It was a “speedy delivery” for many students’ financial aid funds due to some campus cooperation and several new online features.”We had people from all areas of the university getting together for the first time on a regular basis,” said Financial Aid Office Director Margaret Miller. “We really took a structured approached to each area of financial aid that we needed help from in order to be able to serve the students better.”

This cooperation was done as part of the Continuous Improvement Team, which was started by Provost and Vice President Dr. Bert C. Bach and headed by Andy Czuchry, the AFG chair of Excellence in Business and Technology.

As part of this improvement, the Financial Aid Office began to allow students to complete many processes automatically through their Goldlink accounts.

“A student could sit at their computer and do the whole thing from beginning to end unless they were really in some kind of strange situation where they needed help,” Miller said in an interview on Wednesday.

Lending was one of the steps that bogged down the office last year. This term, direct lending was offered, which allows students to complete everything online.

This simplified the process for both the Financial Aid Office and students, who will be able to consolidate their previous loans from other lenders once they graduate and probably pay a third of what they would have, Miller said.

A revamped Web site helped the office better connect with students and explain the financial aid process step-by-step. Pod casts are available, as well as interactive links. The office stayed in touch with students through e-mails to their Goldmail accounts.

A lot of students seem to enjoy using Goldlink for taking care of financial aid issues. “The online thing helped a whole lot,” said senior public relations major Johnny Krause. “I don’t like standing in lines.”

Others aren’t too keen on the online set up. “I don’t like the whole online thing,” said sophomore radiology major Randa Bird. “I’m not computer smart.”

All in all, the scene has been a little different on the first floor of Burgin Dossett Hall than it was this time last year. Lines aren’t stretching outside and fewer than 900 students were purged from their classes on Aug. 28, the lowest number that Miller says she can remember.

“By 6 p.m. last night we didn’t have a student in line anymore,” Miller said. “Last year we would stay open until we had seen all of the students that were in line. Most nights that was after 8 p.m.”

Most of the students that have unfinished files didn’t fill out their FAFSA’s or have their verification information turned in before the June 15 priority date, Miller said. She encourages those students to come in the office or go online, take care of any outstanding requirements, and request an affidavit to hold them in their classes through the next purge date on Sept. 11.

Even if a student’s file is complete and their financial aid has been received, they aren’t quite finished yet, Miller said. Faculty must report students’ attendance by Sept. 18 in order for them to keep their funds. If a professor fails to send in that information and a student is reported as not attending, he or she will receive an e-mail. Miller advises students to get that signed by the teacher or ask him or her to e-mail the Registrar’s Office.

With the high number of students who did receive their aid on time, the Financial Aid Office is excited about the success of the new automated system. “It’s clear that the students have embraced using Goldlink for their student accounts,” Miller said.

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