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The Whole Institution Approach: Mitigating Risks and Achieving Compliance in Student Aid Administration

May 18, 2023

By: Bob Covey-Robbins, FAS Sr. Consultant

An institution’s eligibility for administering federal student aid is critically important, and everyone must understand that compliance with federal regulations is an institutional responsibility and not just a financial aid responsibility. When we review the top audit and program review findings published by the US Department of Education we find that lack of compliance often falls outside the financial aid office’s responsibility. Let’s look at a few examples.

Audit Finding #2 and Program Review Finding #1: Student Status – Inaccurate/Late Reporting

Accurate enrollment reporting is important. The student status effective date drives when student loan repayment begins, or when a deferment should become effective. If a student has been repaying their loans and returns to school at least half-time, then their loan repayments can be deferred, so the student may cease making payments while they are furthering their education. If the school, however, fails to report that the student is now enrolled, then the lender or servicer of the loan continues to expect payments, and if the enrollment fails to be reported too long, the student can suffer undue consequences like negative impact to their credit rating, and is determined to be delinquent or in default on their loans.

Enrollment reporting is generally the responsibility of the Registrar or Student Records department, but problems are found as part of the Title IV Audit or Program Review.

Audit Finding #3 and Program Review Finding #2: Return to Title IV (R2T4) Calculation Errors

The Financial Aid Office is usually responsible for calculating R2T4, revising awards, and informing students of their responsibilities. However, the R2T4 calculation relies heavily on the student’s withdrawal date. For an unofficial withdrawal where a student stops attending classes, the R2T4 calculation may rely on accurate reporting of the student’s last date of attendance. Responsibility for accuracy of the calculation then, is a shared responsibility between Financial Aid, Faculty, and the Registrar.

Audit Finding #6 and Program Review Finding #3: Student Credit Balance Deficiencies

Federal regulations require the separation of responsibility for awarding/authorizing federal student aid awards and disbursing the funds, so again, we have shared responsibility between departments. The Financial Aid office has its set of rules and regulations to follow when determining a student’s eligibility, and the Bursar or Business Office has a separate set of rules and regulations to follow when applying funds to institutional charges and delivering excess funds to the student.

Program Review Finding #9: Consumer Information Requirements Not Met

This is a finding that can involve many different departments of an institution of higher education. Specific information and how the information is made available is complex and perhaps the best example of how Title IV compliance is an institutional responsibility. Besides the financial aid information that must be distributed or made available to students, Title IV regulations also require much information from other departments such as an Annual Fire Safety Report, Annual Security Report, Completion or Graduation Rates, Constitution Day and Citizenship Day program, Drug and Alcohol Abuse Prevention Program, Athletic Program Participation Rates and Financial Support Data, and the list goes on.

Managing Compliance

Maintaining Title IV compliance in the Financial Aid Office is complex and requires continual attention, and the responsibilities of Title IV compliance outside the Financial Aid Office make it even more daunting. Compliance can be considered much like a person’s general health, which requires day-to-day attention with regular check-ups. Many schools consider it valuable to have a regular, impartial, external review of their overall compliance. It’s better to find and close compliance gaps with a regular compliance check-up than to have them exposed in an audit or program review.

diverse group sit for training and cross training meeting

How Much Training is Enough?

May 4, 2023

By: Robert “Bob” Covey-Robbins, Sr. Consultant

How much training is enough for a financial aid office? How often do we need to provide updated training to staff? One of the top concerns that we often hear from financial aid staff is that they don’t get enough training.

Consistent and Comprehensive Training.

Financial aid training is not a “one-and-done” endeavor. It requires a consistent effort to stay up to date on financial aid policy. In 2022, just looking at federal sources, there were 86 Federal Registers, 24 U.S. Department of Education Dear Colleague Letters, and 196 Department of Education Electronic Announcements, all related to the administration of Title IV Student Financial Aid programs. If a school doesn’t have a training program to share all these updates with appropriate staff, then there are likely compliance gaps in existence that could result in significant risk.

Implementing Cross-Training.

Depending on a school’s size and level of automation, some functions within a financial aid office may be somewhat specialized with staff having specific programmatic or functional oversight. It’s important, however, that program expertise is not siloed to the point that when an individual becomes unavailable their program cannot continue. Cross-training and sharing of responsibilities is a good insurance policy against silo risk.

Training can also be a key element in succession planning. If recruiting efforts don’t always produce the experienced financial aid professional that was sought, a school may have to change its strategy to recruit someone who has the right basic skills and train them on the financial aid programs.

Combating Staffing Shortages.

Many schools are dealing with staff shortages and difficulty in filling vacant positions. This has been particularly true since the “Great Resignation” brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic began. However, it’s not a brand-new situation. Recruiting and retaining qualified staff for financial aid, business offices, and other student service departments is continually a concern for schools.

Coming up with a salary and benefits package that will attract the ideal candidate who is positive, fast-thinking, detail-oriented, problem-solving, knowledgeable of an amazingly complex set of federal, state, and institutional laws, regulations, policies, procedures, and practices, and consistently delivers world-class student service, while continually collaborating with and building successful working relationships with other administrators, faculty, staff, and the public in general, is challenging, to say the least.

If a school doesn’t have a person who is tasked with coordinating, preparing, and delivering training, then it may need to look externally for the training that is needed. FAS understands the importance of consistent and updated training for financial aid staff, especially in the face of constantly changing policies and regulations. We help institutions stay up-to-date with financial aid best practices.

Is your Financial aid office feeling the effects of staff shortages? Our services are designed to create systems and processes to assist with routine training and updates, ensuring that your financial aid office operations run smoothly. Learn more about how we can help your financial aid office stay compliant and up-to-date with the latest regulations and compliance requirements. Contact Us.

3 Tips for Managing Transitions in Leadership within The Office of Financial Aid

April 19, 2023

Reap the Benefits of Outsourcing

January 24, 2023

By: Jennifer Vaden, Student Business Services (SBS) Consultant

Many institutions have been feeling the pinch since the pandemic hit, with resource scarcity becoming commonplace. The question of how to accomplish more with less is getting tougher to answer. Meanwhile, students and parents expect a high level of service and support. This has created an environment in which colleges and universities must be creative with the financial and human resources we have to meet student and parent demands. Now is the time to reap the benefits of outsourcing.

Outsourcing a service to a third-party vendor can position an institution to improve operational efficiency, reduce overall costs, and enhance flexibility for its employees. Even though the word “outsourcing” may elicit a negative reaction as some inevitably link it to the act of laying off workers, outsourcing does not have to be all or nothing. Outsourcing can be approached as a partnership utilizing both institutional and third-party resources to significantly improve a service that is vital to students and parents. Many shared student services teams have embraced these partnerships to better meet customer service demands.

The first step is to assess which operational tasks, such as customer service, credit balance refunds, or financial aid verification, may be good candidates for outsourcing. Before exploring a partnership, however, it is imperative to start with what you know, namely, what is your data telling you. Achieving a high level of service and operational efficiency often requires a deep understanding of trends in volume, needs, and student and parent behavior as well as the productivity and capacity of your employees to meet those service demands. Today’s students live in an on-demand world in which waiting more than five seconds to receive a response can feel like a lifetime. Students and parents expect shorter wait times as they believe that the service level should be commensurate with the high costs associated with attending an institution of higher learning.

At one private four-year research institution, the business peaks align with the start of the Fall and Spring semesters, registration periods, and our yield season in April. Outside of these peak times, student and parent service demands tend to level out considerably. This presents a staffing conundrum. During peak times, far more staff are needed than are currently employed on the team to meet the higher demand for our services; however, in non-peak times, current internal staffing levels can meet the lower demand. Based on a thorough data analysis, it was clear that supplement staffing was needed for phone coverage. This would lower wait times and reduce complaints that sometimes were escalated to senior staff or even the presidential level.

Consequently, the institution engaged a third-party vendor to manage incoming calls rather than hiring additional benefited (W2) employees. The specific department was designed or resourced to staff seasonally whereas third-party vendors and servicers specialize in staffing for shifts in volume and activity. A third-party vendor can help you reach an optimal level of staffing to meet operational needs during the high, and shoulder, seasons.

Given the financial constraints facing many institutions, outsourcing a service is a decision worth considering especially if the demand for that service fluctuates throughout the academic year. The internal costs to hire, train, and retain benefited employees can be substantial. Budgetarily, direct costs to cover salary and fringe benefits for additional staff positions can add up rather quickly, making it more difficult to obtain the funding required to meet demands.

Outsourcing can be a viable alternative. The cost of a contract with a third-party vendor should typically be less than what an institution would need to budget to hire internally to meet the demand during peak times. In the instance mentioned above, the annual cost equates to approximately four internal frontline staff positions. However, the third-party vendor easily scales the staffing coverage beyond four positions to easily meet peak season demands. Bringing the service back in-house would cost nearly twice as much and result in overstaffing outside of peak times.

When factoring in the time and allocation of managerial staff to onboard and train new employees, the indirect costs quickly mount up. Moreover, complex learning curves often create situations where new employees are not able to significantly contribute for some time, requiring current employees to pick up the slack. This can increase burnout among current employees.

In this case, the third-party vendor is responsible for hiring, onboarding, and training their staff to support the client’s institutional needs. The institution supports the vendor as needed to ensure the content and quality are up to standards. This arrangement generally frees up managers to focus on more pressing service issues and reduces the burden that would otherwise fall on current employees. Considering the direct and indirect costs, outsourcing is a pragmatic solution.

Establishing a partnership with a third-party vendor can also provide you with the flexibility to focus on more than just day-to-day operational needs. There are important nonoperational needs that require managers to take their teams offline. Meetings, staff training and development, and campus events are a few of the reasons that operations may need to close temporarily. With a third-party vendor, operations can continue uninterrupted while you can dedicate time to grow and support your staff members. This flexibility benefits the leadership level as well. You now have the bandwidth to focus on the greater vision for the student experience because operational needs are being met efficiently and effectively.

Consider outsourcing operational needs to a third-party vendor when the data suggests it’s a smart option and your leadership asks you to be more creative with resources. Achieving cost savings, enhancing efficiency, maintaining compliance, and boosting flexibility are only a few of the benefits that await you when you embrace outsourcing as a viable solution.

If you’re just beginning to consider outsourcing, pinpoint the most time-consuming tasks. What takes your staff’s attention away from direct service to students? Most often, it’s back-office processes ranging from the Return of Title IV Funds (R2T4) to reconciliation and verification. All these functions are required by federal regulations. Outsourcing them to a trusted partner gives you peace of mind that you’re in compliance and the added efficiencies give you a real operational advantage. Contact FAS to learn how outsourcing is key to strengthening financial operations, optimizing enrollment, and enhancing the student experience.

The Financial Aid Operating Calendar – It’s a Date and More

January 19, 2023

By: Staff

Financial aid offices keep track of dozens, even hundreds, of important dates. These range from application processing cycles, regulatory reporting deadlines, and software updates to campus visitation events, staff meetings, and even personnel vacation requests. So, a financial aid operations calendar gives institutions a real advantage. It empowers the financial aid office to plan for important dates, complete tasks on time, and manage workloads effectively.

Getting started is easier than you think. Often a “low-tech” approach is helpful. This could be a paper calendar or a whiteboard positioned in a high-visibility spot. Start with the academic calendar on your school’s website or in the catalog. Overlay that with information on your financial aid processing cycle, and other key information. When you’re ready to move it online, most email systems provide a shared calendar option. Also, web applications such as Calendly and Monday.com have free and low-cost subscription services.

Once you create a calendar, make it a living document, and revisit it frequently. Ask for feedback from everyone in the office, and perhaps from stakeholders in other departments. Share your operating calendar with other departments and request a copy of theirs. Include a calendar review in staff meetings at least once a month. An update-to-date calendar can reveal things that otherwise might be overlooked. Some tasks may not require much lead time. Others could need more. Are there large projects which hinge on many small tasks being completed? Will too many people be out of the office at a busy time of year?

Near the end of the year, do a calendar self-assessment. Did you miss any deadlines? Did a project need more time than was planned? Was too much time allotted for another? What you learn about this year makes next year’s calendar even more effective.

An operating calendar is a powerful tool for planning and achieving the financial aid office’s goals. It keeps projects on track and even helps to ensure the staff maintains a healthy work-life balance. Need help creating an operating calendar? FAS can help! Reach out today for a no-obligation consultation.

Guidance on 1098-T and Pandemic Relief (HEERF) Funds

December 21, 2022

By: Christy Blakney, Student Business Services (SBS) Consultant

First, The Good News

Collecting and reporting correct information on IRS Form 1098-T seems to continually cause challenges. The good news is that there are no substantive changes to reporting for the 2022 tax year and past year challenges for properly reporting pandemic relief (HEERF) funds have been firmly answered. The Internal Revenue Service previously clarified that the emergency relief funds paid directly to students, or for which the student directed to be applied to their account balance, should be treated the same as any personal payment.

Treatment of Various Fund Types

Note that the IRS guidance only applies to funds under Section 3504 (additional Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant funds), Section 18004 (HEERF), Section 18008 (Howard University, Gallaudet University), Section 314 of the COVID Relief Act, and Section 2003 of the American Rescue Plan (ARP). It may not apply to funds that came through the states under the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Fund under Section 18002(c)(2) of the CARES Act. Institutions that received those funds from their states could use them to fund institutional grants to students. Absent guidance to the contrary, those grants to students should likely be reported on the 1098-T in the same manner as other institutional aid, especially for state tax reporting purposes. Additionally, funds received by the institution and used to “write off” delinquent student account balances may need to be reported to the student on a 1099-C as a cancellation of debt. Be sure to consult your tax office for applicability.

Inform Your Students

While school officials want to be very clear that we will never provide tax advice, you should provide information that lets them know how each amount reported on the 1098-T was calculated. The IRS allows institutions a wide range of flexibility in reporting to allow for differences in policy and timing but that is exactly what makes a 1098-T confusing to some taxpayers. Many taxpayers expect the form to report “plug and play” amounts similar to a W-2 or 1099 but unfortunately, that is simply not true. Providing a detailed supplement of the calculations is not always feasible so it is important to clearly state your school’s policies with regard to items such as treatment of deposits, exemptions, waivers, contracts, and also the school’s choice of reporting spring charges (Box 7 option). These helpful tips can be reported on your own 1098-T FAQ site or as a communication that accompanies your 1098-T form.

At a minimum, sharing the link to the IRS FAQs may help reduce questions directed to your office and will support your calculation method for reporting amounts on the 1098-T.

Remember to Solicit Students’ TINs

And, finally, make sure you continue to follow IRS guidance to send a written solicitation (e-mail and other electronic communications are considered “written”) to any student who has not provided their taxpayer identification number (TIN), e.g., Social Security number. Best practices suggest sending this solicitation at least twice before sending your file to the IRS. Rules require schools to file 1098-Ts even if the student fails to provide his/her TIN. Proof of an annual request protects the institution from being assessed penalties for filing a 1098-T without a TIN. Also, consider working with your Registrar’s Office to coordinate this information-gathering function. Also, be sure you “check the box” on the IRS copy of your 1098-T file indicating you have complied with this solicitation requirement during 2022.

If a student fails to provide you with their TIN prior to the institution submitting their 1098-T file to the IRS, the IRS indicates that you should not issue a corrected form simply to add or correct personal information. Corrected forms are only necessary if reported amounts were calculated incorrectly and are being changed.

Still Have Questions

Student Business Services can help your institution review its existing business practices related to 1098-T and other reporting requirements. Together, we can develop a comprehensive managerial reporting plan that is easy to execute and ensures you will meet regulatory deadlines. Contact us today for a no-obligation consultation.

A FAS-Track to New Academic Year Setup

December 8, 2022

By: Lisa Seals, Senior Consultant

Ready for the New Academic Year?

Getting ready for a new academic year can be a time of reflection or pulling your hair out. It’s a time to determine what has worked well, what could be improved, and what must totally be re-evaluated or reinvented.

Where to Start?

All Student Services, or Enrollment Management, departments are crucial to the new academic year setup. Using the right information from each area in the setup process not only streamlines operations but also maintains compliance measures and ultimately gives students a better experience. Each department has specific requests and requirements of the Financial Aid Office. Mapping out everything that is needed, why it is needed, and the timelines to be met is a great starting point.

What’s Needed and From Whom?

Gathering data, from certain departments, helps to set reasonable timelines to get these steps set up in your ERP systems and to produce actual or estimated offers to all students, but specifically the first-time, first-year incoming students.

Admissions

Admissions Requirements
Admissions application acceptance
Admissions approval timelines/codes
Merit scholarship model and award amounts
Need based grant (scholarship) model for incoming students
When are students given school email and portal access?

Registrar

Academic calendar (Start/End dates)
Official break of 5 or more days
Term and Module census dates
Is the calendar approved and are all dates in the registrar module?

Business Office

Tuition and Fee rates
Billing statement dates
Will estimated aid be listed on the bill?

Housing

Will actual housing costs be available or will estimates be used?

Information Technology

When will the new academic year release of the software be installed?
Will there be an opportunity for testing the new release in a development (i.e., sandbox) environment?

What would you ask for?

Reasonable Timelines?

What is a reasonable timeline? Meeting with the various student services departments will be helpful during this process. Generally, the Admissions Office and Senior Leadership have a target date for first-year, incoming students to receive offers from the institution. With that in mind, make sure that you have the new academic calendar as well as updated tuition and fee rates, and housing costs. Also, confirm the IT Department’s timeframe for importing the new award year’s data into your ERP system.

We know that we can use estimated data for this information. Most institutions want to now use actual tuition and fee rates while establishing a cost of attendance. The goal is to have finalized information to complete the setup processes, and not have to redo anything. What do you use?

What’s Next?

Let’s set up the system! We’ll get into that soon!

Tips and Hacks for Effective Student Communication

November 28, 2022

By: David Glezerman, Executive Consultant

As we approach the new year and start thinking about personal and professional New Year’s resolutions, it’s a good time to think about how to optimize how we communicate and interact with our students, families, and other institutional stakeholders.

Too often, institutions have relied on a single contact method to deliver information to their students—usually a school-provided email address. But students report being overwhelmed with emails from the “.edu” address coming from multiple institutional offices with a variety of news and information. The result is that students tune out and ignore all school emails, regardless of the value or urgency of the message.

Thoughtful communicators have found that schools can coordinate their efforts through increased collaboration across departments to reduce and simplify information requests and messaging via email channels. Student service offices should regularly review the types and content of their written communications to students, both electronic and U.S. Mail, to simplify and improve how and what is being delivered and when. Seeking out options for sending fewer, but more focused, correspondence can improve mail opening rates and lead to more timely bill payment and responses to information requests.

Revising your messages to provide clear and concise language can help in setting expectations and achieving desired results. If your message sounds too robotic and bureaucratic, is peppered with acronyms, and fails to clearly spell out what you need or expect, your message likely will get little or no attention. Consider enlisting your institutional marketing department or working with student advisory groups to help rewrite messages that will lead to better response rates and generate fewer questions that lead to office visits, phone calls, or emails.

Using a multi-channel communications strategy not only will be more appealing to students’ varying preferences but will also most likely increase individual reads and actions. Whether using text messaging, portal checklists, or chat features, using different communication tools, both separately and in tandem, will help your institution reach students and also demonstrate your commitment to quality service delivery.

Let us review your institution’s current business practices and related communications. Together, we can develop a comprehensive program to help manage your student accounts receivables and communicate with your students in a service-friendly and compliant manner. Contact us today for a no-obligation consultation!

Administrative Capability, a Mammoth Challenge in Financial Aid’s Staffing Crisis

November 17, 2022

By: Bob Covey-Robbins, Consultant

What does it mean for an institution of higher education to be administratively capable? Why is it important? Whose job is it to ensure that a school complies with administrative capability requirements?

Administrative capability is carefully evaluated when a school’s application for certification or re-certification is reviewed by the Department of Education. The school must demonstrate administrative capability. 34CFR§668.16 extensively outlines the conditions for administrative capability. In short, it means that the institution has the people, expertise, systems, technology, policies, and procedures to effectively manage Federal Student Aid programs.

The institution must designate someone to be responsible for administering FSA programs, but it also must ensure that the person is supported by an adequate number of staff needed to effectively administer the programs. There is no specific formula for determining the number of staff needed. It must be determined by the number of students applying for financial aid, the various financial aid programs the school administers, the technology used, and how much administration is automated.

Many schools are currently struggling to maintain an adequate number of staff to remain in compliance with the daunting number of Title IV statutory and regulatory requirements. According to a US Chamber of Commerce article, today, there are 2.9 million fewer people in the workforce than there were in February 2020, and even if every unemployed person were to gain employment, there would still be a labor shortage (Ferguson, 2022).

Has the financial aid office workload lessened with declining enrollment? Many would say that it has actually increased since the COVID-19 pandemic started. Expanding the modality of financial aid counseling to include remote advising, administering HEERF funds with its frequent changes in federal guidance and reporting requirements, and more recently, the addition of Fresh Start student loan default relief. The number of students seeking a Fresh Start at a school can bring a significant increase to the financial aid office workload.

Declining enrollment has led to decreases in operating budgets, making it even more difficult to retain valuable staff as more attractive employment opportunities arise outside of higher education administration. Creating entry-level financial aid office positions may add staff, but those staff need extensive training, supervision, and coaching as they become proficient in their new role. For many schools, the cost of new aid officer training programs offered by state, regional, and national associations is out of reach.

The harsh reality for many financial aid offices is that they are facing the perfect storm of increased demand for services, staffing vacancies, continuous audit pressures, shrinking budgets, and, ultimately, concern about maintaining the school’s eligibility to participate in federal student aid programs.

To provide the needed services to help families with financing higher education, while maintaining legislative and regulatory compliance, more schools are seeking interim staffing solutions. Services can range from filling a financial aid director’s role to outsourcing daily financial aid processing tasks. For many schools, using a trusted partner for interim staffing and outsourcing processing tasks provides a more cost-effective means to providing quality student service, while maintaining compliance and making a valuable contribution to the school’s enrollment management efforts.

Working Well Together, Even When You’re Apart

November 15, 2022

By: Joyce Sonenberg, Senior Consultant

Monday morning, the start of a new workweek. Off goes the alarm, and off you go. Comb your hair, throw on some clothes, grab a coffee, check that all is right with the world, and head off to the office. The office? Wait a minute. Where is the office? The office may be in the corner of your bedroom, the empty spot in the basement, or the remains of what used to be the linen closet. The fact is the office can be anywhere. Because, in this world, you are a full-fledged remote worker.

If you are a remote employee, you are far from alone. If you currently are not working remotely, chances are that you may soon be. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates over 25 percent of all Americans will be working remotely by 2025, which translates to over 36 million people. That’s a whopping 87 percent increase compared to pre-pandemic figures. Other research suggests even higher increases as workplace dynamics continue to evolve. Regardless of the numbers, sooner or later you may find that your office is just down the hall—the hall in your home, that is. Working remotely can be chaotic, stressful, and frustrating. It can also be very satisfying, rewarding, and unleash a level of professional creativity that can change the trajectory of your career. Let’s aim for the latter. Here are a few tips to consider as you head to your office.

Maintain a professional workstation.

Be organized. Practice the time-honored cliché, “A place for everything, and everything in its place.” Run your home office just like you would your location office. Keep your stock of office supplies at an acceptable level. Have adequate amounts of printer ink, paper, notepads, pens, pencils, staples, and zip drives. Remember, you oversee the office supply department. Unnecessary trips to the office supply store are inefficient and waste time and money. Make sure you have up-to-date technology. Your home computer may be a bit less sophisticated than what you are accustomed to in the on-site office, but you should be able to come fairly close. If you need two monitors, then get two monitors. If you need a dependable audio headset, then get one. You can’t expect to work efficiently without the proper tools. Check with your internet provider to ensure your connection speed and capacity can handle your needs. Create a practical workstation or desk that provides ample elbow room for notepads, calendars, your keyboard, and your mouse. Don’t forget a comfortable office chair as you will be spending many hours in it. Choose your home office area to be in as distraction-free an environment as possible. Often easier said than done, but it will benefit both you and your family members in keeping the peace. Re-organize at the end of the day so you are ready to start fresh in the morning. You’ll thank yourself for it each day.

Present a professional image.

Okay, so you don’t have to dress like you are making a presentation to the Board of Directors. However, you are a professional, working with other professionals, from your professional office. True…a home office, but a professional one, nonetheless. So, business casual at the least? Yes. T-shirt and sweatpants? No. If you look and feel professional, you will demonstrate professional work behaviors which can directly impact your relationships with students, parents, and other staff. Remember, remote workers reside from coast-to-coast, time zone-to-time zone, and even globally. Look good and be at the top of your game.

Maintain your focus.

Treat remote work like a real job, because it is. When you are in your home office, you are at work so schedule your day appropriately. Use and pay attention to your calendar. Keep your supervisor informed of personal, sick, or vacation days. If you are a director, maintain a schedule for your staff and share it with them.

Even though you are working from home, you may still require daycare. We love the little ones, but we do not typically bring them to the office. Household chores like laundry, shopping, lawn care, and home maintenance are distractions that are not part of a normal workday, so schedule them for your off days. Sure, you can load the dishwasher, but accomplish this task during a scheduled coffee or lunch break. It’s easy to get bumped off task when working remotely from home.

Stay connected with your staff.

Staff can’t just pop into your office and “touch base” with you like in the past. Likewise, you can’t as easily provide directives or clarification face-to-face either. It’s more important than ever to stay connected with your staff. Reach out to them often. Keep them in the loop. It isn’t difficult to achieve this, you just need to use different methods or tools. Hold regularly scheduled brief daily check-up meetings at the beginning or end of each business day. Informal individual or group end-of-the-week chats can help to build both trust and teamwork and assist staff to become more comfortable and efficient with the remote environment. There are several reliable platforms available for use in this approach. ZOOM and Microsoft Teams are commonly found in most offices. Use them to share both your and the staff’s calendars, assignments, and directives. Email and conference calls are very useful and time-tested methods. Remember, you’re not functioning as a hermit. You are still working with your team. Engage them often and encourage them to do the same.

Stay connected with your students.

Students are the reason you are there. Providing quality service to students while working remotely often requires extra effort. Make sure you reach out to the students often and assure them they will receive the same level of attention as if they were standing at the front counter of the campus FA office. Develop staff schedules that clearly identify email and telephone response responsibilities, both for receiving and returning student and parent inquiries. It may be particularly important to monitor staff performance in this regard. Take the time to review the financial aid office portion of the school website and clarify any confusing instructions, confirm contact phone numbers, and email addresses, and important dates on the calendar.

Final Considerations. Whether you’ve elected, or have been directed, to work remotely, it doesn’t appear to be a work style that is on the decline. Regardless of which resource is cited, most indicate a steady growth in U.S and international remote workers. Is it right for you? Of course, only you can decide. There are many areas to consider when contemplating a remote employment position.

Control of your work schedule is a strong attraction for those considering a remote position. While it is convenient in some respects, that flexibility does not mean the remote workforce is made up of slackers. Remote workers say they often average 45 – 55+ hours on the clock per week. A significant number of remote workers reported they felt obliged to work more than 8 hours a day and often worked 10 to 12 hours a day, frequently putting extra time in on weekends. Many workers acknowledged that knowing when to shut down and disengage was one of the biggest challenges they encountered while working remotely. Scheduling breaks, taking a walk, eating properly, and prioritizing time with family are important considerations. On the flip side, workers generally stated they felt more focused on their responsibilities, experienced less job-related stress, and are 35 to 47 percent more productive. Remote workers often reported an increased sense of self-esteem and professionalism.

Would you like some help navigating the new realities of work? Perhaps it’s time to reevaluate how your staff and office are structured. Contact us for a no-obligation consultation.