As I am sure many have said already, all 3 characteristics are vital to the financial aid process, and as a school in general. However, I would definitely say that, for me, service is the most vital for my own personal process. If you are giving consistent excellent servcie to every student, timeliness and accuracy will often come as a result, as they are part of that good service!
Personally, I work at the same school that I graduated from, and remember so clearly my own process from a prospectvie student to a graduate. I know that my own financial aid process was actually a bit messy and the customer service peice was lacking in the extreme! I spent a lot of time when I should have been focusing on my education focusing on my finaces instead! For me, my negative experience fuels me to give an overwhelmingly positive one to each student I encounter. When a student feels like every department, especially financial aid, cares about them and their situation personally, and doesn't just treat them as another number, they get so much more out of their experience because they feel supported. There is no better way to retain students/enrollments than to have them feel like the school they are at genuinely wants to help them as best they can to acheive their goals! Students who feel supported are also more understanding and helpful when it comes down to issues that affect accuracy and timliness.
Though those two aspects are extremely important as well, good customer service can get you smoothly through any issues that arrive in that area while still retaining a student's trust and general peace of mind. If a student has experienced consistent service in your care, and an issue does arrive, they already know that you will treat any problem of theirs with the care it deserves.
Sterling,
Your points are excellent. These three aspects go hand-in-hand to providing a successful Financial Aid Office and applies to all departments within the college. If all staff focuses on the success of the student at the beginning the student has a great opportunity to succeed in his/her education pursuits.
Sincerely,
Chyrl Ayers
I believe that service is the most important in my process as timeliness, and accuracy improve naturally with positive student outcomes. I have found in my personal experience that if a student feels that they are not receiving the service that they should, then more time gets diverted to handling a student issue that could have been easily avoided. As the financial aid office spends more time doing damage control to keep the student happy, then less time gets spent on the accuracy and timeliness of the department, which in turn creates more angry students. This can create a vicious cycle that gets very hard to correct. I find that it is much easier to set up clear expectations with the students if you are open, honest, and courteous from the very beginning all the way to graduation.
Melissa,
Agree. All three characteristics are critical to a successful FA Office. If one is providing excellent service you would expect them to be providing timely and accurate responses to teh inquire of students. It is important to balance all three and not overlook any of the these characteristics.
Sincerely,
Chyrl Ayers
Scott,
I agreee that excellent service would include timely and accurate processing for your students. It is not possible to provide excellent service without insuring the student's information is accurate and timely processing. Your thoughts are right on track related to the most important characteristics of the Financial Aid Department. All departments in the college should approach students in this same method.
Sincerely,
Chyrl Ayers
All of the above. I think they are all equally important. If you are providing accurate documents in a timely fashion you are providing a high level of service.
Of course all three items are very important, I feel that at my school service is the most important. If you are providing excellent service the students will notice. And if you are providing excellent service you will also be providing timely and accurate information as well. Service includes both timeliness and accuracy in creating an efficient financial aid office.
Tina,
Service is a key component to being able to meet timely and accurately processing. If students and parents believe the financial aid office to have their best interest in the mind they will be more willing to comply with requirements. Good service really includes accurate and timely processing.
Best wishes in your continued online financial aid education experience.
Sincerely,
Chyrl Ayers
Marjie,
It is important to handle the financial aid process in a well-rounded manner. Students and parents should be confident in the handling of their documents, accurate processing and treated with respect. Students that are confident in the process will be willign to provide information as needed.
Chyrl Ayers
Wanda,
Your comments are accurate. All three characteristic are important to the overall experience of the student. Students need to know that their financial aid process is being handled in a timely and accurate manner. This should always be expressed in a confident and professional manner. Your comments really had some great points.
Chyrl Ayers
Although all three are very important, I believe service is first. You can only creat one first great impression. If you provide great customer first, practice and knowledge learned will give the timeliness and accuracy.
My thoughts are on the same page. I have run the FA office myself (1 person) as well as multiple staff members and offices. It is a the balance of all three that bring success to the office(s).
I was glad to see some one say that all three are important. If you only have focus on just one of the aspects you will not be delivering "excellent customer service". We need to remember that our studnets/families trust that we will handle all these aspects.
I would have to say that all three items play an important role in our process. Our institution has three starts a year. In order to keep a student intrigued and on board per start, timeliness in processing financial paperwork is essential. Processing all financial aid related paperwork is both beneficial to the student; because they are aware of their award package and are prepared financially; as well as to the institution because if a student is not complete with financial aid it can hold up their start. Accuracy is important in the process because there is nothing worse than providing inaccurate information to the student. If a student is awarded incorrectly or the verification was not done accurately, this can result in major loss for the student, which in turn can result in a loss of an enrollment. Finally, service is extremely important because just as the module stated, if your among institutions that offer the same programs, the only difference is going to be the service that is provided. A student will always remember how you made them feel, and that can be the deciding factor.
Tabitha,
It is very difficult when you are a one-person FA Office to balance all aspects of the Financial Aid Department. I do agree that in your situation making sure the student feels as if he/she are receiving good service is important fof the overall relationship with you. If the student knows you are dedicated to accurately and timely processing of their financial aid, the student will try to timely meet the requirements. The more timely the student is in responding to your request will enable you to more accurately review and process their paperwork.
Best wishes in your continued online education experience in financial aid.
Chyrl Ayers
At my school, I am the sole Financial Aid officer. For me, service seems to be number 1. Offering excellent customer service helps the timeliness and accuracy fall in to place. If they student feels like they received excellent service, they will be more likely to bring back all the required documentation you need in a timely manner.
Jason, I could not agree with you more. Timeliness, accuracy and good customer service go hand in hand. You haven't fulfilled one with out the other. good luck in your online studies.
Regards,
David McGuffee
Susan, Good point. Actually, Accuracy goes hand in hand with customer service. Without the accuracy of the awarding package customer service has not been provided since the student will needlessly have to do it all again. The need to ensure that the documentation provided by the student the first time can rewording to both the student and the financial aid office. Good luck in your online studies.
Regards,
David McGuffee
We really focus on all three. Timeliness is important because we work in cycles and when you get behind it is very had to catch up. Accuracy is crucial because we all know, there can't be mistakes in FA. Service is something that my school focuses on a great deal. we want our students to always have a positive opinon and be satisfied with their education
I'm honestly back and forth between accuracy and service but I belive accuracy is the most important aspect of financial aid. While service is extremely important, if the award is incorrect the potential harm to the student outweighs anything else. A student could potentialy have to interrupt their studies if the aid information was incorrect resulting is less aid than anticipated. You can be polite while working harder at the accuracy of your work.
