EDITORIAL: Fee payment woes
Gerry Blakney
Issue date: 1/11/08 Section: Post
I have attended Western for six years now and a lot of things have changed. Fee payment used to be, and to an extent still is, a huge hassle. I remember as a lost, scared freshman waiting in line for at least an hour to pay my fees. I vowed then and there, never to go through the same mistakes again.
So when I went online to check my schedule the night before fall term 2006 started I was surprised and excited to find that I could apply my financial aid and pay the remainder online. No lines. All I had to do was sit at my computer and go in the next day to pick up my check. I thought I was miraculously awarded Christmas, my birthday and even the Fourth of July all at the same time. So I applied my aid, paid and strolled into ITC to pick up the remainder of my financial aid.
Only to find a line. At the time no one really knew the option was even available and the business office didn't really seem to know how to handle the line-dodgers so they decided we should have to wait in line to get our checks just like everyone else.
However, I continued to apply and pay my bill online even if the business office wasn't as up to speed as I would have liked.
Now, a little over a year later, by the third day of fee payment almost half of the students at Western have heard of and used the online service. It saves time for the students, the staff and ultimately money for Western. More and more students use the online service every term.
All of this success convinced me that this term was going to be the year that the business office got rid of that awful line. I applied my aid and paid Sunday night. I casually strolled into ITC Monday morning and saw two lines for students who applied their fees online, right next to where the old line started. But something was different. There was no one, to be seen in the used-to-be-horribly-long-line waiting to apply their fees. I actually had to wait in a long line because I paid my bill beforehand.
Two ladies were giving out checks to the online, tech-savy students patiently waiting. In front of them there was a sign that said, "A-Z."
So when I went online to check my schedule the night before fall term 2006 started I was surprised and excited to find that I could apply my financial aid and pay the remainder online. No lines. All I had to do was sit at my computer and go in the next day to pick up my check. I thought I was miraculously awarded Christmas, my birthday and even the Fourth of July all at the same time. So I applied my aid, paid and strolled into ITC to pick up the remainder of my financial aid.
Only to find a line. At the time no one really knew the option was even available and the business office didn't really seem to know how to handle the line-dodgers so they decided we should have to wait in line to get our checks just like everyone else.
However, I continued to apply and pay my bill online even if the business office wasn't as up to speed as I would have liked.
Now, a little over a year later, by the third day of fee payment almost half of the students at Western have heard of and used the online service. It saves time for the students, the staff and ultimately money for Western. More and more students use the online service every term.
All of this success convinced me that this term was going to be the year that the business office got rid of that awful line. I applied my aid and paid Sunday night. I casually strolled into ITC Monday morning and saw two lines for students who applied their fees online, right next to where the old line started. But something was different. There was no one, to be seen in the used-to-be-horribly-long-line waiting to apply their fees. I actually had to wait in a long line because I paid my bill beforehand.
Two ladies were giving out checks to the online, tech-savy students patiently waiting. In front of them there was a sign that said, "A-Z."
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