Slide1 : National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators Presents… Customer Service in Financial Aid: Principles and Best Practices Tom Rebstock, TG Leonard Gude, University of South Florida Julia Benz, Rice University Rich Boruszewski, Thomas M. Cooley School of Law Carolyn Houston, MTI College of Business and Technology
Slide2 : Is customer service important?
The purpose of business is to create and keep a customer.
— Peter Drucker
Sixty-eight percent of lost customers go elsewhere because the people
they deal with are indifferent to their needs.
— Strategic Planning Institute
Agenda
Principles of Customer Service
Tom Rebstock, TG
Best Practices:
Leonard Gude, University of South Florida
Julia Benz, Rice University
Rich Boruszewski, Thomas M. Cooley School of Law
Carolyn Houston, MTI College of Business and Technology
Questions and YOUR Best Practices
Identify your customers
Internal External
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Slide3 : 34 workshops / 1,200 FA staff, 2002–05
AASFAA (AL)
University of Southern Colorado
Augusta State University (GA)
Palm Beach Atlantic University (FL)
University of the Incarnate Word
Indiana State University
SASFAA
Dallas County Community College
NMASFAA
Angelo State University
Tougaloo College (MS)
South Texas VoTech
Wiley College
Texas A&M Kingsville
Computer-Ed Institute
San Jacinto College
Clayton State University (GA)
Best practices in customer service
University of South Florida
Rice University
Thomas M. Cooley School of Law
MTI College of Business and Technology
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Slide4 : University of South Florida
Tampa, Florida
42,590 enrollment
31,942 financial aid recipients
$220,000,000 total aid
43 full-time staff, plus 40-50 student employees
Personal greetings (be there)
FA director, assistant directors, and other volunteers personally greet students in lobby during week before and first week of semester
“Triage” students to appropriate area
Counseling staff
PC terminals
Counter staff
Free candy and lemonade
Have fun and make their day!
Spring Break Day
Halloween
“Student of the Day” award
FAT Tuesdays
Tuesday afternoon FA fair to encourage continuing students to file FAFSAs early
Promoted through campus media/e-mails
Check for complete data, help with updates, making sure everything in order
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Slide5 : Annual customer survey
Web-based questionnaire
Feedback on
Publications
Counter service
Phone service
Web services
Appointments, etc.
Feedback used to improve services!
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Slide6 : Counselor support teams
Counselor assigned to each student
Each counselor is part of a team:
Team leader
2 counselors
Graduate assistant
Program assistant
Customer service is overall team responsibility
Organizational chart
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Slide7 : Rice University
Houston, Texas
4,800 enrollment
3,840 financial aid recipients
$73,000,000 total aid
10 full-time staff
Reapplication initiatives
Contests and prizes for those who complete before deadline
Creative advertising
Feature articles in student newspaper
Sponsor a team during Beer Bike
Staff training and development
University resources
TG resources
Semi-annual retreats
HR “beta” group for new ideas
Professional development goals on annual performance plans
Weekly file reviews
1.5 hour sessions with professional staff to review “tough” files
Staff prepare cases as advocate for family
Other staff provide counterpoint
Provides ongoing consistency and professionalism in need analysis
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Slide8 : Thomas M. Cooley School of Law
Lansing, Michigan
2,813 enrollment
2,450 FA recipients
$55 million aid
Six FA staff
Town hall meetings
President, dean, FA director
Sponsored by student organization
Address key points and answer all questions
Cross training
FA staff trained with other Enrollment Services staff
Promotes streamlining of operations
One-stop shop
Enhanced Web site
Better educate students:
Scholarships
Default management
Job placement
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Slide9 : MTI College of Business and Technology
Houston, Texas
2,322 students
1,802 financial aid recipients
$9,798,200 Title IV aid
13 full-time FA staff
E-mail communication
Send reminders at tax time to keep copy of tax returns
Bus passes
Work with Houston Metro to obtain free bus passes for those in need
Job placement support
Training in resume preparation, interviewing skills
Job board, free use of fax
Hold two job fairs per year
Allow employers to come on campus to conduct interviews
On-site testing facility for A+, Net++, CAN, MCSE, and MOUSE
Closet of professional attire for interviews (shoes, ties, jackets, etc.)
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Slide10 : Customer service in financial aid
What are YOUR best practices?
One thing that I will…
Start doing to better serve my customers
Stop doing to better serve my customers
Keep doing to better serve my customers
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