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Process Redesign Project
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STUDENTS FIRST! PROCESS REDESIGN Return to Change Proposal List SERVICE: Financial Transactions - Charges, Payments and Adjustments, and Cashiering Current Situation: All charges, payments and adjustments to a student's financial account must be processed through the cashier's area of College Finance. Charges are assessed for the following:
Many fees require payment before the goods or services are delivered. A student must take a department charge form to the cashier. The department charge form is used to specify the amount of the good or service and general ledger account number distribution. The cashier processes the charges, takes payments, and gives the student a computer generated receipt. The student returns to the originating department and exchanges the receipt for the goods or services. Charges not requiring immediate payment are sent to the cashier for posting to the individual students' CreditLine account. Payments applied to CreditLine accounts are received in a variety of ways: through the mail; in person at College Finance and various outreach centers; via fax; via phone; or deposited in a drop box located on the main campus. College Finance cashiers may accept and post any payments. The Downtown Center may accept and post selected payments. All other outreach areas and departments are required to forward the payments to College Finance for posting and deposit. Tuition refunds resulting from the withdrawal of classes by using ClassLine are automatically posted to a student's account. The bookstore is allowed to post adjustments for returned merchandise. All other adjustments to students' financial accounts are processed in College Finance. Cashiers receive authorizations from departments and confirm the accuracy of the adjustment before posting it to the student's account. The lead cashier authorizes and posts a reduction of finance and late charges related to any pre-adjusted account balance. Students were not asked about Lane's procedures for processing charges, payments and adjustments in the OSRL or ACT surveys. However, during input sessions, students expressed dissatisfaction with needless delays and run-arounds between departments to handle routine transactions. They indicated a preference for meeting their needs at one point of service. In staff input sessions, there was an expressed desire to have the ability to process certain charges, payments and adjustments within specific areas or departments. The cited rationale was better customer service and increased efficiency in staff work. Several examples of processing inefficiencies were provided. Student Health staff strongly expressed dissatisfaction with requiring sick or injured students to pay for medical tests or prescriptions at College Finance before providing further aid. Computer lab time is purchased on an hourly basis and payment for additional hours is made at College Finance. After paying for additional hours, students return to the computer lab, present a receipt, and lab staff reactivate access to computers. However, computer labs hours do not coincide with the cashiers' counter hours. Flight Technology students must pay flight fees at the main campus or the Downtown Center even though all activity occurs at the airport. Library books and gym clothes must be returned to the applicable department and students are given an authorization for the reduction of non- returned charges. The authorization must be presented to College Finance for an account adjustment. Staff at the outreach centers expressed dissatisfaction with their inability to provide complete service to students. Charges, payments and adjustments may originate at the centers but are not finalized until they are processed at College Finance. Outreach center staff also expressed frustration with having to explain to students that their account balances will eventually be finalized. While the bookstore is allowed to post charges and credits to students' accounts, the process requires duplicate entry of each transaction. Book sales or returns must be processed first through the bookstore's computer system and are re-entered on the students' account on Lane's student database. The lack of integrated computer systems requires the duplicate entry of transactions and reconciliation of data between the systems. Desired Situation: Charges, payments, and adjustments to students' financial accounts that are generated by appropriate departments are handled by well-trained staff. Staff have the authority to provide efficient customer service at the point of sale or service. In addition, staff are readily available and have full access to technological tools that enable them to complete applicable financial transactions. Proposed Solution: Identify service areas (i.e., outreach centers, departments) that need the ability to generate charges, payments and adjustments to students' financial accounts. Students will be able to pay for and receive goods and services in one location. For example, students requiring the services of the Student Health Department will be able to receive a medical evaluation, lab tests, prescription drugs, and medical supplies without having the inconvenience of going elsewhere to pay for services before they are administered. Students will be able to settle their accounts in the department when returning library or gym materials. Equipment and cross-functional training will be provided so that staff at a variety of locations are able to efficiently meet the needs of students. Staff in those affected areas will directly receive and post payments to students' accounts. In addition, the staff will be able to resolve errors and disputes related to charges originating in their departments, post any adjustments, and assure students that their problem is fully resolved. The bookstore computer system will be linked to the student database so that sales and returns are only entered once. Entries will simultaneously update the bookstore sales and inventory systems as well as the student's financial account.
Coach (from Redesign Team): Kay Malmberg
Action Plan For Implementing Solution:
Return to Part Eight of the Redesign Change Proposals |
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