I recently moved to Pullman from Wisconsin, my home of 40 years, to become WSU’s new Assistant Vice President of Student Financial Services. The first thing I learned upon my arrival is that it is no secret the past two years in the financial aid office at WSU have been challenging.

 Many factors contributed to that challenge – the economy, decreases in state funding, increases in tuition, many more students needing aid, and the implementation of zzusis. 

Last fall, with support from WSU President Elson S. Floyd, the financial aid office began a Good Faith Reorganization with the goal of becoming faster, friendlier, and easier for students. We also changed our name to Student Financial Services (SFS) to reflect our new comprehensive approach.

Here are just a few of the key improvements:

Faster: Waiting in a long line is a thing of the past. Technology has been key in our improvements as we began disbursing aid this year in April, several months earlier than in previous years. We also have developed the FinAid Scheduler.

You can now make an appointment to see a counselor at a time convenient to you, as well as provide specific information on the nature of your visit, so counselors are better prepared to help you when you arrive.

 Over 15,000 appointments were made through the FinAid Scheduler in the past year. Also in April, a new SFS Communications Center was established to handle calls and emails quickly and effectively.

Friendlier: A new web-based service called Coug Compass was launched in April which allowed 7,600 new and transfer students to view their initial financial aid awards in real time.

Easier: A new feature on the SFS website called SubmitSFSDocs allows students and parents to submit forms and supporting documentation electronically – a process that has reduced the need for follow up information. Additionally, SFS eliminated many unnecessary forms.

The bottom line is we needed to do a better job of working with our internal and external partners, using technology, and communicating with students and parents. With your input and continued help from the university, we will continue to become faster, friendlier and easier!