Keyboard Tip for Pulldown Menus:
The computer mouse is a wonderful device invented by Douglas Engelbart in 1964. EPC users, however, can quickly become mouse-weary moving repetitively from one field to another and clicking on all the pulldowns to manually enter data into applicant profiles. This process becomes particularly annoying when the same fields have to be completed again and again for multiple entries (e.g., entity connectivity or contract data).
The trick to reducing mouse use is to rely more heavily on the keyboard using the “Tab” key to move from field to field, and avoiding the pulldown lists by typing 1-2 letters of the required entry choices. Here’s an example of a connectivity profile completed this way (using the mouse only twice:
Steps to complete:
- Use the mouse to select the “Download Speed” field
- Type “1”
- Tab to the “Upload Speed” field
- Type “1”
- Tab to the “Download Speed Units” field
- Type “g” — for “Gbps”
- Tab to the “Upload Speed Units” field
- Type “g”
- Tab to the “prominent connection type” question field
- Type “f” — for “Fiber”
- Tab to the “biggest barriers” question field
- Type “n” — for “No barriers”
- Tab to the “quality” question field
- Type “c” — for “Completely”
- Use the mouse to click the “Save Changes” button
How cool is that? Only fifteen steps (two mouse clicks and thirteen key strokes) to complete one connectivity profile.
For the connectivity profile, the keyboarding approach saves using the mouse to navigate to six additional fields and having to use the mouse to select the proper pulldown response in five fields. While not a significant time savings for an applicant with only a few entities, it makes the process a lot easier for larger school districts and library systems.
Similar tab/character sequences work on other fields within EPC. The trick is to become familiar with the pulldown choices, noting the first letter. If the pulldown list has two or more choices beginning with the same letter, an additional keystroke or two may be required. In the connectivity profile, for example, the pulldown list for “connection type” includes both “Copper” and “Cable Modem,” in that order. Typing just “c” (capitalization doesn’t matter) brings up “Copper.” To get to “Cable Modem,” type “ca” or type “c” twice (to get to the next “c” in the list).
Training Site Available for Practice:
USAC has developed an EPC Training Site to give users the opportunity to practice use of the EPC system to update applicant data and to create and file forms (including Form 471s) without actually affecting the real site. Users can log into the test site as if they were actual users with full rights for independent schools and libraries, school districts, library systems, and consortia.
Use of the training site requires users to first obtain usernames and passwords by completing request forms on the USAC site, and then to set up their training profiles.
Note that updates are continually being made to the EPC system. These changes should flow through to the training site, but typically with a 1-2 day lag.
Pre-Certification NSLP Modifications:
Submitting a Form 471 for FY 2016 is not an independent activity within EPC. Before even creating a Form 471, an applicant must make sure that other aspects of its EPC profile, or profiles of related entities, are complete. This includes:
- Updated student enrollment and NSLP eligibility data for all underlying schools. Libraries, library systems, and consortia must rely upon the associated schools or school districts to complete their entity profiles.
- Connectivity data must be provided for all school districts, library systems, and their related schools and libraries. (Consortia are exempt from providing connectivity data for their member entities.)
- Contract data related to any FRNs must be provided in the contract profile section.
This does not mean, however, that this data must be finalized before an applicant can begin drafting a Form 471. As long as preliminary data is available, a Form 471 can be created. The trick is to hold off submitting a Form 471 until all the associated data is up-to-date. In particular:
- In setting up EPC, USAC carried forward most school enrollment and eligibility from the FY 2015 applications. If that discount rate data is complete (including the necessary urban/rural designations), albeit out-of-date, work on related Form 471 drafts can continue. Requested discount rate data is not locked in until the Form 471 is actually submitted.
A consortium, library system, or library can begin working on its Form 471 before the associated school district(s) has updated its NSLP data for FY 2016. If the district(s) updates the data, the changes will supposedly flow through to any associated draft application(s).
Changes made after an associated application is filed may be updated in PIA and/or in a revised Funding Commitment Decision Letter.
- Connectivity data for non-consortium applicants can — and should — be updated any time there are changes.
- Contract data is not required for tariffed and month-to-month service FRNs. FRNs for contracted services must reference contract data previously entered in the applicant’s contract list, but contract data (and FRN links to that data) can be updated anytime during the Form 471 draft process. If an applicant has enough contract information to begin work on an associated FRN, but is awaiting final contract details, “dummy” contract information can be used on an interim basis.
Note: Several applicants have reported being told by CSB that all contracts must be uploaded into EPC. This is incorrect. Contract uploads are recommended by USAC as a way to speed PIA review, but are not currently required.
Current FRN Problem for Internet to a Hub Site:
Applicants applying for Internet into hub sites, then distributed over WANs to other sites (as is typically the case with school districts or library systems), are reporting a problem answering the following two questions.
Technically, the answer to both questions is “Yes.” It is a direct connection to a single hub site, but it’s also a connection providing WAN access to other eligible sites. Apparently, however, EPC expects answers of either “Yes” and “No,” or “No” and “Yes.” This appears to be a bug in the system. Answering “Yes” to the second question leads to one line per entity in the Managed Recipients section of the FRN.
Currently, the only way around this problem is to answer “No” to both questions. As long as the Form 471 is in draft mode, this may be OK. But USAC would prefer applicants avoid the issue until the system can be fixed.