I have the opportunity to set up a checks and balances integrated organizational flow. Our school is just now seeking accreditation and eventual Title IV designation after being in existence for 34 years. Admissions will be handled initially by a admissions/registrar office to include providing information, admission applications, school catalog, and tours. As a part of the admissions process, the prospective student will meet with either the executive director or education director to speak more specifically about our profession. If at that point the prospective student wants to pursue a course of study and meets all of the admission requirements, they would meet with the financial aid office. Upon determining if they are eligible for financial aid or a payment plan, the student would then enroll with the registrar and receive a copy of their enrollment agreement and the student handbook with schedules and student resource lists. Financial aid disbursements would be made by the business manager while the paperwork to obtain financial aid would be done by the financial aid office employee. All conflicts will be handled in an ascending pattern starting with the instructor, the education director and then the executive director. Or in the case of conflicts with staff, these would go directly to the executive director. I am not entirely clear about using a third party to assist in disbursing federal financial aid such as Weber. Do you have any insight for me? Our school is small with one campus. We initially will hire a financial aid professional on a part-time basis. What are the pros and cons of contracting with an organization like Weber?
Zach,
Thank you so much for clarifying your roles within the separation of duties structure.
Cindy Bryant
At my institution we have clearly defined boundaries between Financial Aid and Admissions. This is because while we are competent in our own field we are not necessarily competent in each others and we do not wish to give the student misguided information. We are always in close contact with the student and we work together in order to fulfill our individual duties to the best of our ability.
Sean,
Thank you for sharing your school's structure for the FA department. I am curious how you handle quality control and management of the files? Your system is set up in such a way that auditing each others work would be easy and beneficial.
Cindy Bryant
Within our company specifically referring to just the financial aid department, we are all one derpartment in the sense of being labelled as financial aid but we all have different duties and job descriptions. We have financial aid representatives that handle front end information with students. We also have financial aid advisors that handle students information once they are enrolled. Another part of our department is also our student account reps which handle any student payments and disputes with the students accounts. By having these different labels and having different job duties we are able to have a good amount of separation of our departamental duties.
Shaun,
Thank you for participating in the forum.
Cindy Bryant
Typically financial aid funds would be requested by one department, then posted to student accounts by another department. Qualified personnel in the financial aid department of a school would request loan or grant disbursements based on student eligibility when certain thresholds are hit by students. Another department that employs all separate employees would then post these funds to student accounts as the payments are sent to the school.
We at the school are are really strict about the separation of duties. Importance is given to all departments but especially the following
1. The business office and financial aid office
2. Admission with any other department
Donna,
This is a critical area of separation. Admissions are the experts of enrollments and Financial Aid Officers are trained in the complexities of federal funds.
Cindy Bryant
I think having completely separate departments that have clearly outlined duties, policies and procedures is vital to keeping the separation of duties. We train our admissions reps for example to not discuss or assist students in any way with financial aid. They are situated close by so that they can directly take the student to the individual that is trained and available to help them with their specific needs.
