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Financial aid office looks to analyze and respond to need for speedy awards
The Advocate
In an ongoing effort to get award money in students hand's more efficiently, the financial aid office is constantly analyzing their performance and trying to address student reviews, said Financial Aid Manager Luis Juarez.
Juarez is one of two managers in the financial aid office and just one of many components that make financial aid possible at MHCC. The Financial Aid Office (FAO) had an "Apply Early" campaign, said Juarez. "If there is one thing that I want students to do is apply early," he added.
The office meets weekly and thanks to, "better staffing and an automated processing system- we all feel we are in a better place than we were this time last year," said Juarez.
Christi Hart is the second manager in the financial aid office. Hart worked with IT staff to develop an automated processing system for financial aid but was not available for comment on the system. According to Juarez, the system was designed to increase usability for students and staff - making the packaging of award letters more efficient.
"One of our goals is to put an MHCC award letter in a students hand as quickly as possible so they can make their college decision to enroll with that information in hand," said Juarez.
Another concern the financial aid staff is addressing is their office space. Because the financial aid office shares a space with the business office, the two have met on a number of occasions to discuss ways to improve the functionality of the space.
While talking about what they could do to improve students' experiences, Juarez said, the two offices brought up ideas like having a waiting area with chairs - like a doctor's office - or just having a more welcoming entrance and environment in general, "we have good plans in place, now it's just about finding the financial support," said Juarez, adding that "we're ready for a design team to come and start busting down walls."
Despite the physical restrictions of the building's architecture and the somewhat chaotic nature of last minute financial aid needs that can crop up, Juarez said the FAO staff is making great strides in where they want to be, "as a result of the new automated system the staff is more efficient which benefits the student and makes for a more positive atmosphere that makes work easier to come to," said Juarez.
The Advocate reserves the right to not publish comments based on their appropriateness.