University Business - September 2007 - (Page 33)

V NANN I F I E W P O I CT A L A I D Eliminating Conﬂicts of Interest in the Financial Aid Ofﬁce NASFAA’s new code of conduct is the bible for ﬁnancial aid professionals By Haley Chitty HE QUESTIONABLE AC tions of a few ﬁnancial aid directors and a lack of clear guidance on private student loans sparked a political and media ﬁrestorm that associate all ﬁnancial aid professionals with the questionable practices of less than 0.1 percent of the profession. As the dust settles on what politicians and the media have dubbed the “student loan scandal,” ﬁnancial aid oﬃcials are left with the challenge of disassociating their oﬃces from any questionable practices and ensuring that their practices are above reproach. Central to tackling this challenge is eliminating all real or perceived conﬂicts of interest in the oﬃce and among its employees. It can be tricky to eliminate conﬂicts of interest without eliminating the relationships and collaborations with student loan companies and guaranty agencies that result in many beneﬁts for student borrowers. To help ﬁnancial aid oﬃces walk this tightrope, the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) created the Code of Conduct for Institutional Financial Aid Professionals to enhance and clarify NASFAA’s existing Statement of Ethical Principles. “The code allows ﬁnancial aid professionals to stand tall,” said Sheldon Steinbach, senior counsel at Dow Lohnes PLLC, NASFAA’s legal counsel. “Having a code you can point to is essential because it reassures the press, and the concerns of students and parents.” Steinbach and Michael Goldstein, also of Dow Lohnes, explained the code of conduct to a packed room of ﬁnancial aid universitybusiness.com T colors the actions. There is an assumption that every preferred lender list is somehow based on some sort of relationship between lenders and the ﬁnancial aid oﬃce. We know what the reality is, but we have to deal with the perception.” THE CODE Refrain from any action for personal beneﬁt. Goldstein noted that performing duties in an exemplary fashion would result in personal beneﬁt through recognition and personal advancement, but this provision obviously relates to actions that are contrary to the obligations the individual has to the institution and its students and their parents. This means that ﬁnancial aid professionals, or any member of their family, should never accept any form of inappropriate remuneration from any business entity involved in any aspect of student ﬁnancial aid. It also relates to a course of action that supports the ﬁnancial aid professional’s work but is taken instead of alternative courses of action because the chosen course also beneﬁts the ﬁnancial aid professional. Refrain from actions believed to be contrary to law, regulation, or the best interests of the students and parents. Financial aid professionals should understand and adhere to all institutional policies in addition to other local, state, or federal requirements. Goldstein stressed the use of the term “believed to be contrary to law [or] regHaley Chitty is assistant director of communications at NASFAA, www.nasfaa.org. The code lets ﬁnancial aid professionals stand tall. —Sheldon Steinbach, Dow Lohnes administrators at NASFAA’s annual conference held in Washington, D.C., in July. “If the Statement of Ethical Principles is the Ten Commandments, then the code of conduct is the books of the Bible,” said Goldstein. NASFAA’s Statement of Ethical Principles states that ﬁnancial aid professionals should “commit to the highest level of ethical behavior and refrain from conﬂict of interest or the perception thereof.” “Many look at this and say that it is enough. It is a pretty clear statement,” Goldstein said. However, as ﬁnancial aid professionals are asked to perform more complex tasks and perform more roles, the statement can become less clear. Thus, the NASFAA Board of Directors wanted to provide more guidance. “The key here is transparency,” Goldstein said. “Many times the issue is not the reality of conﬂict. We are dealing with the perception of conﬂict of interests, the belief there is conﬂict. Transparency allows people to see that there is no bias, there is nothing happening under the table that 33 | September 2007 http://www.nasfaa.org http://universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - September 2007

University Business - September 2007
Contents
College Index
Company Index
Advisory Board
Editor's Note
People Watach
Sense of Place
Viewpoint
Human Resources
Money Matters
Financial Aid
Community Colleges
Una Fuerza to Reckon With
The Right Stuff
Making an Impact
Going VoIP
Training Your Staff to Protect SIS Data
Summer Conference Report
Business Technology
What's New
Calendar of Events
End Note

University Business - September 2007