Procedures for PJs
What are the procedures your institution follows when considering a student for a PJ?
Our institution has opted to forgo conducting professional judgment. The cases that actually require a PJ are few and far between. I found that the Department of Education does not provide sufficient literature for me as a financial aid officer to change someone's EFC or dependency status. It is too subjective in my opinion. I am not will to risk having a finding during a program review or audit because we did not provide sufficient documentation.
Michael,
Your position is very interesting and may be the first time an Aid Administrator has indicated that they do not do or consider doing PJ's at all. The guidance from ED on this subject is not detailed with set guidelines due to a professional judgment being very personal to a student's specific situation and the expectation is for us as FA Administrators is to evaluate each student's situation independently of preset requirements. However, I do agree that PJ's are not the norm and should be the exception.
Sincerely,
Chyrl Ayers
The procedures for considering a PJ starts on day one when we meet with the student and ask our basic questions to determine what documents they will need as well as determining their dependency status. Training staff on how to handle PJs is crucial because they need to know the right questions to ask and really dig in deep without making the student feel uncomfortable about their situation. We have a pretty basic outline handout that we provide our FAOs to hand out to the student depending on the type of PJ that is in question. The handout explains the PJ along with the requested documentation to fulfill the PJ requirements. Once all documentation is collected everything is sent to the Director of Financial Aid for final approval. The PJ process is a little more time consuming, but in the end if the student is eligible, it really can be worthwhile for them in making sure they can go to school.
Since a PJ is so case by case specific, and can be interpreted so differently, we get the circumstance from the student, ask for the proper documentation, and then discuss it is an FA team in our meeting. It is always good to have other opinions and input, as they tend to bring up points we sometimes forget to cover. Additionally, once it is determined that a PJ is warranted, all documentation must be in file prior to submitting and making any adjustments. As a final review, we have the FA Director sign off.
Laura,
I have seen your approach used successful in other FA Offices. It is critical that your process ensures the student's specific situation is reviewed and documented properly. More than one set of eyes is a real benefit.
Sincerely, Chyrl
Chyrl Ayers
In the case of a dependency override, we start with having the student write a statement to explain his/her unusual circumstance. From their statement we have a starting point to give the student a list of documents to obtain. Once these documents are provided, we review for evidence to corroborate the student’s statement. At this juncture, we either ask for additional supporting documentation, clarification or more details for the documentation provided or deny the appeal. For Cost of Attendance or Adjustments of Data eliements we have the student/parent write a request and give a list of the documents upfront to provide. The process may now take a little longer because of the transcript request unless the student/parent is able to print a transcript (and usually W2s) from the online request. Irregardless, we try to keep professional judgments to a minimum while still giving students their rights.
Joy,
Your process seems very thorough and well thought out. I admire the approach you take to ensure students have a voice but respectful of the process. Your process seems to take into consideration the student and the integrity of the TIV programs.
Sincerely, Chyrl
Chyrl Ayers
We have the student write a statement explaining current circumstances. Based off what is in the letter we then ask for documentation (i.e., check stubs, proof of any help from the state the student resides). After we have obtained all required documentation, we input new income amount in a Needs Analysis database to determine new EFC before submitting PJ to our third party processor for approval.
