Monday August 27, 2001 |

Arizona Daily Wildcat

Human error cited as one possible problem for delays

Though officials say more than 75 percent of the UA student body relies on financial aid to make ends meet, some of those students still have not received their checks.

Jennifer Roth, a student employee at the Student Financial Aid office, listed a number of reasons why students might not yet have received their checks, including filling out the application too late, not registering for enough units or not claiming their loans online.

"Every student who filled out a FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) and got an award gets a (late) fee deferment," Roth added. Those students who made a mistake in some part of the financial aid process get a late fee deferment as well, as long as they pay or correct it by Sept. 4.

"Just because the UA does things on time doesn't mean the students do things on time," Roth said.

But some students who seemed to do everything correctly still haven't found checks in their mailboxes.

"Human error is always a factor," Roth added. "Sometimes you ask (the Bursar's Office) to send a check to you, and they don't do it."

More than 11,000 financial aid checks have been mailed out, not including checks mailed after Aug. 17, said Jean Johnson, associate director of the Bursar's Office.

The Bursar's Office prints checks every night, and mails them out the following day, Johnson said.

However, one student waiting in line at the office late Friday afternoon did not seem to care about human error.

"I'm not very happy right now," said speech and hearing sciences senior Melissa Van Haren. "I was here on Saturday (Aug. 18) and they told me (the check) was somewhere in the mail. They were supposed to have sent it on Aug. 10."

Van Haren, believing the check was on its way to her, changed her schedule on Aug. 21. She dropped to nine units but added a class and was back at 12 units by Aug. 23.

But rearranging her schedule led to another delay - Van Haren's financial aid comes in the form of three outside scholarships. Those who donated the scholarships called Van Haren to find out if she had received the aid.

"The donors are really angry," Van Haren said. The donors have been calling the Bursar's Office, asking for an explanation, she added.

Another student has waited to pay the rent because his check has not come yet.

"(The check) has been, like, two weeks late," said undeclared sophomore Brian Davis. "It's not necessarily the bursar's fault."

Davis took out a loan at Union Bank and Trust Co. in the Memorial Student Union Center, because he was advised that it was the fastest place to get a loan.

"Two weeks ago (a Union Bank employee) said the check would be in," Davis said. "(The employee) said she'd call me today, but she never did."

As student who uses financial aid herself, Roth advises other University of Arizona students to visit or call the Student Financial Aid and Bursar's offices several weeks in advance next year to verify their current mailing address and be sure they'll receive their financial aid on time.

In the 1999-2000 school year, approximately 36 percent of students received loans, according to the most recent data from Decision and Planning Support.

During the same academic year, approximately 26 percent of UA students received scholarships, and slightly fewer received grants.