do not match, the Distance Learning Coordinator must change the id in the MSVCC system to match the id in the student system. Once the district confirms that the id’s match, the MSVCC file is uploaded as a reference table in the e-Audit application. B. Upload & Validation Phase There are four files that must be uploaded and validated during this phase. The Primary File consists of individual student records which contain fundamental data about each student enrolled in a given district. The Faculty File consists of individual faculty records which contain fundamental data about each faculty who teach for a given district. The Course File consists of individual course records which contain fundamental data about each course taught in a given district. The Student Schedule File consists of individual student schedule records which contain fundamental data about each course that a given student is enrolled for the term. Each file has its own unique file structure and is validated against a set of predefined criteria. As each district completes its upload and validation, a summary enrollment report is e-mailed to the district to confirm that the summary enrollment report reflects what was uploaded. All discrepancies are resolved prior to the next step. After all districts have uploaded and validated their files, the files are finalized by a MCCB enrollment auditor. C. Sample Testing Phase The sample testing phase is divided into three steps. The first step consists of creating initial admissions and attendance samples. The admissions sample consists of 10% of all students listed in the Primary File; and the attendance sample consists of 20% of all the courses listed in the Course File. Both samples are e-mailed to the appropriate district. The districts are required to confirm that each student in the admissions sample meets the admissions requirements as set by the MCCB; the districts are also required to confirm that each student in each course of the attendance sample meets the attendance requirements as set by the law. Confirmation is required within a 4-day period. The second step consists of creating a second sample. The second admissions sample is 10% of the first admissions sample and the second attendance sample is 20% of the first attendance sample. Both samples are e-mailed to the appropriate district. The districts are required to copy the required admissions and attendance documents and place them on the File Transfer Protocol (ftp) site assigned to their district. The MCCB audit team will examine the documents on the ftp site to ensure they meet the admissions and attendance requirements as set by the law. Documents must be copied to the ftp site within a 3-day period. The third and final step of this phase consists of creating a third sample. The third admissions sample is created by a statistical model designed to produce the minimum sample size that is representative of the total population (excluding the sample created in the first admissions sample). The third attendance sample consists of 3% of all courses listed in the course file (excluding the sample created in the first attendance sample). Both samples are e-mailed to the respective district. The district is given 30 – 45 minutes to secure the required documents for each sample. Once the allotted time has elapsed, an audit team member will connect with the district to examine the admissions and attendance documents via a two-way audio/video camera. During this phase, any student who does not meet the admissions requirements is marked as an exception and will not be counted in the official enrollment report. If a student does not meet the attendance requirements for a given class, the student’s total number of hours enrolled will be reduced by the number of hours assigned to the class for which the student did not meet the attendance requirements. When the sample testing phase has been completed, districts are e- mailed all of admissions and attendance exceptions. D. Follow-up and Evaluation Phase The follow-up and evaluation phase consists of visits to randomly selected districts. The purpose of the visits is to provide technical support, maintain an ongoing personal contact with the campuses, and to conduct additional sample testing. All districts will be visited at least once during the academic year. Seven to eight districts will be visited per semester (fall & spring). Additional visits will be conducted for the summer term. The sample testing will consist of a 30% – 50% sample test for both admissions and attendance. The sample test may be expanded based on discovered exceptions. If it is necessary to expand the sample testing, it will be expanded to 100%. In such case, all expenses associated with the expanded testing will be charged to the college. Expenses associated with the expanded testing may include current per diem salary rate of the MCCB personnel conducting the expanded testing plus normal daily travel expenses (lodging, meals, mileage, etc.). All exceptions will be deducted from the audited term.