Financial aid office tries new ways

Every year the financial aid office is full of students inquiring about their financial aid status. This year has been no exception.

Carlos Clark, assistant provost for the Office of Student Financial Aid, is helping to improve the organization and the overall financial aid process.

"We are trying to create new innovative ways to process information more quickly, response times to questions could be improved and issues like the verification process will be worked on by next year," Clark said.

This year 630 students arrived at the financial aid office on the first day of class and the average wait time was two to four hours, the assistant provost said.

"Many of the questions that students had or have can be answered by just utilizing Panther Tracks. What took so long for these questions to be answered is that there were so many questions and there are only seven financial aid counselors," Clark stated.

The financial aid office accommodated most students by moving to the John B. Coleman Library. Some students felt this move also presented a problem.

"I did not like when financial aid was in the library because we pay to use that facility and we were not being granted access to it," said Clarissa Marshall, a junior biology major.

Clark said the number of calls financial aid receives per day is approximately 1,500 and 30,000 were received in August alone.

In order to reduce these numbers some ideas that are in effect are, "to have a call center implemented in order to answer frequently asked questions more efficiently, as well as having better outreach programs, where someone will be able to assist students in filling out FAFSA and other forms correctly," said Clark.

Since last year, financial aid has improved by moving from a manual system of operation to an electronic one. "Instead of having a 72-hour process to award students we now have a 48-hour process. Hopefully, by next year, this process will decrease to 24-hours or even on the same day," Clark said.

Vincent Smith, a senior architecture major, said, "I have noticed from talking to faculty from other major universities that our system is out of date and needs improvement. However, it is faster than when I first arrived here."

The financial aid office also plans to have consultants come from other major universities and assess the process of the financial aid system here.

"If students are still having problems with being reinstated due to financial aid reasons, it is important for them to make sure they contact the office before Sept. 17," Clark said.