Inter-Departmental Communication
What corrective action might a supervisor of the Financial Aid and Student Accounts/Bursar Offices put into place if they knew the offices were not communicating well and risking Title IV non-compliance as a result?
The supervisor should first call a meeting of all department head staff. She/he then should implement a communication policy. This should in-tale signatures, proof of communication, and compliance in all departments with written agreements.
Sara,
Inter-Departmental meetings are so important when attempting to keep everyone informed of regulatory changes. Expectations should be completely clear so all staff understand their role in compliance and overall, the success of the school.
Cindy Kohlman
The supervisor could appointment a staff member who is trained in the Title IV Regulations to be a liaison between departments, communicating with each department to ensure understanding and compliance across all offices involved in Title IV administration.
Linda,
We used this very same technique at one of the schools that I worked for and it was very successful. At most schools the Director assumes the role as the campus communicator and distributor of financial aid administration information.
We also assigned various listservs to staff who became responsible for reading and sharing important information during our staff meetings to keep everyone informed but not overburdening them by expecting them to read everything! It simply can become very overwhelming very fast, so the more you can divide up the responsibilities and perhaps shift them on occasion, the less-stressed your staff will be. This method also promotes cross-training and accountability!
Cindy Kohlman
Someone with the authority to manage communications between departments should ensure that there is proper oversight and support to ensure needed outcomes (accuracy, timeliness, regulatory compliance, etc), that each department understands their role in the overall process, and that communication in general within the organization is clear, thorough, and focused around department and organizational goals.
Kristina,
The key to your comments is "someone with the authority". Very often the inter-departmental interactions are between equal, peer director positions. It can sometimes be difficult for the person who decides to take the lead to ensure these interactions occur and on a timely basis. Senior management need to ensure they expect these interactions and promote their success when communication is practiced on a daily basis. Great ideas!
Cindy Kohlman
The supervisor of FA and SA could hold weekly meetings to work on communication. They could also prepare reports with input from the employees in both departments.
Also, as others have mentioned, the open communication and sharing of information has to be there from the top management of the school or others in the organization will not take it seriously. We've used shared spreadsheets to track each department's required action, deadlines, etc. these have been useful in managing compliance.
Susan,
I love the inter-departmental spreadsheet technique. What a great idea!
Cindy Kohlman
It is very important for everyone to be on the same page regardless of department. A meeting should be held to ensure everyone is on the same page and also remind the staff the importance of compliance. If necessary an action plan can be put in to place and additional training should be offered as well.
Allison,
The meetings you suggest are a critical component to increasing and improving communication between departments. I created meeting agendas as well as made sure that we took the time to take minutes and distribute them in a timely fashion. This created a paper trail and ensured that important "to do" items were followed up on. As a result, staff could be held accountable for the information and it very often created increased open dialogue between the financial aid and other department staff members.
I love your idea of an action plan and the incorporation of training opportunities.
Cindy Kohlman
Federal compliance is a campus responsibility, not only for Financial Aid. Different directors from the student services offices should meet and develop a system to inform and train their staff about all aspects of title IV regulations. Also, policies should be developed to maintain streamline processes.
Sergio,
Title IV compliance is an institutional responsibility, however, my experience has shown that this is not the case at the majority of schools. I still to this day, do not understand it, however, it comes from the senior management down to the departmental directors practicing open communication every single day.
I agree with your point that policies should be developed and are required per federal regulation. Then the next hurdle is to actually get staff in the habit of referencing written policies and procedures that so many people took the time to write and maintain!
Cindy Kohlman
Supervisor should outline the deficiencies that both departments are effecting compliance and bring it up and present to the leadership team of the campus and strategize on how it needs to be corrected by what deadline and have consequences if not met or corrected.
Catalina ,
All great ideas. In my experience, with all types of institutions, there always seems to be room for improvement for inter-departmental communication, especially when the departments report to different vice presidents, senior managers, etc. It can be so frustrating but if strong, determined staff make it a priority to not let that or any other hurdle get in their way then progress can be made that will not only benefit all the staff involved, but more importantly will only improve customer service to students. You noted setting deadlines which ensures that expectations and potential consequences for not meeting those goals are perfectly clear. Sounds so simple but not always practiced!
Cindy Kohlman
Title IV compliance is an institutional responsibility. Institutions should have policies and procedures developed and implement them every day. Communication among departments is very important; trainings and internal audits as well.
Daisy,
There are so many compliance issues that reside outside the Financial Aid Office. May I suggest that you register for the course FA231-Compliance Outside the Financial Aid Office. It is a new course which discusses in detail all the ares and offices on campus that have a share of the compliance responsibilities.
Warren Hoffman
Communication between all the departments is the key for success and the institution must conduct internal audits to evaluate compliance and identify problems and liabilities. The Financial Aid Director must provide training to the staff in a daily basis to improve the staff administrative capability.
Daisy,
Keeping up with compliance issues could be a full-time job. It is important that the FA Director trains other staff members in the office or other offices so that they know what to look for to avoid issues that can cause problems with keeping Title IV eligibility for the school.
Warren Hoffman
