As part of the University’s ongoing process to transform North College into a “one-stop” administrative hub, the offices of Financial Aid and Student Accounts are merging into Student Financial Services.

According to Assistant Director of Financial Aid Shannon Sarver, over the past 14 months the two offices have begun cross-training the eight Financial Aid office staff members and the four Student Account staff members so as to better serve the needs of students and their families.

“Our day-to-day job responsibilities might not change much, but it’s that we’re going to be more knowledgeable about what each others’ departments do,” Sarver said.
“It’s mainly based in customer service.”

Director of Student Accounts Karen Hook said that because the 12 members of Student Financial Services will be knowledgeable in both financial aid and student account matters, students and their families will better have their financial needs met.

“If someone comes in and says ‘I’d like to apply for financial aid, what are the requirements and what are the deadlines, how much do I owe on my bill?’ anybody could look that up,” Hook said. “That way, people aren’t getting transferred around and leaving voicemails and it’s one-stop service.”

Hook said that of the University’s peer institutions, many continue to operate with separate offices of student billing and financial aid, but that many larger universities have begun to move toward a “one-stop administrative concept” similar to Wesleyan’s.

Both Sarver and Hook agreed that despite the large size of the class of 2015, students coming to campus this fall have seen fewer holds on their enrollment because of increased efficiency in both Financial Aid and Student Accounts.

Hook emphasized that both offices previously lacked the staff members to thoroughly answer students’ questions, which has been remedied by the cross-training.

“We thought, ‘why not join forces and be able to help people on a better and much larger scale?’” Hook said.  “Down the road, hopefully there might be enough funding so that we can move into a combined space.”