This separation of duty is so important because each position has it's own duties that they must focus on to give the student a good experience. If an admissions advisor states something about financial aid that is not true, that puts finanacial aid in a bad position because they must now tell the student the correct information. This can lead to a lack of trust by the student and may give them a bad impression overall of the school.
I believe it is important for the prospective student...it enables them to feel that they are making a decision based upon the information and not because they have built a connection with the Admission Representative.
The separation is important, because of the specialization each person has... There are a lot of rules and regulations that you must keep up on, and attempting to be completely knowledgeable on both subjects could open yourself, and institution up to unintentional communication.
The separation of duties is essential so Admissions professionals and Financial Aid professionals can be experts in their respective fields to better serve the student by avoiding misrepresentations.
I feel that students can get confused if they aren't getting the same information from everyone at the school.
Not just conflict of interest, Ruth, but also to avoid the perception of the school as performing industry-substandard practices. One person can't, ethically speaking, be the deciding factor for admission and financial aid when the money is coming from the federal government. The pressure for profitability of the operation of the for-profit school should lead to a wise decision to split the roles of admissions and financial aid to appease shareholders and stakeholders in the overall organization.
Jessica ,
True, thanks, though duties may be departmentalized and separate, everyone is still operating from the same page.
Jay Hollowell
It is important so that there isn't any misrepresentation of the programs or the financial aid options to the student.
The Admission Dept. is there to help the student understand all the school has to offer him and how it can help him reach his career goals. Financial Aid is educated in the correct way to help him find the funds to do so. Both important but very different.
Admissions Representatives are not trained in the area of financial aid. Therefore, they are more likely not to be able to give accurate information.
It is important to establish the Admissions Advisor and the Financial Aid Advisor as distinct specialists. There is job-specific training that only each specialist knows. An additional benefit is that the student tends to view each advisor as a specialist and learns where to go for specific support and assistance.
The other reason I feel it is important to keep these two positions distinctly separate is it removes any possibility of misinformation due to lack of training.
Separation of duties is very important because it is important that students receive the best and accurate information for the best decision for them. The separation of duties the admissions advisors have special training to assist students about what is required for entry to the school and financial aid is specialized in knowing all about helping students get what they qualify for from the programs available.
As a financial aid rep, I feel the school hires us to make sure we handle anything FA to the policies of the board of ed. This is important as there shouldn't be any grey area between the admissions rep's role and the FA's role, but rather they should work to enhance the relationship of the students to give clear and concise information.
When dealing with student information it helps build trust with the student by separating departments accordingly. It also helps from a managerial standpoint and helps employees when address workflow matters.
admissions reps are biased about enrollment where FA is to guide student in FA process.
Separation of the Admissions and FA roles is of vital importance in the institution to avoid any conflict of interest. Admissions' roles is to assist students with the enrollment process and/or helping the prospects find a program that suits their individual interests. The financial aid office roles are to assist applicants with the application process if needed and in administering student aid while staying in compliance with all federal regulations.
An admissions representative must be very carefully when communication with potential students, especially in those areas the adm. rep is not an expert. When it comes to financial aid, there are some many confidential information that needs to be share only with the financial aid rep.
There is a tremendous amount of details involved in each of these positions. Admissions has many areas of compliance that they must be know. This doesn't include the knowledge they must have regarding their programs and the various aspects of their school.
On the flip side, the Financial Aid officers likewise have a tremendous amount of information that they must be knowledgeable of and able to track. In both of these areas, rules and regulations are constantly changing or being added. The separation must exist not only to help each one be efficient but because each one has its own measurements of job performance.
