Mayra Diaz: Thank you. And good afternoon. Officially, twelve o'clock. So good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us during your lunch time. We'll go ahead and kick this off. So today, we're going to focus on giving you an overview of the annual plan. Next slide, please. And presenters will be myself, Neil, and Veronica. Next slide, please.

So for today's presentation, we're going to focus on providing you with an overview of the annual plan, going over the annual plan Statue regulations, planning components, breaking down the annual plan, covering the deadlines, timelines, giving you some tips as you are planning and developing your annual plan, open it up for questions and answers. And Veronica will kick it away with a live demonstration in NOVA. Next slide, please.

So to start this off, we wanted to provide you with an overview of the annual plan, and what is the intent behind developing this annual plan within the consortia. So the annual plan is designed to provide consortia and members with an opportunity to review the current three-year plan, which was recently completed last year, 2022. And that covers fiscal year 2022 all the way through 2025.

Some important items to consider is key accomplishments and challenges from the prior year and outlining goals and activities for the upcoming program year. The CAEP annual plan is a condition of receipt of an apportionment from CAEP, and is a justification demonstrating how planned allocations are consistent with the adult education plan. Next slide, please.

The annual planning process. It is designed to be inclusive and collaborative. It's a planning process among consortium members and entities that provide education and workforce services for adults in the region. The intent is to develop the Annual Plan. And the consortium members will review the current three-year plan, including the identified objectives, the activities and strategies to address the objectives, and the metrics that apply to the activity/strategy.

The consortium members will examine the plan allocations, including carryover, and how the allocations will be consistent with the annual plan. The annual plan will serve as a guide for the consortium and its members over one program year. So the key highlights to the annual planning process is the collaborative effort in developing this annual plan, reviewing the objectives, activities, and most importantly examining how the planned allocations will take place throughout the year, while also assessing the carryover. Next slide, please.

Neil Kelly: So if you could just go back. OK. So I'm going to take it partially from here and then turn it back to Mayra. I'm just going to go over the statute Ed Code related to annual plan. So next slide, please.

All right. So Ed Code 84906 has a whole bunch of information in there about the planning in CAEP, what's required. All the things that you had to go through in the three-year plan. And then the annual plan is an update, an annual update, of that three-year plan.

So critical part here is the plan shall be updated at least once a year, each year, based on available data pertaining to requirements of subdivision (b), which is that three-year plan. Next slide, please. So here are the things that are supposed to be included in the adult Ed plan, which we call the three-year plan. There's three action areas, as you know if you went through the three-year planning process. Three areas of evaluation. Three areas that you're supposed to describe certain things going on in your consortia. And then, of course, a list of entities that are providing education and workforce services to adults in the region. That was that chart that you checked boxes and put in enrollment numbers and things like that.

There's the list of 10 required items for a three-year plan and annual plan update in Ed Code 84906 (b) 1-10. And those 10 areas that I just talked about. The three action areas, three valuation areas, three descriptive areas. And then, I think, the 10th one is, how did you participate in this planning process? So those are the 10 areas in Ed Code. Next slide, please.

OK. And then just to drill down a little farther. The action plans are that the members of the consortium will take to address educational needs. Actions that members will take to improve effectiveness. Next slide, please. And then, the last action item is actions it will take to improve integration of services and improve transition into postsecondary and workforce. So those things that you're updating in your annual plan from your three-year plan. You've listed strategies. So you're updating that. And things like that. Next slide, please.

And then, of course, if you go to Ed Code 84914, my reference says condition of receipt of apportionment. You have to have the amount of funds to be distributed to each member. That's the CFAD. And then a narrative justifying how the planned allocations are consistent with the adult education plan. And that's the Annual Plan. So here's where the CFAD and the annual plan come together. Next slide, please.

And then as you can see, here are the planning components that I talked about. The three-year plan. The CFAD, which is annual. The annual plan, which is your update of that three-year plan. And then once you submit your annual plan, then your members can create their work plan based on that annual plan and the budget. So you can see how all of these things connect and cascade down to when you submit that work plan and budget at the member level and start reporting expenditures.

So I'm going to turn it over to my Mayra for the next slide. Or should I cover this, Mayra? I wasn't sure.

Mayra Diaz: Yeah, I think it was this one. I'll start on the dates, on the timeline.

Neil Kelly: OK. Let me just break down the annual plan really quick. This is how it looks in NOVA. Well, it doesn't look like this. But this is the breakdown in NOVA. So Section 1 are plans and goals. You have an executive summary, a regional planning overview, and how the annual plan will meet those regional needs. Those are text boxes that Veronica will show you later on in the presentation. And then the next section, Section 2, you have strategies to address activities, barriers, and metrics addressing educational needs.

Section 3, same thing. Addressing improving and integration of services in transition. And then next slide, please, to show Section 4. Is same thing, but improving effectiveness of services. Then finally, the last section is describing how the consortium's funds, including carryover, are leveraged to impact the strategies identified in the plan. That's under the fiscal management section. And then, of course, the last section is when members review and certify and submit. And then once you submit that, that will allow members to go in and start working on their budget and work plans. OK. And with that, I'll turn it over to Mayra.

Mayra Diaz: Thank you, Neil. And just to cover. So if you were completing your-- or if you completed your Annual Plan last year, you'll notice that it's very similar. There hasn't been much changes to it from last year. So the breakdown is quite aligned. And we will be releasing a memo and guidance. So that should be coming out soon. But to go over the timeline and deadlines for this annual plan. The deadline is August 15th this year. So it must be submitted and approved by all members in NOVA for the 2023-2024 program year.

September 30th. Once you submit your annual plan, you will be able to work on the member work plan and budget. And it must be submitted by September 30th. October 30th is the deadline for the consortium to certify all member work plans and budgets. And December 1st is the Q1 member expenditure reporting deadline. Next slide, please.

So to go over some annual planning tips, as you are underway developing your annual plans. The annual plan can have a mixture of new and/or existing strategies. If a consortium's annual plan is similar to the prior year, please do your best to describe what is different from last year to this year. Perhaps you've completed some strategy. Some of the strategy action steps, but not all. And we would like to see how is it responsive to the current events described above. So making the effort to really focusing on what is the consortia planning for 23-24? If it's relative, if there are some activities or strategies that are relative to last year, perhaps there is something different or particular that is being focused on for 23-24. Next slide, please.

In addition, the annual plan can consist of implementing existing strategies. As the CAEP office knows that some strategies are long-term in nature. The CAEP planning is hierarchical. The three-year plan aligns with the state's CAEP vision and goals. So the annual plan contains those strategies that help the consortia achieve those goals that are outlined in the three-year plan. The members budget and expenses support those specific strategies. So you can see how that alignment starts with the three-year plan, followed by the annual update, and then tie to the member's budget and expenses. The annual plans can be amended throughout the program year. Next slide, please.

You may also use the Send Reminder feature in NOVA to notify member representatives to approve. And consortia work plans and budget plans, they will open immediately after the annual plan has been approved by all member representatives, keeping in mind those deadlines that we went over in the previous slides. The strategies are selected by checking a box. And there is no need to rewrite the strategies or provide additional information. As a reminder, if you work on the annual plan last year 22-23, then you got to experience those enhancements or updates in NOVA where they were tied, the annual plan components were tied to the three-year plan. So there were some features that you can just check boxes. And you would see how that translated over to the annual plan. Next slide, please.

The consortium annual plan strategies will be used by consortium members to drive their member work plans. And they will be consortium certified by October 30th. The members will select a specific number of strategies from the annual plans to focus, starting from July 1st through June 30th. So with that in mind, that is how you might use something similar from last year. However, keeping in mind those dates and that timeline, there's probably something new that you want to incorporate, the consortia wants to focus on and align their expenditures for that year. Next slide, please.

All right. Let me transition it over to Neil. And we'll dive into questions and answers.

Neil Kelly: Thank you, Mayra. So here are a few questions we got from the field. And then we'll also have time to answer your questions. But we thought this might get things flowing. First question is do we know when the most current LaunchBoard data, which would be 21-22, will become available and if and when that will be uploaded to NOVA? And then the follow up question is, and if it is loaded to NOVA, will that update our targets and metrics? If it's a Mayra question or a Veronica question?

Mayra Diaz: So I can answer that. I think we skipped one of the slides. But the previous slide was just asking if there was any changes to NOVA. But I think we covered that. So there's no changes to NOVA from last year. It is the same. That's where I kept referencing if you worked on the annual plan last year 22-23, it's the same. So there's not going to be any changes to that. Expect it to operate in the same capacity.

To address this question. So the AEP 6.0 LaunchBoard data is scheduled to be made available tentatively April 20th. We are working on scheduling and putting forth a release webinar. And then also, additional communication will be made available. We've been collaborating with CAEP TAP to promote that event. And at the moment, I am confirming the availability and time frame for the target data to be available in NOVA, as you are developing your annual plan and looking at those targets in the three-year plan.

Neil Kelly: All right, Thanks, Mayra. Next slide, please. OK. Question. How do I evaluate my consortia and member performance targets in NOVA? And then how can I make changes to my consortium member level target? So I'm going to answer the first one. And then maybe Mayra can answer the second one.

So you can evaluate your member and consortia performance targets in NOVA in many different ways. You might have local data that you've collected using maybe a outside contractor. Or you might use your Chancellor's Office MIS Combs. And you might be looking at that data. Or you might be using TOPSpro data. Or you could rely on the LaunchBoard data that Mayra just talked about.

So there are many ways that you can evaluate your consortium member performance targets in NOVA. And maybe this was already discussed as part of your three-year plan, how you were going to do that. So there's no standard way that the state wants you to do that. It's based on how you developed your three-year plan. And I think there was an evaluation question in the three-year plan. And so those, I would check on that to see what you guys agreed upon at the consortium level of how you're going to evaluate things, how you were going to go forward into each year updating that and making changes.

And then, Mayra, I think you might have touched on this. But the question is, how can I make changes to my consortia and member level targets for the annual plan?

Mayra Diaz: For the annual plan. So changes are accessible in the annual plan. So they can create strategies that address the initiative objectives, and tie those to the three-year plan activity. What you're not able to do is amend the three-year plan from within the annual plan. So you will be able to assess and select the strategies that you want to utilize. So that will be accessible. As far as the member level targets, the targets is also something that you can go back to the three-year plan and uncertify the actuals, or what we're working to get updated once the AEP is released.

We do want to caution, though, that if you are making any changes outside of the target to the three-year plan, just keep in mind that it can impact the annual and member budget work plans. So keep that in mind as you uncertify the three-year plan and begin to make changes. If you're just focusing on the member level targets, that should not create any issues for you. But if you start making any other revisions within the three-year plan, that can missalign and invalidate the previous annual plan and the member budget work plan. So be cautious of that.

Neil Kelly: So Mayra, just to confirm. So in their annual plan, if they're doing some minor updates on some of their targets, do they still have to go back to the three-year plan to make those updates? Or is there the ability in the annual plan just to go in and change the target number that's listed in the annual plan?

Mayra Diaz: And that's something that we'll get to see in the live demonstration in this presentation. Where in the annual plan, similar to last year, you're able to focus on selecting the strategies, activities. And you're able to focus on updating that and selecting new ones for the new year. But the actual targets are all reflective in the three-year plan. So those numbers are only accessible and updated within the three-year plan. And we'll get to see that during the live walkthrough in this presentation.

Neil Kelly: OK, great. Thank you. Next slide, please. OK, question. Do members have to follow all annual plan strategies? Or can I create unique goals and strategies for members in different parts of my regional consortia? As we know, each member has its own unique student population and services and programs that they're offering. So of course, you can put as many strategies as you want into your annual plan. And then when the member goes to create their work plan and budget, they would just select the strategies that are focused on for them, for their region. So you can create unique strategies for your members. Just remember that member doesn't have to select all the strategies, just the ones that are particular to what they're working on in the upcoming year. Mayra, anything to add on that?

Mayra Diaz: No. I think that's pretty on-target. Looking over the question. So yeah, I think it really is just going to be based on within your region, how you're planning for that. And you'll be able to select and look at the various strategies. But really, it will be applicable based on the planning taking place within the region and within that consortia.

Neil Kelly: And then a quick question in the chat. Do we know when the annual plan will be available in NOVA? Or it's already available. You just have to certify your CFAD Is that correct?

Mayra Diaz: That is correct. So once the CFAD has been certified, the annual plan will be made. It will populate immediately. It will be made accessible.

Neil Kelly: OK. And then another question in the chat. Some of the titles of our three-year plan strategies and activities have shifted. It seems like the order of operation is to adjust the three-year plan first to ensure those updates are reflected in the annual plan. And I guess Veronica will show that in the live demo, right?

Mayra Diaz: Yeah. I think questions around how the completion and what that looks like. I think it'll make more sense once we go through it in the live demo. And then if there's additional questions tied to that, we can definitely answer.

Neil Kelly: OK. So hold your questions on that. Next slide, please. How do I update my existing plan without a full rewrite while still focusing on my three-year plan? Is that a Mayra question or a Veronica question? Because that's a technical thing of how you can maybe bring in a lot of information from your old three-year plan without having to do a full rewrite. Who wants to take that one?

Mayra Diaz: Right. And feel free to chime in too, Veronica. But I do feel like we answered this in the previous slide where we talked about-- because the annual plan, once it opens up in NOVA, it's blank. So you're going to have to put some thought. It should be a collaborative planning effort. Perhaps meet, look over what was completed last year in the last year's annual plan. And there might be something that moves forward for this year. But we want you to be intentional and look at what is being planned for 23-24.

So I think, like I said, that is something that we did cover a little bit on the thing.

Neil Kelly: All right. OK. Next slide, please. And then how does strategies, goals, objectives in the three-year plan cascade down to annual plan? I think we covered that in the slides. But as you know, in your three-year plan, you're creating goals and objectives and strategies in your three-year plan. And then, like Mayra said. The annual plan is linked to the three-year plan. So you're able to select certain strategies for your annual plan update every year.

And so during the three years of annual plan related to, of course, three-year plan, you'll be able to access those and select those strategies that are pertinent to the year that you're going to be implementing those strategies. And I think the live demo will show how this cascades down to the annual plan anyway. Mayra, anything to add on that one?

Mayra Diaz: No. Yeah, that's correct. So I think really the intent, especially as we review those annual plans, I enjoy seeing all the details and the creativity that's taking place throughout the year. But I know that they are all tied to one another. And so it is something that we've broken out in the previous slides. And we'll outline a little bit further when we go into NOVA. You'll get to see the connection during the live demo of how that ties back to the three-year plan, and the dropdown list in some of those activities or strategies that are pulled from your three-year plan.

Neil Kelly: All right. Well, let's get going to that live demo. Let's see. Do we have any more questions to answer? Next slide.

Veronica Parker: Yeah, there is one more. And then there's the--

Neil Kelly: Oh, OK. And I think we answered this. How soon should I start working on my annual plan? Well, you can start working on it today. But as Mayra said, the annual plan opens as soon as your CFAD is certified. And we had a suggestion on how to chunk this out over time to get to August. And some consortia have suggested that they take a strategy at a time, schedule a meeting, work through it. And they start this process now. So by the time they get to August, or even earlier because people are going out on summer break, they get through their strategy discussion and updates and changes. And then all it is a certification come August. So you're not scrambling.

So the suggestion is to build that long runway, so you're not scrambling at the last minute. Next slide, please. OK. We got them on pins and needles. Go ahead, Veronica.

Veronica Parker: All right. So I'm going to share my screen. But before I do so, did you see the question from Elsa?

Neil Kelly: Yes. She's going to look at the live demo. And if her questions aren't answered, we're going to revisit that.

Veronica Parker: OK, sounds good. All right, so.

All right. So you all should be seeing the sandbox version of the three-year plan. Excuse me, of NOVA. Are you guys seeing that? Well, OK. Are you guys saying it?

Mayra Diaz: Yes, we can see it.

Veronica Parker: OK, perfect. I'm going to move this up. All right. So this is the sandbox version. And I'm going to be working here when it comes to editing the three-year plan because I don't want to do that in the live site. And so I'm going to just click on Antelope Valley here and scroll down to their three-year plan, which is right here. So as of right now, it is certified. So I'm going to click on the three-year plan here. And then at the top of this screen, you'll see the uncertified button. So I'll click here. This is going to open up the three-year plan and put it back into draft status so that it can be updated with any updates that you'll have to your three-year plan.

So here is the first section of the three-year plan, just listing all of your details and context, so on and so forth. So here are the narratives that are provided for the executive summary. So if there were any updates that you would like to make to this particular section, you will go ahead and make them here. And then you will click on the Next button here and go to the next screen.

So whenever you make changes to any of the sections within the three-year plan, you want to make sure that you hit that Next button so that the system captures any updates that you make and make sure that they save the updates. So again, you can update any of these sections here. And then click Next.

And then you get to your Barriers and Metrics. If you have any updates to the Barriers and Metrics, let's say you want to change them out. You're no longer focusing on a particular barrier or metrics, or you want to add a particular barrier or metric, you're able to just utilize the-- if you want to remove, you just click on this X here. If you would like to add, you click on the dropdown menu. And then you-- excuse me, not for this one. Let's go to the progress one. So if you would like to add a particular metric here, you just click it. And then they'll add the metric to that particular section. So you can do that for any of the sections for the Barriers and Metrics.

And then scrolling down here, we have the Consortium Level Metric Targets. So here is the actuals. This is the area in which Mayra was speaking about where at some point in time, the data from LaunchBoard will be updated here. And that data will be included in this particular section. And then if you would like to, say, increase your metrics for 23-24 by, let's say, 500 for the number of students serve, you just-- one second. Change it here to 5,000 for those 4,500. And then we'll change this to 5,500. And again, this is a safe environment. So the updates that I'm making here will not impact the consortium's three-year plan.

So you've made updates here in for your member level targets. Again, you can make the same types of updates. For example, I added this participants in educational functioning level gains ESL here. That was not a target. That was previously added. So here, you would have to enter in targets for this particular metric. So since we've already gone through the 22-23 program year, we will not have any targets there. But let's say we would like to add a target here of 300, and the end a target here of 350. And again, you have to do the same thing here. This would be 0, 300, and then 350.

And once you have reviewed all of the updates that you have made and everything is complete as you see fit, you would just click the Next button here, and then go on to the next section for objectives. So here are all of the objectives that you had indicated previously. If there are any updates to the narrative here, you want to make sure that you make them. And pay attention to the character limit. So make sure you don't go over with your updates. But again, you can make updates to any of the objective narratives. And then your activities and-- my system is not moving. One second. OK. I'm going to go back just to make sure that I didn't make any changes. So that's fine.

So here are your activities and outcomes. So again, the activity name is provided here. The activity name is provided here. You can make updates to your description of activity. And then your objective that applies to this activity is automatically pulled in from the objective section. Now, the activity name. We need to check on this because you should be able to update the activity name. But you can update your brief description.

And then your outcome. So if your outcomes have changed, then you can update the outcomes here. If your dates have changed, so let's say you want to extend it by three to six months or so, you can change the date here. The metric that is pulled in is already selected. But if you need to change it here, you are able to do so. And then the responsible person, you are able to remove and you can add an additional responsible person. So you can do that for each of the activities that you have identified for your three-year plan. Those are the updates that you are able to make. And once you have reviewed this information and everything is ready to move forward, you just click the Next button.

And then your Funds Evaluation. So this is your prior total leverage funds. This section cannot be updated. This automatically pulled in from the program error report. However, you can update this particular section, the Funds Evaluation section. So this is where you evaluate. You include an overview of how your adult education funds will be allocated over the coming three years. So if there are any updates here, you're able to make them. And then you go to the previous screen. You want to make sure that you have reviewed everything and everything is the way you see fit. All the updates that you wanted to include are included here. And then you'll be able to see those updates. So if I click on the Metrics again, this is the only area in which I had made updates. You'll see that those are still intact here.

So I'm going to check the chat, see if there's anything.

Neil Kelly: There was a quick question, Veronica. So for people that are developing or updating this outside of NOVA and getting member input and support before they enter it into NOVA and certify it, how people like to work in a Word document prior to officially putting in it to NOVA. Do we have a annual plan template in a Word document, or maybe something from the three-year planning process that they could use as a Word document to help them develop drafts for the update?

Veronica Parker: So let me look at the-- hold on. One second. I'm going to look at the guidance document that's currently under review.

Mayra Diaz: So Veronica, and I know that last year, we did release a template. But if I'm not mistaken, when you go to the annual plan, it may allow you to click a button that says annual plan template. And I swear that was something that we included last year. So maybe, once you go to the annual plan section, there might be a button that allows you to download a template.

Veronica Parker: OK. No, that was for the three-year plan, I believe. The three-year plan was brought into the annual plan. But I'll check it in just a second. But Michele, to your question, yes. If you make updates to your three-year plan in NOVA, the original is overwritten. So it will not save a new copy. It would change the original data. And I want to check. Yeah, it will change the original data. So I'm actually going to go to a new screen and go to the annual plan.

So here, you should see the annual plan. Is everyone seeing that?

Mayra Diaz: Yeah, there it is right there. So do you see on the top right corner a template? That should tell you. But I think going back to that question. You won't get to see this unless you've already submitted your CFAD. And I know with AB 1491 planning, they're probably still holding off on submitting that. But I believe there might be a copy of the outline of this template on the CAEP TAP website.

Veronica Parker: No, I don't think there is. But we can create one because when I go to print this, it's just the document. You are unable to edit it. So it's not like you can save the copy and then be able to update it. But we'll get a template if that's what you all are desiring. Oh, excuse me.

So Elsa, the recertification right now, you just save it. But Neil and Mayra, that's a question for you all. Do you want the members to have to recertify the three-year plan if updates are made to it?

Neil Kelly: I think that would be important that all members are aware of any changes in a consortium wide document. So I would say yes.

Veronica Parker: OK. So we would need to work with the programmers to make sure that that function happens. Because right now, it's currently not available.

Mayra Diaz: Right. From what I -- I'm sorry, Neil.

Neil Kelly: Go ahead.

Mayra Diaz: From what I understand as well, that's where I would caution the updates that get made to the three-year plan because it could override your annual plan from last year and the member and budget work plan. So that would be something that I would caution. But as far as the targets and going back to whether that requires that certification, yeah, I can go back and confirm that.

Veronica Parker: OK, perfect. Thank you. All right. So this is the annual plan. Again, the information that is updated in the three-year plan will be pulled into the annual plan. So here is the annual plan. The first section are your plans and goals. So here is some guidance text that has been provided to you. And then here are the various sections that you will have to complete. So it provided an executive summary of the implementation for the 2023-24 program year. And so here are all of the requirements for this particular section, asking you to provide an overview of how the consortium will implement. And that's supposed to be the 2022-25 three-year plan. We are working on an update for that. So that's supposed to be released, I believe, next week.

And then meeting the regional needs. So here's a section where you identify the gaps and services in regional need, and how did you become aware of this regional need. What sources did you use to identify these gaps? And then how will you measure effectiveness and progress towards meeting this particular need? So each of these sections are narrative sections with 5,000 character limits. So here are those three sections. And then if you need to add another regional need, you can do so by clicking on this particular button here. And I'm not going to enter in any information because now, I am on the live site. So I will not be entering any information. Just being able to show you the demonstration.

So here are where you will identify your strategies for the 2023-24 program year. So here's your strategy name. This is a text field. You can type in the particular strategy name. And then you will identify which of the activities that apply to this particular strategy. So remember, these activities are taken from your three-year plan. So if you update the activities for the three-year plan, this list right here will be updated as well. And I do have a note to check on the activity name from the three-year plan and the ability to update that.

And then your metrics. So here is the dropdown list of all of the metrics that you will be able to utilize. Again, these metrics are pulled in from your three-year plan. So any updates to the metrics there will be an update here. Then you can provide the strategy description. So here is where you will describe the strategies that you will use to support the particular objective that has been identified. And you are able to add additional strategies for this particular objective address educational needs.

Same idea for Improve Integration of Services and Transition section. Again, you identify your strategy name, which activity that applies to this particular strategy, the metrics that apply to the strategy, and then a description. And same idea for Improve Effectiveness of Services. And then you get down to Fiscal Management. So here, you will provide an overview first of how the plan activities are consistent with the annual adult education plan, which is based on your CEP three-year plan.

And then we are asking you to identify your approach to incorporating remaining carryover funds. So here, you will explain how you will incorporate any carryover funds that you have available to you during the 2023-24 program year. And once you have reviewed all of your data, use your preview screen. After each of the sections, you want to hit Next to make sure that the data is captured for each of the sections. And then once you get to preview, you will hit Submit. Or you can share it if you just want to share a draft with your members. But once you hit Submit, a pop-up window will appear that will actually if you have any comments that you would like to include. If you do, please include those comments. And then an email will be sent to each of your member representatives who have the access to be able to approve or reject the, excuse me, the annual plan.

And once all members approve the annual plan, then the budget and workplan will be released. And then if any one member rejects the annual plan, then you will have to go through and make at least one change to the annual plan and resubmit it. And then the members will have an opportunity to approve.

So that is the annual plan in a nutshell. Again, primarily narrative sections that need to be completed. And again, for each of the objectives, the data for the activities that applies to the strategy, as well as the metrics, will be pulled in from your certified three-year plan.

OK. So I'm going to go to the chat box to see if there are any questions. So yes, we will get the template with the instructional guidance for the annual plan. The guidance document is under review. However, we will create a template. All right. So Neil answered that. And then Shamila says, is there a way for members to only select the strategies that suit their work plan? I recall last year, our members had to comb through a long list of everyone's strategies, even if they didn't directly apply to them.

So Shamila, I think you were referring to the work plan as part of the budget and work plan, where, yes, the members will have to go through and select the strategies that are applicable to them for the annual plan. Excuse me. The consortium will enter in the strategies that the consortium as a whole want to include in the annual plan. And then once the members get to the budget and work plan, in their work plan, they're able to identify just the strategies. So I think that's what you are referring to.

Speaker 1: Yes, Veronica. Thank you. I was basically saying that because we have five adult schools and four colleges, the list is pretty long, right?

Veronica Parker: Right.

Speaker 1: So is there a way to tie-in our annual plan strategies directly to a member? Or it just is at the full level?

Veronica Parker: Yeah, it's at the consortium level. So it's all of the strategies for all of the members. All right. And then Jenee, you asked to see the strategy section again. Is this what you're looking to see? And you can come off mute.

Jenee Crayne: Yes. Thanks, Veronica. Was it last year that the activity was the name of it? And it was based on the strategy. I don't know. I guess maybe I'm backwards.

Veronica Parker: Yeah. So it's the inverse. So it's the activity that's pulled in from the three-year plan. And then the individual strategy that you plan to align to that particular activity from the three-year plan is what's in your annual plan.

Jenee Crayne: OK. Thank you.

Veronica Parker: You're welcome. Any other questions?

Neil Kelly: Veronica, I just have maybe a question for everyone. So I was just thinking. Do you really need to change your three-year plan and go back in and open it up when you have so much flexibility in the annual plan? And you probably went through a huge process to create that three-year plan. And so I'm just wondering. I don't know. Veronica or Mayra, can you think of any reason? Or maybe people on the call. Can you think of any reason that you would have to go back in and reopen your three-year plan? Because I'm just thinking that could reopen a lot of issues and other unintended consequences, if you have to go back in to that three-year plan. I don't know. Maybe I'm missing it.

Mayra Diaz: I agree on that. I agree on that part just simply because you don't want to run into issues of misalignment if you open up your three-year plan. And how that can impact your annual plan, if you start to make revisions to some of those activities or metrics from last year from the three-year plan. Whereas the annual plan should be an update. And focusing on it gives you enough, especially on the plans and goals. If there's an update, there sections in the annual plan where it will allow you to focus on addressing that. That's my thought.

Neil Kelly: Yeah, I think there's a lot of concurrence in the chat on that one.

Veronica Parker: Yeah, the only situation I'd like to bring you guys' attention to is what Paul had mentioned. So he's saying that some of their strategies-- so the titles of some of their strategies and activities have shifted. And so they want to make sure that whatever those shifts are updated for their annual plan. So in that particular case, I would see the opportunity for them to update in the three-year plan. But is that against the rules to be able to do that? Or do they have the flexibility to update?

Neil Kelly: I think they have the flexibility. But Michele points out when they had to shift focus, they've left the three-year plan as is and just used the description boxes to explain the reason for the change. So then they don't have to go back into three-year plan because in some consortia, that's a real volatile process. And they want to stay away from that. So I don't know. I guess at least we're having this good discussion so you can see the pros and cons and what other people are doing.

Speaker 2: Yeah, I was just going to jump in. I mean, some of it's semantics. I mean, we have a few activities that have just shifted a bit in the name. So it would just be clean to be able to have the exact updated activities matching. But we can put explanatory text in NOVA just to keep it simple. But it just makes it-- that would be me, have to do a translation process for members every time to say, when it says seamless transitions, it really means smooth transitions, or however we've rephrased it. And so there's just an ongoing-- what we are working on now currently is not really reflected here. It's very, very close. But it's not one-to-one. So it introduces an extra head scratching moment for our members until we all get familiar enough with it to understand.

Neil Kelly: Yeah. And Paul, you know how your consortia operates. So whether opening up the three-year plan or putting a descriptive update in the annual plan, you know which works for your members and what they're willing to go for and work with. So I think that's consortia by consortia how you guys want to approach it. And it's nothing that the state's going to be saying like, oh, you can't do that, or anything like that. But just be aware of possible, like Mayra and Veronica were saying, some of the limitations when you go in and update that three-year plan or re-open it.

Veronica Parker: Sophie, I see your question. We are recording this webinar. And it will be made available to you. So you will have access to it on how we just it.

Neil Kelly: Yeah, I do like that feature, Veronica, where you can just do everything in your annual plan. So I like that. I think that's what the whole intent was when we made the connection to the three-year plan, to the annual plan. But you also had to have flexibility if you do have to go in. So I think you have the best of both worlds. I think Crystal popped a question in there. Oh no, that was to me. So, sorry.

Veronica Parker: All right. So that is all that I have in terms of the demonstration. If there is not anything else you want to see, I'll stop sharing my screen.

Jenee Crayne: Actually, Veronica, I had a quick question. So can you show, again, if we've created new activities that aren't in the three-year plan? So they wouldn't be in that dropdown menu to tie to a strategy. Then how do we update the annual plan with that new activity?

Veronica Parker: I mean, I'm going to go back. So you have a new activity that wasn't previously a part of the three-year plan?

Jenee Crayne: Yeah, let's just say. And so it won't be in that dropdown menu.

Veronica Parker: Right. And so as it stands now, it's not-- I'm going to share my screen. But as it stands now, you are not able to add new activities. You're only able to update what's already provided, or what has already been included in the original three-year plan.

Jenee Crayne: OK. So then would that have to be put into the three-year plan then for it to show up?

Veronica Parker: Yeah, this is the three-year plan. And so as it stands now, you are able to edit the three-year plan. So you're able to edit what's already in the three-year plan, but you are unable to add new strategies-- excuse me. New activities to the three-year plan.

Jenee Crayne: OK. And so then therefore, we wouldn't be able to add new activities to the annual plan either?

Veronica Parker: Correct. Yeah, you wouldn't be able to add new activities to annual plan.

Jenee Crayne: OK.

Veronica Parker: Yeah.

Neil Kelly: But you could add new strategies, right, Veronica?

Veronica Parker: Yes. You can add new strategies to the annual plan. What you're talking about the activity level. The activity level, you are unable to add.

Neil Kelly: Maybe there's a workaround there that you can add it under a certain activity. I don't know. I think there's a way you can work around that. Unfortunately, you can't make it that clean. If you're changing something, a completely new activity out, which is in the hierarchy.

Veronica Parker: Right. And so to Shannon's point, I'll answer the first one. And then the second piece of it, that's a Neil and/or Mayra question. So the first piece. Shannon, you are able to make changes to your responsible person. You can either delete the person that's already listed and then add a new person, or just add a new person. Now, the second piece about getting rid of it altogether, Neil, Mayra?

Neil Kelly: So the question is, is there a possibility to get rid of that for our next three-year plan? Personnel changes happen all the time. Mayra, is that something you can put forward to the programmers?

Mayra Diaz: We can look into it. I think the fact that it already gives you the flexibility to go in and it's not locked. So it does allow you. I know in other plans, we have to go through NOVA support helpdesk to be able to get that updated on the back end. But this one gives you the flexibility to be able to do it yourself. So there's already that. But we can look into that.