FIN MAN 101: Student Fiscal Services

by Kyra Worrell

Looking outside my office window, I can see the first hints of change, as summer fades and the campus bursts into a swirl of color and activity – Fall has arrived! Here at the UW, Fall brings more than just pumpkins and colored leaves; it brings students - freshmen, new graduate students, returning students, unmatriculated students, and medical students – all kinds of students! And all these students – From baby-faced freshmen (How did they get to be so young? – or is it that we’re getting to be just a little bit older? Naw, couldn’t be!) to sophisticated graduate and professional students – will need to come into contact with the Student Fiscal Services’ Office in one way or another. Tuition affects all students – whether they themselves are paying it, financial aid is paying it or their parents are paying it. It is our goal here at Student Fiscal Services to make that contact as pleasant and enjoyable for the student as possible – whether it be in person, on the phone, or via email or the internet.

Students are the lifeblood of any university: they are the reason we are here. We all serve students in one way or another. We at Student Fiscal Services are always looking for ways to streamline our processes and make things easier for the students and the departments here at the UW that serve students. To that effect, approximately two years ago, the two branches of SFS – Student Loans and Receivables and Student Accounts – merged. This was to provide better customer services by providing “one stop shopping” for students. We wanted to be able to provide all customer services on one floor and all support services on another. Previously, students would have to race between the first and fifth floors of Schmitz Hall to get anything done – up you’d go to the fifth floor to get your loan promissory note signed, then down to the first floor to get your money and make sure your tuition was paid; if everything wasn’t quite right, you’d have to race back upstairs to fix it. It was a nightmare for students who weren’t sure where they were at in the process: They could be riding the elevator up and down a couple of times before their problems would be solved!

SFS now consists of four units: Customer Service, Accounting, Computing & Data Management and Outreach & Overawards. The four units were formed by distributing the processes of the Student Accounts and Student Loans and Receivables Office along logical lines, with the main goal of the reorganization being having all customer service handled on first floor of Schmitz in room 129, and the secondary goals being the improvement and streamlining of all processes.

The Customer Service unit bills and collects tuition and related fee payments, disburses financial aid (loans, grants and scholarships), bills and collects current & past-due student loans and scholarship accounts, provides campus cashiering services and student account advising.

The Computing & Data Management group’s responsibilities include account set-up (making sure all the correct charges are on the students’ accounts); setting the parameters for the student data base (SDB) system; the tuition tables; setting up new and rolling over existing SDB charge codes; file transfers; data control; parent PLUS loan processing; bank transfers; University-wide invoice receivables; administering automated CT databases; and writing and maintaining the Student Fiscal Services web pages.

The Accounting unit responsibilities include preparing reports; processing JVs and billing different departments and agencies; processing refunds; processing departmental cash transmittals, handling departmental or student’s NSF checks from the banks; reconciling and closing budgets, accounts and discrepancies; and handling student’s tax issues.

The Outreach & Overawards unit is dedicated to helping students and the university community understand SFS services by delivering group presentations like Money 101 (helping students learn to manage their finances) and “Managing the Maze” (helping new students learn about the SFS services) and providing written information. The Outreach unit facilitates the SFS Advisory Board (a quarterly meeting where Student Fiscal Services and campus advisors can share information and ideas) and seeks to make Student Fiscal Services a more visible presence on the UW campus.

The Overawards section of the Outreach unit is responsible for notifying the students, working with the students to arrange a reasonable repayment plan, tracking all payments made by each student, reporting the repayment arrangement and payments, and referring accounts for further collections to a government agency and/or collection agency.

SFS continues to search for ways to improve our processes in order to better serve the 37,000+ students here at the UW – they are the reason we are here!

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