Posted by: Kim Siwarski @ Access Group
Conversation among those that are an “office of one” began with attendee introductions including number of staff and students, responsibilities, type of aid offered, and support of other offices or central universities.
The goal of the session was to have an open discussion to share helpful hints and tricks of the trade to manage their workload. Technology was an area that can either help or hurt your processing depending on how well it is integrated with other offices within your university. Well integrated systems can save time by reducing manual intervention. Poorly integrated systems can create even more work.
Discussions stretched all the way from awarding to repayment counseling. Packaging time frame was varied depending on when budgets are set and whether awarding waits for final budget approval or is based on estimates. Responses as to the type of repayment counseling offered ranged from online forms to one-on-one counseling; although all attendees recognized the value of counseling, time, of course, is an issue. Live webinars and recorded webinars were discussed as a viable option.
A great question was put out there Kevin McGowan … “If you had another staff person, what is the first thing you would have them do?” Answers ranged from counseling to transmitting files, to completing all the required surveys. The conversion to Direct Lending (DL) has also made many of the duties that were previously done by lenders and guarantors the responsibility of the financial aid offices.
With all of the challenges discussed by the “office of one” attendees, the prospect of additional staff hires remains bleak since staff increases are directly related to the ability to bring in larger classes which is difficult during these economic times.

