For 23 years, Fred Warren has been with ETSU coaching the men’s golf team to top-10 finishes in the NCAA Tournament.
Sherry Barnett was an adjunct professor in the ETSU College of Nursing for three semesters before accepting a full-time instructor’s position last fall in the college’s Department of Adult Nursing.
But for the golf coach, nursing instructor and more than 50 other ETSU faculty and staff members, the first three weeks of this new year have been spent on the “front lines” of a different workstation.
They are among a team of employees who answered a campus-wide e-mail request from the Office of Financial Aid, which sought volunteers to assist in taking phone calls Jan. 5-23. These were deemed the peak, high-volume days for the spring 2009 semester.
Margaret Miller, ETSU director of Financial Aid, said the response to the “call for volunteers” was extremely positive and encouraging, and it included deans and administrative and clerical staff from across the campus. Training sessions were held in December.
“They’ve been a true blessing, and it has made such a difference,” said Miller, who added that during the 2006-2007 academic year approximately 87 percent of ETSU students earned some type of financial assistance, with 55 percent receiving federal aid.
“I had heard about the long lines, and, since I knew I would have a little down time before the golfers arrived, I felt it was my obligation to help in some way,” Warren said. “The training session was well done, and for me this has been an eye-opening experience to the myriad information involved with financial aid. I walked away with the utmost respect and appreciation for the employees in that office who deal with these complex issues on a daily basis.”
Warren and Barnett, who also volunteered for that first shift, agreed that GoldLink is an invaluable resource.
“Often, the information was right there, and all we did was help the students navigate through GoldLink to the right page,” Barnett said. “Many just wanted the extra assurance that everything was good to go.”
The fall 2008 semester saw long lines in which some students spent a number of hours in order to see a counselor. Miller said this was the result of issues and problems that seemed to converge simultaneously.
“The Banner program had just been fully implemented, and, still being in the process of mastering the system, we ran into a few ‘kinks’ that had to be resolved,” Miller explained. “Also, there were last-minute changes in the Tennessee Lottery Scholarship Program that required significantly more staff time for processing.”
In addition to having an assistant director’s position suddenly become vacant, Miller said, at the same time, one of ETSU’s major lenders announced that, in light of economic concerns, there would be a delay in disbursing student loan money.
This meant that hundreds of students had to go to the Financial Aid Office to complete an affidavit that would hold their classes until the loan money arrived. This was particularly troubling for those recipients who use their loan money to cover books, housing and food.
“Though we faced many problems, the situation last fall reflected, once again, just how dedicated our employees are in this office,” Miller said. “In addition to working on Saturdays, there were days when the lines circled the hallways, and the staff stayed until the last student was served, which, at times, was as late as 8 p.m. We saw many 14-hour work days.”
The suggestion to use volunteers is an outcome from the work of a continuous improvement team initiated by ETSU Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Bert Bach. The team is charged with studying the financial aid system, identifying areas in which changes might be made and recommending potential solutions or remedial courses of action. The team is chaired by Dr. Andy Czuchry, holder of the AFG Industries Chair of Excellence in Business and Technology in the ETSU College of Business and Technology.
ETSU President Dr. Paul E. Stanton Jr., described the volunteer program as “teamwork at its finest.”
“Our most important obligation at ETSU is to our students, and I commend the men and women who sacrificed time from their busy daily schedules to assist in an area where there is significant need,” Stanton said.
Our financial aid staff at ETSU is top-notch, and, joined by our volunteers, they have worked diligently to make sure the financial aid needs of our students are fully and efficiently met. I applaud them all for their sense of service and community here at ETSU and, of course, for their unfailing commitment to our students.

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