University Business - September 2006 - (Page 35)

MONEY M AT T E R S How to Get the Most Out of Your Financial Aid Consultant These 10 principles outline a productive institution/consultant relationship. By Samantha Veeder, Kathy Kurz, and Jim Scannell W only someone familiar with financial aid I T H E N RO L L M E N T S practices and programs could identify. and net tuition revenue at stake, more and more colleges 3. Beware of potential conflicts of and universities are seeking help from out- interest. side consultants in reviewing financial aid strategies. Here are 10 principles to follow If your consultants recommend a par- to ensure that the consulting relationship ticular product or service offered by an- is as productive as possible: other firm e.g., a loan product, software, etc. , make sure you understand what is 1. Be sure that the advice provided is in it for them that could be influencing data driven. their judgment. This is not to say that consultants who are receiving a referral Although pulling together a data file in- fee or other compensation from another cluding both admissions and financial company will always be giving you bad aid information may not be easy if you advice. They should, however, be up- have never analyzed financial aid strate- When consultants front about the arrangement and be able gies before, beware of any consultant who to clearly demonstrate why the option doesn't ask for one. Understanding how recommend another firm's they are recommending is the best one students have responded in the past to product or service, find for your institution. your offers of admission and aid are criti- out what's in it for them. cal to the development of sound strategies 4. that will better address the price sensitiv- Make sure that all parties have a ity of your particular admit pool. clear understanding of the scope equally important when seeking advice A consultant merely recommending and the deliverables of the project. about the strategic use of financial aid. strategies that have worked at other in- Without an understanding of need anal- Regardless of the specific reason for hir- stitutions, without a data-driven analysis ysis, federal and state programs, alterna- ing a consultant i.e., operations review, of your particular market position and of tive awarding approaches, and financial strategic financial aid review, retention the price elasticity of your pool, can eas- aid processes, consultants can fail to rec- analysis , it's critical that both parties ily backfire. ognize inaccuracies in a data file, recom- clearly understand the nature and details mend packaging strategies that don't take of the project. Ideally, the specifics will be 2. full advantage of external aid resources, defined in writing and then signed by Ensure that your consultant has or develop recommendations that are ex- experience as a practitioner. Samantha Veeder was formerly the director of tremely difficult to implement. When seeking advice about operations, Financial Aid at Hobart and William Smith For example, a financial aid practi- many administrators intuitively under- Colleges N.Y. . She joined partners Kathy Kurz tioner will know what to look for when stand that it is important for the advice and Jim Scannell at their enrollment manage- scrubbing the data files you provide, and to come from someone who has sat ment consulting firm Scannell & Kurz in July. frequently a practitioner can identify prob- in the seat of the financial aid direc- They can be reached via their website, www .scannellkurz.com. lems with the data based on anomalies that tor. That kind of practical experience is www.universitybusiness.com September 2006 | 35 MMttrs906.indd 35 8/21/06 4:02:36 PM http://www.scannellkurz.com http://scannellkurz.com http://www.universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - September 2006

Contents
College Index
Company Index
Advisory Board
Editor's Note
Behind the News
Viewpoint
Marketing
Human Resources
Money Matters
Community Colleges
Summer Conference Report
Learning After Loss
Not Your Typical Textbook Advice
A Greener Attitude
Mobile Technology: One For All
Lessons in Landlording
Business Technology
What's New
Calendar of Events
Direct Connect
End Note

University Business - September 2006