In the past year, we have watched businesses fall because of poor management. Enron went down for fudging paper work. Kmart failed to bankruptcy because it couldn’t keep up with the competition of Wal-Mart.
For Cabrini to remain competitive with other colleges, the administration has to analyze and revamp the relationship between the financial aid office and the business office.
In response to past problems, Cabrini will be using the Banner system at the start of next year. The new system will be a seamless central repository for all student information. Providing the integration of admissions, records, billing and student information, the system will allow for simultaneous updates among the administrative offices.
Although the Banner system will eliminate the run-around for students and vastly improve data sharing between offices, two problems still need to be promptly addressed.
First is the attitude and level of professionalism exuded to students by office personnel. Generally, and more often than not, the employees in the offices show little concern for students. Instead of making the calls to clear confusion, the people behind the desks turn their heads and send the students on their way. At best, they may give the student a note on a loose piece of paper to pass on to the next uninterested employee in another office.
In a lot of ways, the financial aid and business offices act as customer service for Cabrini students. When there is a problem, students go to the offices for advice and direction. But rarely is either offered. No business or organization can expect to stay prosperous while being run this way. Cabrini is not an exception. It is the job of the offices to help students and it is time that they start doing that.
Secondly, the administration has to devise a plan to make handling financial holds, business issues and class registration as much of a one-stop-shopping deal as they can. Between now and the time a breath of fresh air comes with the Banner system, students will have registered for classes twice and handled countless issues with the offices. So, while the Banner system will work wonders next year, what does the college have planned to improve the situation this year?
Students should not have to be the fiber optics of the network connecting the administrative offices. It is not the responsibility of the students to ensure accurate communication and updates between the offices. While the upgrade to the Banner system is a huge step, an upgrade in the attitude and professionalism of administrative office employees will be a bigger step.
With the problems addressed and agreed on by the student body, will Cabrini rise to improve or self-destruct like the giants we watched fall this past year?
