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Tell Us What You Thought of This Year's Graduate and Professional Financial Aid Conference

Thank you to all who attended the 2011 Access Group Graduate and Professional Financial Aid Conference. We hope you enjoyed yourself, learned a lot and Discovered Your Foundation.

Before the holidays are upon us, we'd like to know what you thought of this year's conference.  If you haven't yet had the time, please take a few minutes to complete our conference evaluation. Your feedback is very important to us and will help us begin to plan next year's conference.

Also, we've posted many of the presentations and handouts from the conference sessions. You can download them from the Conference Materials Library link above.

Our sincere good wishes for a happy holiday season and a wonderful new year.

The Access Group Team

Lonely Only – The Office of One

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.

Circumstances Beyond Your Control: Using Professional Judgment

Posted by: Libby Rosenberg @ Access Group

The professional judgment panel was made up of Kyle Cronan, assistant director of graduate business financial aid, Washington University Olin School of Business; Glenda Palmer, Ph.D., assistant dean of student affairs and director of financial aid, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine; and Brad Russo, associate director of financial aid, Georgetown University Law Center.

The three presented some of their most challenging case studies to the attendees for review and discussion … and what a lively discussion it was.  If one thing was clear it was that each of them could be presented with the same student situation and come to their own unique solution, and that each would be “right” and solve the problem. 

When students are faced with what might be a dangerous or traumatic situation that will affect their ability to pay for their education, it’s up to the financial aid office to determine whether or not their situation warrants an increase in the cost of attendance (COA) which in turn would increase the amount of money they’re permitted to borrow.  This is a big deal.

While it’s clear that there are vast differences case by case and office to office, one point was made very clear.  “Use best practices as detailed in your policies and procedures, and document as much as possible. Remember, professional judgments are typically reviewed during program audits and reviews.”

The attendees’ conversations were very spirited and while some are “tougher” than others, it’s apparent that each of them cares for their students and wants them to succeed.  I’m not a financial aid administrator.  I don’t even work at a university, but it was so great to hear this very engaged group share stories, offer each other a different point of view, and offer support and advice. 

Final thought:    Document.  Document.  Document. 

The Results Are In: Financial Literacy Education Has Positive Impact

Posted by: Ann Durandetta @ Access Group

A gap in research literature on the impact of financial literacy education was identified by Kimberly A. Brown, director of fnance, Midwestern University. Kim identified that while schools with financial literacy programs were conducting some research on the effectiveness of their programs, such as pre and post-program tests on financial literacy, satisfaction surveys, and even measuring intent to change financial behaviors after attending a program, there really weren’t any studies showing how financial literacy programs actually impacted students’ financial decision-making. To complete this research, Kim fused a combination of research methods, including surveys and focus groups, and applied them across three different doctoral level health professions programs. This research suggested that participation in financial literacy programs did positively influence financial decision-making in areas such as credit card use, credit reports, and borrowing levels.

 

Kim then discussed the financial literacy programs at the institutions who participated in her research program. In addition to some of the more common financial literacy topics, she learned of additional programs offered by these schools, including cooking basics, defensive driving, sewing, and other every day ways for students to reduce their expenses during school and beyond. Most of the session participants have, or are in the process of implementing a financial literacy program at their institutions. The methods and topics presented, both for the initial financial literacy education, as well the methods for evaluating the impact of these programs, were well received and pertinent to the audience.

 

Her research paper, titled Examining the Influence of Financial Literacy Education on Financial Decision-Making Among Graduate Level Health Professions Students can be accessed by visiting http://disexpress.umi.com/dxweb and entering the UMI number of 3372749. Additional resources referenced for promoting financial literacy on campus included www.mint.com and www.annualcreditreport.com.

 

Eric Chester and Generation Why

Posted by: Mark Bubel @ Access Group

A featured speaker at this year's Access Group Graduate and Professional Financial Aid Conference is Eric Chester, a speaker and author that helps today's business leaders understand what makes young people (Generation Y) tick and how to get the best out of them.

Being a Generation Y person myself, I was interested in hearing what Eric had to say. I must admit that a lot of what he did say is true. Lacking a work ethic, looking for new opportunities right away when something doesn't work out, and having a sense of entitlement are all things that I see in many of my peers. He contrasted my generation with the generation before me. Their lives, he explains, revolves around work, or more so than not. My generation, well, it's a different story. He says it's the opposite; work (or career) revolves around the lives of Generation Y. If the work doesn't fit their life, it's on to the next job.

But, it's not all bad. Generation Y is very smart, tolerant and technical. Eric suggests that he can help to merge the values and attitudes that employers are looking for with the seemingly inherit technical and resourceful knowledge of younger people into a working relationship that not only gets the job done, but adds value to the company.

Through speaking with hundreds and hundreds of companies, Eric has found out that executives looking for young employers are, of course, looking for skill, but there's also a common theme. These companies want employees who are committed and respectful and dependable. The list can go on, but in the end, Eric explains that Generation Y can be successful in their search for a career, if they would practice and keep in mind these values that employers look for.

Bring Your "A" Game to Work

Direct Loan Servicing: A Year Later

Posted By: Amy Manfredi @ Access Group

We had a great Direct Loan Servicing discussion led by Vicki Shipley. 

Representatives from Nelnet, Sallie Mae, Great Lakes and FedLoan Servicing fielded questions ranging from their efforts to standardize communication and how they are working with the Department to ensure borrowers are prepared for repayment to the soon-to-be-launched Special Direct Consolidation Loan Program.

Regarding their communication with borrowers, clarity and transparency is key.  Communication from the 4 TIVAs should be consistent, all bearing the Department’s logo, so that the entity servicing their loan is transparent.

They strive to communicate with the borrowers in the manner most convenient;   whether it is mail, email, or text messages.  A few of them are even using mobile apps, Facebook and Twitter.

They encouraged the attendees to counsel their students to familiarize themselves with their servicer, get acquainted with their web portals, validate their contact information and opt-in to their communication options. 

The panel noted that while extended and graduated repayment options are being chosen frequently, they believe that the requirement of documentation for IBR has deterred many borrowers from applying.  Their websites have tools for the borrowers to calculate the benefits of IBR and since these tools are seeing a lot of usage, they hope more will enroll.

The last big topic was that of the ”Special Direct Consolidation.”  The window of opportunity is an important point to remain mindful of – they indicated that applications will be processed between January 17th and June 30th.  Each servicer will be assigned borrowers to whom they can market the program and counsel as to its pros and cons.  The servicers will not know which borrowers they will be assigned until they receive their lists.  We were all reminded that to qualify, the borrower must have an "anchor loan” which is a direct or PUT loan and another federal loan not held by the Department. 

All in all, it was a session with a lot of dialogue and valuable information.

Financial Aid 101

Posted By: Lori Moore @ Access Group

Financial Aid 101 is a necessary nuts and bolts session for all neophyte Financial Aid Administrators and anyone else interested in learning more about financial aid ... like Admissions or PreLaw Advisors. Gina Soliz director of financial aid at Syracuse University College of Law and Brent Tener, associate director of financial aid and director of undergraduate scholarships at Vanderbilt University delivered this session with just the right amount of wit and humor to keep us all engaged for the entire 3 hour session.  They're such pros.

They delivered the technical information with just the right amount of detail. Covering both the tried and true basics as well as practices that have recently changed.

But for me, one of the biggest take-aways from this presentation was not technical in nature. It was the idea that it takes a village.  We all can't be experts on everything, but by working as a community, with our colleagues and friends, we all gain the support and assistance we need to best serve our students. Thanks, Gina and Brent, for reminding us of this very important point.

Last Minute Conference Reminders and Updates

As we get closer and closer to the 2011 Access Group Graduate and Professional Financial Aid Conference, here are just a few things to note.

Reminders

• If you plan to attend the Financial Aid 101 session, please make sure you bring a calculator. It might come in handy.
• Be prepared to get a little wet. The Great Water Balloon "Toss-for-the-Cause" is shaping up to be serious competition.
• Don't forget to read blog posts by your colleagues at TheAllAccessBlog.Org. Today's featured post is from Susan A. Bogart, Director of Financial Aid, Penn State Law
• Getting to and from the hotel is simple. To arrange for SuperShuttle service, simply visit www.supershuttle.com and use Group Discount Code 5YDUH; or call 800 BLUE-VAN (258-3826) at least 24 hours prior to your arrival or departure to schedule reservations. Visit the Conference website for more travel details.
• Discipline-specific sessions are back! If there is a topic you think you and your colleagues would like to discuss, send that topic to conf2011@accessgroup.org and we will add it to the list.

Updates

• Of course the weather in Florida will be dreamy with highs in the mid-upper 70s and lows in upper 50s to low 60s.
• We've had a very last minute cancellation from a guest speaker, Frank Luntz. But have no fear; we've got something even better up our sleeve. Ari Fleischer, Former White House Press Secretary/Spokesperson, Political Analyst and Communications Expert will be joining us on Friday morning to give us The Daily Briefing – an in-depth analysis of the latest news coming out of Washington and the hottest controversies of the day.

That's it for now. In the coming days, you can keep up with any new announcements, reminders or updates right here at TheAllAccessBlog.Org.

See you soon!

Why I Attend the Access Group Conference, Year after Year

Posted by:  Susan A. Bogart, Director of Financial Aid, Penn State Law

Aristotle said it first.  “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”

Steve Jobs said it in a way I love.  “My model for business is The Beatles.  They were four guys who kept each other’s kind of negative tendencies in check.  They balanced each other and the total was greater than the sum of the parts.  That’s how I see business:  great things in business are never done by one person, they’re done by a team of people.”—Interview with 60 Minutes, 2003.

The muppets in this video said it in a way that sings through my soul.

 

The first time I attended an Access Group Conference it was all about only one part:  what I could learn.  I attended sessions voraciously and absorbed everything I could.  Finally…an educational experience that was specifically about the graduate and professional school population!  There were no Pell Grant sessions to tune out and no TEACH Loan Grant sessions to glaze over.  This was all about my students and what they needed.

But I learned quickly that the best benefit of attending the Access Group Conference was the opportunity to meet other people who work in graduate/professional school financial aid.  They knew what I experience in my job.  They shared their experiences and I learned from them.  I shared my experiences and others learned from me.  And it didn’t stop with the conclusion of the conference.  You can’t help but develop a network of colleagues.  And each individual person has an area where they stand out as a true expert.  When I have questions throughout the year, I don’t hesitate to reach out to this network of colleagues friends to get another perspective.   When I have doubts or confusion, I have people to turn to for ideas or advice.

I’m human.  I have weaknesses.  And I have strengths.  And I’m sure I would have succeeded in my job without the network I developed with the help of this conference.  But having the strengths of others placed easily within my reach has consistently helped me to make a positive difference for my students.

The reason I attend the Access Group Conference year after year is simple.  It’s because “When you put them all together (I am sure you will agree) the whole sounds better than the parts, as you can plainly see.”

Follow Along with the 2011 Access Group Conference

Whether you're registered and have already started packing or you'll miss this year's Conference, the All Access blog will keep you up-to-date with conference happenings.  Look for:

• Session recaps
• Reminders and conference details
• Updates and insights

Follow along with Access Group’s staff and conference attendees for posts and comments to help you “Discover Your Foundation”

Check back daily from November 17th through 19th and feel free to join the conversation by sharing and commenting right here at AllAccess. 

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