AS COLLEGE TUITIONS rise, strong and effective links between Financial Aid and student billing processes and staffs become increasingly important. Financial Aid must also partner well with Admissions in support of achieving new student enrollment goals.
Administrators most concerned about the former relationship often employ a "student financial services" model, combining the Financial Aid and Business (student accounts) offices, often under a vice president of finance. Those most concerned with the latter relationship typically use an "enrollment management" model, combining Financial Aid and Admissions, usually under a dean or vice president of enrollment. There are clear advantages and disadvantages of each model, although determining the best approach for the institution depends in large part on the culture and relationships that exist at each campus.
Regardless of the organizational structure, Financial Aid needs to bridge both worlds. Here are five key factors necessary to build an effective relationship between Financial Aid and the Business office.
FACTOR 1. ACCESS TO EACH OTHER'S SCREENS AND SYSTEMS
It's a fine line that distinguishes between whether a call from a parent or student belongs in the Financial Aid office or the Business office. Conversations tend to begin with questions about an outstanding student account balance and lead to missing financial aid forms, or vice versa. Even more common: Calls that originate in another campus office, such as Admissions, and are transferred to Financial Aid for help with billing questions. In order to minimize transferring calls across campus, which increases caller frustration, a "best practice" would be to answer aid and outstanding bill questions all at once.
Walking back and forth across campus can quickly lead to customer frustration.
The ability to answer these questions- both generally and in moderate detail-requires that, first and foremost, the Business office and Financial Aid have full viewing access to each other's screens within the campus enterprise system (e.g., Oracle's PeopleSoft, SunGard Higher Education's Banner, Datatel Colleague).
This is even more critical if the two offices operate on different systems (e.g., Banner and the College Board's Power- FAIDS). Access alone is not the solution. Sufficient training must be provided, particularly for the front line and counseling staffs, so that they may find, interpret, and properly communicate appropriate and accurate information to parents and students. Ideally, internet access through a secure portal would also be provided for parents and students to have 24/7 access to both financial aid and billing information.
FACTOR 2. LOCATION! LOCATION! LOCATION!
Whether your institution operates under the enrollment management model or the student financial services model, physically locating the Business and Financial Aid offices next to each other will both directly and indirectly improve customer service.
The obvious direct result is that students can access both offices without making trips across campus. Often, unpaid student accounts are, at least in part, a result of incomplete financial aid forms. So while the Business office may place the student on a registration hold, it's the Financial Aid office that needs to see the student and collect additional information. Like multiple telephone transfers, walking back and forth across campus (especially in bad weather and when long lines are involved) can quickly lead to customer frustration.
The indirect improvement to customer service results from the improved efficiency and communication that occurs with side-by-side offices that can address and resolve issues quickly among staff. In addition, physical proximity fosters relationships between staff, especially those with shared responsibilities, such as the counselor in Financial Aid who processes the loans and the student account representative in the Business office who posts and reconciles the loan disbursement files. The dynamic between the leadership of both offices is also critical, as it will set the tone for the remainder of the staff. A cooperative atmosphere that begins at the top has more potential to build camaraderie throughout the organizations.
