Award letters, lines, bad attitudes, sound familiar? Well, after months of busy tones, non returned calls or e-mails, and bad attitudes, many of us are finally getting to settle into a normal life here on campus after a horrible chaotic semester start due to issues with financial aid.Now I must say this is not meant to offend anyone, nor is it made to make anyone feel bad, it is simply to address problems and concerns. However, I must first say the biggest THANKS in the world to Ms. Rowland, and Ms. Pope for pushing me thru and getting me awarded, it may not have been in such a timely fashion, but hey it got done, (Now please do the same for a brotha’s Parent Plus Loan).
As I stood in the lines listened to other students talk, I took more and more of the blame off of the Office of Financial Aid, and put more of the blame on students for not simply handling their own business. However I had to ask: Do students have that mentality because they feel when they complete everything on time, it’s still going to get lost, or just be thrown away?
You may call me too advanced for PVAMU standards, but I could care less. Whatever happened to the 21st century, and not having to depend so much on paper work? Why can freshmen and first time borrowers not do things such as pre-loan counseling online? Why must we continue to fill out all of these documents? Does that not create unnecessary stress, and a horrible fire hazard on campus?
I just don’t understand what is so hard about following a priority deadline for the fall and the spring, and telling students if they fail to meet it, they need not even worry about receiving aid? Other instuitions of higher education have those same guidelines, but unlike PVAMU they actually start awarding their students who are not on any type of probation in the spring of the previous year based on credits earned. They normally revise the award during the first half of the summer and students have a worry free summer, at least as far is financial aid is concerned.
Financial Aid is helpful to all of us who receive it, and here at PV it is an asset to most of the students here. However you must look at how many schools, mainly HBCUs have had problems, which have threatened the entire institution due to one department.
I beg the new director to have a meeting with students and parents, as well as the university administration so we can all come up with a solution to this horrible problem. We don’t want to be the next Texas Southern University, or Clark Atlanta University, on national newscast with our university looking horrible in front of the nation because of one department.
Financial aid can lead to the rise of an institution by helping students who would otherwise not be able to afford a quality education, but it has also caused downfall of many institutions due to lack of organization and mismanagement.
-Terrance Omar Gilbert