Financial aid responsible for aneurysms
Is the desire to have a proficient and timely Financial Aid Office absurd, or is it a basic right that every student should demand?
Financial aid is something that almost every student must deal with each semester here at Georgia Highlands College. Around 80 percent of GHC students are now receiving some type of financial aid. This is a drastic increase of as much as 50-60 percent compared to recent years, according to Kelly Gribble, director of the Financial Aid Office. So, yes, students should demand a high level of competency from our Financial Aid Office professionals.
However, the Financial Aid Office here at GHC is oftentimes an information black hole and the problems facing it pandemic.
The distinction must be made, though, that the Financial Aid Office staff is not fully responsible for these problems. Lack of funding within the budget handicaps the office from hiring the help it desperately needs.
According to Gribble, there are only five full-time staff members in the Financial Aid Office, and one of these will shortly be leaving.
On the bright side, albeit not too bright, Gribble said that there is currently a concerted effort to bring in a full-time customer service representative that will work strictly for the Financial Aid Office. This, along with the advent of the Banner/Score website, will hopefully ease some of the suffering.
It is understood that most of the personnel in the Financial Aid Office are doing their very best. They are limited in time and resources, both of which lessen their capacity to help students.
However, at the end of the day, this does not matter to students who cannot attain the information they need, does not matter to students who after weeks of asking the same questions are still no closer to an answer, does not matter to students who have to drop out of their classes because they cannot get the appropriate funds to attend school.
Bottom line: there are no excuses. The Financial Aid Office must become a proficient well-run machine capable of handling the full weight of the GHC students. This must become a priority for the Financial Aid Office, as well as the administration of this college, if GHC is to see continued growth.
Students pay their hard-earned money to attend classes, and as such, demand the same kind of quality work from GHC as GHC demands from us.
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