Josefina,
The teams working to insure professional development in the areas of business office functions is very important. It is great to hear that your college supports and maintains up-to-date technology and methodologies. This approach is another step in the process of insuring successful students and staff.
Chyrl Ayers
In our college we keep the processes in our business office all up to date. We require that our staff be constantly updating their professional development, and our college is always on top on acquiring up to date technology and methodology that helps our staff and students throughout the process.
Millie, It sounds like your business office is doing the right things to ensure your students are receiving the proper customer service in a timely and accurate manner. Keep up the good work and good luck in your online studies.
Regards,
David McGuffee
I do not think they are out dated. it is a system that we have to work within to stay compliant with regulations. Though sometimes it is a lot of work, as long as you have a routine for each student the system works
Jason, With the changes that have taken place regarding new regulations and the desolution of FFEL in the last couple of years, there has been extra work and responsibilities placed on a school's business office, both from a day-to-day operational standpoint to a reporting standpoint. Therefore, it is so important to have in place good internal standard operating procedures to ensure nothing falls through the cracks. Good luck in your online studies.
Regards,
David McGuffee
I don't find our Business Office practices to be outdated. Everyone in the office is very much on top of things and aware of what we need to do in order to best serve our students, and vendors.
I've been in your situation. Adding someone who solely focuses on default prevention efforts can make a world of difference in this arena. And, we all know how important default prevention is in our world of Financial Aid and the ability to continue in being eligible to offer aid to our students.
Carol,
It is great that you and your teams have the abililty to review and determine the current processes in your business office. It is important to watch all areas affecting the studnet experience and insure these remain current.
Sincerely, Chyrl
Carol,
That is a great suggestion for other FA Professionals to consider in their evaluation process of the Business Office.
Sincerely, Chyrl
They may have been, but currently we are in the process of upgrading and adding technology to our system. I look forward to the updates and benefits to making our office and school more efficient.
Tina,
Technology is one aspect of the overall financial management process. It will be important to implement the upgrades and understand the benefits of these upgrades. Based on your response it appears you are making changes that should improve the staff and students experience.
Best wishes with your implementation.
Sincerely,
Chyrl Ayers
At our school things are calculated more through the use of excel spreadsheets than through campus management software. I think that it would benefit everyone on our campus if the information was a little more automated and centrally located. This would allow for faster and easier access to vital student records so that we can respond to student inquiries more efficiently. The automation of calculations such as R2T4s, student budgets, and refunds would also cut down on potential errors and lead to speedier processing.
Sterling,
Information that is automated and stored for easy access is best when dealing with students and questions. Also, it makes it easier for the entire college team to access when needed; however, it is possible to maintain information in other storage methods successfully. It is possible that other methods will require you and your colleagues to be very focused in storage and maintenance of these records but it is doable. There are numerous software packages in the education sector that may be able to assist in meeting your automation needs.
Sincerely,
Chyrl Ayers
Our Business Office has been slowly going through a change on processes for the past three years as the school that I work for was bought out by a larger corporation. I can't speak on the processes set forth prior to one year and a half (the length of time that I have been with the company), but I can say that the new processes seem to work well with the students and the staff. The accountant in our Business Office is very much on top of things. If a student is behind on payments, the Business Office makes sure that the student has exhausted all financial aid assistance before moving forward with collections. The accountant is extremely knowledgeable and does a great job running the office for the school.
Wanda,
A good team is very important in the overall success of your students. It sounds like your team has a process and system that meets the needs of your students. It is critical that you are able to assist your students in a timely manner. Looking to ways to improve and continue to improve the process is important.
Sincerely,
Chyrl Ayers
No, I don't think so. Our corporate staff stays on top everything and everyone.
Sharon,
It is great that you can count on your corporate team to insure that you have up-to-date business office systems and procedures.
Chyrl Ayers
I believe that our business office works very efficiently.
Sarah,
Are there any tools that you use that you could share with the group? There may be some techniques or processes that your Business Office uses that would be of benefit to others. We would love to hear your insight on this topic.
Sincerely,
Chyrl Ayers
We are working on giving students on-line access 24/7 to their bills and current account status.
