GCC Financial Aid Working Overtime to Deliver Funds to Students
September 18, 2008
Contacts:
Suzanne Higgins
suzanne.higgins@gcmail.maricopa.edu 623.845.3808
Patricia Rhodes Vogel
pr.vogel@gcmail.maricopa.edu 623.845.3014
District-wide SIS problems in Financial Aid are causing some delays in getting various types of funding into students' hands. Students have waited longer than usual to receive their scholarship money, loan funds and other awards due to a variety of issues.
While some students have been automatically purged from the system for lack of payment, financial aid personnel, faculty and student services staff have all worked to get students back in their classes. The college and the District have the same goals as our students do. We want to keep students in class and we're taking steps to make sure students remain enrolled. Book vouchers were given to students so they could get the books they needed.
If a student continues to experience difficulty with enrollment, s/he should work with faculty and the Dean of Enrollment Services to take the steps necessary to stay in class until all awards are issued.
There is no one issue that has caused these delays. As we find them, and continue to resolve them, they can all be traced to the fact that this is our first fall semester on Maricopa's new student system. We want to assure students that we are finding the problems and fixing them. We are also working now to make sure this situation will not be repeated for the spring semester.
The District Office has sent personnel to the college to provide assistance. GCC's Financial Aid personnel have worked extra hours, long days and Saturdays to try to catch up.
Right now, our top priority is making sure that all applications get processed and that students who are eligible for financial aid get the checks they deserve in their hands.
Students who are still waiting for checks will receive them as soon as their files are processed. We anticipate those who filed in August to receive their funding by the end of November. Financial Aid Director Ellen Neel suggests that waiting students frequently check their "To-Do" list in the Student Center in their My.Maricopa.edu account. Here they may find important communications about missing information they need to provide to Financial Aid, and/or notification when their award is available. They should select 2009 for this year's financial aid.
We apologize for the inconvenience some students are experiencing.
