Office of Student Finance

• FAFSA Simplification Update
• We’re presenting on the FAFSA Simplification Project at the OUE General Assembly on December 14.
• We had an all day, in-person “retreat” to prepare for the upcoming software rollout with the IT BA’s. For 2024-25, students will not have to get parents to “sign off” on their lack of support, which is going to require a new process.
• We completed the housing question that will “pop-up” before actual packaging since a housing preference is no longer included on the FAFSA.
• 24-25 financial aid communications have been reviewed and updated in anticipation of the new Student Aid Index that is replacing the expected family contribution (EFC). We’re also reviewing the queries that use EFC.
• We’re still reviewing the parent contributions process for those Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) programs (grants and loans) since the FAFSA will not allow parents of independent students to complete the FAFSA. 
• American Indian Scholars Program Update
• The State of Minnesota’s new American Indian Scholars Program (AISP) is now available. The program covers tuition and certain fees for eligible Minnesotans who are enrolled members or citizens of any federally recognized tribe or Canadian First Nation.
• The project team is working diligently to finalize the process of posting the funds through third-party billing. Funds should be applied by early December.
• A big shout out to the project team for all of their hard work: Andrew Hill, Carolee Cohen, Caylin Scheff (Crookston), Jana Koehler (Morris), Kari Ellering, Meghan Czarniecki, Nancy Carl (Duluth), Richard Toetschinger, and Sarah Hoegger.
• College of Education and Human Development Grant & Scholarship Funds Update
• OSF worked closely with CEHD on disbursing the following Minnesota Office of Higher Education grants:
• Aspiring Teachers of Color Scholarship
• The Aspiring Teachers of Color Scholarship pilot program provides financial assistance to eligible undergraduate and graduate students who are preparing to become teachers, have demonstrated financial need, and belong to racial or ethnic groups underrepresented in the state’s teacher workforce. The University of Minnesota has awarded 36 students the Aspiring Teachers of Color Scholarship. $171,335 has been disbursed for fall 2023 semester, and $174,669 has been awarded for the spring 2024 semester.
• Minnesota Underrepresented Student Teacher Grant
• The Minnesota Underrepresented Student Teacher Grant provides financial assistance to eligible students who belong to a racial or ethnic group underrepresented in the Minnesota teacher workforce. 9 students have been awarded this grant for fall 2023, and a total of $66,099 has been disbursed.Minnesota Shortage Areas Student Teacher Grant
• The Minnesota Shortage Areas Grant provides financial assistance to eligible students who intend to teach in a license shortage area or rural school district. 4 students have been awarded this grant for fall 2023, and $25,607 has been disbursed.

Office of Student Finance

• The Office of Student Finance (OSF) has been working hard to package and prepare for financial aid disbursement for summer 2023. We are thankful for our wonderful partners across ASR that have assisted in this process. As a quick reminder, the timing of the disbursement and refund dates for summer 2023 are the following:
• MED-First batch financial aid disbursement was May 1, 2023. All other careers (DENT, GRAD, LAW, PHAR, UGRD, VMED)-First batch financial aid disbursement is Monday night, June 5, 2023. 
• First batch credit balance run for direct deposit & parent checks is Wednesday morning, June 7, 2023 and first batch credit run for student checks is Friday morning, June 9, 2023.
• Financial aid disbursements for aidyr23 money (fall, spring, and summer) continue on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday evenings until mid-August 2023. 
• Credit balance runs continue for aidyr23 money (fall, spring, and summer) in the wee morning hours every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for student/parent direct deposits & parent checks and Friday mornings for student checks until mid-August 2023.
• Worth noting is that aid for summer is only intended to cover specific periods of enrollment, and not necessarily the entire summer. For example, a student taking one class for 4 weeks would have their cost of attendance only reflect 4 weeks of housing and food, etc. Not the 3 months of summer.
• Census date for summer 2023 is June 19. Students enrolling after this date may need to submit a financial aid late enrollment appeal to receive financial aid. 
• Preparation continues for the fall 2023 financial aid packaging process. As the University awaits the decision by the Board of Regents on tuition and fee rates, OSF and ASR-IT stand ready to produce financial aid packages and disburse financial aid to students. As of right now, financial aid packages are set to send to students during the week of July 17, 2023. As we get closer to this date, we will share updates.
• As you may have heard, the state of Minnesota has announced 2 new financial aid programs that will impact our students. As OSF receives details about these programs, we will share them with our ASR partners.
• North Star Promise Program: Beginning in fall 2024, eligible Minnesota residents with a family adjusted gross income (AGI) below $80,000 will have tuition and fees covered by this new grant. This is a last-dollar in program, meaning all state, federal, and institutional gift aid must be counted first prior to awarding North Star promise funds to students. 
• American Indian Scholars Program: Beginning in fall 2023, Minnesota residents who are enrolled members or citizens of a federally recognized American Indian Tribe or Canadian First Nation, and anyone who is an enrolled member or citizen of a Minnesota tribal nation will be eligible to have tuition and fees covered. This is a first-dollar in program, meaning this program will cover those tuition and fees. 
• Shout out to the following OSF members who received milestone awards for their service to the financial aid world. These awards were presented at the 2023 MAFAA Conference:Nate Rosckes (20 years of service)
• Ali Facklam (10 years of service)
• Nichole Andersen (10 years of service)
• Angelina Vang (5 years of service)

Mental Health Advocates

Congratulations to Meghan Czarniecki (OSF) for recently completing the training to become a Mental Health Advocate. Mental Health Advocates are staff and faculty volunteers who serve as resources for their colleagues and take active steps each month making positive changes regarding student mental health within their sphere of influence. Mental Health Advocates do the following:

• Advocate for the implementation of public health strategies to promote student mental health in your unit;
• Serve as a point of contact for students, staff, and faculty in your unit who have questions about campus mental health resources and services; 
• and Disseminate resources to members of your unit.

Mike Arieta (OSF) and Katie Johnson (One Stop) are also on the list of Mental Health Advocates. Thank you to Katie, Meghan, and Mike for taking on this role!

ASR Operations and Strategic Initiatives

• Project management for the Coursedog & Chatbot projects are in-progress. 
• Coursedog will be beginning user acceptance testing next week. 
• Chatbot implementation by the vendor is complete and we will kick-off the ASR portion of the project on May 16th.
• Training courses are being developed for Coursedog authors and approvers.
• The OSI Project Team is providing some oversight and guidance for WorkflowGen process transitions. For more information, see the WFG Retirement Transition Guide.
• A new work intake and prioritization process for Jadu e-forms and workflow work is in development.
• We’ve been working with OSF to review, update, and test financial aid communications for the 23-24 aid year.
• We finished creating the 2022 ASR Annual Report, which includes profiles for each unit and additional information about ASR’s organizational structure, technology, budget/ROI, and ASR and MPACT.
• We’ve established a monthly writer working group meeting for the content writers across all campuses. These meetings are a great opportunity for writers to hear about new initiatives, upcoming projects, and to share resources. 
• We are also creating an internal content maintenance calendar that will live on the content management website. This document will help align all writers on content-specific dates, reminders, and deadlines. 
• The development of a new content strategy training presentation is underway. Geared toward new hires, this presentation will examine the importance of our content strategy, and why it should be at the forefront of our content decisions.

Update from Stacey

Thank you everyone for attending the OUE event this week, whether virtually or in person. Minnesota winter has definitely arrived!

Please be sure to check out the kudos and the OSF update section below. It’s wonderful to see ASR supporting each other. As usual, we have a lot going on. Something that I have learned in this role is that we often have work happening related to our various vendor contracts. We will have several RFP’s starting in order to follow university procedures and evaluate vendors. Parchment and Nelnet services will be going through this process soon. We just renewed our contract with NameCoach and will likely be extending our ECSI contract as well. As I said, there is a lot going on even as we enter the holiday season. Thanks for everything you do!

Overcoming the reluctance to ask for help

The pace of work in ASR can sometimes feel non-stop, making it difficult to ask for help. Wayne Baker, Ph.D. discusses this phenomenon in the article “How to Overcome Your Reluctance to Ask for Help at Work.” He shares that “70-90% of the help that is given in the workplace is in response to requests for help.” So if you’re not actively asking for help, then you are less likely to get the resources you may need.

Most individuals may face barriers asking for help, such as lacking psychological safety (“interpersonal risk taking”), not wanting to appear weak or incompetent, or assuming no one can help. Dr. Baker outlines one specific way to increase confidence in asking for help and that is through a thoughtful request. The components include figuring out your goal, making a SMART request (specific, meaningful, action-oriented, realistic, and timeliness), and asking the right people.

The mental wellness group recently discussed this article in a Q&A between members Melissa Gasper (OSF) and Amber Cellotti (OTR), which is available below.

Melissa: Many of the SMART criteria are things we have done in the past in both our personal and professional lives, which one would you want to improve on?

Amber: There’s two. Providing more meaning and timeliness. Context (i.e., meaning) around a request can help the other person suss out scope, where and how their skill set may play a role, and provide the opportunity to ask clarifying questions. Timeliness is key in giving those you’re asking the space to evaluate their own capacity and what time they can commit. The author shares that if a request is urgent, say so, but clear dates/deadlines are just as crucial. The combination of meaning and timeliness sets the stage for leveraging an importance/urgency matrix.

Melissa: Based on the business cycle at the University, when is the best time to make a SMART request?

Amber: Much of our work in ASR ebbs and flows based on our student’s life cycle (e.g., accepting financial aid, registering for classes, paying tuition, applying to graduate, etc.), so I think it’s important for us to be aware of peak times for our ASR units and colleagues, the ways in which we support students, and how our work is impacted based on those two things. So, there may never feel like a “best time” to make a SMART request, but if a request needs to be made during peak times, it’s appropriate to acknowledge the impact. On a personal front, it’s important to know and own your threshold and acknowledge when you need to reach out for help. Don’t wait until it hits the fan before taking action.

Melissa: Besides making your workload more manageable, what are some other advantages to seeking help?

Amber: On one hand, practice makes perfect. Putting intention behind action can be difficult, but practicing making SMART requests will make it easier with time. It’s never going to feel easy if you don’t start. The more we normalize the act of asking for help and being strategic in our approach, the more it is embedded within our culture. I’ve also found that reaching out for help, and being on the receiving end of being asked for help, is another way to make new connections and establish relationships not only in ASR, but across the University.