Student Financial Services reorganizes
From Karen House, Finance:
Over the years, the pace of change in financial aid programs has accelerated greatly; the continuing economic downturn has magnified the workload. The level of effort to meet the productivity demanded by our students, families, and campus had become overwhelming. A peer review of Student Financial Services was undertaken to gain an independent perspective and objective advice. The peer review team consisted of two student financial services professionals from other campuses faced with similar external pressures. Dr. Paula Gill and Ms. Patricia Scott of Belmont University and University of Maryland, Baltimore, respectively, received a great deal of factual information about the duties, outcomes, and resources of Student Financial Services. The reviewers visited our campus for several days and met with all staff in Student Financial Services and a number of other members of our campus community. Gill and Scott conveyed their findings and recommendations to President Giles-Gee, Vice President for Finance and Planning Jay Kahn, and Associate Vice President for Finance Karen House along with expressions of high regard for the commitment and quality of the SFS staff and our college.
We are pleased to announce that we have embarked on a year-long project to reorganize our delivery of financial services to students. Financial Aid and the Bursar’s Office are being established as two distinct departments, both reporting directly to Associate Vice President Karen House. We believe the new organizational structure will address compliance requirements for segregation of duties and provide appropriately focused opportunities for the staff, leading to greater satisfaction in the work environment. Recognizing the departments will always work closely and collaboratively on behalf of students and families, we are retaining “Student Financial Services” as a symbolic signpost.
It will take some time to work through all of the operational details involved in reorganizing into two departments. We are assessing the best manner in which to allocate the duties to meet the responsibilities and to provide staff with focus, opportunities, and empowerment in their work. As part of our transition process, we are identifying best practices from colleagues that may be applicable to our campus. Our campus values are a guiding principle and the Human Resources office is a valued partner in this work.
There are several recent staff changes that we are announcing. Patricia Blodgett’s title has changed to Director of Financial Aid. Teresa Whitney and Sue Cullinane have transferred from the Bursar area to the Financial Aid office and are busily assisting with the production of award letters, verification documents, and other essential work to provide initial financial aid services to incoming students. Joy Birdsey accepted Pat Blodgett’s invitation to join the financial aid department as Senior Associate Director effective April 30. In that capacity, Joy will work on project management, procedural documentation, impact of financial aid regulation changes, assistance with audits, and other compliance matters. In announcing her decision to staff members recently, Joy explained she wanted to apply her twenty six years of experience in higher education financial / accounting matters to a highly specialized area. “The opportunity will allow me to gain the knowledge and expertise in the ever changing Financial Aid arena, work more closely with students and families, and still be able to work closely with my colleagues in Student Financial Services.”
We will take some time to review the roles and responsibilities in the Bursar department before beginning a search to fill the vacancy created by Joy’s move across the hall to Financial Aid.
This transition is a wonderful and exciting opportunity. We appreciate the support and interest of our campus colleagues. If you have questions or comments please feel free to contact Karen House.
