In this week’s 3-part series, we want you to check your organization’s “relationships” in EPC, so they’ll work properly when it comes time to apply.

Warning! This first post is pretty long but please try to power through! It’s important to check this stuff carefully because it’s the first year we’ve tracked organization relationships in such a detailed way.

So, here we go!

What’s a “parent/child relationship”?

When we talk about relationships between organizations, we use the terms “parent” and “child” to describe the nature of the relationship. The leading organization in the hierarchy is the parent, and the ones under it are its child organizations.

• Independent school or library (as the parent) can add non-instructional facilities (NIFs) as its child organizations. If the independent school/library is only one site, it is still considered a parent organization, but it does not have any child organizations.
• School district (as the parent) can add individual schools and non-instructional facilities (NIFs) as its child organizations in EPC.
• Library system (as the parent) can add library outlets and non-instructional facilities (NIFs) as its child organizations in EPC.
• Consortium leader (as the parent) can add member organizations as its child organizations in EPC.

Check your parent organization and its “type”

If you manage the parent organization, make sure the correct facility is selected as the parent organization. Then, make sure it’s classified as the correct applicant type. To do this, log in to EPC and select “Organizations” from the landing page.

The parent organization should be listed first (followed by its child organizations). Click on the parent organization’s name to view its profile, and review its classification under “applicant type.” Here are the definitions for the applicant types:

• “School” = Independent school
  In general, does not share a common board with other schools, is responsible for its own finances/administration, and applies for E-rate funding on its own. Make sure you also select “No” to the drop-down question, “Is this school part of a school district?”
• “Library” = Independent library
  In general, does not share a common board with other libraries, is individually responsible for its own finances/administration, and applies for E-rate funding on its own. Make sure you also select “No” to the drop-down question, “Is this library part of a library system?”
• “School District”
  Applies for E-rate funding on behalf of the schools in its district.
• “Library System”
  Applies for E-rate funding on behalf of the libraries in its system.
• “Consortium”
  Leader of a consortium, which is a group of entities that apply together, usually to aggregate demand in order to lower prices.

If the parent organization “applicant type” is incorrect, call us at (888) 203-8100.

The customer service bureau can only correct some applicant type errors; however, if they cannot correct your applicant type, they’ll work with you to create a new (and correct) organization account.

We strongly suggest you verify that the “applicant type” is correct before starting your FCC Form 470.

Check child relationships

Next, if you manage a parent organization, verify that the list of child organizations on your landing page is complete and correct. For example, for a school district (parent), the child organizations are the schools in its district.

If any organizations are missing, call us. Consortium leaders can locate and add members themselves (more info about this coming in the next post), but school districts and library systems cannot.

Each different “applicant type” parent org needs its own entity number

If you filed for multiple applicant types (e.g., a school district and consortium) in previous years under a single entity number, you’ll need to create a new organization account for each different type of parent entity. It is no longer possible to apply for several applicant types under a single entity number (this is a change from previous years).

If you need new organization accounts, call us at (888) 203-8100 and we can help you add new parent organizations, choose which one will keep the existing entity number, and which should get a new entity number.

When setting up new organizations, make sure you also adjust whether the organization is an eligible recipient of service or not. In general, parent organizations are not eligible recipients of service (because usually the child organizations receive service, and parents only file on their behalf).