The Most Important Characteristic of Financial Aid
Which of the three items - Timeliness, Accuracy or Service is most important to you in your process? Provide an explanation on why you selected the specific item.
I think that all 3 are important to any School and all are important to the Financial Aid process itself. You have to be Timely or you lose the interest in the student and they then have "time" to change their minds and find a reason that "it's just not the right time". You have to be Accurate in your awards and in the items that you request from students or you risk losing the student due to "not knowing what you're talking about/asking for" and of course your Service has to be the best. You have to be better than any of the other schools out there because if you're not a student will just not call you back and you've lost them for good. You have to be professional at all times and know what to say at all times and be able to get the student through the process as quickly and as effortlessly as possible. So, one is just as important as the next and without one, the other two don't really matter.
Becca,
Your insight into each aspect of handling your students is excellent. If any single item slips below par you could have a dissatisfied student. I think we all understand the importance of "good" references from students. There is nothing more satisfying than knowing your students recognize your commitment to them in all processing aspects.
Best wishes in your continued educational growth.
Sincerely, Chyrl
In my school we only have one start date and we are a 10-month program. So we find ourselves dragging out processes more so than other schools would because we want to have the ability to contact our incoming students every 2-3 wks. So if a student applies in October and school doesn't start until September they will be talking to us a lot. In doing this we find that Service is the most important part. We need to be friendly and helpful during each call. Whether that call is 2 minutes long or a few hours long.
The best customer service in all is what we strive for, so timeliness and accuracy do play a role in this as well as service. But like the module says, "students can forgive mistakes."
Kristen,
Your input is excellent and I understand your point on the customer service. It is difficut for me to state one is more important than another; however, I do believe that good customer service will get you through several "bumpy" items with students. Your feedback was excellent.
Best wishes to you as you pursue additional online learning.
Sincerely, Chyrl
I think that all items are important to the Financial Aid process. We are currently working on new initiatives to provide more timeliness and accuracy in our processing. I think that by providing those two elements in our processing we are able to also provide good service to the students. The less issues they have to deal with the more they can concentrate on why they came - to get their education.
It has been my experience that when there is an issue found it needs to be delt with timely and accurately so that the student does not have any more to deal with on that issue. I always strive to get the situation delt with immediately and I make sure to research the entire situation so that there are no other mistakes. I like to keep the student up to date so that they know I am concentrating on their situation and getting it taken care of. They appreciate sometimes just being in the loop and knowing that there is someone there for them.
Is very important to ask all questions to avoid any problems.
writing carefully is very important.
I make sure to ask very good questions.
Be very proffesional, help the student, explain everything ask the student if they have questions.
provide the correct information to the student.
I believe the students need to be informed how important is to have references, so we need to cooperate with them take our time to expalin how much important are the references.
I agree, we need to take the time to help the student!
The must important characteristics of F. A.
is to provide the accurate information to the student, take the time to make sure the student has question for Financial Aid, and the correct answers as well. Give the best customer service, have a smile!
I believe the most important characteristic is Service. If you provide top quality customer service that creates a trust and value among your customers in your department then the accuracy and service fall in line. If a customer be it internal or external believes in what you are doing and knows you have their best interest in mind they are going to have a quicker response time to your requests. Once you have created an atmosphere of quality service your staff will want to maintain that expectation and therefore be more diligent in their accuracy. The less times you have to contact a customer the better service you are showing them. I believe this has to be a campus wide effort to extend the quality customer service so that customers know what to expect when dealing with any department on the campus.
Ana,
You are correct that it is important to write down and clearly communicate any questions or concerns to your students or their parents. Your willingness to ensure that your have all of the information accurate or ask the question will encourage your students to do the same.
Best wishes in your continued study online.
Sincerely,
Chyrl
Ana,
Professional is an important characteristic of all departments on a college campuses. We should always strive to teach our students the importance of respect from the beginning of the relationship.
Sincerely,
Chyrl
Ana,
Another good characteristic of Financial Aid. The more accurate we are the less likely we are going to have to correct errors and cause a delay to the students FA package.
Sincerely, Chyrl
Ana,
As I stated on the response to accuracy - good characteristic of the FA Office and all departments within the campus. The more accurate we are in communicating verbally and written the greater the success of the process.
Thanks, Chyrl
Ana,
All of the answers you provided are good characteristic of the Financial Aid Office and Process. Your input was outstanding on each point. Customer Service, Accuracy, and ensuring your understand the student's needs and/or request are all equally important.
I wish you the best in your educational process online.
Sincerely, Chyrl
Teresa,
You have made some excellent points on the characteristics of a good and strong FA Office. Also, I agree that Service s required of all staff and all departments to ensure overall success of the student during their educational experience.
Best wishes to you as your continue your education online.
Sincerely,
Chyrl
