Warren Hoffman

Mayra, I agree that these are important qualities for a Director to have. Director's do not need to "know" all the regulations, just where to go to find them when they need them. In my mind, and others may disagree, leadership skills and the ability to motivate staff even when the workload seems impossible is an important quality for the Director to have. Warren Hoffman

Lora, Sounds like your school has a plan! It is not an easy thing to create an effective culture of change. Persistence pays off! Warren Hoffman

Hello Ileana, Welcome to my course and I hope you find it informative and useful! Glad to see that the Financial Aid Information packet is prepared by the Financial Aid Office. It is all about the Admissions staff knowing "what they know and what they don't know" and that they have the resources to find the answers and to refer to the Aid Office. Even with the information packet, when new staff come on board, some individual training by the Financial Aid Staff would be advisable.

Hello Maria, So glad you have decided to take my class! Welcome! It is wonderful that the Admissions staff at your school have learned enough about financial aid to give out minimal information. Many admissions folks resist even learning about financial aid. If they are giving out any information at all, it would be important to make sure that they know their limits and who to go to for advice. As new Admissions staff comes on board their responses to financial aid questions should be monitored until all are comfortable with their abilities.

Hello Sergio, Welcome to FA231! I hope you find this course informative and helpful. Sounds like your current Admissions staff had a good policy on giving out FA information. They key is to make sure they "know what they don't know" and when to refer students to the Financial Aid Office. When Admissions hires new staff members there should be some training from a member of the Financial Aid staff. Periodic meetings with a person from Financial Aid will help keep them abreast of the ever changing regulations.

Lora, Yes Lora, a single person should be assigned to be a contact person for the Audit Team. That person should be someone who is capable of answering any of their questions as well as providing them with any documents or files that they need. Others in the office should be advised to send any questions from the auditors to the "lead". This will provide a consistency that will aid in the review process. Warren Hoffman

Daisy, These are all good and needed qualifications for sure. Ideally, this person would also have great interpersonal skill to insure that they can effectively deal with fellow department heads and their own staff members as well. Warren Hoffman

Does your Admissions Office give out financial aid information to families? Do you think the admissions staff have adequate training and understanding of financial aid to give out any advice?

Have you ever found an example of your school misrepresenting itself to the public? How should this situation be handled if you did?

Does your school require faculty/instructors to take attendance? Do faculty/instructors go along willingly or do they object to being told to do so?