Skip navigation

UWSP Financial Aid

http://www.uwsp.edu/finance/

Assessment Review Completed:  April 16, 2009

April 16, 2009 assessment review/presentation consisted of the following:
Financial Aid Assessment Presentation; Department Overview

Contents

Vision

“Making it happen!” This is a loaded phrase to us, but it is more memorable for its brevity. To us it is a focal point from which a lot of what we do emanates. Students choose higher education, prepare for it, the dream of success, then worry can it really be done? We have to take their circumstance as we find it, hitch on to their dream, and “make it happen.”

Back to Top

Mission

The overall goal is to provide financial assistance for those students who need it without overburdening individuals with excessive indebtedness. We want to do this in a timely and accountable fashion.

This mission gives direction to all our initiatives and energy to our purpose. It puts us in a striving mode and reminds us of our servant role. It is a mission that can not ever be entirely carried out, because the aid is never enough to our liking and the debt is always more than we would want it to be. But our task is to always keep the mission in sight and let it fuel our yearning to find the best possible solutions for all the conditions that come our way.

Back to Top

Values

  • Education as a primary means of achieving a better life
  • The dreams of each individual we encounter
  • Extra effort for the most difficult cases
  • Fairness to all we serve
  • Honesty and integrity in all our actions
  • Making the aid application process as simple as possible for our applicants
  • Fast and accountable service to ease applicant anxiety
  • Respect for each individual, regardless of background or condition
Back to Top

Goals

Each year the Financial Aid Office identifies goals and objectives to accomplish in an effort to assess or improve the various services provided by the office. The goals and objectives for the coming year include:

  • Goal 1: Award existing financial aid resources in a consistent, fair, and equitable fashion compliant with current federal and state regulations.
    • Objective 1: Set award policy, parameters, and practices that will meet or exceed existing state and federal regulations.
    • Objective 2: Develop fund-awarding controls that sustain awarding of insufficient resources in a consistent, fair, and equitable fashion, beyond the rush of early applicants, at least through June 15, and ideally well into September.
  • Goal 2: Implement two new federal grant programs and one new federal loan program.
  • Goal 3: Hire one university associate and one assistant director to fill anticipated vacant staff positions.
  • Goal 4: Install and attain fluency in the SCT Banner 7.X upgrade, which will be a major change in the administrative data management software system utilized by the Financial Aid Office. This system controls the way the Financial Aid Office looks, feels, functions, and communicates between work stations, servers, and remote site servers.
    • Objective 1: Staff will need to be prepared and available during a “cutover” period which will occur from Banner version 6.X.
    • Objective 2: Because there are new functionalities in the upgrade, the staff will need to be involved in testing to ensure that the new software version operates in the same manner as prior releases and that any new procedures needed to take advantage of the new functionalities are designed and implemented in an efficient and effective manner.
  • Goal 5: Review the existing Financial Aid Policy and Procedures Manual for accuracy and completeness.
    • Objective 1: Garner staff input to provide for a thorough update of the existing Policy and Procedures Manual.
    • Objective 2: Develop a process for monitoring and updating the Policy and Procedures Manual in the future.
  • Goal 6: Develop documentation from the Financial Aid Office for the next North Central Accreditation visitation.
    • Objective 1: Review Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education benchmarks for the Financial Aid Office. Develop narrative responses addressing all related areas of interest.
    • Objective 2: Complete relevant assessments and generate appropriate future objectives accordingly.
  • Goal 7: Administer a simple client satisfaction survey. Review results to ascertain if there are new service enhancements that are needed and warranted.
Back to Top

Intended Outcomes

  1. Mail incoming freshmen awards prior to any other University of Wisconsin school.
  2. Award existing financial aid resources in a consistent, fair, and equitable (vertical) fashion compliant with existing federal and state regulations.
  3. Develop fund awarding parameters that sustain awarding of insufficient resources in a consistent, fair, and equitable (vertical) fashion, beyond the initial rush of early applicants, ideally well into September, but at least through June 15.
  4. Compile and submit compliant data to satisfy the NCAA Division III financial aid reporting requirements.
  5. Review the existing Financial Aid Policy and Procedure Manual for accuracy and completeness.
  6. Generate documentation from the Financial Aid Office for the future North Central Accreditation report and on-site evaluation.
  7. Administer the existing client satisfaction survey to develop a longitudinal benchmark.
  8. Communicate with students, parents, community, and other staff members a positive, caring image of the Financial Aid Office personnel through our interactions.
  9. Document the quantity of email correspondence for each of our staff members.
Back to Top