Yes, orientation is a great way to get your last minute students to get pending info. You just have to ensure that you are prepared with your list of students and files on that day. I always liked when each department got to see each student to sign in and this was the time we were able to complete their files and collect whatever we needed. Then they would proceed to one room where they would have orientation. This worked well for us.
We also have a call out slip for our students and it seems to work. We also give them a letter that explains to them that if they do not have their Financial Aid completed by a specific date, that they will have to be pushed to the next start.
Melissa,
You have a very thorough process to insure that your students are processed timely with their FAFSA. Your procedures seem to cover all potential for overlooking a student. This is a great effort being made by you and your team. Great job!
Chyrl Ayers
We send out an email to all the academic advisors to let them know which students still need to complete their fafsa's. Then we call all the remaining students and tell them about the workshops that we have where we can assist them one on one with completing their fafsas and to answer any questions they may have. This way all of our attention is on them and any concerns they have. If they do not attend the workshops we just have them come in during their breaks from class to help them. This process with the help from their advisors works really good with our students.
Elysia,
Your comments are very true when working with online students. The clients that I work with have expressed the same concerns. They often feel their methods come across as negative; however, they do not want a student to be faced with tuition, books and fees that they cannot cover. I have worked with online institutions set an enroll in classes date and if the student has not made satisfactory arrangements for direct cost they will delay the enrollment in classes. This way they are dealing with the issue before the students are already attending their onlines classes.
Best wishes in your continued online education process.
Chyrl Ayers
We are an online campus. This means that getting our students to comply with financial aid document requests is even more difficult than at a ground campus level. At a ground campus, a FA administrator can even stand in the doorway of the classroom to get a student's attention. Unfortunately, at an online campus, we only have the telephone, email and the online messaging system to get a student's attention. This means that we have to essentially hound our students for their documents and in many cases, threaten to block them from class if they do not respond. It is an ongoing frustrating situation and I'm curious if anyone else has any suggestions to make this process easier for an online campus.
we use a "Financial Aid Red Card" that is given to the teacher whom gives it to the student and is not able to return to class until someone in the financial aid office has signed it. seems to work so far
Kimberly,
This is a great way to ensure your students are providing the neccessary documentation. Your right. Unfortunitely we all have had to deal with this type of student at some point in our career. It always works better when you attack a problem as a team and not as an individual. Good luck in your financial aid experience. Sincerely, David
David McGuffee
Wow, I love this topic. I believe that every financial aid representative has come accross students who typically take their time in returning necessary financial aid documentation. I believe follow up is key, at the campus we have what is called at risk meetings. The meeting typically is with all departments in the school.Each person will bring a list of students they are having difficulties with, we will discuss each student and partner together as a group to get the students into the office. i.e. if student finance needs documentation from a student he/she will mention it in the meeting the head of the academic's department will notify the students teacher and the teacher will be responsible for getting student finance the necessary documentation. One team one dream.
Thank you for the reply! We usually capture them at the orientation. The laggers are then contacted to come in. The "Open House" idea sounds good, but we have so many starts per year that could get confusing. I guess that the orientation serves as an openhouse.
Richard,
Do you have any techniques that are successful in getting students to stop by the FA or Business Office? When I was working in FA we would have an open house and serve refreshments and invite our incoming students to attend. It would be a nice opportunity for them to meet other new students and gave us one last opportunity to get the necessary documents to finalize their FA packages.
Best wishes in your continued education process.
Sincerely, Chyrl
