Separation of Duties Structure
I do not work in our financial aid department, but as I understand there is a separation of duties regarding which financial aid analysts can compile the financial aid plan for students who are then transitioned to another financial aid representative who assists them as they are continuing students. The duties of the financial aid department cannot be duplicated by anyone in the enrollment or registrar department.
I know as an admissions representative it is in our nature to be a problem solver. However to maintain compliant we must know who to direct our students to for questions outside our realm. For example, when a prospective student asks about job availability for medical assisting, I will walk them over to graduate placement for assistance. Separation of duties is extremely important for us to keep on the right path and not provide students with information outside our departments.
Admissions (enrollment), Graduate placement (placement), financial aid (applying for aid).
Tania,
If you are an admissions representative and you are explaining to a student that you have financial aid, you should go no further than to say "At our college we offer a variety of federal funds to our students. Financial Aid is given to those who qualify and our Financial Aid Department would be happy to discuss the details with you". Some colleges allow you to mention that you have Pell Grants, Stafford Loans, VA Funding etc. but this can open the door to additional questions.
Cindy Bryant
I understand the separation of duties structure. But just how mush separation there has to be. For example during program info. Just how much information can we give about FA without creating a conflict of interest?
Rita,
HI! Can you give an example of how your college handles separation of duties?
Cindy Bryant
Separation of duties are very important and necessary to maintain accuracy of information and responsibilities.
Anjenette,
Thank you for providing great examples of the separation of duties structure on a campus.
Cindy Bryant
Admissions Rep>Financial Aid Rep>Student Services
The person responsible for securing enrollments should not be responsible for helping to complete financial aid. This eliminates the temptation to provide misinformation in the FA process to secure the enrollment. The Admissions Rep should also not administer entrance exams or deal with inputting grades. Again, the possibility to alter the results in order to secure enrollment can be controlled.
I'm part of a small institution and to know that separation of duties isn't exempt to us is understandable.
As I think all colleges are now doing, the Admissions department rely soley on other departments to manage everything to do with testing.
Thelma,
thank you for joining the forum. It sounds as if your school has the separate structures in place to ensure a compliant environment.
Cindy Bryant
Each department has their own specific duties. Admissions meets with the prospective student to give all pertinent information and disclosures to the student. Admissions discussed the total cost of program and other fees. Then the financial aid person meets with the student to give an overview of how financial aid is applied and the types of grants and loans.
When a person enrolls with admissions and pays the reg fee, I immediately take it to someone in the business office or our bookstore clerk is able to process the credit card and write receipts for payments.
All programs that are offered have to have check and balances. Functions of authorizing payment and disbursement of funds have to be separated in order to establish controls and prohibit misuse of funds.
Outline an organizational structure that supports the requirements ensuring appropriate separation of duties and give an example.
I think that keeping duties seperate with clear outlined training for new employees is key. The Financial Aid Department is in the same office as Admissions which allows for the student to meet directly with someone trained in that area. Admissions does not answer any Financial Aid questions but works very closely with the FA Department to make sure that any questions that have come up get answered when the student meets with FA.
I am not competent in the area of counseling a student about financial aid. A students ability to receive or be denied financial aid is not my responsibility. My responsibility is to direct the student to financial aid department where they can receive the expertise of our financial aid officer.
BOB,
Thank you for sharing your experience as an "inexperienced representative". While the warning was uncomfortable it instilled the importance of the need for separating certain duties. Your experience will help so many others.
Cindy Bryant
I work for a small trade school and we have a separate office for admissions and a separate office for financial aid. Both departments do work as a team for the betterment of the school but there is a definitive separation.
When I first started with the school 9 1/2 years ago, I had made the mistake of running a credit card through the credit card machine to take an application fee. The next day I was given a written warning by the director of the school. Needless to say, I never made that mistake again!!!
We employ there divisions of staff to handle the separation of duties-enrollment, admissions and the FAO. The business aspect of disbursement is handled by yet another department. While we have a flat structure with an Executive Director that everyone can speak with (open door policy), each staff knows their role and is able to perform it independently of each other. And each supervised by separate individuals. It is hard but it works.
Renee,
Hi, it sounds as if you have your organizational operations set up very well. I have a listed a few benefits of using a third party servicer; Gainful Employment Management for Schools,Default Prevention for Student Loans,Default Prevention for School Debt,Borrower Education and Financial Literacy in addition to processing your financial aid many servicers offer; Custom Surveys for Students, Alumni and Employers,Re-enrollment and Placement Facilitation,Job Placement Verification. As far as the cons it comes down to cost and control of your files. At the end of the day it comes down to what best serves your students.
Professional Skip Tracing
Cindy Bryant
