FSU Oldest Freshman
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American Democracy
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Finally We Won!
See sports Page 6
Broncos' Voice
VOL. 44, No. 4
THE NEWSPAPER OF FAYETTEVILLE STATE UNWERSITY
TO INFORM AND ENTERTAIN
NOVEMBER 8, 1989
All About Financial Aid
INTERVIEW BY
PET GEARHART
Many students have
stopped at the Financial Aid
Ofhce, either to seek
Information or to apply for
financial aid, but not many
have had the opportunity to
speak with Ms. Kathy F.
Wright, the Director. Ms.
Wright came to Fayetteville
State In 1986 and brought
with her years of experience
working in the Financial Aid
field. During her six years at
UNC at Chapel Hill, she was the
Associate Director of Financial
Aid, a position she held until
she left.
Many students are
unhappy about the financial
aid situation this year. Ms.
Wright took time from her
busy schedule to answer some
questions and provided
Information to the cause of so
much frustration this
semester. During the Inter
view, she expressed her
concern for her office to do the
best it can for the students.
She also gave some guidelines
on how students can alleviate
problems with her office In the
future.
Bronco Voice: Ms. Wright, If I
were a potential student
coming on campus what
would I need to do to apply for
financial aid?
Ms. Wright; My first advice to
you Is to apply at the
admission ofilces to make sure
you are eligible to be admitted
or If you are currently enrolled
In a degree program you can
apply for any funding we
administer through this office.
The next step Is to make
sure that the Family Financial
Statement from the American
College Testing (ACT) Service
Is complete. That document
collects financial data on the
student and In case of a
defjcndent student on the
student's parents so that we
can determine eligibility.
Students should Indicate on
this document for FSU to
receive a copy of the emalysls
and the Federal Government
to receive a copy, to be
considered for Federal funds.
ACT processes the data and
then sends a copy to the
student FSU, and the Federal
Government. They analyze the
data and return them to the
student with a Student Aid
Report which Is their
eligibility paper for the Pell
Grant, the primary grant that
we administer for the Federal
Government. The student
then must complete the Pell
Grant form and verify that all
the Information is accurate. If
they are male and eligible for
the draft they must indicate
that they have registered with
Selective Service. Once
completed, these documents
have to be forwarded to the
Financial Aid Office. In
addition to the ACT Family
Financial Statement and their
Student Aid Report we also
need a copy of the student s (or
the family’s) 1988 Income Tax
Form.
If the student has attended
a school other than FSU, we
need Financial Aid transcripts
from each post secondary
institution they have
attended. All this information
is detailed in our Aid
Instructions.
B.V.: What types of aid is the
student applying for when a
Financial Aid package is filled
out and is this the only
package needed to apply for
Funds?
Ms. W.; The package we
consider is the Title IV Federal
Aid Funds, which includes the
Pell Grant the primary grant
undergraduates receive. They
would also be considered for
college work study and all
Institutional scholarships
that are awarded on a need
basis. The Stafford Loan
Program, which was formerly
the Guaranteed Loan Pro
gram, is the only one that
would require additional
forms to be filled out
B.V.: Once the student has
taken the first step and mailed
In the appropriate forms, what
will happen?
Ms. W.: The student will
receive correspondence at
their residence from ACT and
also from the Federal
Government. We also receive
this information. We will notify
the student by correspon
dence and ask for additional
documentation if necessary.
B.V.: What is the deadline for
applying for the funds?
Ms. W.: At this time, we still
have funds and are still
accepting applications. We
process the students’
applications throughout the
school year, we do suggest
however, that student should
start as soon as possible. The
most advantageous time to
start would be in the spring of
the year. The priority deadline
being April 1 to give us four
months lead time to process
the application. This covers
the student for the entire fiscal
year, consisting of the fall and
spring semesters.
B.V.; How long should it take
to find out if you qualify and
then if you do, when can you
expect to receive the actual
funds?
Ms. W.: That’s a difficult
question because it depends
on what time of the year a
student starts the process. If a
student started the process
now, it’s going to take a
minimum of eight weeks from
the time they apply to when
they hear something.
B.V.: I’ve talked with students
who say It’s taken as
exceptlonalfy long time this
year.
Ms. W.: The delay this year in
awarding funds was caused in
part because the General
Assembly did not set the
tuition rate until mid-August
so it was the 1st of September
before we even started making
awards. AH students who had
applied since January of this
year had to be processed in
September. This gave us an
eight months backlog to work
through since we were unable
to make awards until we got
the budget. We are currency
working on student applica
tions that were submitted in
August so that most students
that applied and met the April
1 deadline have been notified
of their award. Another reason
for the delay was, we were In
the process of Installing a
Flnancia Aid Management
System into our computer.
This will facilitate form
processing In the future.
B.V.: Could you clarify the
term “getting an award” and
how your office determines
this award?
Ms. W.: Once an appllcatlQii Isy
received In our office, we
the documents through a
review to make sure th^
financial data is consistent
and accurate. If It Is
consistent It passes what we
call our resource audit if not
we may have to send the form
back to the student. In
addition to the resource audit
we also have to take It through
a satisfactory progress audit
This reviews their academic
transcript on file at the
University. Once It gets
through this audit, we are
ready to consider the student
for awarding purposes. At this
point, we do a final review to
determine the student’s
financial need and then make
an award to meet that need. We
have to enter all these
information into our com
puter, which takes' time. For
example, one program we run
takes about three or four
cycles, meaning it takes about
four nights to complete Its
cycle.
B.V.: Does your G.P.A.
determine what type of award
you are eligible for?
Ms. W.: Yes, It does. Students
who have a high G.PA wUl be
considered for scholarship
funds. This year, students
with aG.PA of 2.75 and higher
have been awarded financial
aid If there was need.
B.V.: Is there help for the
student who Is uncertain as to
how to fill out the forms?
Ms. W.: During the Spring
Semester, we conducted 14
form processing workshops to
tell the students line by line
vhat goes on each form. These
workshops were held at the
Student Center to help
students complete their forms.
We also have counselors
available here In the office to
help students on an Individual
basis. 1 must say our
workshops were veiy poorfy
attended. Of the approxi
mately 3,000 applicants, there
were a total of 41 nonmanda
tory students at the fomi
processing workshops.
B.V.: What steps are being
taken by your office to reduce
the time It takes for students
to get their awards?
Ms. W.: This year, with our
newly Installed mcmagement
Ms. Kathy Wright
Director of Flnancicil Aid
system, we would be Incorpo
rating an automated pack
aging module that will enable
the computer to actually make
the financial aid award based
on the formula we Input. This
is the most time consuming
area In the whole processing
system and the use of
computer will eliminate this.
Normally it takes a
minimum of three weeks to get
500 awards. With the
automated packaging module,
we’ll be able to award 500 to
1,000 students ovemite.
We are In the process of
Improving the delivery system
to students. It’s not what It
needs to be yet, but it has
greatfy Improved over what
we’ve had. We ask students to
be patient with us because we
are in a learning process in
terms of Installing this system
and getting the staff
operational on the system.
We’ve had some problems in
getting it up and running
which also caused some of the
delay but it going to realty help
us In terms of speeding up the
,Jk.
Picture by Sharon Carr
process. We look forward to a
real great year In 1990-91 In
terms of being able to advise
students of their ellglblllfy at a
much earlier date. Ultimately,
we will always be at the mercy
of the General Assembty.
Anyone wishing to com
ment on this Interview may
write a letter to the editor and
send It to the Broncos’ Voice
office located in the Student
Center.
Coronation Ball
BY STEPHEN WARD
The Student Government
Association presented the
coronation of Miss Tammye
Annette Jenkins as Miss
Fayetteville State University
on Thursday evening, Oct
19th. With students, parents,
and faculty dressed In tuxedos
and elegant evening dresses,
the event had a fairytale
atmosphere.
The coronation was not a
pagaent where the partici
pants were selected, but the
crowd cheered and applauded
as each queen walked down
the aisle. One of the highlights
of the night was when Barbeira
Blount Art Queen, "modeled"
a black dress that appeared to
belong to the 23rd century.
The prelude of the
ceremony was played by the
musical group. Mellow
Madness V. They were the
same band that played for the
dance on the other end of the
See BALL, Page 2
Picture by Dr. Alex Naklreru