Chancellor luncheon focuses on financial aid

Fall 2011 has been a tough semester for financial aid.

"We really apologize to our students that have had such a very frustrating experience this semester with our financial aid process," said Dr. Sharon Blackman, senior associate V.C.E.A. chief workforce and retention officer. "Our efforts have been to reorganize the Financial Aid's entire operations and we have a great foundation."

Dallas County Community College District (DCCCD) Chancellor Dr. Wright Lassiter, along with many of the district's campus presidents, including Richland's Dr. Kay Eggleston, met Nov. 7 with student reporters to talk about issues concerning the DCCCD. The financial aid challenge was one of the main topics discussed.

Blackman said that implementation of financial aid changes started in November 2010. They were supposed to go through June of this year, but, due to numerous roadblocks associated with the complete restructuring of the Financial Aid Department, several key positions remained unfilled and caused major delays in students' financial aid awards.

"When things go wrong, everything seems to go wrong," Blackman said.

Due to federal regulations, Blackman said there was a lot of programming and reprogramming to do in the software.

"And that is one of the reasons why we were delayed," she said. "Even though our objective was to start in the summer for the awarding process, we did not award until almost two weeks prior to the first day of classes."

Blackman said they have been working on all of those processes. Because of the challenges, the deadline was extended to Oct. 31. Meanwhile, the district is still continuing to process those loan applications.

With training of new staff, a much smoother process is expected for the spring semester, Blackman added.

On a related note, a new policy regarding Student Academic Progress (SAP) has meant significant changes for financial aid.

According to the DCCCD website, "The colleges of DCCCD are required by law to formulate standards to measure a student's progress toward completion of a program of study while receiving financial assistance through federal, state or institutional student aid programs by applying both qualitative and quantitative measurements to academic work.

To be in compliance with federal laws, financial aid will be based on academic progress. Blackman said students must now receive a 2.0 grade-point average or better to receive financial aid.

If students do not achieve a minimum 2.0 average for the semester, they are put in what is called "financial aid warning." During the warning period, students are still eligible for financial aid but must bring their average up to a 2.0 by the end of the semester to be eligible for financial aid in the spring.

If students do not meet the criteria, they will be placed in a status of financial aid suspension. Under the new regulation, if students are in financial aid suspension and enroll in a DCCCD class, they must pay out-of-pocket for tuition.

The district said that students are able to remove their suspensions after meeting SAP requirements. Students who meet SAP requirements will be able to see their awards by the beginning of January.

Budgets and possible cuts also remain high on the presidents' minds.

Among all DCCCD campuses, Richland had to make the largest cuts during the last cycle.

Last year, $4.3 million was cut out of the operating budget.

Eggleston said one of the ways Richland has lessened the impact of the cuts is by offering faculty members the volunteer retirement packages.

"At this point, we have authorized replacement of 17 of those old-time faculty positions," Eggleston said. "We are still working hard to identify opportunities to save money and reallocate funds for faculty hiring. This is one of the significant challenges that we continue to work on from the financial standpoint."

In addition, many of the DCCCD campuses are hitting their 40-year mark.

The severe drought conditions in the area are greatly affecting the foundations, pipelines, trees and other shrubs in many of the campuses.

Important maintenance will be difficult to do without the necessary funds.

"We are keeping our fingers crossed that we don't get hit with another cut," said Lassiter.