• Dixie Experiments with Flexible Work Schedules
• Amy Capps is the newly appointed chair of the RMASFAA 2006 Conference
• Let's Cut-To-The-Chase
• Johanna Harper - UASFAA Professional Development Committee Chair

Dixie Experiments with Flexible Work Schedules
by Peggy Leavitt

"I love having that extra day at home!" "I'm going to hate going back to regular hours!" "I need to take a week off—will you have enough people at work to cover for me?" "There are no people working in the business office on Fridays—we won't have new checks for Mondays!"

These are some of the conversations we are having in the Office of Financial Assistance at Dixie State College relating to our experimental summer four-day work weeks (40 hours). The Administration of DSC has authorized us to work a flexible schedule or to allow a four-day work week from May 12 to August 1. All student service offices and the cashier remain open five days, Monday through Friday, from 7:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. with half-hour lunch time, and classes are in session. All other offices are open Monday through Thursday.

It creates a bit of a challenge to meet the needs of students and employees in order to offer "flex time" to all staff members. While all staff work Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, only half are here on Monday and Friday. We have allowed different "flex-time" schedules. Two of our staff are working 5-eight hour days; and two are trading 8-ten hour shifts and enjoying four-day week-ends every other week. All student service offices will be open from 7:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. All other offices are open these same hours from Monday to Thursday. We also had to have the group of technical staff and the group of counseling staff alternate their schedules so the work flow continues on a daily basis.

So, do we like it? The jury is still out! The day I am writing this article, there are only two employees in the front-end of the office and we are pretty busy being receptionists, counselors and telephone personnel! However, I am a strong advocate of cross-training and feel that it is very good for us to be able to fill in for each other. Student traffic is fairly slow right now, so that, too, makes it quite feasible to manage flexible time. Besides that, I just received an email stating that I will get my paycheck on May 29th because the business office is closed on Friday, May 30th!

Over the years, I have been asked by employees many times if they could work flexible hours during the summer, but our administrations have been opposed to any kind of flexible hours. It seems refreshing to me that we are actually experimenting with it.

If you asked me why the willingness to give it a try, I would respond that the primary reason is to try to boost morale. Since we received a 0% pay increase last year and we are receiving only a 1% pay increase for 2003-2004, employees need a boost! Administration would tell you there is some cost savings; but since we are offering classes five days a week and most buildings are open all five days, I'm a skeptic. Perhaps next year, the decisions can be made earlier and summer school classes can be scheduled four days a week.

For now, except for a few glitches in timing and keeping the work caught up, it seems to be good. As we start adding illnesses, emergencies and vacations to the mix, things may change. I think the four ten-hour days will reduce time off for vacations and medical appointments because employees have a longer week-end or an extra week-day off to work those in. Staff members generally feel they do not notice the extra-long work hours. Some of us think we were working five ten-hour days anyway, and now we only have to come in four ten-hour days!! Everyone is certainly cooperating to make this work because we all enjoy the extra day off each week!!

Peggy has been the director of Financial Assistance at Dixie State College of Utah for 22 years and also chairs the UASFAA Electronics Initiatives committee. She was born in southern Utah and has lived there most of her life. Other than southern Utah, she has lived in Logan, UT for three years and Riverside, CA for six years. Peggy is married to Ferron Leavitt, who retired last October from a 37-year career with the Bureau of Land Management. They are the parents of five children, who are all married, and they now have nine beautiful grandchildren. She enjoys reading, cooking, camping, boating and has recently taken on a new activity—four-wheeling. During June, Peggy is looking forward to a four-wheeling trip to the Capital Reef area with ten other couples.

Amy Capps is the newly appointed chair of the RMASFAA 2006 Conference

The RMASFAA Conference will be held in Salt Lake City, Utah in October of 2006. As the planning process begins and more information about the conference becomes available, I will keep you informed. I hope many of you will consider volunteering some of your time to help make this a successful conference.

I am very excited about this opportunity and look forward to meeting other financial aid administrators across Utah and our region. If you are interested in being a committee chair or a participant on a committee, please send me an e-mail at acapps@sa.utah.edu or call me at 801-581-8689.

Amy Capps is a native of Utah, born and raised in Salt Lake City. She received a bachelor's degree in Biology from the University of South Carolina in 1998 and a master's degree in Higher Education Administration from the University of Utah this spring.

Amy currently serves as the loan program manager at the University of Utah where she has been for the last three years. Prior to working at the UofU, she worked two years both as a scholarship coordinator and an admissions counselor at the University of South Carolina. She enjoys working with students and hopes to continue to expand her career in higher education.

In her spare time, she enjoys reading, crafts, and spending time outdoors with her husband and their dog.

Let's Cut-To-The-Chase
by Lisa Oakes-Cales, Special Representative on the UASFAA Executive Board

In years past, for-profit providers were often looked down upon as schools that provided little value to the marketplace or its students. However, we have seen the evolution of the for-profit sector expand to include high-tech schools that actively work with local businesses to produce a highly qualified and properly trained employee-base that can contribute immediately upon hiring.

Since UASFAA members are primarily concerned with the Utah market of post-secondary schools offering federal financial assistance, we will concentrate on the most current statistical data provided by UHEAA (Utah Higher Education Assistance Authority). Fiscal Year End-July through June-provided in March 2003, proves a significant change in participant's dollar volume from the previous FYTD totals of Utah schools. Of the 51 post-secondary schools documented in the participant's data, 37 are for-profit providers and 14 are non-profit. Counted in the 51 total schools are six out-of-state affiliates, four of which are for-profit providers. The statistics are as follows:

To further break this data down, 29 schools experienced an increase in dollar volume ranging from 1.02% to 396.33% (Eagle Gate College); 10 schools experienced a decrease in dollar volume. Of the 29 increased volume schools, 16 were for-profit schools and of the 51 total post-secondary schools, 11 new for-profit schools had no previous years' comparison data.

The bottom line: This is a perfect example of the career and proprietary school's emerging role in academic circles, of providing education deserving of recognition.

In a study provided by Richard Close and Rob Humphreys, adapted from Proprietary Higher Education, published in January, 2000, they concluded that the for-profit sector is in a position to benefit from the positive growth trends existing in the post-secondary marketplace for several reasons:

First, for-profits can maneuver quickly to meet changing demands of students and employers.

Second, for-profits are more adequately prepared to expand the number of programs and campuses in order to meet the expected increase in enrollments.

Third, for-profits focus on the needs of students-providing flexible schedules and year-round classes. This enables students to complete their degrees in a shorter period of time, and often at a lower cost. Students can begin to earn a return on their investment more quickly than those attending traditional schools.

They further concluded that the number of individuals in higher education is anticipated to grow from 14.3 million in 1996 to 16.1 million by 2008, making the long-term growth opportunities for the post-secondary sector sure to remain strong.

The advantage of vocational for-profit schools is that they typically devote their considerable abilities and resources to teaching a student precisely what he or she needs to know to obtain and hold a job. According to the Better Business Bureau, vocational schools enable prospective students to acquire the skills and training necessary to change, enhance, or establish a career. Attending a vocational school is an investment in yourself. The significance of this kind of support, very simply, is that when the market place is expanded, it creates more career opportunities to experienced, as well as future, student financial aid professionals.

Privately capitalized schools can be a real mystery to a lot of people and some think that we are here to take away from traditional schools. To the contrary, we are expanding the market. For prospective students, proprietary schools offer a cut-to-the-chase concentration on career basics, taught by professionals in their particular field.

Resources:

• UHEAA FYTD Statistics.
• Article: "View From the Financial Community", Richard Close & Rob Humphreys.
• Article: Charlotte Business Journal: "Proprietary Schools Fewer, But Stronger in Job Focus.
• Management Practice Bulletin: "Understanding the Expense Structure of Proprietary Education".
• BBB: "Vocational and Proprietary Schools".

Lisa Oakes-Cales, Financial Aid director at Eagle Gate College, has accepted Kent Larson's offer to fill the vacant Special Representative position on the UASFAA Executive Board. She will represent the growing number of proprietary institutions in the state of Utah.

Lisa started in financial aid in August of 1992 with Certified Careers Institute in the Default Prevention Department where she spent over four years. She spent almost six years with Myotherapy College of Utah. There, she met Mrs. CeCelia Wilson, who was later co-founder, president, and owner of Eagle Gate College.

CeCelia Wilson was president of Provo College when she invited Lisa to join the staff of Eagle Gate College. CeCelia was a mentor and inspiration to many and since her passing on Mother's Day, May 11, 2003, she has been dearly missed.

Eagle Gate College started with Intermountain College of Court Reporters (33 students), and then added six new programs: Business Management, Computer Network Technology, Computer Programming Technology, Graphic Design, Medical Assisting & Professional Office Management. EGC has grown from 33 students to 439 in less than two years of full operation.

"Surely 12 years of service cannot compete with all you veterans, but, it has felt like 20!!"

Johanna Harper - UASFAA Professional Development Committee Chair

Once again, our 2003 UASFAA Board has evolved. We are pleased to announce the appointment of Johanna Harper, Assistant Director at Westminster College, as chair of our Professional Development Committee. Johanna is filling the vacancy left by Dina Nielsen, USU, who resigned to accept a financial aid position at the University of Findlay, OH. Johanna, welcome!

Johanna Harper grew up in Southern California and graduated from Whitworth College in Spokane, WA with a BA in Communication. She moved to Salt Lake City in search of excellent skiing, mountain biking, hiking and employment opportunities. Johanna worked five years in customer service positions in the hotel and ski industry, and then joined the Admissions Office team at Westminster College in May of 1998. She worked as an admissions counselor recruiting incoming freshmen until January of 2001, at which time she had the opportunity to move to the Financial Aid office as an assistant director.

Johanna is married and lives in Salt Lake City with her husband, who is a recent graduate of Westminster's MBA program. She plans to start the M. Ed Program at Westminster this fall and specialize in Organizational Training.

"I look forward to my involvement with UASFAA and having a chance to get to know many more of you."