STUDENT SATISFACTION SURVEY 2007 RESPONSES TO OPEN ...

assistance. They actually laughed at me because I have a house, a job, etc. They seem toonly look at the age & color of a person initially.349: It would be nice if HCC actually explained the process to their students. BTW, people inthe financial aid office at the Dale Mabry campus are not helpful at all. I tried going intothe office to get some help with my tuition and the lady that "helped" me had a scowl onher face the whole time and just threw some paperwork at me. She made me stand up atthe counter, she didn't even take me to the back to sit down and discuss some possibilitiesto help me afford my classes. I still have to pay for my classes all by myself because of [astaff member] in the office.356: Less wait time; answer questions by phone363: I think they have good services for all of the students.The staff is very nice and helpful.365: The people their could at least pretend to be glad they have the oppurtunity to helpstudents that could not otherwise afford to attend college.375: speed up wait times. make things more accessible online376: Financial aid services needs to be more organized. The computer system is not correct,and is causing students to not receive funds. When I've had specific questions, they getanswered, but the process of what forms are required is not explained fully. I always endup having to visit the office 4 times instead of just handling everything at once. The staffwould not be nearly as swamped and stressed out if they fully assisted students in onevisit.378: I think the financial aid office is sorely lacking in staff. This is one of my biggestcomplaints since starting HCC. The wait is always extremely lenghty. The staff is rudeand impatient and act as if the students are wasting their time. I often see a room full ofstudents waiting while the staff is walking around joking and talking. When staff isfinally available usually a fast and useless answer is given and there doesn't seem to beanyone to go to for satisfactory answers.380: need more advisers382: The staff checked the extra documents I submitted but did not say if they are the rightdocuments or not.Weeks later,I received a letter stating that the documents submitted arenot the ones they need.I had to spent extra time submitting other documents again.Canthey checked carefully next time?397: Have them get back to you faster. I applied for a student loan and 7 weeks later I haven'theard back and when I went to check on it- the woman said to check back in a few weeks.i still haven't heard anything.400: There is always a wait at the financial aid office because there is only 2 people workingalways...I would beef up officers and also everyone in office is always moody402: more help finding aid, scholarships, etc.416: Have appointments available. The wait times are very very long425: Hire people who can speak proper English and who actually care about the students. Thefinancial aid office is a mess, every time I have gone to turn one thing in, they tell me Ineeded to turn something else in... they sent me in circles. They never seem to be able toexplain any processes to me, just that it will take 'x' amount of time. It never ever actuallytook 'x' amount of time. Also, maybe if people were hired strictly for the phones,someone could actually get through. I have waited on the phone for almost 3 hours beforefor someone to pick up... no on ever did. I called well before the office closed, too. TheseStudent Satisfaction Survey 2007 – Q20: Financial Aid – Page 167