AUSTIN COMMUNITY COLLEGE

CRRSA ACT HIGHER EDUCATION EMERGENCY RELIEF FUNDS REPORT #1

April 10, 2021

While the U.S. Department of Education (ED) develops a process for institutions to directly provide the required reporting data, it has in the meantime called for institutions to make easily accessible to the public — via the institution's website — the following items:

1. Acknowledgment that the institution signed and returned the certification and agreement form and that the institution has used, or intends to use the funds to provide emergency financial aid grants to students:

On January 15, 2021, Dr. Richard Rhodes, ACC chancellor/CEO, signed and submitted to the Department of Education (ED) the Certification and Agreement for a formula grant under the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSA Act HEERF II). ACC intends to use the maximum amount possible for emergency aid to students. In compliance with ED mandate to provide at least the same amount of funding in financial aid grants to students as was required to be provided under sections 18004(a)(1) and (c) of division B of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). The minimum allocated to emergency aid to students is $6,953,900. ACC has elected to exceed this amount with a total allocation of $16,000,00.

2. The total amount of funds that the institution will receive, or has received under the HEERF student portion.

ACC has received $32,959,121 of which $6,953,900 is to be used for CRRSA Act Student Aid. ACC has elected to exceed this amount with a total allocation of $16,000,00.

3. (a) The total amount that has been distributed to students as of March 31, 2021: $6,558,222

(b) The total amount distributed between January 1 and March 31, the first

reporting period: $6,558,222

4. The estimated total number of students at the institution that are eligible to receive Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Students under the CRRSAA and ARP (a)(1) and (a)(4) programs.

13,217 students

5. The total number of students who have received an emergency financial aid grant.

3,853 students total have received an emergency financial aid grant from the CRRSA Act Higher Education Emergency Fund.

6. How the institution determined which students did, or will receive emergency financial aid grants and how much funding they did, or will receive.

Austin Community College convened a committee with membership from the president’s cabinet, the business office, the financial aid office, the ACC foundation office, student affairs communication, ACC marketing, student support advocates, and enrollment management. The following brief was developed:

Overview: On April 20, 2021, ACC received $6,953,900 from the Department of Education as part of the CRRSA Act Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund. ACC will distribute these emergency funds to students who have experienced or are faced with disruptions of education due to COVID-19. The coronavirus has negatively impacted the health and wellness of ACC students and their families, as well as the regional economy. ACC is keenly aware that the COVID-19 impact has exacerbated pre-existing systemic inequalities and has affected Central Texas’s marginalized communities more deeply than others. In a coordinated effort, ACC will swiftly distribute funds in such a way that it empowers students to use them for their greatest priorities, such as food, housing, health care, child care, learning materials, and more. With the distribution of funding, students will have access to ACC’s full social support resources. ACC has limited the award to $2,500 per student per semester.

Student Eligibility(updated 12/27/20):

• Must have FAFSA on file to determine citizenship status
• Must be actively enrolled in ACC courses
• Excludes dual credit, international, continuing education, or adult education
• Students may request funds once per semester

On May 11, 2021, ED issued the following updated guidance regarding student eligibility for any remaining CRRSA HEERF II funds:

• The definition of “eligible student” for all HEERF funding was changed to be any student who is or was enrolled at an eligible institution on or after March 13, 2020 opening eligibility up to students who were, but may not currently be, enrolled during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• ED’s changed it’s opinion about applying the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) to emergency funds making undocumented, international, and DACA students eligible for all HEERF funding.

● If students are ineligible for CRRSA Act Student Aid, their application will then be considered for ACC’s Student Emergency Fund. Students will not be required to complete an additional request.

Application:

• CRRSA Act Student Aid Website
• The application is hosted on a secure Client Resource Management (CRM) system, Maxient, which our teams use to process and follow-up on requests.
• ChatBot implemented to answer student questions on a 24/7 basis.
• Processing and Distribution of Emergency Funds
• The new online application for Student Aid is a single point of entry for CRRSA Act and Student Emergency Funds.
• After a student submits their CRRSA application, it is be routed for funding based on the eligibility status of the student
• It may take 3 - 5 days for disbursements of funds once an application is complete (during peak)
• ACC Business Office processes disbursements 5 days a week

 7) Any instructions, directions, or guidance provided by the institution to students concerning the emergency financial aid grants.

CRRSA Act Student Aid Design

Below, is an example of the CRRSA Act Student Aid design used across multiple web and social media channels to build awareness of and promote access to the CRRSA Act funds for students.

Student Communication

CRRSA FAQ’s

Web Traffic Analysis from January 20, 2021 through March 31, 2021:

Analysis: The large traffic spike correlates with email notifications and CRRSA application availability. 28,037 Pageviews with 24,011 being unique, one time viewers.

How they found it: Search Queries:

Analysis: ACC redirected all CARES Act webpages to updated CRRSA webpages to make sure that users were directed to the most recent information. CARES Act quieres were still being used during CRRSA Act availability. This may be due to the term itself or some other factor. “acc heerf” is an ACC qualified search term referring to CRRSAA: Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF II). Inbound users will often qualify search terms with “acc” from a search engine and has proven to be the biggest driver of traffic to the website from a native search.

Traffic:

External Media Overview

The Office of Communications & Marketing generated targeted media awareness to elevate this news in the community with coverage airing and publishing across multiple media outlets.

Media Advisories

• January 26: Get free money for college: ACC launches new financial aid for students impacted by COVID-19
• February 1: ACC helping students pay for college & life expenses
• March 8: Applications accepted for Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations
• March 30: ACC extends deadline for priority scholarship consideration

Media Coverage

• January 26: Texas Patch https://patch.com/texas/downtownaustin/austin-community-college-offers-tuition-aid-amid-coronavirus
• January 26: KXAN http://my.tvey.es/To7q8
• January 26: KVUE https://www.kvue.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/austin-covid-updates-jan-26/269-d4cd9dec-51fd-40f1-8459-149041b1f6b1

Owned Social Media

Impressions: 14,341

Engagements: 292

Link Clicks: 89

Institutional CRRSA ACT HEERF

In January 2021, Austin Community College District received $26,005,221 in CRRSA Act Institutional Funding to assist with the transition from in-person to online courses, and as of March 31, 2021 $1,725,038.18  has been spent. The College has used the funds to procure tablets, notebook computers, a (COVID-19) health screening app, instructional software and supplies.