Although the Office of Student Financial Aid is still not comfortable with a new computer system that delayed distribution of millions of financial aid dollars in the fall, officials say students won't have the same headaches in the spring.

Disbursement of financial aid is set to happen on schedule on Jan. 8, the earliest date allowed by law, said John Nametz, director of need-based aid.

At the beginning of the fall semester, many students waited in long lines at the financial aid office, waiting to get their scholarships and financial aid that for some people came two to three weeks late. The money was held up by the implementation of a new computer system called Matrix, Nametz said.

The office is not at full steam yet, he added.

"We're not as solid as we have been in the past," Nametz said.

This new computer system has greater functionality but is more fragile than the old system, Nametz said.

"Right now we have very high hopes for the new system," he said. "It has more capabilities, theoretically."

In an effort to reduce strain on the new system, the $40 million that must be dispersed will be split into three or four groups, Nametz said.

This could cause some financial aid to go out on Jan. 9 instead of Jan. 8, but no other delays are expected, he said.

Despite the problems at the beginning of the semester, Nametz said that he and others in the financial aid office do not want to switch to another new system.

"I'm glad we've already done it because I don't ever want to go through that again in my life, ever," he said.

One of the most notable new features of the Matrix system is the ability to help students on an individual basis, Nametz said.

The system allows the office to look at individual circumstances and needs, he said.

"We'll make whatever exceptions we're allowed to make that make sense for our students," Nametz said.

The Matrix system is a product the university is implementing as part of its Cosmos plan, said Gary Booker, director of the Cosmos project.

As part of this plan, other university departments will be using the Matrix system, Booker said.

The Bursar's Office is the next to go on the system in July, Booker said.

The Bursar's Office will have a 90-day period in which they will use both the current and new systems simultaneously, an option the financial aid office did not have, Booker said.

The Bursar's Office requested the 90-day parallel run since day one, he said.

"We think it will provide additional assurance," he said.

Barton did say it might take awhile to learn how to use the new system.

"I think it will take some time before we can fully use its capabilities," he said.

The financial aid office has worked through a lot of the issues that caused problems earlier in the semester, Booker said.

"They are more comfortable, more used to it, (and have) done a lot more training on it," Booker said.