A college or university’s financial aid program can take different forms for different parties. It is a lifeline for some students, a relief for parents, a strain on cash-strapped schools, or a talking point for admissions officers. For John Gudvangen, the University’s new Director of Financial Aid, an institution’s aid program is a good indicator of its values and principles.
“Frankly, [Wesleyan’s financial aid program] was one great strength for me in looking at making a move to this institution in particular,” he said. “It’s a place that clearly lives its values even during difficult times.”
Before coming to Wesleyan, Gudvangen was the Associate Director of Financial Aid at Colorado College, where he had worked since 1995. During his time there, he also served as the Associate Director of Admissions. Because financial aid is a major factor for students when picking colleges, Gudvangen said he believes his experience in both areas will be helpful for his new post. According to Gudvangen, the Financial Aid office can benefit from data collected by the Office of Admissions and vice-versa.
One of Gudvangen’s goals at the University will be to provide better customer service to students and parents.
“I think it’s important that we set high goals for how we treat people and how people feel when they talk to us,” Gudvangen said. “Families and students often have many concerns about financial issues. It’s a threatening issue, an emotional issue and we want to make sure that students feel comfortable with that.”
In order to get a better understanding of Wesleyan’s financial aid landscape, Gudvangen has been speaking to faculty from his own department, as well as members of the Office of Admission and the Wesleyan Student Assembly (WSA). He also has plans to create focus groups to garner feedback from students receiving financial aid.
Gudvangen is happy to see that the University maintains its need-blind status, even as other schools have made drastic cut to their financial aid programs.
“The national trends in financial aid, I think, are worrisome, because [schools] often saddle students with too much debt,” he said. “They abandon the principled view of access. It’s too often, in our society, that financial aid as a larger profession…is perhaps more interested in the institution’s enrollment picture, in other words, its financial picture, than it is in providing access for students and families.”
However, Gudvangen said he is aware that the University’s resources are finite and, in order to maintain a robust aid program, other areas of the budget must be cut.
“There are lots of competing demands here—if we make this decision in the aid field, what does that mean for class size?” he said. “What does it mean for student budgets? What does it mean for study abroad opportunities? We have to consider all these trade offs.”
Gudvangen was chosen for the job after a nation-wide search. The previous financial aid director, Jennifer Lawton, left for a job closer to home. Gudvangen remains optimistic that the University will continue to be nee blind for the foreseeable future.
“We have some very difficult decisions to make in the next few years—there’s no doubt about that—but I’m pretty convinced that we’ll make reasoned and thoughtful and well-debated decisions,” Gudvangen said. “I hope that we can maintain the type of program we have now.”
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