5254798 Education, Office of the State Superintendent of - Amendment to Paragraph 7004.2 permitting use of email to provide notification of eligibility determinations for DC TAG and for other communications.

OFFICE OF THE STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF EDUCATION

 

NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING

 

The State Superintendent of Education, pursuant to Section 5(a)(1) and (e)(1) of the  District of Columbia College Access Act, approved November 12, 1999, (Pub. L. 106-98; D.C. Official Code § 38-2702(f), and § 38-2704(a)(1) and (e) (2012 Repl.)); Section 3(b)(11) of the State Education Office Establishment Act of 2000, effective October 21, 2000 (D.C. Law 13-176; D.C. Official Code § 38-2602(b)(11) (2012 Repl. & 2014 Supp.)); and Mayor’s Order 2000-138 (September 7, 2000), hereby gives notice of his intent to amend Section 7004 (“Eligibility Determination”) of Chapter 70 (“Tuition Assistance Grant Program”) of Title 29 (“Public Welfare”) of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations (“DCMR”), in not less than thirty (30) days from the date of publication of this notice in the D.C. Register.

 

The purpose of the rulemaking is to allow the program to send all applicant status notification, including eligibility and ineligibility letters, to applicants via email. By permitting the D.C. TAG program to send written notifications of applicant status via email, as opposed to sending it through regular mail, the proposed rules allow the program to save money and time, and ensure that applicants are made aware of their tuition assistance status as soon as possible and can plan accordingly.

 

Chapter 70, TUITION ASSISTANCE GRANT PROGRAM, of Title 29 DCMR, PUBLIC WELFARE, is amended as follows:

 

Subsection 7004.2 of Section 7004, ELIGIBILITY DETERMINATION, is amended to read as follows:

 

7004                ELIGIBILITY DETERMINATION

…

7004.2             The Grant Program Office shall send a written notification to the applicant informing him or her of their eligibility to receive tuition assistance. Effective April 1, 2015, the written notification shall be sent to the email address provided by the applicant, or to the applicant’s mailing address on file, if an email address has not been provided or if the Grant Program Office receives notice that the email address provided is incorrect or inactive.  Additionally, all applicant status notifications and other communications to the applicant from the Grant Program Office may be sent via email.  In addition, if the student is determined to be eligible for the tuition assistance, the Grant Program Office will inform the institution(s) listed on the student’s application as schools the student is most likely to attend by providing a list of eligible students to the institution.

 

 

Persons wishing to comment on this notice of rulemaking should submit their comments in writing by mail or hand delivery, including or through an electronic submission to:   Office of the State Superintendent of Education, 810 1^st Street, NE, Washington, D.C. 20002, Attn: Jamai Deuberry re: “Email Eligibility Communications Tuition Assistance Grant Program Regulations,” or to [e-mail] with subject, “Attn: Jamai Deuberry, Email Eligibility Communications Tuition Assistance Grant Program Regulations”. Questions may be directed to [phone]. All comments must be received no later than thirty (30) days after publication of this notice in the D.C. Register. All comments received will be taken into consideration during the proposed rulemaking process prior to final adoption of these rules.  Additional copies of this proposal are available from the above address and on the Office of the State Superintendent of Education website at www.osse.dc.gov.