STUDENTS FIRST! PROCESS REDESIGN
CHANGE PROPOSAL AND ACTION PLAN

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SERVICE: Financial Transactions - Billing Statement

Current Situation:

If a student charges tuition and fees on ClassLine or charges books, supplies or other services and does not pay in full before the billing date, a billing statement (i.e., statement) is sent. An average of 8500 statements are mailed each month. The format of the statement divides the transactions by term, contains the student's class schedule, public service messages, and other information not directly related to the current activity. Often the class schedule information is not for the current term. There are also several optional messages that can be added to the statement including information about campus events (e.g. student elections).

The OSRL survey indicated that two-thirds of respondents received monthly billing statements. In input session, students strongly voiced dissatisfaction with the statements. They reported a lack of standard billing, confusing mailing and payment due dates, unclear charges, and cluttered general layout. The OSRL survey included the following comments:

'It's just not easy to read.'
'It could be more specific for what the bills are for.'

In input sessions, staff from a variety of departments expressed dissatisfaction and frustration with their inability to help students understand the statement's content. The Admissions Office receives hundreds of calls each month because their phone number is prominently displayed on the statement. Financial Aid staff receive many inquiries both in person and by phone but are unable to respond because the statement is too complicated to read and explain.

In addition to dissatisfaction with the content and format of the statements, College Finance staff commented extensively on the administrative difficulties with producing, printing and mailing the statements. The process of establishing the criteria for statement content requires manual monthly updates of at least ten data tables. The chance of incorrect data updates is high, causing incorrect information on the statements or restarting the billing process. It is College Finance policy to retain a record of every statement sent. As a result, over seven million records are reviewed by the computer program each time statements are produced. In July 1996, the program had to be restarted twice and delayed at least one day. Lane contracts with a mailing service for preparing and mailing the statements. Because of delays in creating the statements and the mailing service's required processing time, it is generally a week or more after the closing date before a student receives the statement.

Desired Situation:

A clear, understandable, detailed, and self-explanatory billing statement. Students receive statements in a timely manner and payment dates are standard. A decrease in inquiries to staff and quicker processing turnaround.

Proposed Solution:

Redesign the monthly accounts receivable billing statement so that it contains detailed, uncluttered descriptions of charges and credits. Obtain the input of both students and staff concerning statement features.

Simplify the computer process for creating the statements by reducing the number of records examined and the number of table and manual entries required each month.

Use a self-mailer form that would not require outsourcing preparation. Direct mailing of statements would allow Lane to control delivery time and reduce the number of forms required per statement from three to one.

Coach (from Redesign Team): Kay Malmberg
Sponsor: Marie Matsen
Due Date: January 31, 1998
Performance Measure(s):

Measurement	Tools for Measuring	Responsibility for Tracking Measurement
track and decrease the number of student inquiries and complaints about the billing statement	baseline = must be established follow-up = student survey	Students First! Center Process Owner Manager

Action Plan For Implementing Solution:

Task	By Whom	By When	Resources Required
Remove or reposition the Admissions Office phone number on the billing statement.	V. Whittaker	September, 1996
Identify and convene a group of interested participants to determine student and staff information needs and define the attributes of an ideal billing statement.	V. Whittaker, K. Malmberg, E. Grass, S. Williams	November, 1996
Investigate software resources required to produce monthly statements.	N. Cheshire	December, 1996 - January, 1997
Acquire software, if needed, or program new software.	N. Cheshire	February, 1997 - July, 1997	2100 Hours of Programming
Investigate and obtain equipment/forms needed to print statements.	N. Cheshire,K. Malmberg	February, 1997 , July, 1997
Test programming and printing of statements.	N. Cheshire, K. Malmberg	August, 1997
Reconvene interest group for analysis of redesigned statements.	K. Malmberg, E. Grass	August, 1997
Make needed revisions based on test run and interest group recommendations.	N. Cheshire,K. Malmberg, E. Grass	September, 1997
Test revisions for accurate content, calculations and style.	N. Cheshire, K. Malmberg	October, 1997
Reconvene interest group for final review of redesigned statements.	K. Malmberg, E. Grass	November, 1997
Implement production and use of redesigned statements.	J. Nehring, K. Malmberg, Student Finance Team	January, 1998
Gather, index and evaluate student and staff reactions to redesigned statement.	K. Malmberg, E. Grass, Student Finance Team	February, 1998 and regularly in the future
Evaluate success of redesign of statements based upon previously identified performance measures.	K. Malmberg, E. Grass	March, 1998