What's New in Follett ACCESS? March, 2020
SAM 1.37 Release
The focus of the SAM 1.37 release is to introduce a new pricing model option in SAM. The introduction of this pricing model allows stores and campuses to manage their Follett ACCESS program in a more streamlined and efficient manner. Refer to the details below for a more in-depth look at the new features.
Credit Hour Pricing Model
You now have the ability to manage your Follett ACCESS program using a new Credit Hour Pricing Model. This pricing model necessitates receiving Credit Hour information from the campus, for each section, so that SAM can properly calculate the amount that students are responsible to pay. There are two ways that this can be accomplished depending on the student enrollment delivery type:
- GIS Flat File: For campuses that create a manual GIS Flat File, there’s a new field that has been added to the end of the file where the campus can specify the number of credit hours associated with the particular section that student is enrolled.
Note: This does not impact stores that are using Section Fee or Student Fee Pricing Models, as this new field is optional. It is only required if using the Credit Hour Pricing Model. - ConnectOnce: For campuses that send enrollment information to SAM via ConnectOnce, there currently is not a way to obtain the Credit Hour details. However, further enhancements are being done to allow this information to be passed into SAM. You will have the ability to manually enter the Credit Hour value for each section in SAM until those enhancements are introduced.
Access the Credit Hour Pricing Screen
- Log into SAM.
- Enter your store number.
- Select Manage Store.
- Select Pricing Model.
- Select Credit Hour Pricing.
- Select the Term and which Credit Hour Pricing Model that you would like to manage.
The default is CH - Credit Hour.
SAM displays the term information. - Enter the calculated Price Per Credit Hour.
- Select View to display all sections that are marked Follett ACCESS in CourseTracks.
SAM automatically calculates the Credit Hour Charge based on the Price Per Credit Hour multiplied by the Credit Hour value.
Important: If student enrollment is imported via ConnectOnce, you must select Edit to manually enter the Credit Hour value in the Override Credit Hour field to properly calculate the Credit Hour Charge.
No Course Materials
A new checkbox, No Course Materials, has been added to the Credit Hour Pricing screen. If a student is enrolled in a section that is not delivering any course materials and is part of the Follett ACCESS program, SAM will still charge students for the Credit Hour(s) associated with the section. To be able to check this box, the adopted section in CourseTracks must be flagged as Follett ACCESS and have no materials marked as Follett ACCESS. While this may be uncommon, it can occur in examples of vocational sections/campuses.
Opt-In & Opt-Out Functionality for Credit Hour
Similar to the Student Fee Model, for stores that are setup with the Credit Hour Pricing Model, opt-in and opt-out functionality are also available. Also similar to Student Fee, it is at a student level rather than a section level. Meaning, students who decide to opt-in or opt-out from the Follett ACCESS program will be done so for the entire program.
Students have two methods in which they can opt-in or opt-out of the program as they currently do today:
- Student uses the Customer Portal link provided in the SAM automated emails or from the campus.
- Store manager uses the Customer Portal on behalf of the student.
Student Experience
Upon logging into the Customer Portal via the link provided, the student is presented with a page asking whether they’d be interested in opting-in or opting-out of the program (depending on how the store is configured).
The information that displays breaks down the details, such as Course Name, DDCS, the overall Total to Student. They can also select View Course Material to display what materials are included in the specific DDCS.
Important: Be aware that whichever select the student makes, this will either opt-in or opt-out them fully from all sections listed.
Store Experience
If a student has decided to opt-in or opt-out of the Follett ACCESS program and the store is managing the process, complete the steps below via the Customer Portal option in the SAM interface.
Accessing the Customer Portal to Opt-In or Opt-Out:
- Log into SAM.
- Enter your store number.
- Select Manage Store.
- Select Support.
- Select Customer Portal.
- Select the term and use optional search parameters to narrow down the search (if required), then select Search.
- Locate the student and click Select.
- Choose to Opt-In or Opt-Out the student.
Important: Be aware that whichever selection is made on behalf of the student, this will either opt-in or opt-out them fully from all sections listed.
Reporting
With the introduction of the Credit Hour Pricing Model, several reports have been cleaned up and updated to include necessary details, such as Credit Hour(s) and Price Per Credit Hour. Most notably the SAM Reconciliation, Operations Reconciliation, and SAM Adjustment reports have been changed.
SAM Reconciliation, Operations, Reconciliation, and SAM Adjustment Report Changes
Field definitions have been updated to the following:
| Field | Definition |
|---|---|
| Store Number | Store number identifier |
| Store Name | Store name |
| Term-Nested Term | Parent or nested term identifer |
| ACCESS ORD | Order release date from CourseTracks |
| Order Start Date | Order start date from CourseTracks |
| ACCESS LDTPD | Last day to process drops from CourseTracks for students to receive refunds |
| Order End Date | Order end date from CourseTracks |
| Class Start Date | Class start date from CourseTracks |
| Class End Date | Class end date from CourseTracks |
| Major Acct Name | Name on the major charge account from CARP |
| Major Acct # | Major charge account number from CARP |
| Customer Name | Customer name |
| Customer #/StudentID | Customer number of student ID number |
| Customer campus email | |
| DDCS | Division, department, course, and section identifier |
| Course Description | Description of the course from CourseTracks |
| Section Add Date | Date student was added to the section |
| Section Dropped Date | Date student was dropped from the section |
| SKU | Stock keeping unit (SKU) number from CourseTracks |
| SKU Description | SKU description from CourseTracks |
| Rental | Identifies whether the item is rentable or not, designated by Yes or No |
| Digital | Identifies whether the item is digital, designated by Yes or No. No indicates that the material delivered is a physical, print product. |
| Continuation | Identifies if the course is a continuation from a previous term, designated by Yes or No |
| Fulfilled Date | Date the orders were confirmed in SODA. Digital materials are automatically confirmed and this date populates once the process is complete. Print products require the store team to manually confirm the products in SODA before this date is populated. A blank in this field indicates orders that are not confirmed or may need to be reviewed in SODA as a possible exception. |
| SODA Order # | Identifies the SODA order number once the order has been confirmed in SODA. A blank in this field indicates orders that are not confirmed or may need to be reviewed in SODA as a possible exception. |
| WEB Order # | Identifies the web order number |
| Order Status | Provides visibility to where order is in the process. Note: See the Order Status Definitions in the SAM Reconciliation Report topic. |
| Return Date | Identifies date that a Follett ACCESS material was returned. Most stores use the POS to return materials which populates this field the day after the return is completed. Use this field to determine if there was a return of materials after a student dropped from their Follett ACCESS course. |
| Cancelled | Identifies if the order has been canceled in SODA or the course as a whole was canceled |
| Duplicate | Used to indicate if duplicate physical materials occur at the student level |
| Pricing Model Type | Displays the pricing model selected for the term – nested term |
| Student Type | Displays the pricing model code for the students for the term – nested term |
| Credit Hours(s) | Displays the number of credit hour(s) related to the section if a Credit Hour Pricing Model; if not, this column is blank. |
| Price Per Credit Hour | Displays the price per credit hour entered into the Credit Hour Pricing screen if a Credit Hour Pricing Model; if not, this column is blank. |
| Reg. Retail | Identifies the retail price of the item. This price may differ from the retail as defined in CourseTracks based on Follett ACCESS fee amount. |
| Return Amount if Dropped | Identifies the amount of the returned item only if the material was returned. This amount is populated whether or not the student dropped from the course. |
| Total Cost of Student | If the campus is using a Student Fee model, this field contains the fee amount. |
| Total Student Charge | Total charge for the course section for each student |
| Opt-BackIn Date | If the student opts-out and then opts back in, indicates when they opted back in |
| Opt-Out Date | If the student opts-out, indicates when they did |
| Dept Code | Identifies the department of the SKU |
| SKU Type | Identifies the course materials type of the SKU |
| Publisher Name | Identifies the publisher that provides the course materials |
| Download Provider | Identifies the digital provider that is delivering the materials |
| Opt-In Date | If the student opts-in, indicates when they did |
| ISBN | Identifies the ISBN in CourseTracks for the title |
| UPC | Follett unique identifier at the title level |
| Universal Indicator | Universal indicator value set in MTC |
Invoicing Changes
Similar to the reporting changes mentioned above, for stores using the Credit Hour Pricing Model, invoicing has been updated to reflect Credit Hour(s) and Price Per Credit Hour. Additionally, for stores using the Credit Hour Pricing Model, two forms of the invoice are available.:
- Detailed Invoice: This is the current invoice displayed today for all pricing models. It gives a detailed breakdown of the student’s information along with specific DDCS details and charges associated with each DDCS.
- Summarized Invoice: This option gives a truncated invoice, displaying the student details without a DDCS breakdown and the total overall charge for which the student is responsible.
Important: When downloading the invoice, the user is presented with a choice of downloading either type of invoice, or the user can select to download both versions of the invoice. These options will also be made available for Section Fee and Student Fee invoices in a future build.
