The PeopleSoft Financial Aid module provides for a significantly
increased ability to track and report on the financial aid payments
of students across the campus. To make full use of the accuracy
and efficiency of this product, a policy should was put in place
to ensure that ALL financial transactions to the students account
are entered through the PeopleSoft system. The most typical way
for departments to process student payments, by manual Transfer
Journal Voucher, is no longer be an option.
Administrative Value:
Financial Aid:
In PS, a student's record and account can be shared, both indirectly
or directly, by a department, such as a graduate program, and
the appropriate Financial Aid Office. The ability of these units
to know what the other has done has obvious advantages:
- It prevents duplicate entry and errors related to the student's
account. Often, a department may not know that another unit
has already credited the student's account. Up front knowledge
will prevent duplication of effort and errors.
- The "shared" access and posting will prevent over
awarding, and ensure that Federal and institutional guidelines
for the payment of students are not inadvertently violated.
System entry will also ensure that appropriate laws concerning
taxability or income reporting are adhered to.
- The ability to do real time and accurate reporting will be
appreciated by all units, at various levels. Allowing any payments
to bypass the People Soft system will jeopardize accuracy, and
we would lose any advantage gained.
The People Soft system also allows for both ease and efficiency
in the payment of students by the departments, and thus reduces
administrative costs. On line transactions ensure that there are
no delays in crediting the students account, and reduce the all
too common data entry errors by the department, accounting, or
the Financial Aid and Bursar's Office. The department will only
have to post something once, and will be given choices from their
own funding sources, so that the possibility of error is greatly
reduced. Departments will also be able to add, on line, layers
of knowledge about an award if they choose. They can:
- Tie the award to faculty committee results which can, in turn,
be reported upon.
- Attach "notes" to the student's computer file concerning
the reasons for an award or an adjustment. These notes can be
shared with other units if appropriate
- Work with the Financial Aid Offices to make an award "automatically"
to a student who meets certain criteria. For instance, many
graduate programs offer the same award to all first year Ph.D.
students who have been admitted, and who have not received any
external awards. Having this done automatically will not only
save duplicate entry by the Department and the Financial Aid
Office, but will in fact save initial entry.
Financial Aid:
There are several avenues for initial awarding of Financial Aid
funds through the PeopleSoft Student Administration System
- Departments and units may be given direct access to a student's
Financial Aid file. This option may be appropriate for some
departments, but requires the most training of any of the available
options.
- Within PS Financial Aid there is a panel group entitled "Restricted
Aid," where a unit may enter an award for a student, and
indicate the appropriate funding source, without having direct
access to the "Financial Aid" panels. The award information
is then pulled into Financial Aid and Student Accounts. The
transaction can be set up to require the approval of Financial
Aid, if that is appropriate.
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