Tina, great comment. Accuracy and timeliness go hand in hand with good customer service. Students have enough to worry about with their studies so anything we can do in the financial aid office to make their experience as stress free as possible is always a good thing and leaves a good impression on the student. Good luck in your online studies.
Regards,
David McGuffee
Service is the most important for me. I feel that without great customer service we will not have students. I try to make them feel unique and special. You can correct mistakes in accuracy and you practice will make your work more timely, but you can never make another first impression, so I try to make it memorable for each student.
Carol, I aree with you totaly. Without the accuracy you can't have timeliness and customer service. Having policies in place to ensure the accuracy of the information submitted for the student will really serve you well in the long run.
Regards,
David McGuffee
Millie, I agree, all three items should work hand in hand. Although, if the information processed is not accurate you wind up having to process it all over again which inturn takes away the timeliness.
Regards,
David McGuffee
Hi Debbie,
I agree that all three are vital. Without any one of these items, the Financial Aid process on our campuses will not function appropriately.
I like your comment on needing a check and balance system within our offices to ensure errors are caught. Human error is inevitable, but can be corrected by having another individual double checking that all paperwork is signed and initialed in the appropriate places.
Having such a system will (hopefully) prevent any findings in an audit.
Of these three items, the most important to me in my process is Accuracy. All of these items are important in my process, but without accuracy, timeliness and service will suffer.
I had had past situations where if accuracy is not in place when reviewing completion of documents, this will create a lack of service down the road and take longer for items to be completed.
To our school all three items are equally important, since this will make the student transaction easier and the student will feel that he/she is receiving the proper care.
Linda, Excellent statement on the importance of accurately processing a student's aid. Both timeliness and customer service are important, however, without the accuracy neither will be accomplished. Best of luck in your online studies, David McGuffee
David McGuffee
I need them all to feel like a winner, but in an effort to discuss if I was to rank them, I guess I would say accuracy must come first in order to not have to go back and repeat the process which would delay the timeliness. The timeliness of showing results to the student would be good customer service and of course everything in life should be done with a smile and a positive attitude.
Shelby,
I agree with your point that it takes many positive interactions to make-up for an error when handling a student's package. The error has the potential to delay funds but the damage done to your relationship with the student could be worse than the delay in funding. It is difficult to repair this type of damage with a student and parents. It is important to balance all of these characteristics in your daily handling of student affairs.
Chyrl Ayers
I believe that accuracy is the most important factor in the financial aid administration process because it directly affects the other two components. As financial aid administrators, if we overlook details, it causes the packaging process to be prolonged and drastically impacts the customer service of your financial aid office. No matter how pleasant you may be, if you are responsible for an error that makes it increasingly more difficult for a student to receive their funding, it will not change the perception of incompetence. As mentioned in the lesson, it can take up to 12 positive encounters to erase 1 negative. Has anyone ever had a positive with a student following an administrative error?
Josefina,
Your approach is an excellent one when dealing with students and parents. It is important to insure that all three characteristics are in place when working with students and parents. You must strive for timely and accurate processing of FA and maintaining good strong customer services skills.
Chyrl Ayers
The three are equally important, it does no good to be timely if yu have not been accurate. Also, service is very important because you can loose students with exemplary service. I selected this item because I tell my staff all the time to be accurate and to meet deadlines while at the same time being very nice to the students.
Nikki,
Completely understand your point of view all aspects are necessary to insure a great student experience in the FA Office. It is important that timeliness and accuracy comes together to support the best interaction with your students.
Chyrl Ayers
I believe they are equally important. Timeliness and Accuracy are a part of good customer service. If you are making mistakes and not processing things when they should be it will prolong the process and upset the students.
Maria,
I agree that customer service plays an critical role in the success of any office not just financial aid; however, remember to keep a blance by delivering timely and accurate information to your students. Students will appreciate the ability to trust your team to do their best and in a timely manner.
Chyrl Ayers
The three are important, cause without thoe three major caractheristic, you cant run a financial Aid department fluently.
Customer Services in any place is the main key of attraction.
Upon providing an efficient work environment, I believe all three Timeliness, Accuracy as well as Service must be included. Timeliness allows for you to be able to pace yourself and give each student the time they need among giving yourself the time to complete you independent work. Accuracy is a must because any little mistake you make in the present will affect you in the future, not only that but you must be confident and sure of the information you are providing to the student. Lastly, one of the most important would be Service, upon the service you provide is how your school continuous to grow.
Dayanis,
All three characteristics are important to a successful relationship with a student. The student has to know that he can trust the information given, action will be taken in a timely manner and all provided with good customer service skills. It is difficult to balance all three but all are necessary to a happy and successful student experience.
I hope that your online FA educational experience is great.
Chyrl Ayers
All three aspects are what contribute to making a school proficient and smooth flowing. Timeliness must be taken into account because there are many students to attend so you can not take up all your time on just one student, next, when Accuracy is a problem then the student will no longer trust you nor take your words serious and most important would be service, which provides the attraction for which students continue to come back for more.
