October 2014 Webinar Titles and Descriptions
Perfecting Your Policies and Procedures Manual
Are you meeting administrative capability requirements? Are you ready for an audit or program review? Does your staff know the policies and procedures necessary to ensure proper compliance? Your Policies and Procedures Manual is the first thing ED will want to see. This session makes sure your office has well-defined policies and procedures are in place. A thorough manual can also serve as a step-by-step guide for staff members.
Specific topics include:
- Key components of a manual
- Regulatory guidance
- Tools for schools
October 1 @ 3 PM, Eastern time
Perfecting Your Policies and Procedures Manual
Presenters: Michiale Schneider and Tasha McDaniel
Clock-hour Programs and R2T4
Return of Title IV (R2T4) doesn't have to be daunting. This session walks through a clock-hour example to help you understand what it is and when it applies so you can effectively counsel students and help them make informed decisions about withdrawing from school.
Specific topics covered include:
- · R2T4 basics: what it is, when it applies, the formula components for clock-hour programs
- · Reviewing a hand calculation
- · Post-withdrawal disbursements
October 1 @ 12 PM, Eastern time
Clock-hour Programs and R2T4
Presenters: Keyimani Alford and Linda Peckham
Making the Call: What to Say to Delinquent Borrowers
If calling delinquent borrowers is part of your default prevention strategy--or should be, this webinar is for you. Through the use of role playing, this session will help increase your comfort level, teach you how to handle common objections, and how to ask for a payment without coming off as pushy.
Specific topics covered include:
- Demonstration of soft skills needed for making calls
- Importance of questioning, listening, acknowledging, and prefacing
- How to ask for payment and explore other payment possibilities
- What to do when a caller tries to brush you off
- How to deal with emotional borrowers
October 7 @ 12 PM, Eastern time
Making the Call: What to Say to Delinquent Borrowers
Presenters: Tasha McDaniel and Hannah Achtor
Reaping Results with a 12-Month Default Prevention Action Plan
Default prevention results can be achieved when a plan is developed and executed properly. Do you know how to create an actionable 12-month plan that reaps results? If you’re like many schools, developing a plan requires time and resources that may be limited. During this session we will show you how to put together a 12-month action plan that is manageable. We’ll walk through the plan month by month, demonstrating strategies that you can deploy to help you manage default rates and reap results.
Specific topics covered include:
- Grace period outreach
- Outdated contact updates
- Early awareness campaign
- Loan rehabilitation outreach
October 8 @ 3 PM, Eastern time
Reaping Results with a 12-Month Default Prevention Action Plan
October 23 @ 12 PM, Eastern time
Reaping Results with a 12-Month Default Prevention Action Plan
Presenters: Tasha McDaniel and Michiale Schneider
Difficult Conversations: How to Manage Conflict While Providing Customer Service
Does your front line staff know how to deal with difficult situations in positive ways? This webinar will demonstrate proven techniques for diffusing conflict while providing great customer service. The financial aid process can be frustrating and emotionally challenging for both parents and students. This heightened anxiety can play itself out in the aid office when parents and students direct anger and frustration at counselors or front line staff. Your teams’ ability to diffuse a difficult conversation and create a problem-solving approach is crucial to your customer service effort.
Presenter:
Shannon Patterson, M.S., Instructor in Business Administration and Conflict Management at Argosy University.
Specific topics covered include:
- Bridging conflict management and customer service
- Depersonalizing anger and emotion
- Using reflective listening to gain control
- Strategies for problem-solving that result in trust
Date: October 9 @ 12 PM, Eastern time
Difficult Conversations: How to Manage Conflict While Providing Customer Service
Presenters: Michiale Schneider and Tasha McDaniel
FERPA, Social Media, and the Financial Aid Office: Communication and Compliance
Financial aid offices are using social media to communicate important financial aid information to students. Do you know how to balance FERPA protection with this public communication medium? As you build your social media communities and encourage students to follow you, your office also needs to ensure your strategy is FERPA compliant. This interactive session will provide specific guidance on what can and cannot be posted and how to respond to students who post private information on your page.
Specific topics covered Include:
· FERPA, friends, and followers – what are the issues?
· Defining educational records and legitimate educational interest in the social media space
· School posts vs. student posts – how and when does FERPA law apply?
October 9 @ 3 PM, Eastern time
FERPA, Social Media, and the Financial Aid Office: Communication and Compliance
Presenters: Linda Peckham and Liz Gross
The Student Loan View from the Credit Reporting Cycle
The choices borrowers make with their student loans-both positive and negative-are reflected on their credit reports. Do you know how to explain the credit reporting cycle to your students? This session will walk through the credit reporting cycle to demonstrate the effects of timely loan payments, as well as the impact of delinquency and default on long term credit history. Attend this session to learn ways for educating your students.
Specific topics covered include:
- · How and when loans are reported to the credit bureaus
- · The impact on a borrower’s credit report based on their repayment plan and status
- · Strategies for educating borrowers to improve their financial health
October 15 @ 3 PM, Eastern time
The Student Loan View from the Credit Reporting Cycle
October 21 @ 12 PM, Eastern time
The Student Loan View from the Credit Reporting Cycle
Presenters: Tasha McDaniel and Michiale Schneider
Your First Day as New Director: 5 Things You Need to Do to Ensure Success
Are you a new Financial Aid Director or aspire to be one? New aid directors face unique challenges in their first days on the job. This session will help you successfully transition to your new role.
Specific topics covered include:
- · First day essentials: security updates and reports to review
- · Assessing your office culture – your team and your peers
- · Identifying roles and responsibilities
- · Securing resources
October 16 @ 3 PM, Eastern time
Your First Day as New Director: 5 Things You Need to Do to Ensure Success
Presenters: Linda Peckham; Janet Dodson, Associate Director, Tuition Exchange; and Past NASFAA Chair
Gail Holt, Dean of Financial Aid, Amherst College
Financial Aid for Beginners
Learn the basics of financial aid and gain an understanding of how different programs work and how financial need is determined. This session will review how students apply for financial aid and how the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) fits into the application process to help you better respond to the needs of your students and help them see that a college education is possible.
Specific topics covered include:
- Deciphering the language of Financial Aid
- Student eligibility requirements
- Types of financial aid programs
- Importance of FERPA privacy provisions
October 23 @ 3 PM, Eastern time
Financial Aid for Beginners
October 30 @ 12 PM, Eastern time
Financial Aid for Beginners
Presenters: Linda Peckham and Keyimani Alford
Understanding the Verification Process
Baffled by the complexities of verification? This session will give you the information you need to simplify the verification process into three easy steps. We’ll also define some common issues found during the review process and how you can resolve them.
Specific topics covered include:
- Understanding verification requirements
- Step-by-step instructions for reviewing documentation and completing the verification process
- How to resolve verification findings
October 28 @ 3 PM, Eastern time
Understanding the Verification Process
Presenters: Linda Peckham and Keyimani Alford
Applying Federal Methodology
How is a student’s financial need determined? Learn how Federal Methodology is used to calculate a student’s Expected Family Contribution (EFC)undefinedand be able to calculate an EFC. You’ll be better prepared when making financial aid awards.
Specific topics covered include:
- Purpose of Federal Methodology
- Guiding principles of Need Analysis
- Components
- Manual EFC calculations
- Special circumstances
October 22 @ 3 PM, Eastern time
Applying Federal Methodology
October 29 @ 12 PM, Eastern time
Applying Federal Methodology
Presenters: Linda Peckham and Keyimani Alford
Database Matches: Resolving Common Comment Codes
This session reviews how the database matches following FAFSA completion impact student aid eligibility and what you can do to help resolve any issues that arise. Leave feeling confident about resolving C-codes and conflicting information.
Specific topics covered include:
- Review of the Central Processing System database matches
- Guidance on resolving database mismatches
- Types of conflicting information and how to resolve them
Date: October 29 @ 3 PM, Eastern time
Database Matches: Resolving Common Comment Codes
Presenters: Linda Peckham and Keyimani Alford
Understanding the FAFSA: It All Starts Here
Get a comprehensive overview of the FAFSA. This session steps you through the FAFSA line by line. We’ll help you feel comfortable assisting your students so they can correctly complete this crucial first step to receiving federal financial aid.
Specific topics covered include:
- Applying for financial aid
- Answering dependency questions
- Processing the FAFSA
October 21 @ 3 PM, Eastern time
Understanding the FAFSA: It All Starts Here
October 28 @ 12 PM, Eastern time
Understanding the FAFSA: It All Starts Here
Presenters: Linda Peckham and Keyimani Alford
Loans 101: Understanding the Basics
Learn the basic details of the different federal loan programs so you can better understand, process, and encourage your students to make good borrowing decisions.
Specific topics covered include:
- Guidelines for educating students on the impact of borrowing loans
- Types of federal loans and how they compare
- Repayment options available to students
- Using NSLDS
- The consequences of delinquency and default and what you can do to help borrowers avoid them
October 30 @ 3 PM, Eastern time
Loans 101: Understanding the Basics
Presenters: Linda Peckham and Keyimani Alford
