STUDENT FEEDBACK

Suggestion/Concern: When can we expect to see feedback from you on our suggestions?
Response: Thank you for your feedback. The Vice Chancellors Council is scheduled to meet the second Monday of each month depending on other events. Responses will be posted as soon as possible after that meeting.

Suggestion/Concern: Why don’t the Cafe` stay open longer for the students that live on campus?
Response: Thank you for your feedback. The College Cafe` is a private entity that has been contracted to provide lunch and has recently started providing breakfast. The hours of operation are posted. There are no plans at the present time to extend those hours of operation.

Suggestion/Concern: Monday the 7th I had a missed call on my phone. When I called back the number I got the switchboard operator and I couldn't be told who had called me or why. Is there any way that when an instructor cancels a class they can inform the switchboard so when we students start calling back we can get an answer. Because of the volume of call the switchboard operator had been receiving the operator suggested that I call my instructor for my class and check to see if it had been cancelled. Sure enough that is what had happened. I know that instructors are busy, but we as students are as well. There has to be a better way to get this down than to play phone tag.
Response Thank you for your feedback. Effectively immediately, instructors will notify students AND the campus switchboard of class cancellations Student notifications will be provided to their SAU Tech email account and/or by telephone.

Suggestion/Concern: Lots of bonus classes I can’t get to.
Response: Thank you for your feedback. Please clarify your suggestion.

Suggestion/Concern: Children playing in the LRC. I pay tuition to attend this University to increase my education and use its facilities to enhance the instruction I receive in the classroom through independent study and reflection. How can this be accomplished for me or any other student if there are little toddlers running around in the LRC like it is a daycare. There should be no children allowed in the library.
Response: Thank you for your feedback. No children are allowed in the LRC. Signs have been posted to notify patrons of this policy.

Suggestion/Concern: The teacher needs to provide more help because the materials are so hard to understand. And don’t grade so hard. .
Response: Thank you for your feedback In order to address this concern, more information is needed.  Please schedule an appointment to visit with someone in Academic Affairs. You can call 870.574.4564 to schedule an appointment.

Suggestions/Concerns: Pell grants take too long to get refund checks back.
Thank you for your responses. We understand that SAU Tech is in compliance with Federal guidelines on disbursement dates. I do not think that is in question with most of the students. The question that we want answered however is WHY the financial aid and business offices wait so long to request the money from the government. Most students at other Arkansas schools get their money within the first two weeks of class. Why is it not possible for SAU Tech to do the same.
Response: Thank you for your feedback. Obtaining funds for students who have been awarded federal financial aid is not a simple process. Once a student has been found eligible to receive funds, the award is made.  In the awarding process it is assumed the student will be full time. The accuracy of that assumption is available only after census day - the eleventh class day for the fall and spring semesters, and the fifth class day for each summer term. For those students who prove not to be attending full time, the awards are prorated at best, or cancelled if aid is not within federal guidelines. Those determinations are made in the Financial Aid Office and made available to the Business Office.

Prior to this time, many students have elected to charge books and supplies in the Bookstore against their awarded aid Those charges must be posted against the student accounts. Then the available awarded aid is applied to the student accounts. At that point, it has to be determined if a refund is due Also, the Financial Aid Office must perform an Origination. That process sends information to the federal processing center and actually starts the funding mechanism.

All work on those student aid records stop until a report is issued from the federal processing center that shows the amounts the center calculates for each student along with any errors that may be present in the Origination. The work on those student records restarts and a Disbursement Request for those students is sent to the federal processing center. This is the request for funds. The request is processed and the funds are transmitted for use by SAU Tech. At this point the transmitted funds are compared to the request If the two amounts match, The Business office distributes each students funds to his/her account.

If the funds received exceed the amount owed, the student then gets a refund. Now, the checks must be made for distribution of the refunds.

This process takes time. We are looking for ways to shorten the time it takes to get refunds in the hands of students. However, SAU Tech does not have sufficient cash available to distribute refund checks before the funds are received from the Department of Education. The total amount needed for refunds is quite large.

Suggestion/Concern: The Business Office or financial aid should not take Loan money to pay tuition and books before Pell grant just because it comes in first. Pell is guaranteed money from the Government. Even if it comes later, it is coming Loans have to be paid back and is needed for untraditional students to pay more than tuition and books (which most fees will be covered by Pell). Rent money, food, gas and other things needed for class can’t be charged at the bookstore and it is a long wait when loan checks are dispersed first but used up instead of only subtracting the difference that won’t be covered by a student’s awarded Pell amount. We put YOU first, also needs to apply to what is best for the students’ finances. The purpose of college is to improve yourself and gain better paying jobs. Loans are most likely needed to cover what grants and scholarships don’t cover to allow untraditional students to stay in school.

Response: Thank you for your feedback. In years past, it was SAU Tech’s practice to apply Pell grants to student accounts before loans were applied. However, students would enroll at the college and never attend class. When this occurs, SAU Tech is required to return the loan funds to the government. If the student has received the loan funds in the form of a refund, the College has no way of getting that money back from the student except by billing the student. This resulted in the College paying the Government money that is never paid back to the College by the students. Therefore, the College’s current practice is to apply loan funds to student accounts first and then applying Pell grant funds.