Office for Student Financial Affairs Annual...

Annual Report2001-02

Office for Student Financial Affairs

july 1, 2001–june 30, 2002

Karen Fooks

Director

Rick Wilder

Associate Director

Elaine Stuckman

Associate Director

Susan Mickelberry

Editor

Jordana Kava

Cover, Editorial Assistant

University of FloridaOffice for Student Financial Affairs

S-107 Criser HallP. O. Box 114025

Gainesville, FL 32611-4025(352) 392-1275

(352) 392-1272 (V/TDD)FAX (352) 392-2861

This document is available upon request in alternative formatsfor individuals with documented, print-related disabilities.

Hearing-impaired individuals may call the Office for StudentFinancial Affairs’ telephone line for students with disabilities.

Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Institution

office for studentfinancial a ff a i r s

annual re p o rt

iii

table of c o n t e n t s

Table of Contents..................................................................................................iii

From the Director ..................................................................................................1

An Overview..........................................................................................................1

Philosophy and Mission Statement ....................................................................2

2001-02 Summary and Highlights ......................................................................2

Fiscal Review..........................................................................................................3

Administration.......................................................................................................5

Financial Advising ................................................................................................7

Customer Service ..........................................................................................8

Satellite Offices ............................................................................................10

Special Programs.........................................................................................11

Financial Aid Programs......................................................................................12

Grants ...........................................................................................................13

Scholarships .................................................................................................14

State Programs.............................................................................................15

Student Employment .................................................................................16

Loan Certifications......................................................................................17

Quality A s s u r a n c e/ Ve r i f i c a t i o n ..........................................................................19

Quality Assurance.......................................................................................20

Verification ...................................................................................................20

Support Services ..................................................................................................21

Information/Publication Services ............................................................22

Outreach and Training...............................................................................23

Technical Systems & Processing........................................................................24

Awarding......................................................................................................25

Disbursements and Fund Reconciliation ................................................25

Data Entry ....................................................................................................27

Document Editing.......................................................................................27

Records & Optical Scanning......................................................................27

Systems and Programming .......................................................................27

Staff & Professional Activities ...........................................................................30

SFA Staff.......................................................................................................31

Professional Activities................................................................................33

o ffice for student financial aff a i r s

Student Financial Affairs continues tosupport University of Florida students byproviding quality service, timely andaccurate financial aid awards, and reliableconsumer information to the achieve themission of Student Affairs: “HelpingStudents be Successful.”

Rick WilderAssociate Director

iv

Student Financial Affairs Annual Report 2001-02

f rom the dire c t o r

I am pleased to present the 2001-02Annual Report of the Office for

Student Financial Affairs (SFA). Thisreport provides detailed information onthe major activities and events thathave occurred in the reporting periodbeginning July 2001 and continuingthrough July 2002, as well asinformation on the general state of theoffice.

SFA continued its ongoing goal ofquality service for UF students. Thisyear, as in many previous years,providing this service involvedimplementing major new technology. In2001-02, this included a new two-in-oneorigination and disbursement processfor Direct Loans and Pell Grants andELM, an automated internet system forprocessing private alternative loans. Wealso converted completely to EAGLEfrom CICS screens within the office,and expanded and improved our LoanConfirmation Site on ISIS, making itmore user friendly. Also this year,SAIG, a Web-based data transmittalsystem, replaced the TIVWAN datatransmission system, allowing us totransmit Title IV data using existingInternet Service Provider connectionsrather than the Wide Area Network(WAN). And last but not least, our newtechnology also included a new phonesystem. Needless to say, newtechnology demands staff training, andour Training and Systems areas hadtheir hands full keeping staff informedand up to speed.

SFA staff are committed to providingfinancial assistance to all students whowish to achieve their educational goalsat the University of Florida (UF).

As always, the dedication and pride ofour staff helped us through themoments when we wondered if wecould pull it together on time. Onbehalf of SFA staff, we welcome anyquestions or comments regarding thisreport.

an overview

Each year, SFA continues to enhancethe quality of its financial aid

services and delivery capacity. UF isone of the country's leaders inproviding financial aid to students. UFhas been frequently selected by thefederal government to participate inexperimental programs. This year, SFAdelivered more than $295 million instudent aid from federal, state,institutional, and private sources to anenrolled UF student body of more than45,000 students.

RoleThe primary role of SFA is to providefinancial re s o u rces to students whowould be unable to receive a post-secondary education without assistance.S FA o ffers eligible students financial aidpackages consisting of scholarships,grants, loans, and part-timeemployment.

What exactly is “financial aid”?Financial aid is defined as moneyprovided to students and their familiesas either "gift aid" or "self-help" toassist in paying college costs. "Gift aid,"as the name implies, is free money suchas scholarships and grants, whichstudents do not have to repay. "Self-help" programs include loans andemployment and are so named becausestudents must repay loans and workfor money awarded throughemployment programs. Awards tostudents consist of scholarships, grants,loans, and work, singly or as a package.

The important factors...SFA awards aid to students accordingto financial need, defined as thedifference between a student’s currenteducational costs and what the studentand the student’s family can afford topay toward these costs. UF uses afederally mandated need analysisformula provided by Congress toevaluate a student’s financial need fromfamily information provided on thestudent’s financial aid applications.

Students and parents have the primaryresponsibility for paying students'expenses. When the funds available fro mf a m i l y, job income, savings, and other

re s o u rces are insufficient to cover all of astudent’s educationally related expenses,S FAmakes every effort to the student’sremaining financial need.

Beyond the dollar signs...In addition to providing assistance toeligible students, SFA offers financialaid advising services throughout theyear, comprehensive financial aidpublications, and state-of-the-arttechnical support including suchfeatures as a continually updated homepage on the Web, provision of financialaid information to the university’sIntegrated Student Information System(ISIS) on the Web, and SFA TIPS, atouchtone dial-in voice response unit.SFA’s computerized Resource Centeroff of our main lobby in S-107 Criser isavailable Monday through Friday toassist students with financial aid statuschecks, online aid application, andscholarship searches. Advising servicesinclude personal interviews, orientationworkshops, budget and debtmanagement counseling, and financialplanning. SFA also provides access toalternative resources to help studentswho do not qualify for financial aid, orwho need more assistance than SFA canprovide.

FacilitiesThe environment of the Marshall M.Criser Student Services Center providesthe ideal setting for convenient andefficient delivery of financial assistanceto students. The Criser center alsohouses the Admissions Office, theOffice of the University Registrar,University Financial Services, StudentServices, and the University CounselingCenter, providing students easy accessto all student services. The CriserCenter is accessible to students withdisabilities.

1


2

• USDOE also announced that ane l e c t ronic Master Promissory Note (E-M P N ) for Direct Subsidized and Dire c tUnsubsidized Loans would be re a d ybeginning July 2, 2001. The E-MPN i scompleted and signed by students overthe Web as an alternative to using apaper note, greatly reducing thepaperwork and data entry re q u i red forpaper promissory notes.

• In this third year of active Staff o rd loanconfirmation, using student feedback,we made our SFAConfirmation We bSite more user-friendly and addednotifications with Web links forstudents who had not completed theirE-MPN or first-time borrower EntranceCounseling. Students who tookadvantage of these received their loansf a s t e r. We continued our efforts toinform students of the re q u i re dS t a ff o rd Loan Confirmation process vian e w s p a p e r, special mail outs,c o r respondence, and the weekly UFe l e c t ronic undergraduates update.

• Much time and energy was spent onthe system conversion from CICSs c reens to EAGLE, a We b - b a s e dp rocessing system. Throughout 2001-02, testing, designing, and training wasin full swing as Systems and otherdepartments worked to verify accuracyand improve EAGLE screen formatting.

• Common Origination andDisbursement (COD). COD integratesthe origination and disbursementp rocesses of the current two systemsinto one system. COD was off i c i a l l yimplemented by USDOE in April 2002.As a full-participant school, SFA w i l lfully use COD’s features for 2002-03 forD i rect Loans and Pell Grants.Disbursements and Systems spentsummer 2002 converting to COD fro mthe Direct Loan legacy re c o rd format.

• E L M. In summer 2002, UFsigned acontract with ELM. ELM is a non-pro f i tcompany supported by lenders,guarantors, and servicers. ELMp rovides automated alternative loanp rocessing, loan updates, and loaninformation through the Internet. ELMenables UFto offer students asimplified, unified loan certificationand disbursement process foralternative loans.

“01-”02 summaryand highlights

In 2001-02,S FAcontinued to enhanceand improve our Web pre s e n c e ,

converting completely to EAGLE fro mC I C Ss c reens within the office, as well asexpanding our ISIS presence and makingit more user friendly. We continued toreap the benefits of the U.S. Departmentof Education’s (USDOE) new electro n i cMaster Promissory Note, as well as thenew federal student portal atw w w. s t u d e n t s . g o v . “I m p ro v e dtechnology” was the byword this year, asour staff spent long hours converting tothe Common Origination andDisbursement (COD) system, a two-in-one origination and disbursementp rocess for Direct Loans and Pell Grantsand signed a contract with and beganusing ELM, an automated, internetsystem for processing private alternativeloans. The Student Aid Internet Gateway(SAIG) allowed us to transmit Title IVdata to the federal processor over theWeb, and we took advantage of theNational Student Loan Data System’s(NSLDS) financial aid transcriptinformation for mid-year transferstudents. As Florida Bright Future sfunds increased, we administered stateacademic scholarship funds to anadditional 1,200 students. Funds paid tooverseas studies participants incre a s e dby 17%, and non-traditional MBAstudents receiving assistance incre a s e dby 33%. In June 2002, SFAconverted to anew telephone system, re q u i r i n gretraining of all SFA s t a ff, and especiallyphone room staff. As always, thefinancial aid profession continuallychanges and the technology impro v e sd a i l y. These changes in technology keepus busy striving to pro v i d e U Fs t u d e n t swith the best financial aid servicesa v a i l a b l e .

• In 2001, USDOE announced anexpansion of its Web presence forstudents that made life easier forstudents and financial aid offices. Itlaunched a student portal atw w w. s t u d e n t s . g o v to allow studentswho have received Title IV aid tore s e a rch their personal data, incre a s i n gstudents’ awareness of loanindebtedness and encouraging them totake responsibility for tracking theirown aid history.

philosophy andmission statement

SFA is a service organization with aprimary responsibility to help

students secure the funds necessary topursue their educational goals at UF.S FAis committed to providing studentswith the re s o u rces and information theyneed to become fiscally responsible andto understand the rights andresponsibilities incurred when theyreceive financial aid.

• The staff of SFAassume a pro a c t i v erole, reaching out to students andpotential students to educate them aboutthe benefits of higher education and theavailability of financial aid.

• S FAbelieves that no student should bedenied the opportunity to attend UF andsuccessfully pursue degree objectivesbecause of financial reasons and iscommitted to maximizing the re s o u rc e savailable to its students.

• S FArecognizes that each student’sfinancial situation is unique and makesevery effort to develop policies andp ro c e d u res that treat each student fairlyand equitably while taking unusualc i rcumstances into account.

• S FAhas the responsibility ofeducating, motivating, and empoweringthe staff and each other. SFA’ smanagement team members believe inthe importance of listening to each other,inspiring those in subordinate positions,and re w a rding dedication, competence,h a rd work, and positive attitudes. SFAmanagers will make every effort todevelop managerial plans that pro m o t eleadership that will benefit and bea p p reciated by all staff .

The awarding philosophy of SFAis toa w a rd aid to students as a part of the

m e a n s by which they can attend college.While students and parents have theprimary responsibility for paying thestudent’s expenses, our goal is to fill thefinancial gap that may exist between thecost of the individual student’seducation and money available from thestudent’s family, job income, savings,and other re s o u rc e s .

fiscal review

SFAfunctioned with a $3,401,337operating budget in 2001-02.

Funding for the operating budget isp rovided from State Education andGeneral (E & G) funds, an administrativeallowance for the administration offederal financial aid programs, andstudent financial aid fees. State E & Gfunds allocations pro v i d e da p p roximately 67% of the total budget,with the administrative allowance andfinancial aid fee making up theremaining 33%.

Staffing for 2001-02 was at 70.75 FTE asof July 2002, a modest increase from67.75 as of July 2001.

• State Programs and Florida BrightFutures Scholars (FBFS). A nadditional 1,200students qualified forstate academic scholarships this yearbecause of the increased state fundsavailable through FBFS. However, noF B F S funds were available for summer2002, requiring extensive mediaannouncements to studentst h roughout the spring to plan aheadfor this loss of funding.

• S FA’s Systems area purchased thre enew OS X servers to enhance ouronline and network capabilities—an e-mail server, a Web server, and aFilemaker Pro server.

• The number of overseas studyparticipants receiving financial aidi n c reased from 760 in 2000-01 to 893 in2001-02 even though Florida BrightF u t u res Scholarship monies did notpay during summer 2002.

• Two new non-traditional MBAp rograms were created in 2001-02.Non-traditional loan awards totaledm o re than $2.5 million, and, 480students enrolled in 14 non-traditionalM B Ap rograms, an increase of 11 8students over last year.

• Systems staff installed the new Inter-Tel Phone System in June 2002,requiring many staff-hours as well ascomplete retraining of SFA s t a ff, inp a r t i c u l a r, the Customer Service PhoneRoom staff.

• Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG).This year, SAIG, a Web-based datatransmittal system, replaced theT I V WAN data transmission system,allowing us to transmit Title IV datausing existing Internet ServiceP rovider connections rather than theWide A rea Network (WA N ) .

• This was our first year using NSLDS’snew Student Transfer MonitoringP rocess, by which NSLDS pro v i d e sfinancial aid transcript information formid-year transfer students directly toschools requesting it. Schools nolonger have to respond to financial aidtranscript requests.

In 2001-02, the increase in Salaries is dueto annual raises and staff size up by 3.0FTE. Operating Expenses incre a s e dprimarily in areas of buildingrenovations to better house staff andphone equipment upgrades. OtherCapital Outlay expenditures continuedto decrease as the one-time allocation of“Florida Academic Counseling andTracking for Students (F. A . C . T. S . ) ”money given to UF in 1999-2000 forenhanced financial aid services andinformation to students is depleted.Dollars spent on Other PersonnelServices (OPS) are variable year to yeardepending on departmental needs andfunds available.

The components of the office operatingbudget are as follows:


components of the office operating budget

BUDGET CATEGORY

Salary

Operating Expense

Other Personnel Services

Other Capital Outlay (OCO)

Federal Work-Study Salaries

2000-01

$2,500,005

347,856

135,298

74,799

188,334

2001-02

$2,630,254

384,843

153,344

14,809

218,087

1999-2000

$2,310,455

385,304

82,133

127,287

188,760

3

S FAS e c t i o n s

administration

financial aid advising–customer service–satellite offices–special programs

financial aid programs–grants–scholarships–state programs–student employment–loan certifications

special programs–quality assurance–verification

support services–outreach & training–information/publication services

technical systems &processing

–awarding–disbursements & fund reconciliation–data processing–document editing–records/optical scanning–systems & programming

4

a d m i n i s t r a t i o n5

“’Providing avenues of financialassistance to University of

Florida students is our primarymission. In an everchanging

financial aid climate, finding thebest way to do this is our

greatest challenge.”

Ron AndersonAssociate Director

a d m i n i s t r a t i o n

As federal and state funding ofstudent education grants continues

to decrease and borrowing continues torise, effective distribution by thefinancial aid office of funds available toqualified students becomes incre a s i n g l yimportant. The administrative staff ofS FA, including the director andassociate directors, are responsible forensuring such distribution, while alsoguaranteeing equal access to allp rospective students to UF. The smoothand efficient administration of financialaid programs and systems necessaryfor awarding and distributing pro g r a mfunds is the charge of SFA’ sadministration. The Dire c t o r’s off i c emanager and the accounting ands e c retarial support staff provide allnecessary support services.

Director’s Office The Director of SFA is responsible forthe overall administration of financialaid programs at UF. She alsorepresents the University statewideand nationally, helping to shape long-range policies and goals. TheDirector’s Office is responsible for allpersonnel matters within the office,and the office manager administerspersonnel, payroll, and coordinatestravel paperwork.

Associate Directors Student Financial Affairs has threeassociate directors. One is responsiblefor customer service, loan processing,disbursements, and satellite offices inthe Colleges of Dentistry, Law,Medicine, and Health Professions,which includes supervising sixassistant directors and/or studentaffairs coordinators and their respectiveareas of responsibility. The secondassociate director oversees technicalareas, processing areas, and studentemployment, which includessupervising two student affairscoordinators. The third associatedirector is responsible for the trainingand development, outreach, andpublications and Web areas, whichincludes supervising two financial aidcoordinators and an information/publications coordinator. Additionally,the three associate directors coordinateall data processing requests with thesystems coordinator in charge of theSystems and Programming area,supervise funds management andresearch, coordinate the deliverysystems, and are responsible for allfederal, state, and institutional audits.

Secretarial SupportThere are three staff members in theadministrative area: a receptionist whohandles incoming traffic, telephonecalls, and sending out facsimiles; aword processor who maintains qualitycontrol of all outgoing and in-houseforms and administers a central formscatalog system for each section withinSFA; and a senior secretary who assiststhe office manager directly with payrolland personal matters. All three,supervised by the Director’s officemanager, share responsibility forassisting the director and associatedirectors, with secondaryresponsibilities to the assistantd i rectors and other SFA staff.


6

financial aid advising

“Customer Service staff are associatedwith being the face and voice of the

financial aid office in that they re p re s e n tthe visible image of the financial aid off i c e

to the public. Even though the stress ishigh, the pay is low, and the compliments

a re few, the re w a rd is great when one isable to help a student realize his or her

educational goals through the financial aidassistance one has given. “

Rodlee RitterStudent Affairs Coordinator

7

customer service

SFA’s Customer Service Section is theinitial point of contact for all students

who apply for aid or who needassistance with the financial aidapplication process. Our financial aidadvisers are experts in the field offinancial aid and continue their efforts tomake the University of Florida’s (UF)financial aid office a national leader inthe administration of financial aid.

Although we enjoyed staff stability incustomer service during the 2001-02y e a r, half of our advisers had less than ay e a r’s financial aid experience. CustomerService staff included a Student A ff a i r sC o o rdinator III (Assistant Director), sixStudent Financial Aid Coordinator IIs,five Student Financial Aid Coord i n a t o rIs, a Clerical Supervisor, two SeniorClerks, a Clerk and a full-time OPSposition.

Customer Service AdvisersAll UF students and aid applicants areassigned to two-member financial aidadvising teams by the last two digits ofstudents’ Social Security numbers. Eachadvising team consists of a StudentFinancial Aid Coordinator II and aStudent Financial Aid Coordinator I.

Customer Service advisers pro v i d eservice to students via several methods:(1) on a walk-in basis, (2) by off i c eappointments, (3) by telephone, or (4) bywritten communication. In addition,Customer Service is responsible forincoming phone calls to the non-administrative financial aid sections. TheCustomer Service telephone bank iss t a ffed by four, full-time USPS clericalpersonnel and up to twelve studentassistants. The phone bank handles allgeneral financial aid inquiry calls and istrained to provide assistance for basicstatus inquiries. Complex financial aidquestions are routed to a member of thestudent’s advising team for assistance. InJune 2002 a new phone system wasinstalled requiring complete retraining ofphone staff, who were instrumental inaccommodating the smooth transition tothe new system by the entire office.

During 2001-02, the customer servicetelephone bank handled 47,104telephone calls, 4,559 fewer calls than thep revious year. We attribute this decre a s edue to the availability of general

financial aid information through then u m e rous electronic services thatstudents can use to access their financialaid information. However, the callshandled by the phone bank tend to bem o re complicated, requiring more timeassisting callers or taking messages andcompleting problem inquiries to answerstudents’ questions.

Customer Service advisers assist UF aidapplicants, prospective applicants, andfamilies with financial aid applicationp ro c e d u res and other financial aidfunctions, such as case-by-case awardrevisions for students whose financialsituation or other eligibility criteriachange during the year.

Special ProgramsAnumber of special financial aidp rograms come under the auspices ofCustomer Service, including the summerAchievements in Mainstreaming (AIM)P rogram, overseas study pro g r a m s ,financial aid for State University System(SUS) transient students, concurre n te n rollment programs, revision petitions,the SFAStudent Info E-mail service,several MBAnon-traditional pro g r a m s ,S FA’s academic pro g ress program, andUF’s Emergency Short-Term LoanP ro g r a m .

•Summer AIM Program

During Summer B, SFAworks closelywith the Admissions Office and the A I MP rogram Office to process financial aidfor students admitted through thisspecial admissions program. Summer2002 enrollment was slightly higher thanin 2001. In summer 2002, 501 studentsw e re admitted—54 more than in 2001.The increase is attributed to incre a s e dre c ruiting efforts by admissionspersonnel, and the addition of a newS FATraining and Outreach Coord i n a t o rwho accompanies Admissions Off i c es t a ff on re c ruitment trips. Of the 501students admitted in summer 2002, 281actually enrolled, an increase of 94students from last year. Of thesestudents, 279 received more than$595,768 in grants to meet their totalcosts for the summer program, ani n c rease over 2001 of 135 financial aidrecipients and $282,549 in financial aidmonies. (Note: aid recipient figures donot include athletes admitted thro u g hthe AIM pro g r a m . )

•Overseas Study Students with A i d

The number of students participating inUF-sanctioned overseas studiesp rograms continues to be strong, evenafter the events of September 11, 2001.The number of students attending suchp rograms dropped slightly from 1,230 in2000-01 to 1,197 in 2001-02. The numberof participants receiving financial aidi n c reased from 760 in 2000-01 to 893 in2001-02 even though Florida BrightF u t u res Scholarship monies did not payduring summer 2002. Financial aidpackages routinely are supplementedwith Federal Direct Staff o rd Loans(subsidized and unsubsidized), FederalD i rect PLUS Loans, or private loans too ffset costs of studying abro a d .

• Extenuating Circumstances Reviews

Customer service advisers counselstudents about the revision petitionp rocess. Students have the right to, anda re given the opportunity to, petitionp a rental contributions, studentcontributions, and dependency status ifthey have extenuating circumstances notreflected in the initial eligibilityevaluation. Three hundred twenty-sixpetitions were received in 2001-02, asc o m p a red to 274 in 2000-01, but only 178w e re approved, which was only onem o re than last year. The appro v a lp e rcentage fell from 65% in 2001-02 to55% in 2001-02. The increase in thenumber of petitions received and declinein approval rate may be the result of ashift in office philosophy to encouragethe petition process even when thep rofessional opinion of staff is that thesituation is not of an extenuating nature.

•Consortium Programs

B e f o re financial aid can be disbursed tostudents in concurrent enrollment ortransient programs, consortiuma g reements must be completed for eachstudent to account for hours he/she maybe taking concurrently at the partnerinstitution(s) and to ensure that financialaid is not also being received from theother institutions. Several formallyrecognized concurrent enro l l m e n tp rograms are conducted at sites awayf rom the Gainesville UF campus.Although enrolled at off-site locations,students apply for financial aid thro u g hour office. Most are completing a part oftheir curriculum re q u i rements at


8

"partner" institutions while taking UFcoursework. For several years, we havep rocessed financial aid for studentse n rolled in the following concurre n te n rollment programs:

New World School of the Arts, M i a m i ,Florida. Students take classes fro mMiami-Dade Community College andU F. In 2001-02, 83 students re c e i v e dfinancial aid to attend this program.

UF Milton Program, Milton, Florida.Students enrolled in this IFAS extensionp rogram may take classes at PensacolaJunior College, University of We s tFlorida, and UF. In 2001-02, SFAp rocessed financial aid for 14 students

UF Fort Lauderdale Program. S t u d e n t se n rolled in this program may takeclasses at FAU and Bro w a rd CommunityCollege. Five students received aidt h rough this IFAS extension program inFort Lauderdale in 2001-02.

UF Fort Pierce Program. This IFA Sextension program allows students totake courses through Indian RiverCommunity College. In 2001-02, aid wasp rocessed for four students.

State University System (SUS)Transient Program. UF studentsa w a rded financial aid and attendinganother SUS school as transientstudents may have their financial aidp rocessed and disbursed by UF. Eachstudent must be monitored individuallyto ensure that all re q u i rements are metand documentation is received beforeaid is disbursed. In 2001-02, UFp rocessed financial aid for 130 studentsparticipating as SUS transients.

Visiting students receiving aid fro mother schools totaled 36.

•N o n - Traditional MBA P r o g r a m s

The number of non-traditional MBAp rograms continues to increase as do thenumber of students enrolling. Becausethese programs do not follow thes t a n d a rd UF semester format, thep ro g ress of these students must bemanually tracked, taking care to pro c e s sthe aid for which the student is eligiblebased on the program. To facilitate thep rocessing of aid for these students, aC o o rdinator II position was jointlyfunded by our office and the College ofBusiness administers MBA p ro g r a m s .This award year, two programs were

added. Four hundred and eightystudents enrolled in 14 non-traditionalM B Ap rograms, an increase of 11 8students from those enrolled in similarp rograms in 2000-01. SFAfirst beganp rocessing Federal Direct Staff o rd Loansfor students enrolled in these non-traditional MBA p rograms in 1999-2000.B e f o re this, students participating inthese programs were considered eligibleonly for private loans. During 2001-02,S FA p rocessed private loan applicationsfor 44 of these students and FederalD i rect Staff o rd Loans for 181 students, 50m o re than last year. Loan awards totaledm o re than $2.5 million.

•Emergency Short-Term Loan Program

Short-term loan (STL) volume hasremained consistent over the past fewyears, with the greatest need forassistance coming at the start of fallterm. During 2001-02, 785 diff e re n tstudents borrowed STLfunds to the tuneof $739,180, compared to 788 studentsb o r rowing $708,812 last year. During2001-02, 399 students borrowed STLfunds in the fall, 145 in the spring, and318 in the summer. The number ofb o r rowers during summer 2002significantly increased over loansp rocessed in summer 2001, but thei n c rease was offset by decreases duringfall and spring compared to last year.The elimination of summer 2002 BrightF u t u res funding may have contributedto increased STL b o r rowing in summer2002. Some loans included in thesestatistics reflect repeat STL b o r ro w e r sover the course of the academic year.

•S FAStudent Info E-Mail Service

S FA’s Student Info E-mail Hotline wasestablished in September 1995 to enablestudents to ask general financial aidquestions without having to come toCriser Hall. Due to confidentialityregulations, we cannot respond tospecific requests about individualfinancial aid files, but we can pro v i d ehelpful, general information about thefinancial aid process as well as pro g r a mavailability and eligibility re q u i re m e n t s .The volume of e-mail inquiries seems tobe holding steady. Statistics for 2001-02indicate we received 5,682 inquiries asc o m p a red to 5,725 last year. The curre n tt rend indicates that even with ISIS, anupdated SFAWeb site, and the “Ask UF”

Automated Inquiry System, students areconsistently using this email service.

•Academic Progress Program

To comply with federal regulations, UFmust ensure that all federal aidrecipients maintain satisfactory academicp ro g ress. Students who fail to meetspecified standards are suspended orterminated from financial aid eligibility.Students are notified of the academicp ro g ress policy in a bro c h u re theyreceive with their original financial aida w a rd letter. The policy re q u i res thatstudents make pro g ress toward theird e g ree by maintaining a satisfactoryqualitative standard (grade pointa v e r a g e — G PA) and a quantitatives t a n d a rd (such as credit hours earned orterms of aid received).

T h ree times a year a financial aidacademic pro g ress program generatesletters to students not meeting re q u i re ds t a n d a rds. The academic pro g re s sc o o rdinator in Customer Serviceoversees notifying these students. Apetition pro c e d u re is available forstudents who believe their failure tomaintain satisfactory pro g ress is due toextenuating circumstances. Theacademic pro g ress coordinator re v i e w spetitions and determines which petitionsre q u i re referral to an Academic Pro g re s sAppeals Committee member. Routinepetitions (i.e., graduating seniorrequiring one final term to complete ad e g ree) may be approved without goingto an Academic Pro g ress Committeem e m b e r. Customer service adviserscounsel students on the academicp ro g ress policy and petition process.

Atotal of 3,363 files were terminated orsuspended in 2001-02, and 1,893petitions were reviewed, 872 more thanlast year. The increase reflects thenumber of students on warning statusbecause they were approaching themaximum hours and/or maximumterms allowed for their degrees. A t o t a lof 743 petitions were reviewed forsuspension or termination, 872 fewerthan in 2000-01. This decrease, althoughnot proportional to the decrease innumber of students meeting “academic”suspension or termination conditions forthe same years, is the result of studentsidentified as “potential walk-aways”who did not necessarily need to petition


9

as the termination was not due to lackof academic pro g ress.

U n o fficial Wi t h d r a w a l s . In re c e n tyears, the federal government has putp re s s u re on schools to document thatstudents who receive financial aidfunds actually have attended class. Inparticular question are students whoreceive federal aid whose end of termgrades are all incompletes (I), no grades(N) or failing grades (E). As part of eachterm’s academic pro g ress pro g r a m ,student files are selected that indicatethis situation. Letters are sent to thestudent and to the appro p r i a t edepartment in an effort to document thestudents’ class attendance. For studentsfor whom we cannot obtain proof ofattendance, UF must reimburse thefederal accounts. During 2001-02, 318such students were flagged, 19 morethan last year, and UF was re q u i red toreimburse the accounts for 68 studentsin the amount of $48,946. Three factorscontributed to the increase: (1) a full-time SFA s t a ff person worked solely onacademic pro g ress petitions andu n o fficial withdrawals; (2) the Pro v o s t ’ so ffice was instrumental in the incre a s e dresponses from departments re g a rd i n gattendance re c o rds; and (3) morestudents responded to the request forp roof of attendance, thanks to SFA n e w sarticles and newsletters.

Looking AheadBudget call-backs and a hiring fre e z ecould again significantly aff e c tCustomer Service in 2002-03 if weexperience staff turnover. High stre s sand low pay continue to make itd i fficult for us to retain the high qualitys t a ff we critically need. Front deskburnout often results in loss ofCustomer Service staff to better paying,less stressful SFA positions. We are alsoconcerned about the impact of the newEagle data system that will replace mostNERDC screens on our ability to movet r a ffic through our office in an eff i c i e n tand timely manner during peakperiods. Students may experiencelonger wait times for service as a re s u l t .

satellite offices

Student Financial A ffairs (SFA )supports four professional positions

designed to accommodate specialneeds at sites away from the mainfinancial aid office. These positionsw e re created at the request of, and withfinancial support from, colleges andagencies whose students haveparticular difficulty coming to the aido ffice because of distance and classschedules, or who have other specialneeds. The satellite offices are jointlyfunded and operated by SFAand thesponsoring org a n i z a t i o n s : the Collegeof Dentistry, the College of Law, theCollege of Medicine, and the Collegesof Health Professions, Nursing,P h a r m a c y, and Veterinary Medicine.Since the initiation of these outre a c hp rograms, students in these collegeshave reaped the benefits of having are p re s e n t a t i v e f rom SFA w i t hc o m p rehensive knowledge of financialaid programs and pro c e d u res as theypertain to them.

College of DentistryThe College of Dentistry financial aidoffice serves D.M.D. dental students,postdoctoral dental students, andF.T.D. (Foreign Trained Dentists)students, administering Title IV loanprograms, Title VII loans andscholarships, and various outsidescholarship and loan funds. AFinancial Aid Coordinator isresponsible for all aspects of financialaid at the College of Dentistry,including: financial aid presentationsfor dental admission days, helpingstudents through the applicationprocess, debt management, dailywalk-in counseling, and exitinterviews for graduating seniors. Theoffice is located in the UF HealthSciences Center in the Dental Tower,D3-#17A.

Colleges of HealthProfessions, Nursing,Pharmacy, and VeterinaryMedicineThe Health Sciences Center (HSC)Financial Aid Administrator isresponsible for the coordination of allfinancial aid services for each college.These services include awarding, aid

packaging, and debt counseling formore than 1,900 students. Further, theHSC aid administrator provides thecolleges with the financial data neededto award scholarships, coordinates allfinancial aid services, and assists inawarding and packaging all college-based loans and scholarships.Emphasis is placed on counselingstudents to reduce student loan debtsas well as on providing up-to-dateinformation about federal aidprograms and requirements. The HSCFinancial Aid Office is in UF HealthSciences Center Room CG-96.

College of LawOf about 1,100 UF law students,a p p roximately 90% receive some formof financial aid. During 2001-02, almost$14,000,000 in federal loans were paidto 937 students. The Law SchoolFinancial Aid Office, in 164 HollandHall, is administered by a Financial A i dC o o rd i n a t o r, who is responsible forguiding students through the financialaid application process, fro mcompleting applications to explainingdisbursement pro c e d u res. Private loanapplications, including Bar Exam Loansfor Bar- related expenses, are certified bythis office. The law school adviserserves as an ex-officio member of thelaw school financial aid committee,p re p a res meeting materials, and award sand disburses College of Lawscholarships based on committeedecision. Two hundred fifty studentsreceived $761,444 from these funds in2001-02. In addition, approximately $1.5million in state grants and scholarshipsw e re administered to minority studentst h rough this office.

College of MedicineThe College of Medicine (COM)comprises more than 980 medical,graduate, and physician assistantstudents. More than 600 students usethe office for some type of financialassistance. The medical school adviseris a Financial Aid Coordinatorresponsible for all aspects of financialaid involving COM students, such ascounseling new admissions and givingapplication assistance by providingconsumer information, debtmanagement counseling, and exit


10

interviews. The College of Medicineaid office administers more than 50loans and scholarships. In 2001-02COM students were paid more than$8,850,000 in student loans and$1,560,000 in scholarships.

special programs

SFA administers a number of specialprograms on-site in Criser Hall to

meet the needs of specific groups ofstudents by financial aid professionalswith specialized knowledge of federal,state, or UF requirements relatingspecifically to these groups. Theseinclude an adviser to athletes and anadviser to veterans.

Adviser to AthletesA Financial Aid Coordinatorspecializing in both financial aid andNCAA/SEC guidelines coordinatesand administers financial aid forstudent athletes. The Athletes Adviserworks with the University AthleticAssociation (UAA) to coordinateathletic scholarships with otherfinancial aid, to complete requiredNCAA reports, to counsel athletesabout their financial aid and abouttheir rights and responsibilities, and toassure compliance with both federaland NCAA regulations. The AthletesAdviser is located in Peabody Hall,and also counsels student athletes atthe Office of Student Life in theAcademic Advisement Center.

VA Work-Study/TutorialAssistance AdviserThe position for the adviser for thefederal VA Work-Study and VATutorial Assistance programs isfunded by the federal government toprovide VAWork-Study and VATutorial Assistance to veterans whoare enrolled students. VAWork-Studyis available for veterans to work inpositions at UF up to 25 hours a weekmaking minimum wage, tax-free. TheVA Tutorial Assistance Program allowsveterans to be reimbursed for the costsof tutorial assistance needed in thecourse of their education. The VAWork-Study Adviser, who counselsstudents on both of these programs, islocated part-time off the SFA lobby inS-107 Criser Hall.


11

12

financial aid pro g r a m s

“The Federal Direct Loan Programcontinues to be one of the most costeffective and efficient ways to borrowfunds for higher education. Withinterest rates at an all-time low and anincrease in both program automationand electronic services, borrowingfunds for college has never been as easyor as expedient as it is today.”

Donna FowlerStudent Affairs Coordinator

What makes up a financialaid package?

Financial aid comes in many forms.Financial aid packages are combinations ofaid made up of funds from the followingprograms: grants, scholarships, stateprograms, loans, and student employment.

grants

Grants are gift aid (no repaymentrequired) awarded to students

who show financial need. At UF, SFAadministers the following programs:Federal Pell Grants, FederalSupplemental Educational OpportunityGrants, Florida Student AssistanceGrants (FSAG), and institutional grantssuch as I. D. Turner Grants.

P r o g r a m sThe Pell Grant Section focuses onefficient delivery of Pell Grants tostudents. Federal SupplementalEducational Opportunity Grants,Turner Grants are awarded toundergraduate students withexceptional need as part of acomprehensive aid package. FSAG is astate awarded grant program.

Federal Pell GrantThe Federal Pell Grant programprovides grants designed to assist thosestudents with the greatest financialneed. Pell Grants are the foundationupon which all other need-based aidprograms are built.

The government awards grantsaccording to students’ financial need asdetermined by a federally establishedneed analysis formula. Need for otheraid is based upon and determined

around the student’s eligibility for aFederal Pell Grant.

The total dollar amount of Pell Grantsdisbursed to students increased to$17,744,788 in 2001-02 from $15,105,724last year. The number of Pell Grantrecipients increased to 7,361 from 6,893.

Federal SupplementalEducational OpportunityGrant (FSEOG)This federal grant program is a campus-based grant available to allu n d e rgraduates who show exceptionalfinancial need and are also eligible toreceive Pell Grant. Campus-based meansthat, although federally funded, theselection of the recipients and awardamounts are determined by SFA .Funding for FSEOG continues ad o w n w a rd trend from the past fewyears. In 2001-02, $2,343,549 wasdisbursed to 2,246 students through thisp rogram, up from last year’s figures of$2,242,790 to 2,231 students.

Turner Grants Institutional grants are university-administered programs awarded bySFA to students who show exceptionalfinancial need. The Turner Grant isfunded by a variety of sourcesincluding student fees and the state

legislature. In contrast with FSEOG,Turner Grant funding increased thisyear. In 2001-02, $9,692,245 wereawarded to 4,086 students, up from lastyear’s totals of $6,625,976 awarded to3,343 recipients.

Florida Student Assistance Grant (FSAG)FSAG is a state-funded, need-basedfinancial aid program awarded by theState of Florida Office of StudentFinancial Assistance, but coordinated atUF by SFA. In 2001-02, 3,966 UF s t u d e n t sreceived awards totaling $4,479,302,down from 2000-2001,when 3,983 UFstudents received awards totaling$4,589,147. More information about statep rograms can be found in the StateP rograms section of this re p o r t .


13

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

7,000

8,000

2001-02 2000-01 1999-00

Number of Pell Grant Recipients

$0

$10,000,000

$20,000,000

2001-02 2000-01 1999-00

Pell Grant Dollars Disbursed

No. of Pell Grant Recipients

s c h o l a r s h i p s

Scholarships are coordinated byseveral offices at the UF, including

SFA, the Admissions Office, andindividual colleges and departmentswithin the university. Additionally, thestate of Florida, private organizations,and corporate sponsors providesignificant financial support to UFstudents.

SFA’s Scholarship Section coordinatesand administers numerous college-awarded scholarships. Private donorand UF-endowed scholarships are alsoavailable to students and are awardedby SFA to full-time, undergraduatestudents who meet the specifiedrequirements of donors and/or theendowment funds.

Custodial Awards(Private Donor Awards)Areview of statistics on custodialawards received by UF students revealssignificant growth over the last threeyears. This growth is demonstrated bythe following statistics:

1999-00: 9,246,294 to 5,791 students2000-01: 10,361,879 to 5,574 students2001-02: 11,190,002 to 5,984 students

This continued growth may beattributed to several factors, includingthe higher level academic performanceof our students. Academically elitestudents have the tendency to apply forand receive more scholarships.

Also, our Student Resource Center, withits electronic Outside Scholarship

Bulletin Board, has brought morescholarships to the attention ofstudents. Further, our advertising ofand the availability of more freescholarship searches on the internet hasundoubtedly encouraged morestudents to pursue donor scholarships.

Other Scholarship StatisticsThe statistics below include allscholarships paid to students throughthe office for Student Financial Affairsexcluding custodial awards, State ofFlorida scholarships, and tuition feewaivers. The total dollars paid out in2001-02—$19,195,902—demonstrates anincrease of just over $2.2 million dollarsfrom the previous year.


$0

$5,000,000

$10,000,000

$15,000,000

$20,000,000

2001-02 2000-01 1999-00

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

7,000

8,000

2001-02 2000-01 1999-00

Scholarship Dollars Disbursed*Excludes State Scholarships, CustodialAwards, and Tuition Fee Waivers

Number of Scholarship Awards*Excludes State Scholarships, CustodialAwards, and Tuition Fee Waivers

14

state programs

The Florida Department ofEducation offers a variety of

student assistance programs that areadministered by the State of FloridaBureau of Student Financial Assistancein Tallahassee, Florida. These stateprograms, excluding loans, supported26,828 awards to students enrolled atUF, who received a total of $55,641,703this year. Applications and informationon these programs are provided tostudents primarily by high schoolguidance counselors or the FloridaOffice of Student Financial Assistance.

SFA’s State Programs Section is the UFliaison with the Bureau of StudentFinancial Assistance in Tallahassee andis the campus administrator for moststate-funded student scholarships andgrants.

The State Programs staff monitorsstudent eligibility for state aid,processes information from a statecomputer data base, maintains recordsof each transaction, and arranges fordisbursement of state funds throughUF’s University Financial Services.

ProgramsMajor state of Florida programsadministered through this sectioninclude:

• Florida Academic Scholarship*

• Florida Merit Scholarship*

• Florida Gold Seal VocationalScholarship*

• Top Scholars Award*

• “Chappie James” Most PromisingTeacher Scholarship

• Children of Deceased or DisabledVeterans or Children of ServicemenClassified as Prisoners of War orMissing in Action Scholarship

• Florida Student Assistance Grant

• Florida Teacher Scholarship andForgivable Loan

• Jose Marti Scholarship ChallengeGrant

• Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship

• Rosewood Family Scholarship

• Occupational Therapist andPhysical Therapist Scholarship Loan

* Part of the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program

Florida Bright FuturesProgramThe Florida Bright Futures Scholarshipprogram has continued its phenomenalgrowth and parallels the increase in theacademic level of performance of ourstudents, as reflected by the followingstatistics:

1999-00: $40,072,779 to 17,894 students2000-01: $47,132,734 to 21,187 students2001-02: $47,278,120 to 22,368 students

No funds were available through BrightFutures for summer 2002, requiringextensive media announcements tostudents throughout the spring to planahead for this loss of funding.

StatisticsMany more UF students qualified forstate academic scholarships this yearthan previously because of theexpanded state funds available throughthis program.

The State of Florida’s continuedsupport of higher education at UF isseen in the following graphs.


15

$0

$10,000,000

$20,000,000

$30,000,000

$40,000,000

$50,000,000

$60,000,000

2001-02 2000-01 1999-00

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

2001-02 2000-01 1999-00

State Program Dollars Disbursed

Number of State Program Recipients

SFA’s Student Employment Officecontinues to serve as a

clearinghouse for all on- and off-campus employment activity. Part-timeemployment continues to be a valuablesource for students needing funds tohelp pay educational expenses. Studentemployment on campus contributesgreatly to the operation of theuniversity, while providing studentswith valuable work experience, often intheir major fields of study.

Student Employment acts ascoordinator for all student jobs at UF.As such, Student Employmentcommunicates employment policiesand procedures to UF offices andconducts annual training sessions fordepartmental employmentcoordinators.

Student Employment processes allpaperwork re q u i red to appoint studentsto campus jobs and enter them into theuniversity payroll system; develops andupdates forms; monitors studentearnings; maintains and posts job listingsf rom on- and off-campus employers;p rovides job counseling to students; andissues UF Work-Permits, o ffering the Dial-Up Work-Permit Request Service, whichallows students to request work permitsby phone.

ProgramsStudent Employment coordinates thefollowing programs: Federal Work-Study (FWS), including the FederalCommunity Service (FCS) component;and Other Personnel Services (OPS).

• Federal Work-Study (FWS)

FWS is funded 75% by the federalgovernment and 25% by the institution.Aw a rds are based on financial need asdetermined from information studentsp rovide on the F ree Application forFederal Student Aid. To be eligiblestudents must maintain a minimum 2.0G PA. Jobs pay at least minimum wage.

• Federal Community Service(FCS)

In fall 1994, Student Employmentimplemented the FCS program, a newcomponent of FWS. FCS allowsstudents to work with variouscommunity agencies dedicated toimproving community living,especially for low-income individuals.

• Other Personnel Services (OPS)Jobs

OPS is a state-funded campus studentwork program which is not based onfinancial need. To be eligible, studentsmust maintain a minimum 2.0 GPA.Jobs pay at least minimum wage.

• Off-Campus Jobs

The Student Employment Office actsas a referral agent, helping to link job-seeking students with potentialemployers. Off-campus employers listtheir jobs, which are not based onneed, with Student Employment forposting. Wages vary by employer.

StatisticsDuring the year 2001-02, the totalamount of FWS (including FCS) andOPS Earnings was $11,683,150 whichwas paid to 7,405 students.

Job Bulletin BoardsFWS, FCS, OPS, and Off-Campus jobb o a rds are located at various campuslocations. The job board outside SFA i nthe Criser courtyard is updated daily.The boards located at Norman Hall,McCarty Hall, G-1 Reitz Union, 305Reitz Union, and the Health SciencesCenter are updated on Tuesdays andThursdays. In cooperation with SFA’ sInformation/Publication Services, theup-to-date job lists are also maintainedo n l i n e .

PublicationsIn conjunction with the Information/Publications Section, StudentEmployment publishes the S t u d e n tEmployment Coordinator, a periodicnewsletter for campus employmentc o o rdinators. Other publicationsp roduced with Information/Publications include the S t u d e n tEmployers Handbook, for UFdepartmental student employmentadministrators, and SFA’s S t u d e n tEmployee Handbook, which explainspolicies and pro c e d u res to SFA s t u d e n tassistants. These publications aremaintained online on the SFAWeb sitea t : w w w.ufsa.ufl.edu/sfa/ .


$0

$2,000,000

$4,000,000

$6,000,000

$8,000,000

$10,000,000

2001-02 2000-01 1999-00 0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

7,000

2001-02 2000-01 1999-00

student employment

Dollars Disbursed through EmploymentNo. of Students Employed

OPSFWS OPSFWS OPSFWS

OPSFWS OPSFWS OPSFWS

16

loan cert i f i c a t i o n s

The goal of the Loan Certificationdepartment is to use today’s

technology to develop a loan pro c e s sthat is accurate and efficient and can bereviewed and revised by the student.

UF continues to participate in the FordFederal Direct Loan Program (FFDLP).The 2001-02 school year was UF’seighth year of participation. FFDLPd i ffers substantially from the FederalFamily Education Loan Program (FFEL)in that private lenders are not involved.The U. S. Department of Education( U S D O E ) acts as both lender andguarantor for FFDLP loans, so only twoagencies are involved: the federalgovernment and the university. Theuniversity originates loans, pro c e s s e sp romissory notes, and disbursesstudents’ loan funds when they havebeen approved. Repayments are madeto USDOE’s Federal Loan Servicer.

Loan Certifications consists of aFinancial Aid Coordinator III, aC o o rdinator II, two Financial A i dC o o rdinators, and a Program A s s i s t a n t ,S t a ff are responsible for monitoring theFederal Direct Loan automatedapplication process, the promissory notep rogram, the correction program, andvarious cancellation programs to ensurethat they run correctly and eff i c i e n t l y.This department also certifies privateloans from various lending institutions.

P r o g r a m sLoan Certifications administers FDLPp rograms—including Federal Dire c tS t a ff o rd Loans (FDSL), Federal Dire c tUnsubsidized Staff o rd Loans (FDUSL),and Federal Direct PLUS Loans(FDPLUS)—and processes private loanst h rough various lenders.

• Federal Direct Staff o r dLoans/Federal DirectUnsubsidized Stafford Loans

F D S L loans are need-based, federallyi n s u red loans that can be repaid aftergraduation. Interest does not accrue onthe subsidized loan until the graceperiod expires, which is six months afterstudents leave school or graduate.F D U S L was developed to meet theeducational costs for middle-incomestudents who do not qualify, in whole orin part, for FDSL.

For Private Loans, the dollar amountp rocessed for UF students in 2001-02was $3,225,972.

•Loan Default

UF’s Federal Direct Loan Program’s 2000Cohort Default Rate was 3.4%, wellbelow the national average andt h reshold of 20% that mandates defaultreduction measures. Nevertheless, SFAand University Financial Servicescontinue to stress the need to avoidunnecessary borrowing and ensure thatstudents are aware of their rights andresponsibilities when contracting for astudent loan. Customer service staff andS FA’s Information/Publications sectionemphasize this through personal studentcontact, loan application materials, andthe SFAWeb site. Further, the new loanconfirmation site provides a link to theNational Student Loan Data System, sostudents can review their loan debt priorto accepting additional loan funds.

•Regulatory UpdateOn February 8th 2002, President Bushsigned the 6.8% Fixed Interest Rate/Lender Yield Bill (S. 1762), whichamends the Higher Education Act of1965 to establish fixed interest rates forstudent and parent borrowers andextend current law in re g a rd to specialallowances for lenders. The legislationsets a fixed interest rate of 6.8% forstudent loan borrowers and a fixed rateof 7.9% for parent borrowers. In additionthe bill enables lenders to use the curre n tmethodology for determining lenderyield after July 1, 2003. These pro v i s i o n swill be effective July 1, 2006.

•Interest RebateIn 2000 the Federal Government off e re dD i rect Loan borrowers a 1.5% intere s trebate to encourage timely re p a y m e n t .In 2000-01, the rebate was credited to astudent’s account when a disbursement


17

$75,000,000

$85,000,000

$95,000,000

$105,000,000

$115,000,000

$125,000,000

2001-02 2000-01 1999-00

Stafford Loan Dollars Disbursed

"Unsubsidized" means the interest is notd e f e r red while the student is in school.Because unsubsidized loans are notneed-based, students may borrow fundsover and above their eligibility forsubsidized Direct Staff o rd funds, eitherup to their cost of attendance minusother aid, or up to Federal Staff o rd Loanp rogram limits, whichever is less.

• Federal Direct Plus Loans( F D P L U S )

The FDPLUS program was designed tohelp parents meet the expected familycontribution toward the student’seducational expenses, with loans not toexceed the student’s cost of attendance.FDPLUS does not re q u i re students orfamilies to demonstrate need.

•Private LoansAnumber of private lenders offer loansthat allow a student to borrow fundsequal to their cost of attendance lessother re s o u rces. These loans do not fallwithin federal guidelines whendetermining awards or distributingfunds. In most cases, however, thestudent and/or the parent must beverified as cre d i t w o r t h y.

In Review• S t a t i s t i c sFDSL/FDUSL funds paid to studentsrose from $116,429,903 in 2000-01 to$118,511,375 in 2001-02. The number ofloans awarded also increased—by684—up to 29,565. This increase maybe due to the increased amount ofstate-awarded aid provided to ourstudents this year.

For the period July 1, 2001, through June30, 2002, the FDSL/FDUSL i n t e rest ratewas set at 5.39%. FDSL/FDUSL l o a n sa re capped at 8.25%.

The total amount borrowed in P L U Sloans for the 2001-02 year was$3,271,934, a decrease of $515,710 fro mthe previous year. This decrease may bedue in part to marketing efforts of theprivate loan sector. Other reasons maybe the parent’s creditworthiness and theability of students to then borro wunsubsidized loan funds.

For the period July 1, 2001 through June30, 2002, the FDPLUS variable intere s trate was set at 6.79 and capped at 9%.

was received by the Direct Loanservicing Center. Beginning in 2001-02,the 1.5% interest rebate was provided tob o r rowers as an up-front add-on to eachD i rect Loan disbursement. This changere q u i red numerous modifications to ours c reens and automated systems.

Technological Services• Electric Master Promissory NoteIn 2001, the Department of Educationannounced that an electronic MasterP romissory Note (E-MPN) for Dire c tSubsidized Loans and Dire c tUnsubsidized Loan would be re a d ybeginning on July 2, 2001. The E-MPNcan be completed and signed by thestudent over the Web as an alternative tousing a paper note. This process gre a t l yreduced paperwork and data entryre q u i red for paper promissory notes.

• EAGLEAn extensive amount of the 2001-02school year was spent on the systemconversion from CICS screens toEAGLE, a Web-based processing system.The new system provided more detaileds c reen descriptions and headerinformation, but also caused a

20,000

22,000

24,000

26,000

28,000

30,000

32,000

34,000

2001-02 2000-01 1999-00

slowdown in production due to theamount of scrolling re q u i re d .

• Common Origination &Disbursement (COD)

Summer 2002 was spent converting theDirect Loan legacy record format to theCOD system. COD, which uses XMLcomputer language, integrates theorigination and disbursement processesof the current RMF and DLOS into onesystem. In the future COD will alsoaccept student-level data for campus-based programs. The conversion toCOD was not without problems.Origination batches delayed in theCOD system and the receipt oferroneous Master Promissory Noteinformation were two problems thatcontinually caused delays in thedisbursement of fall funds. These andother COD system problems were notresolved until well into the fall term.

• N S L D SE ffective July 1, 2001, all schools werere q u i red to use the National StudentLoan Data System (NSLDS) for allapplicants. Anew NSLDS transfermonitoring process was implemented,requiring schools to inform NSLDS of allmid-year transfer students. NSLDSmonitors these students and alertsschools of changes affecting the student’se l i g i b i l i t y. Schools no longer have torespond to financial aid transcriptre q u e s t s .

• E L MIn the summer of 2002, UFsigned acontract with ELM. ELM is a non-pro f i tcompany supported by the lenders,guarantors, and servicers who are itsmembers. ELM provides automatedalternative loan processing, loanupdates, and loan information thro u g hthe Internet. ELM enables UFto off e rstudents a simplified, unified loancertification and disbursement pro c e s sfor alternative loans .

•Confirmation SiteSpecifications were developed tosimplify and enhance the LoanConfirmation Web site. Due to timeconstraints in the Systems department,these changes have not been finalized.

• UF Web ServicesUF Web services to students continued toi m p rove, with additional online servicesand added links to federal information.T h rough Wednesday E-mails, SFA w a sable to notify freshmen of important loaninformation.

• Student Aid Internet Gateway( S A I G )

SAIG, a Web-based data transmittalsystem, replaced the TIVWAN datatransmission system. The conversionallowed schools to transmit Title IV datausing existing Internet Service Pro v i d e rconnections, instead of the Wide A re aNetwork (WA N ) .

Future Objectives• Continue to refine the automated loan

system to ensure it is accurate, is user-f r i e n d l y, and will accommodate theneed for individual coding for thespecialty programs developed yearly.

•Develop new ways students caninteract with Loan Certificationse l e c t ro n i c a l l y.

• Monitor the electronic promissory notep rocess to ensure correct, timelyinformation is transmitted from theLOC to COD and from COD to UF.

• Work with DOE to correct errors in theCOD process and continue to off e rsuggestions to simplify and enhancethe process.

• Develop ways to improve EAGLE.• Review UF’s internal Loan History

p rogram. This review will be necessarydue to NSLDS receiving loan dataweekly rather than monthly from theD i rect Loan Servicing Center.

• Pre p a re for UF’s conversion to theUFID as the student identifier. Duringthe 2002-03 school year, all SocialSecurity number fields will be re p l a c e dby a number field called the UFID. A l ls c reens and documents will need to berevised to reflect this change.

• Monitor changes resulting from thereduced number of loans listed in theNSLDS loan detail section of SAR file.

• Review (1) USDOE’s Federal StudentAid Programs, and Final Rules and (2)Reauthorization proposed regulations.


$0

$1,000,000

$2,000,000

$3,000,000

$4,000,000

$5,000,000

2001-02 2000-01 1999-00

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

2001-02 2000-01 1999-00

FDPLUS Dollars Disbursed

No. of Stafford Loans Awarded

No. of FDPLUS Recipients

18

19

Quality Assurance/Ve r i f i c a t i o n

“Easing students through the complicatedp rocess of institutional verification is a major

focus here in Student Financial A ff a i r s . ”

Peggy Myers

Student Affairs Coordinator

Ve r i f i c a t i o nVerification is a review process

established to confirm theaccuracy of information reported onfinancial aid documents. Because theUniversity of Florida participates inthe Federal Quality AssuranceProgram, it designs its ownverification criteria to best target error-prone items among its uniqueapplicant population. This is done inlieu of verifying students selected bythe federal processor.

During 2001-02 items selected forverification were:

• Parents’ and students’ adjusted

gross income

• Amount of federal income tax paid

• Nontaxable income reflected on tax

returns and W-2 forms

• Household size and number of

persons in college

•Excluded Income

Our efforts to streamline the process ofselecting files for verification continuedt h rough the design of very specificcriteria, each component of whichmust be met for selection to occur.These criteria are constructed based onresults from the prior year’s in-depthquality assurance study. A p p l i c a t i o n s /data elements that appear to be moste r ro r- p rone in the quality assurancestudy are selected for special review inthe following year.

In 1994-95, the Verification Departmentand the QASection consolidated staffre s o u rces, and since then theverification staff has continued toperform document collection and assistwith data analysis. The consolidation ofs t a ff expedited document collection,and at the same time, exposed theverification staff to the QAmethodology and philosophy.

StatisticsFor 2001-02, 10,344 student files wereselected for verification. Of that total,7,604 students completed the pro c e s s ,yielding a 74% completion rate.

Quality Assurance

In July 1989, SFAwas selected toparticipate in the Department of

Education’s Institutional QualityC o n t rol Pilot Project, which began in1985. This project, now called theFederal Quality Assurance Program, isa management experiment to test thefeasibility of giving institutions mored i s c retion in designing policies andp ro c e d u res that will result in qualityadministration of Title IV studentfinancial aid. This was one of the firstinitiatives on the part of the federalgovernment to involve institutions indeveloping internal controls, ratherthan mandating them from the federallevel.

As a participating institution, UF isexempt from certain verificationrequirements as long as it remainsactively involved in conductingquality assurance activities. Theuniversity develops and implementsits own verification program,customizing it to reflect its ownunique institutional setting andstudent population.

At SFA the Quality Assurance (QA)Section was established to administerthis program. A major goal of QAis toidentify potential student applicationerrors and establish ways to preventthem from happening in the future. Atandem goal is to identify potentialweaknesses or error-prone processeswithin the office and to target thosefor improvement. QAcontinuallyevaluates and reviews all aspects offinancial aid processing with the goalsof streamlining the process andreducing errors.

In 1994-95, the QAand Ve r i f i c a t i o nSections consolidated staff re s o u rc e s ,and the verification staff performed QAdocument collection and data analysis.In recent years additional assistance hasbeen provided by an award i n gc o o rd i n a t o r. The additional humanre s o u rces expedited QA d o c u m e n tcollection, as well as exposing theverification and awarding staff to theQ A methodology and philosophy. Thearrangement resulted in a much fastercompletion rate of QAfiles. Thiss t ru c t u re continued to operatee fficiently in this year.

Quality Assurance ProcedureThe Department of Education initiateda redesign of Quality Assurance (QA)practices in the 2000-2001 academicy e a r. Schools collect “initial” and “paidon” financial aid data and performstatistical analysis to assess institutionalverification practices. Self assessmentsof management practices are alsoperformed.

SFA believes in continuous qualityimprovement. The QAstaff willcontinue to evaluate all aspects ofoffice organization and procedures,looking for ways to reduce errors andpotential audit liabilities, simplifyprocesses, and improve customerservice.


20

21

s u p p o rt serv i c e s

“In 2001-2002 Information and Publicationsstrove to bring a creative approach to both

our online and printed materials. Wedesigned a new, more user-friendly Web

site to ease the students’ use andunderstanding of the vast amounts of

information and resources available tothem through Student Financial Affairs,

and to help them maximize their potentialin securing financial aid to achieve their

educational and life goals.”

Jeff StevensComputer Support Specialist

SFA’s Information/PublicationsServices Section is responsible for

the office’s consumer informationp rogram, including compre h e n s i v efinancial aid publications, maintaining ahome page on the Web, a news re l e a s ep rogram, and audio-visualp resentations. The Coordinator ofP u b l i c a t i o n s & Information Serviceswho administers this sectionc o o rdinates with SFA’s dire c t o r,associate directors, and assistantd i rectors to assure compliance withfederal consumer informationdissemination regulations. The sectionalso includes a full-time ComputerSupport Specialist who administersS FA’s Web site, plus a parapro f e s s i o n a ls t a ff of four Federal Wo r k - S t u d ystudents. Information/Publications isalso responsible for in-house trainingmaterials and re p o r t s .

Major elements of the informationprogram are producing annual cost-effective financial aid publications,including the SFA Web site, the annualGator Aid Handbook, the annual GatorAid Application Guide, the SFANewsletter, brochures, slidepresentations, in-house trainingmaterials, and the SFA Annual Report;the SFA Web site; producing studentapplication and award materials thatfacilitate efficient processing and meetfederal information disseminationregulations while communicating theapplication process and programrequirements in terms understandableby students; and interfacing with thedirector and associate directors toproduce news releases.

Information/Publications also pro v i d e sannual updates to SFA i n f o r m a t i o ncontained in university catalogs andpublications, and designs, pro d u c e s ,and contributes articles to the Divisionof Student A ffairs’ tri-annual newsletter,the Student Affairs Update.

Publications continued to issue newsreleases on important financial aidactivities and information. Wi d e l ypublicized this year were thei n t roduction of the Financial Aid 101tutorial on the site; the relocation and

remodeling of our SFA R e s o u rc eCenter; the unavailability of FloridaBright Futures for Summer ‘02;summer aid pro c e d u res andre q u i rements, and suggestions foralternative funding; the importance ofunderstanding the diff e rence in the UFPIN, the Federal PIN, and the State ofFlorida PIN; and the fact that 50% o fU F students are now applying onlinefor financial aid!

SFA continued to participate in ASKUF, a UF Web information service,allotting Information/Publicationsstaff resources for this purpose, inconjunction with Customer Servicestaff. The top two financial aidquestions “How much does it cost toattend UF?” and “When should Iapply for financial aid to attend UF?”

In the area of print publications, SFAcontinued to produce the S FA N e w s l e t t e rt h ree times a year, and we continued top roduce our bro c h u res series, re v i s i n g ,updating, and reprinting as necessary.

Our SFAWe b m a s t e r, a team member ofInformation/Publications, re d e s i g n e dS FA’ s Web site for easier use, and wenta step further by designing andlaunching a new tutorial for incomings t u d e n t s : Financial Aid 101. The sitealso provides application and pro g r a minformation, information on re c e i v i n gaid, financial aid links and portals, aNews & Updates feature, and manyprintable forms in PDF format. The“scholarships” feature of the SFAR e s o u rce Center also re q u i res continualmaintenance. Online SFA p u b l i c a t i o n ssuch as the S FA N e w s l e t t e r, S t u d e n tE m p l o y e r’s Handbook, and all SFAb ro c h u res are also maintained. Thenumbers of visits to our Web sitecontinues to be high. SFA’s We bc o o rdinator continued to maintain theDivision of Student A ffairs Web siteand also designed a new site for .

Information/Publications providesongoing support to other SFAdepartments, including designing andproducing newsletters, reports/reportcovers, posters, flyers, etc. The annualStudent Employment Office Employers'Handbook and the Student EmploymentCoordinator (a university-wide

newsletter to campus employers) wereproduced to support StudentEmployment Office activities.Information/Publications continues tosupport SFA’s Training & D e v e l o p m e n tsection with the annual SummerPREVIEW production, and otherpresentations as required.

P u b l i c a t i o n s■ SFA World Wide Web site

■ 2001-02 Gator Aid Handbook

■ 2001-02Gator Aid Application Guide

■ SFA News—a spring,summer, andfall edition newsletter to studentaid recipients

■ SFA TIPS/World Wide Web walletcards

■ Brochures: First-Time Applicant’sGuide to Gator Aid, University ofFlorida Withdrawal Information,Looking for Scholarships & FinancialAid, a Student Opinion Survey,Welcome to the Office for StudentFinancial Affairs, 1st-Time BorrowersEntrance Orientations, Florida PrepaidCollege Program, SFA TIPS, We’re onthe WEB, Direct Deposit, StudentEmployment, Financial Aid forStudents with Disabilities,International Student Aid, andStudying Abroad & Financial Aid.

■ Notification of Financial Aid Aw a rdb ro c h u re, the Federal Direct LoanP L U S Application, the RevisedAw a rd Letter Information Sheet, plusvarious other forms, informationsheets, bulletins, and flyers

■ Student Employer’s Handbook

■ Student Employment Coordinator

■ 2000-01 Student Financial AffairsAnnual Report

■ 2001-02 Student Employee Handbook


I n f o rm a t i o n / P u b l i c a t i o nS e rv i c e s

22

O u t reach andTr a i n i n g

The Outreach and Training Sectionc o o rdinates all outreach activities to

p a rents, students, and high school,u n i v e r s i t y, and community groups, aswell as coordinating an ongoing trainingp rogram for SFA s t a ff and studenta s s i s t a n t s .

In 2001 SFAconsolidated informationand outreach under one A s s o c i a t eD i rector to improve information flowand increase quality control of ourinformation and outreach eff o r t s .O u t reach and Training, together withInformation/Publication Services sectionnow work together toward that goal.

O u t r e a c hIn 2001 SFA h i red a full-time outre a c hadviser to work in conjunction with UF’sAdmissions Office to actively re c ru i tstudents from diverse backgrounds toattend UF. AUF team travels thro u g h o u tthe southeast focusing its efforts onunderserved areas of these states. Theprimary goal of the SFA o u t reach adviseris to reach out to incoming freshmen andtransfer students through pre s e n t a t i o n s ,l e c t u res, conferences, workshops, andother re c ruitment functions. SFA i sexcited to be part of this effort to helpbring quality and diverse students to UF.

S FA O u t reach also provided financial aidl i t e r a t u re and SFApublications to pare n t sand students at college fairs andacademic programs. This year about halfof the students seen by SFA O u t re a c hw e re potential UFstudents; the other halfw e re re g i s t e red or admitted UF s t u d e n t s .

In January and February 2002, SFAs p o n s o red financial aid workshops todistribute applications, explain thefinancial aid process, and answerquestions targeting all students intere s t e din applying for financial aid: sessionsw e re held at local area high schools, UFresidence halls, and the J. Wayne ReitzUnion. Presentations were also made forp rofessional students in the colleges ofMedicine, Dentistry, Veterinary Medicine,and Law by the respective staff membersof those areas. Workshop dates werepublished in the Independent FloridaA l l i g a t o r and advertising ran on thecampus housing channel (Channel 8).

Additional outreach presentations weremade to special-interest groups and highschools bringing financial aidinformation to students, parents, andcollege administrators. Pre s e n t a t i o n sw e re made to high school guidancecounselors, UFadmissions officers, andU F academic advisers (CLAS).

O u t reach was also involved with thefollowing programs that facilitateminority re c ruitment at UF: D e s t i n a t i o nGainesville, College Summit, PAACT &AIM, the African American High SchoolScholars Program, the Hispanic/LatinoHigh School Scholars Program, the HighSchool Guidance Counselor Wo r k s h o p ,and the BIOTRAC ( B i o m e d i c a lResidential College Experience)P rogram.The McNair Scholars Pro g r a m ,the STEPUP V I I I P rogram, and theInstitute of Black Culture also called onS FA O u t reach to provide financialinformation to minority students.

S FAalso continued to participate inP re v i e w, the summer fre s h m a n -orientation program. Our pre s e n t a t i o n ,“Money Matters,” was presented twenty-two times during Summer 2002. MoneyMatters was formatted into a formalPowerPoint presentation that allowedO u t reach and Training staff tot h o roughly brief students about financialaid programs before they entered UF. Inthe summer of 2002, 6,618 students anda round 14,000 family members attendedP review sessions. Each student received acopy of the Gator Aid Handbook.

S FA o u t reach staff also collected andinput data about outside scholarshipsf rom Additional Aid Forms f rom Day OneP review participants. As a result, thisinformation was already showing onlineduring Day Two visits by families to SFA.

O u t reach and Training also participatedin all regular student orientations duringthe year to accommodate lower- oru p p e r-division transfer students. As atP R E V I E W, each student received a copyof the Gator Aid Handbook.

The Outreach Associate Dire c t o rre p resented UFat various confere n c e sand meetings for the Florida A s s o c i a t i o nof Student Financial Aid A d m i n i s t r a t o r s


23

( FA S FAA), also serving this year asFA S FA A Vice President for Tr a i n i n g .P resentations included an overview ofthe National Student Loan Data System,a New Aid Officers Workshop, a re t re a tfor support staff, and a two-day seminarfor experienced aid off i c e r s .

T r a i n i n g

Because of the large number of financialaid programs administered by SFA, thecomplexity of the financial aid pro c e s s ,and the need for compliance with federaland state regulations, on-going stafftraining is critical to maintaining asuccessful operation.

• Weekly counselor training

The training staff coordinate 30-minutetraining sessions on timely subjectmatters, which are held immediatelyafter the weekly counseling staffmeeting. These sessions are presented byan SFA s t a ff member or re p re s e n t a t i v ef rom another UF department or agencyand generally deal with technicaltraining, updates on specific areas ofp rogram re s p o n s i b i l i t y, and/orinformation that will help our stafffunction efficiently with other UF o ff i c e sand departments.

• New employee orientation

Aneed for standardized training for allnew employees was expressed. Tofacilitate this, Outreach formalized ac o m p rehensive two-week orientationand training program that gives newemployees a solid foundation in thefinancial aid basics before being assignedto their specific departments.

• Macintosh computer training

All professional staff members haveaccess to the SFAMacintosh network.Specific individual training sessions areheld periodically to ensure employeefamiliarity with the functions andcapabilities of the Macintosh network.S t a ff members may also access avideotape training library to findanswers to application pro b l e m s .

24

technical systems & processing

The Data Pro c e s s i n g / M a i l room Section starts thefinancial aid application processing cycle bymailing out all financial aid award letters,Information Request Forms, student loan, andfollow-up letters. The staff receives, sorts, date-stamps, and scans documents and distributesincoming mail. The application year begins with abulk mailing of financial aid application packetsto Florida high schools and community colleges atthe beginning of every application year. “Westrive to bring order out of chaos. We keep afloatin a continuous sea of paperwork and forms soyou don’t have to.”Annalise AdamsProgram Assistant

25

Aw a rd i n g

Aw a rding is comprised of twoFinancial Aid Coordinators who

p rocess all financial aid awardrevisions. Requests for revisions tostudents’ awards generally come fro mcustomer service staff when students’e n rollment, re s i d e n c y, or housingstatuses change; when students re c e i v eadditional outside funds; or whenstudents request revisions to theira w a rds for which they are eligible. Eachterm, Aw a rding adjusts budgets forstudents enrolled less than full timewhose files show campus-based aid.

Aw a rding staff are also responsible foradjusting awards in situations wherestudents’ need has been “overmet.”Students’ receipt of outside re s o u rc e s(scholarships, fellowships, etc.) aftertheir need has been met produces al a rge volume of the work for Aw a rd i n g .B e f o re the first disbursement of aid inthe fall, a program known as “ro l l i n grevisions” automates most fileadjustments necessary because ofovermet student need. After the first fallsemester disbursement of aid, files aremanually reviewed and adjusted.

Aw a rding also monitors and documentsstudents’ repayments of aid fundswhen re q u i red. When students whoseneed is overmet have repaid re q u i re damounts, the staff update the SFAa w a rd file to reflect corrected amounts.

Mid-year status changes (under-graduate to graduate, out-of-statestudent to Florida resident, etc.) alsorequire a manual review anddocumentation of the file. In addition,awarding completes the approvedBudget Revision Petitions that revise astudent’s cost-of-attendance figures,sometimes changing the student’saward maximum.

Aw a rding coordinates “withdrawal”information between UniversityFinancial Services, the Office of theUniversity Registrar, and SFA’ sCustomer Service Department insituations when a student withdrawsf rom school during a semester whenthat student is receiving aid.

In 2000-01, staffing, workload,re s o u rces, and responsibilities incre a s e dm a rginally in this department.

The Disbursements Departmentmonitors and controls the automated

disbursement systems and works withUniversity Financial Services (UFS) toe n s u re that the batch disbursementp rograms run correctly and eff i c i e n t l y.The staff consists of a Financial A i dC o o rdinator III, who develops thep rogram specifications for the numero u sautomated systems; a Financial A i dC o o rdinator II, responsible forimplementing regulatory re q u i re m e n t smandated by the federal and stategovernments and supervising an OPSworker in daily quality control review ofreports; and a Program Assistant whosupervises a student worker who helpsmanually process paper checks. The staffmonitor checks from private lenders,state issuing agencies, and donors, andcode and file all checks.

Disbursements finally reviews studenteligibility for loans, scholarships, andcampus-based aid before disbursementof these funds. Disbursements re c e i v e sboth paper checks from variousscholarship donors and private lendersand electronic draw-downs for federalfunds for direct disbursement tostudents, or for deposit with UFS fordisbursement to students. Staff alsoreturn to donors funds for whichstudents are ineligible.

Disbursements also manages monthlyand academic year fund re c o n c i l i a t i o nbetween UF and the federal governmentfor all Federal Direct Loan funds. Thisinvolves transmitting and reconciling alldisbursement data, as well as award - f i l eadjustment, and transmission andreconciliation of data for all loan fundsreturned by students—either voluntarilyor due to obligatory re p a y m e n t .

In Review• Direct Stafford Loan Electronic

Master Promissory Note (E-MPN):On July 2, 2001, the U. S. Departmentof Education (USDOE) implementedtheir federal E-MPN Web site allowingnew Direct Staff o rd Loan borrowers tocomplete their re q u i red M a s t e rP romissory Note s online. SFA i n f o r m e dstudents of this site through variousmedia and in documents included

with Direct Loan award information.The new technology uses a student’sfederal PIN as the electronic signaturefor the E-MPN. Schools using thisoption receive electronic notification ofeach student’s completed, valid E-MPN, significantly reducing paperhandling and data entry at UF. Wewere very pleased with thesmoothness of first year E-MPN use.

Regarding Disbursement edits,USDOE began oversight of monitoringMPN expiration dates for 12-monthand 10-year periods. We modifiedscreens and edits accordingly.

• Federal PIN Web Site: Federal PINsa re used as an electronic signature forthe E-MPN and, in the future, will beused to e-sign other documents.Beginning January 1, 2001, USDOEreduced response time for applicantsto receive PINs to three days (viaemail) from the former seven to tend a y s (by mail). The e-mail dire c t susers to a Web URL w h e re the PIN i sobtained. For Disbursements, fasterPINs translated to faster release offunds to Staff o rd Loan re c i p i e n t s .

• T I V WAN to Student Aid InternetGateway (SAIG): The transition fro mthe former federal Title IV mailbox, toa totally Web-based system occurre dOctober 1, 2001. The new ED-Connect/SAIG mailbox makes moreuser information available to schoolson electronic files sent and re c e i v e dand temporarily stored—an additionalstep by USDOE to convert all dataand information systems to the We b .

• Student Portal: The federal SchoolPortal, created by USDOE in 2000-01has been a valuable tool. Followingsuit, a student portal was launched in2001-02 to allow students who havereceived Title IV aid to re s e a rch theirpersonal data at their convenience,i n c reasing students’ awareness of loanindebtedness and encouraging themto take responsibility for tracking theirown aid history.

• Confirmation Web Site: S FA’s policystates that students must confirm theyd e s i re their Staff o rd loan funds as arequisite to SFAdisbursing the funds.In this third year of active Staff o rdloan confirmation, using student

Disbursements & Fund Reconciliation



feedback, we made our SFAConfirmation Web Site more user-friendly and added notifications withWeb links for students who had notcompleted their E-MPN or first-timeb o r rower Entrance Counseling.Students who took advantage of thesenotices and links received their loanfunds faster. We also continued toexpand efforts to inform students ofthe required Stafford LoanConfirmation process via newspaperarticles and notices, special mail outs,c o r respondence, and the weekly UFelectronic undergraduates update.

• Common Origination andDisbursement (COD): COD waso fficially implemented by USDOE inApril 2002. SFA’s DisbursementsC o o rdinator III and Systems staffspent much time preparing for themajor switch from the LoanOrigination Center/Loan OriginationSystem, to COD for 2002-03. As a full-participant school, SFAwill fully useCOD’s features for 2002-03 for Dire c tLoans and Pell.

• Reconciliation of Direct Loan datawith USDOE: Due to the upcomingtransition to COD for 2002-03 and thea p p roaching shutdown of the LOS,USDOE set a close-out deadline ofDecember 31, 2002, for 2001-02mandating close-out seven monthsearlier than other years.Disbursements is working closely withthe business office to accomplish this.We anticipate close-out by mid-December 2002 with an ending cashbalance of $0 (out of $120 million indisbursed Direct Loan funds).

• National Student Loan Data System(NSLDS): This was our first yearusing the new NSLDS StudentTransfer Monitoring (FAT ) P rocess, bywhich NSLDS provides FATinformation for mid-year transferstudents directly to schools re q u e s t i n git. For spring and summer t r a n s f e rstudents, no disbursements weremade until data was received andc l e a red using the new pro c e s s .

R e g a rding NSLDS’ loan history detail,UF noticed and reported a datap roblem involving inaccuratelyreported Loan-Amount-Appro v e d

f i g u res being provided by the Dire c tLoan Servicing Center for Staff o rdLoans. The problem was resolved inM a rch 2002 (although no re t ro a c t i v eclean-up was done).

• NERDC/EAGLE: Financial aids c reens were available on a parallelbasis using NERDC CICS screens andthe new Web-based EAGLE(Enhanced Application GenerationLanguage for the Enterprise) scre e n s .T h roughout 2001-02, much testing,designing, and training occurred asSystems staff and other departmentsworked to verify accuracy andi m p rove EAGLE screen formatting,critical since the start of 2002-03 wasdesignated as the EAGLE-scre e n s -only launch point. Disbursementsworked on the Actual Disbursementss c reen and Checks file screen, andhelped test other scre e n s .

• ELM/Private Loans: ELM Resourc e s ,a non-profit organization comprisedof lenders, guarantors, and servicersp rovided UF with a proposal forcertifying and delivering funds forprivate loans. We accepted the plan,which included on-line loancertifications and overnight checkdelivery via ELM’s disbursement arm,the NDN (National DisbursementNetwork). We proceeded withrequisite profiles, training, etc., and bysummer 2002 were in full swing. A f t e rminor modifications, we were pleasedwith the overall ELM delivery system.

• Loan origination fee: The 3%origination fee for Staff o rd Loans, and4% for PLUS loans remained in eff e c t .

• Interest Rebate: Several years ago, theD i rect Loan Task Force instituted a1.5% interest rebate to students onnew Staff o rd and PLUS loans, as anincentive for timely repayment. Toretain rebate eligibility, students mustmake their first 12 payments on time.For 2001-02, the Task Force mandatedthe interest rebate be “up-fro n t , ”i n c reasing the amount students re a l i z ef rom loan proceeds. We modified ours c reens, files, and disbursements forthe upfront re b a t e .

• First Disbursement Flag: D i re c tLending enhanced the facility with

which schools send any actualdisbursement as the first loanpayment by creating a “FirstDisbursement Flag, saving manyman-hours of manual entry by LOCs t a ff. This small flag gave great re l i e fin having payments accepted/bookedby the LOC, and reconciling with theDepartment of Education at close-out.

S t a t i s t i c sIn 2001-02, Disbursements monitore dand authorized disbursement of$38,041,873 in grant funds, $102,856,612in scholarships, and $131,487,187 instudent loan funds. The total amountauthorized through this section was$ 2 7 2 , 3 8 5 , 6 7 2 .

Looking Ahead• E A G L E : Beginning fall 2002,

academic year screens will beavailable only in EAGLE. However,Disbursements will continue to re l yon various NERDC/CICS scre e n sf rom the Registrar’s Office and UFS.The old Checks History file will bepermanently archived to micro f i c h e ,rather than formatted to EAGLE.

• Scholarships: For more eff i c i e n tp rocessing, Disbursements will make2002-03 processing changes after fallRush. Data Processing will key mostdaily incoming scholarship checks onbatch entry screens, allowingDisbursements to control deposits,SAMAS account numbers, etc., whilep roviding for a higher bulk of checkentry at peak times. Other changesa re planned to provide more updatesto the Aw a rd and Check files by thesystem. We will have a photocopymachine specifically for our use,g reatly increasing check security ande fficiency by no longer taking checksout of our area to photocopy.

• ELM/Private Loans: UF intends tocontinue using ELM/NDN forcertifying and disbursing ournumerous private loans.

• COD: Implement COD, using newfile layouts, transmission methods,edit codes, etc., a big change for bothSystems and Disbursements.

• N S L D S : This year, USDOE

26

Records & OpticalScanning

SFA’s Records/Optical ScanningSection maintains an accurate, up-

to-date system of records consisting ofmore than 168,000 active and inactivefiles. This section, including an officemanager, a clerical supervisor, a seniorclerk, and a staff of work-studystudents, optically scans all records,purges the file system once a year, andmerges current files with those ofprevious years’ applications.

In 2001-02 the Records area underwentmajor renovations to the work area,including the creation of a separatework area for the office manager. Staffturnover included the loss of two full-time, long-term staff members, hencethe hiring of new staff and theaccompanying training demands.

KIDDS (Kofax Index DigitalDocument System) KIDDS, an administrative applicationon UF’s ISIS Web server, implementedin late 1999, allows our Records area toscan student documents on a high-speed, high-resolution scanner andstore them on a file server at NERDC.KIDDS enables UF staff to accessstudent documents on a standard Webbrowser by using their NERDC ID andpassword.

StatisticsDocuments generally are scannedusing KIDDS within two to fourworking days after their receipt.

Following are statistics on documentsreceived and scanned by Records forthe 2001-02 school year: VerificationChecklists, 35,829; student employment(SP-100) forms, 17,948; electronic datachanges from the FAFSA, 8,113; andawards and award revisions, 41,182.The majority of documents werereceived between June and September.The total number of documentsreceived and scanned during the yearwas 169,093.

Data EntryThe Data Entry staff is comprised of

one Pro g r a m Assistant. The primaryactivities of the Data Entry Section aredata entry of all documents re c e i v e df rom students or generated inhouseduring the process of applying forfinancial aid. There are two generalcategories of documents—"batch" and"online." "Batch" documents are keyedand stored throughout the day and thedata applied to the SFA p roduction filesduring the evening computerp roduction run. "Online" documents arekeyed throughout the day, and the datais applied to the SFA p roduction files asthe data is keyed.

Document Editing

The Document Editing Section isw h e re the application pro c e s s i n g

cycle begins. The staff, comprised of aclerical supervisor, an OPS e m p l o y e e ,and several student assistants, are alsoresponsible for the mailroom.

Document Editing also coord i n a t e sincoming and outgoing financial aidtranscript activities, requesting financialaid transcripts from other institutionsfor all schools listed on students’ aidapplications and honoring similarrequests from other institutions. TheDocument Editing/Mailroom Section isw h e re the application processing cyclebegins. The staff of this section re c e i v e ,sort, date-stamp, and scan certaindocuments and distribute all incomingmail. Most major mail outs are alsohandled by this area, appro x i m a t e l y142,935 pieces of mail, includingmailing financial aid award letters,Information Request Forms, student loanletters, follow-up letters, and bulkmailings of financial aid applicationpackets to Florida high schools andcommunity colleges at the beginning ofevery application year. DocumentEditing also edits Plus Data Sheets a n dgraduation dates before routing these toData Pro c e s s i n g .

announced a coming change to theNSLDS loan history detail portion ofISIR’s and query files. Instead ofreporting a student’s twelve mostrecent loans, NSLDS will report six,which will affect Disbursementswhenever a student’s loan maximumis in question for yearly or aggre g a t eamounts. Disbursements will acquireon-line capability to NSLDS to ensureimmediate and full access to data.

In 2002-03, the Direct Loan ServicingCenter will report loan data toNSLDS weekly, not monthly,significantly increasing usefulness ofonline NSLDS Web data and data wereceive weekly via ISIRs, possiblyallowing us to simplify disbursementedits for Loan History amounts.

• Other USDOE Enhancements:USDOE has announced they willi n c rease the capacity of the federalPIN site. They also project a singlesign-on by December 2002 to theirvarious Web sites for financial aidadministrators, a time-saver for manyat SFAwho access these sites daily.Also, Federal Perkins Loan borro w e r swill be able to use an M P N in thef u t u re, as well as e-signatures and on-line Entrance Counseling, pro v i d i n gg reater eff i c i e n c y.

• U F I D : UF’s new student identifier,replacing Social Security Numbers,will be implemented January 21,2003. SFA s t a ff, will assist with thes w i t c h - o v e r, which re q u i res massivemodification of files, scre e n s ,documents, and pro c e d u re s .Disbursements must still use SSNswhen dealing with USDOE, privateloan lenders, and private scholarshipdonors.

• U S D O E Title IV Final Rules, andupcoming Reauthorization: T h eFederal Register due November 1,2002, will detail final rules (re g u l a t o r yamendments created by negotiatedrulemaking, not involving statutorychanges). The effective date is July 1,2003. Reauthorization for the HigherEducation Act of 1965, as amended,will continue with various task forc e sand commentaries.


27


28

Systems &Programming

Systems and Programming (S & P)develops and maintains the

computer software systems needed forautomated delivery of student financialaid at UF. The Student Financial A ff a i r scomputer system is a fully functioning,automated system comprisingn u m e rous files and/or modules,involving both batch and onlinep rocessing. Among the staff’s manyresponsibilities are designing andmaintaining the online terminal displaysystem and coordinating electronic dataexchange with federal, state, and localagencies to gather all informationre q u i red to process students’ financiala i d .

S & P’s staff, consisting of ten, full-timesystems analysts and programmers, areresponsible for maintaining the re c o rd sof more than 30,000 financial aidapplicants.

Primary Responsibilities Batch processing and maintenance: S &P is responsible for the scheduledbatch production of 1,500 programs andfor maintenance of those modules.

Online processing/ maintenance: S & Pis responsible for scheduledonline processing of 29-plus screens andintegration and maintenance of thosemodules as needed. The section is alsoresponsible for the online, re a l - t i m e ,updatable interface with UniversityFinancial Services (UFS) for studenta w a rd and disbursement data and re a d -only access to all registrar files, studentloan collections, accounts re c e i v a b l e ,p a y roll files, etc.

Nightly interfaces: S & Pis responsible for nightlyp roduction interfaces with UF’sR e g i s t r a r’s Office, UFS, and studentp a y roll files to: pick up changes ine n rollment status, in academic andfinancial flags, and in payroll earnings;receive payment status information;and exchange student fee defermentand award information. Nightlyp roduction also involves interfaceswithin SFAfiles to trigger or halt thenext step of financial aid pro c e s s i n g .

Electronic telecommunication:• Federal Department of Education.

S & P is responsible for schedulingand monitoring the daily, two-way,electronic transmission of studentrecords to and from the federalprocessor (currently Electronic DataSystems). The records are thenloaded into the SFA database forcontinued processing as needed.

• Macintosh Network. S & P isresponsible for daily and ongoingmaintenance of the network,determining hardware and softwarepurchase requirements, and trainingusers in hardware and software use.

Programming updates Since students must apply for financialaid annually, a minimum of two yearsof data must be maintained andprocessed simultaneously.Furthermore, because of changes infederal, state, and institutional lawsand policies, virtually all programsmust be modified at least onceannually to reflect these requiredchanges. Some of the more volatileprograms, such as the Federal DirectStafford Loan Program and theverification modules, must bemodified more frequently. Programmodification and development of newprograms and modules are completedas needed.

Federal and state reporting: S & P is responsible for the scheduledproduction and maintenance of federalreports as needed. Annual andquarterly reports such as the federalFiscal Operations/Application forFunds report, the Pell Grant QuarterlyInstitutional Payment SummaryReports, and Board of Regents datafile reports are part of scheduledproduction. Other reports aregenerated by request.

Statistical reporting:S & P is responsible for productionand maintenance of statistical reportson an "as-needed" basis. Annual andquarterly reports are part of scheduledproduction. Other statistical reportsare generated by request.

Relationships with OutsideDepartments/AgenciesSFA’s S & P Section is involved inmany ongoing and necessaryrelationships both within and outsidethe university. Among thedepartments and agencies that thisunit serves and from which it receivesservices are:

University Information Services(UIS): SFA’s online award file isupdatable and directly linked to theUFS net check system (administeredby UIS). Payments are read into SFA’sfiles daily. Nightly interfaces withUFS’s files are an integral part offinancial aid processing, so productionschedules must be carefullycoordinated between these two units.UIS and SFA also share use ofhardware as needed (primarily highspeed printers).

Registrar: SFA’s online computerscreens are a subsystem of the Officeof the University Registrar’s GATAsystem. As such, S & P staff maintainongoing communication with theregistrar’s staff to keep abreast of allchanges to the GATA operatingsystems, feedback problems andsuggestions, and to ensure systemsecurity. Further, interfaces with theregistrar’s files nightly are an integralpart of financial aid processing, soproduction schedules must becarefully coordinated between thesetwo units.

Northeast Regional Data Center(NERDC): S & P works closely withNERDC staff for maintenance andupdates to SFA’s online line modules,to programming language changesand updates, and to systems security.Additionally, NERDC houses thestorage of all SFA data files.

Federal Department of Education: S &P staff work closely with federalDepartment of Education contractorsto ensure proper transmission andreceipt of electronic student aidrecords. This includes scheduling andmonitoring transmissions, annual

testing, and installation of programupdates.

Florida Information ResourceNetwork (FIRN): Receipt andtransmission of electronic, online loanapplication processing between UF andthe state contractor takes place overFIRN. Periodic communication withFIRN staff is required to keep abreastof changes and resolve transmissionproblems.

Knott Data Center: State processing forautomated financial aid grant andscholarship systems is handledthrough the Knott Data Center inTallahassee. Periodic communication isrequired to schedule and monitorelectronic record transmissions andresolve transmission and programmingproblems.

Office of the UF Chief InformationOfficer (CIO): S & P works closelywith UF Office of the CIO staff onvarious projects, including interfaceswith EAGLE (Enhanced ApplicationGeneration Language for theEnterprise), a Web-based file viewingsystem.) EAGLE enables mainframedatabases and CICS resources to bedirectly accessed from the Internet.

Board of Regents (BOR): S & P staffwork closely with BOR systems staff toprovide statistical reports as neededand to transmit the annual financial aiddatabase file.

Vice Presidents: S & P staff interactwith the vice presidents’ offices,particularly the Office of the VicePresident of Student Affairs, to providestatistical information or dataprocessing support as needed.Additionally, S & P staff are informallycalled upon to assist the Vice Presidentof Student Affairs’ and StudentServices’ offices with Macintoshnetwork installation, training,problems, and special projects.

Faculty and Staff: S & P staff interactwith UF faculty and staff to providestatistical information as necessary,assist in resolving problems, provide orlimit access to and interpret SFArecords, and act as an informalresource for Macintosh questions orproblems.

Continuing Goals• Work toward a "paperless" office

by: (1) increasing electronic datatransmission of student informationand electronic completion andtransmission of federal, state, andinstitutional reports, (2)investigating the feasibility of anelectronic student applicationprocess, and (3) adding new waysof capturing data.

• Increase and improve students’access to their financial aid recordsvia such techniques as the WorldWide Web, access via modem, andan IBM Voice Response Unit.

• Develop online training moduleson the Macintosh PC network forin-service and pre-service trainingfor staff and student assistants.

• Adapt and enhance existingsystems to remain in compliancewith federal and state regulationsas program statutes change.

• Plan for upgrades to technology inour Student Resource Center, whichprovides students with on-siteaccess to computer resources. Weplan to upgrade with five state-of-the-art Apple G4 computers and ahigh-capacity printer.

• Investigate the purchase andprogramming of card swipe readersto be used at our front deskadvising counter. With the readers,students will simply swipe theirGator One cards, and theirinformation will appear on theadviser’s screen. This technologywill improve staff efficiency andenhance student confidentiality.

Systems Activities for 2001-02S & P experienced another challengingyear, continuing with ongoing projectsand system maintenance whileabsorbing many new projects andchanges. Areas of change, primarily inpersonnel, hardware, and the financialaid delivery system fall into fivecategories: personnel, ongoing projects,system maintenance, new acquisitions,and new projects.

Personnel: S & P continues at fullstrength.


Ongoing projects: S & P continues tohave a long list of ongoing pro j e c t sg e a red toward creating a more unifiedand efficient work environment. S & Palso continues to be responsible forp rogramming and maintenance ofstatistics on the Rolm phone switch inCriser Hall.

System maintenance: Financial aids o f t w a re is in a continual state of fluxdue to changes in federal re g u l a t i o n sand the need to stay in compliance withfederal, state, and university re g u l a t i o n sand guidelines. This re q u i res continualmodification to aid award anddisbursement pro g r a m s .

New acquisitions: S & Pcontinues tomaintain our desktop computers at thePower PC standard. This year we havecontinued to replace older equipment.

New projects: The year has been filledwith new and continuing challengesand re s p o n s i b i l i t i e s .

• S &P continues to enhance SFA’ sWeb presence within Eagle and ISIS.

• This year S &Pcontinued to workt o w a rd full implementation of Eaglea c ross all aid years and scre e n s .

• We have purchased three OS Xservers to enhance our online andnetwork capabilities. The thre eservers are the email server, the We bs e r v e r, and the Filemaker Pro server.

• Systems staff installed the new Inter-Tel Phone System in June 2002, amajor time-consumer for severalsystems area staff members.

• This year, Systems worked inconjunction with our Disbursementsa rea to replace the TIVWAN datatransmission system with S t u d e n tAid Internet Gateway (SAIG). SAIG,a Web-based data transmittal system,allows us to transmit Title IV dataover existing ISP c o n n e c t i o n s .

• The new COD XML system of datatransmission with the Feds wasimplemented this year.

29

30

s t a ff & professional activities

"Student Financial Affairs is aboutteamwork. Our focus is communicationwithin the department and globally.Through our daily interactions, we developshort-term and long-term connections. Eachstaff member is encouraged to continuelearning and to assist other employees withtheir new-found knowledge. As we goalong that route, we do so with a smile."

Anne NewmanOffice Manager

Administration Karen Fooks DirectorRick Wilder Associate DirectorElaine Stuckman Associate DirectorRon Anderson Associate Director—Information/Publication Services, Outreach, Training & DevelopmentTony Gordon Computer Applications CoordinatorDonna Kolb Assistant Director, Scholarships and State Programs, Student Employment, Data Processing,

Mailroom, RecordsDonna Fowler Student Affairs Coordinator—Loans and DisbursementsPeggy Myers Student Affairs Coordinator—Pell Grant, Manual Awarding, Quality Control, VerificationRodlee Ritter Student Affairs Coordinator, Customer ServiceTerri Wilder Senior AccountantBetty Holt Senior Fiscal AssistantAnne Newman Office ManagerCathy Thompson Senior SecretaryLois Perkins Word Processing OperatorShirley Moore Senior Clerk, Receptionist

Customer ServiceErica Beard Financial Aid CoordinatorDebbie Coleman Financial Aid CoordinatorGarth Dixon Senior ClerkCarol Huber Financial Aid CoordinatorAndy Lord Financial Aid CoordinatorRhonda Riley Financial Aid CoordinatorCindy Jensen Financial Aid CoordinatorChiney Jones Clerical SupervisorCecile Kamath Financial Aid CoordinatorConnie Reed Financial Aid CoordinatorLaura McNamara Financial Aid CoordinatorFred Pearce Financial Aid CoordinatorTonja Cave Senior ClerkLakeatrice Williams Clerk

Special ProgramsNolan Simmons Financial Aid Coordinator, AthletesBill Watson Financial Aid Coordinator, MBA

Financial Aid ProgramsScholarships and State ProgramsBrenda Langley Financial Aid CoordinatorRuben Lopez Program Assistant

Student LoansAmber Harvey Financial Aid CoordinatorDimitra Schmidt Financial Aid CoordinatorAshanta Simmons Program AssistantLora Labonte Financial Aid Coordinator

Student EmploymentRuth Strawder Financial Aid CoordinatorMonica Johnson Senior ClerkConnie Welcome Senior Clerk


31

S FA S t a ff


Satellite Offices Mike Menefee Student Financial Affairs Coordinator, Health Professions,

Nursing, Pharmacy, & Veterinary MedicineEileen Parris Student Financial Affairs Coordinator, Medical CenterTom Kolb Student Financial Affairs Coordinator, Dental SchoolTrish Varnes Student Financial Affairs Coordinator, Law School

Technical Processing and SupportData ProcessingAnnalise Adams Program Assistant

DisbursementsSharon Stebbins Financial Aid CoordinatorJan Berlin Program Assistant

Document EditingEloise Trucano Clerical Supervisor

Manual AwardingRichard Brauning Financial Aid CoordinatorMichael Daube Financial Aid Coordinator

Information/Publications ServicesSusan Mickelberry Coordinator, Information/Publications ServicesJeffrey Stevens Computer Support Specialist

Quality AssuranceRose Williams Financial Aid Coordinator

Pell GrantDawn Western Financial Aid Coordinator

Records/Optical ScanningBerta Mills Office ManagerJoyce Days Clerical Supervisor Scott Glisson Senior Clerk

Systems and ProgrammingSharon Brown Computer Programmer AnalystDarius Cauthen Computer ProgrammerMike Dugger Senior Computer Programmer AnalystJohn Gifford Computer Support AnalystNorma Kuhr Computer Programmer Analyst ManagerCathy Murray Senior Computer Programmer AnalystRichard Omer Senior Computer Programmer AnalystRaleigh Pickard Senior Computer Programmer AnalystSusan Smith Senior Computer Programmer Analyst

Training & DevelopmentChris Joseph Financial Aid CoordinatorMicheal Wood Financial Aid Coordinator

VerificationRose Williams Financial Aid CoordinatorLarry Moore Financial Aid CoordinatorJeffrey Citty Financial Aid CoordinatorPat Bush Senior Clerk

3232


33

Karen Fooks • D i r e c t o rm e m b e r s h i p s: National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA); Southern Association of Student

Financial Aid Administrators (SASFAA); Coalition of State University Aid Administrators (COSUAA):Steering Committee

UF committees : Financial Aid Committee, Undergraduate Advising Council

Rick Wilder • Associate Directorm e m b e r s h i p s: NASFAA; SASFAA; FASFAA: Past President,Executive Board, Conference Committee Chair, Membership

Services Chair, Finance Committee Chair

UF committees: Reitz Scholars Mentor

Elaine Stuckman • Associate Directorm e m b e r s h i p s: NASFAA, SASFAA, FASFAA

UF committees: Minority Recruitment and Retention Committee, Who’s Who and Hall of Fame Selection Committee,

University Minority Mentor, Student Health Service Fee Committee

Ron Anderson • Associate DirectorDocument Editing, Information/ Publications Services, Outreach, and Training & Developmentm e m b e r s h i p s: NASFAA, SASFAA, FASFAA: Vice President for Training

Tony Gordon • Coordinator of Computer Applicationsm e m b e r s h i p s: NASFAA, SASFAA, FASFAA:Executive Board, WEB Site/Electronic Communications Chair

Donna Fowler • Student Affairs CoordinatorLoan Certifications and Disbursements

m e m b e r s h i p s: NASFAA, SASFAA, FASFAA: Federal Direct Loan Committee

Donna Kolb • Student Affairs CoordinatorScholarships, State Programs, Student Employment, Records/ Optical Scanning,

m e m b e r s h i p s: NASFAA, SASFAA, FASFAA

Tom Kolb • Student Financial Affairs CoordinatorCollege of Dentistry


UF committees: College of Dentistry Financial Aid Committee, College of Dentistry Admissions Committee

Mike Menefee • Student Financial Affairs CoordinatorHealth Professions, Nursing, Pharmacy, & Veterinary Medicine


Susan Mickelberry • Coordinator, Information/Publication Servicesm e m b e r s h i p s: University of Florida Communications Network (UFCN), SASFAA, FASFAA

UF committees: Student Affairs Update Committee

P rofessional Activities


Peggy Myers • Student Affairs CoordinatorPell Grant, Awarding, Verification, Quality Assurance, and Athletesm e m b e r s h i p s: NASFAA, SASFAA, FASFAA: Bonnie Pirkle Scholarship Committee; Student Affairs Sexism and

Homophobia Committee

Eileen Parris • Student Financial Affairs CoordinatorMedical Center

m e m b e r s h i p s: NASFAA, SASFAA, FASFAA, Association of American Medical Schools Committee on Student

Financial Affairs (COSFA)

UF committees: College of Medicine Financial Aid Committee, College of Medicine ADACommittee, Health Center

Student Conduct Standards Committee

Rodlee Ritter • Student Affairs Coordinator Customer Service


Nolan Simmons • Financial Aid CoordinatorA t h l e t e s

memberships: SASFAA, FASFAA, N4A

Trish Varnes • Student Financial Affairs CoordinatorLaw School

m e m b e r s h i p s: NASFAA, SASFAA, FASFAA, Key Bank Graduate and Professional Aid Advisors Conference

UF committees: College of Law Financial Aid Committee

Bill Watson • Student Financial Affairs CoordinatorM B A

m e m b e r s h i p s: SASFAA, FASFAA

34

S-103 Criser Hall, P.O. Box 114025, Gainesville, FL 32611-4025 www.ufsa.ufl.edu/sfa/(352) 392-1275 (352) 392-1272 TDD

Office for Student Financial Affairs Annual...

Documents

Transcript of Office for Student Financial Affairs Annual...