97-09-12 Financial Aid Office Improves Services

OFFICE OF STUDENT FINANCIAL AID IMPROVES SERVICES     

     COLUMBUS -- Ohio State University students entering or
returning to school this autumn should expect to see streamlined
operations in the Office of Student Financial Aid.

     A Service Improvement Plan implemented this fall will
emphasize easier access to the office’s services and reflect an
effort to reduce the number of visits students must make to
financial aid offices in Lincoln Tower.

     Almost 24,000 Ohio State students on all campuses received
federal student loans totaling $143 million last year, and a
total of about 34,650 students received aid of some kind,
totaling $240 million.  The numbers are expected to be similar
this year.

     The Service Improvement Plan already made a difference
during summer orientation.  The office mailed loan materials to
incoming students rather than requiring students to pick them up;
later, during orientation, the office’s staff held on-site
sessions with students and their families in University Hall
rather than requiring students to attend interviews in Lincoln
Tower. 

     “That meant 6,000 people didn’t have to see us for 15-minute
sessions,” said Tally Hart, director of student financial aid. 
To supplement the on-site orientation sessions, the office will
sponsor several events during the academic year to discuss
student loan borrowing in more detail.

     Ohio State’s financial aid office also is participating in a
federal quality improvement initiative.  Through that program,
the university was able to reduce the number of 1040 tax forms it
required of students and their parents applying for aid by more
than 10,000 -- cutting in half the number of tax forms normally
analyzed in determining aid eligibility, Hart said.

     Outcomes so far included a record number of bills paid -- an
increase of 3,700 bills -- at the outset of the billing process
in mid-August and an 80 percent reduction in the number of phone
calls to the office in the week after bills were distributed --
usually a peak time for calls.  In addition, 75 percent of those
who visited the office during that week were served within 10
minutes.

     “We’ve become a lot more measure-oriented,” Hart said. 
“We’re developing quality standards so we know when we need to
make more of an effort to assist in a particular area.  For
example, when phone call volume exceeds available staff, we pull
staff from other areas to handle the phones.”

     For all the staff hours saved through the Service
Improvement Plan, another strategy is in place to redirect that
time into improving service elsewhere, Hart said.
     
      “Then we’re more available to deal with unique situations
that inevitably come up with people’s financial lives,” she said.

     Student Financial Aid also has developed a new World Wide
Web site listing student jobs and offering a database with
information about financial aid procedures, the Federal Direct
Loan program and individual account activity.  Admissions and
financial aid information is available at http://www-
afa.adm.ohio-state.edu/.  The office also will launch an
interactive voice response telephone menu system this autumn that
will detail aid information and aid recipients’ account activity. 
The phone number for the service is (614) 292-0200.

     In January, a new computer system for Student Financial Aid
will replace the current 20-year-old system, allowing faster
access to data and more rapid service overall.  In two years, the
office will offer all financial aid applications over the Web.

     As students move to campus for autumn quarter, the Office of
Student Financial Aid once again will become mobile to better
serve its customers.  Staff will be based in the French Field
House Sunday (9/21) and in Drake Union Monday through Friday
(9/22-9/26).  Monday through Wednesday of that week (9/22-9/24),
the office will extend its hours until 6 p.m.

                             #

Contact:  Tally Hart, Student Financial Aid, (614) 688-5712 or
292-3600.


[Submitted by: Von Vargas  (vargas.12@osu.edu)
               
Fri, 12 Sep 1997 16:30:33 -0400 (EDT)]
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