For both school sessions this academic year, students have been wondering about refund checks and if they’ll have enough aid to be cleared.  One person who can answer those questions and more is the university cashier, Jeri Brumfield.  She has been university cashier since March 2006.

The New Orleans native who has been in her job since March 2006 said she and her co-workers in the Office of Business and Finance have been working hard to make the students more aware of what’s happening with their aid.

“Because of everything that’s going on, it’s been a little harder than usual.  We’re trying to increase awareness of how the business and finance process works, so we’re supplying information by email and posting things online,” Brumfield said.

During the second session, the Office of Business and Finance sent out a statement of account balances, but in response, students came to the office concerned. 

“Many thought it was a bill, leaving a large balance to pay, but really, it was informing the students on what aid hit their account.  The aid from last semester had to be sent back to the loan office if it wasn’t used, and we had to get the aid sent back to us. Because of this, the aid has been returning slowly,” Brumfield said.

She said the discharge process has also slowed refunds coming back to students.  The aid sent out after September 3 was sent back to the loan agencies until the students returned to Dillard.

The aid was re-disbursed In January to the students.  Once the aid hits, the refunds can be sent out to the students.  However, loans like the Federal Subsidized and Unsubsidized loans are taking longer to return to the university.

Even though the process has been slowed, some students will still be unable to get their refunds.

“I don’t know what else we can do.  We have stood outside of the classrooms to give the debit cards to the students,” Brumfield said.  “All students who were here first session have a card, unfortunately, students who came second session don’t have a card yet because they still haven’t come in.”

For students who are having trouble finding loans, they should begin looking early.  If they don’t want to take out loans, there are alternate options such as grants and scholarships.  Brumfield said students must be hard working and diligent to obtain these.

If students have any questions, the office hours for business and finance are Monday-Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Brumfield said she has appreciated all that students have done to make the last two academic sessions a smooth and steady process.

“Both of these sessions have been very hard with everything going on.  Next year, students should get their account balances sooner and we will be releasing student account information regularly.  We appreciate everyone’s patience and prayerfully, we will never have such a slow moving year again.”