University Business - November 2009 - (Page 20)

MONEY M AT T E R S Customer Service in the Financial Aid Ofﬁce Best practices from the ﬁeld By Kathy Kurz, Jim Scannell, and Mary Piccioli G IVEN THE CURRENT economic climate, stress levels for parents and families contacting the ﬁnancial aid oﬃce have never been higher. At the same time, staﬀers are facing higher volumes—of FAFSA ﬁlers, appeals, and loan applications, for instance—than ever before. Without the proper training, systems, and protocols, this can be a recipe for disaster. e following pointers represent 10 eﬀective practices to support customer service that have served ﬁnancial aid oﬃces well even during this most hectic summer and fall. 1. Avoid backlogs. When ﬁnancial aid oﬃces fall behind in any step of the awarding process, whether it be verifying ﬁles, packaging aid, or certifying loans, it has a snowball eﬀect. Families call when processes are delayed, and staﬀ must handle those calls, which further delays processes. erefore, keeping on top of the processing ﬂow is critical—even if it means having to hire temporary staﬀ or pay overtime. 2. Reduce required paperwork. Review every required form you have to be sure you really need it. Even if the forms are electronic, they add steps to the process for both students and staﬀ and can contribute to delays and increase frustration levels. For example, many institutions still require a signed award letter before releasing funds, even though federal requirements regarding signed acceptances were changed several years Frontline staff members are the ofﬁce as far as many students and parents are concerned. ago. Similarly, many institutions have separate applications for awards guaranteed to students based on information that could be captured in other ways. Institutions that oﬀer sibling discounts, for instance, should capture that information on the admission application and then conﬁrm it by checking registration records. No separate application should be necessary. In future years, consider taking it one step further. If you require an application to award institutional aid, consider whether you really need that application, or whether the FAFSA and the admissions application provide you with suﬃcient information to make the awards. 3. Train the frontline staﬀ well. Frontline staﬀ members are the oﬃce as far as many students and parents are concerned. ey should be encouraged to go beyond the speciﬁc question asked, provided there is time. It’s also critical that these positions are ﬁlled by helpful people who provide accurate information and know when they don’t know an answer to a question. (Student peer counselors can make excellent frontline workers, but they need to be carefully trained and supervised to ensure they are accurate in their answers and sensitive to conﬁdentiality issues.) In addition, when a student is in Kathy Kurz and Jim Scannell are partners in the enrollment management consulting ﬁrm Scannell & Kurz. Mary Piccioli is senior enrollment management consultant. ey can be reached via their website, www.scannellkurz.com. 20 | November/December 2009 universitybusiness.com http://www.scannellkurz.com http://www.universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - November 2009

University Business - November 2009
Contents
Editor’s Note
College Index
Company Index
Advisory Board
Behind the News
Sense of Place
Viewpoint
Money Matters
Human Resources
35 Smart Building Ideas
Campus Fires: Prevent to Protect
Pushing ADA Beyond the Limits
Internet Technology
End Note

University Business - November 2009