1 / 20

Educating Your Campus: From Silos to Systems

Educating Your Campus: From Silos to Systems. Jana Albrecht, Director of Financial Aid, Illinois State University Sue Karnes, Director of Financial Aid, William Jewell College.

aine
Download Presentation

Educating Your Campus: From Silos to Systems

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Educating Your Campus: From Silos to Systems Jana Albrecht, Director of Financial Aid, Illinois State University Sue Karnes, Director of Financial Aid, William Jewell College

  2. “Real life is lived in a complex world system where all the subsystems overlap and affect each other.” -- Draper Kauffman

  3. Wilkinson (2001) states: “At the heart of systems thinking is the principle of interconnectedness.”

  4. What’s The Difference? Silo Thinking (yes, the “silo effect”) …is the opposite of Systems Thinking. …leads to lack of communication and common goals between and among departments. Systems Thinking …recognizes that communication is key to success/successful implementation. …expects the whole to be > the sum of its parts.

  5. 10 Useful Ideas on Systems Thinking (Richard Wilkerson, Futurist.com, 2001) • Everything is connected to everything else. • Never do just one thing. • Different people in the same structure will produce similar results. • A collection of things is a system if any one element can affect the performance of the whole. • From “either/or” to “both/and”.

  6. 10 Useful Ideas, continued (Richard Wilkinson) • There is no “away” to throw things to. • The easiest way out is the fastest way back in. • Profound changes can take place in ways we cannot foretell. 9) The map is not the territory. 10) An answer is a question’s way of asking a new question.

  7. Information & Ideas Application of Systems Thinking in an Organization… • Knowledge • Goals

  8. Cross-Functional Areas • Financial Aid • Business Office • Registrar • Admission • Student Life • Academic Affairs • Advancement • Human Resources • College Relations & Marketing • Campus Safety • Facilities Management • Athletics • Information Services • Others?

  9. Systems Thinking in Financial Aid Administration = • Efficient and Effective Solutions and • Campus Compliance Examples that mirror good practice: • Administrative Council • Compliance Committees • Attendance/participation at Faculty Meetings and Forums • Roundtables (i.e., Orientation, Matrix, Task Force) • One-Stop Shop

  10. A bit of humor… Law OF REvERSEPROGREsS The complex system that works replaces a simple system that works. CObLITZ’s Law A committee can make a decision that is dumber than any of its members.

  11. A bit of humor, continued… L. B. J.”s Law: If two men agree on everything, you may be sure that only one of them is doing the thinking. (Editorial comment: It could be two women…or a man and woman, right?)

  12. To Survive Financial Aid Administration… • Develop your network of colleagues both on-campus and within the profession; • Develop your network of colleagues across departmental boundaries; • Increase your knowledge of financial aid, but as importantly of cross-functional areas remembering that knowledge is power; • Don’t be a silo but a systems thinker; share the burden ‘cause it’s often lonely at the top—especially in times of audit and program reviews; • Go with the flow…pick your battles wisely…and always…

  13. always… • Text Sample 1 • Text Sample 2 • Text Sample 3 “When dealt a lemon, make lemonade.”

  14. Examples of collaboration from Illinois State University

  15. Foundation Scholarship Disaster • The Problems • Scholarships given as awards. • Checks going straight to students. • Financial Aid notified 4 to 6 weeks after the student received the check.

  16. Foundation Scholarship Disaster • Other Issues • Departments liked their procedures and didn’t want to change. • Foundation did not fully understand the problem. • Comptroller had similar issues with money going to students.

  17. Foundation Scholarship Disaster • What did we do? • Found Allies – Student Accounts, Comptroller, Payroll, staff member in Foundation that had worked in Financial Aid. • Tracked the number of affected students and the dollar amounts. • Met with Foundation

  18. Other Examples • Off-Campus and Certificate Programs • Unofficial WD Reporting • Proof of Attendance • Tracking of Dependent Tuition Waivers • Decentralized WD Process • Alumni Scholarships

  19. Do You Have Examples?

  20. Questions?

More Related