Administrators face complex challenges every day. On the front line, financial services professionals meet the expectations of students, faculty and colleagues with dedication, enthusiasm and a commitment to their charge. With a sense of optimism common to his fellow communication professionals, J. Paul Blake will discuss the current landscape in higher education, share his thoughts on leadership and provide attendees with a message of inspiration to open this year's Western Students Financial Services Conference. 

Want to know why compliance is so important to your school and your collection agencies? This program will walk you through our current regulatory environment. We’ll look at the birth of the CFPB, how the CFPB is different than other regulators and explore the factors driving attention towards disputes in the collection environment and impacting your job. Jim McCarthy – a Founding Member of the CFPB – will share his unique view of the way the CFPB examines companies under its purview, and what the Bureau looks for. 

How does an organization continue to thrive when resources dwindle and business demands only seem to increase? How do you avoid burnout while keeping a team engaged and productive? Process improvement! It’s a vague and intimidating answer - where would you start? Come and join us for a conversation about improving processes and creating an empowering and rewarding culture, framed by one department’s journey with implementing LEAN methodologies. 

The re-authorization of the Higher Education Act and the proposal of a new campus-based loan program is being considered, while student debt, access, retention, and completion continue to be of concern on the Hill and in the media. The Department of Education continues to provide guidance on the wind-down of the Perkins program and remind schools of their due diligence obligations while they continue to manage their portfolios. Meanwhile COHEAO continues to provide guidance in institutional loan development, financial wellness and various receivables issues. This session will provide an update on how COHEAO is monitoring what's going on in Washington, with the Department and a glimpse into how the 2020 elections may impact it all. 

A nationally recognized attorney who works with colleges and universities will explore the changing landscape of bankruptcy and student loans. This will include a review of pending legislation and how this area is evolving in the courts. The session will also cover the recent Department of Education’s solicitation of comments on how to handle bankruptcy filings involving federal student loans, including the possibility of changing the Department’s position on undue hardship claims. 

A nationally recognized attorney who works with colleges and universities will explore the changing landscape of bankruptcy and student loans. This will include a review of pending legislation and how this area is evolving in the courts. The session will also cover the recent Department of Education’s solicitation of comments on how to handle bankruptcy filings involving federal student loans, including the possibility of changing the Department’s position on undue hardship claims. 

Students sponsored by 3rd party payers often arrive at school with unique circumstances and challenges that can be hard to predict and difficult for the student to navigate. The development of PSU's Financial Wellness Center prompted a period of massive transition in the school's 3rd party billing processes and policies. This era of change has brought a more student-centered and transparent approach towards establishing sponsor accounts; working with students transitioning out of sponsorship; and actively working to establish a proactive approach to common issues. This session will discuss the positive outcomes associated with moving from a reactive approach to billing and sponsored student accounts to a proactive financial wellness approach. Within this framework our session will discuss how the change in processes and policies has impacted use of staff time, increased our efficiency, decreased our outstanding past due balances, and established clear expectations of our sponsored students. 

Do you want to start a financial literacy program and struggle on what to do first? Here are 8 quick steps you can use to promote financial literacy in your department. Come and check out our Financial Freedom Portfolio to share with your students.

Each year, millions of postsecondary students’ success is threatened by unexpected financial hardships of just $500. Emergency Aid (EA) has proven to be a cost-effective way to improve persistence, retention, and completion, as well as equity, inclusion, and a students’ sense of belonging. In 2017, the University of Washington (UW) joined a national effort to tackle emergency aid, lead through the Emergency Aid Lab. During this session, we will share how UW has designed its EA program, review case studies, and provide a progress report of the program’s outcomes thus far. 

The scientific literature shows a clear relationship between substance use and lower GPA, more skipped classes, discontinuous enrollment, and even taking longer to graduate. In this presentation, we will consider ways in which night-time alcohol or marijuana use can impact students the next day, effects of marijuana on attention, concentration, and memory, and academic motives for non-medical use of prescription stimulants despite no academic benefit when used non-medically. Strategies for discussing substance use with students you are supporting will be discussed.