Bursars Session Descriptions

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Sunday April 22, 2012
Pre-Conference Workshops	Bursars Basics Workshop How are day-to-day operations in the Bursar’s Office most effectively handled? What practices can help lower your receivables balances while at the same time maintaining good future alumni relations? How do you handle personnel problems and build a good team? Join us for an afternoon full of good information and a lot of sharing and discussion while we cover a myriad of essential practices. We’ll cover everything from payment plans, cashier/money handling practices, and customer service to collections, federal regulations, the audit, those tough personnel management issues, and more. So, whether you’re a bursar new to higher education or a seasoned bursar looking to review, refresh, and maybe get a few new ideas, we’d love to have you join us. Darla Freeborn has been the bursar at Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington, for 11 years where she has overseen the conversions to e-commerce, electronic billing, and document imaging. Prior to joining the staff at Whitworth, Darla was involved in business and industry. She was the staff accountant for a heavy highway construction company and the plant manager in a manufacturing facility. (Darla Freeborn, Whitworth University)		Leadership Workshop Are you a leader or just the “boss”? What does your approach to leadership say about you? What skills are needed to be a good leader? How do organization, communication and time management affect one’s ability to lead? As a leader, we guide our Bursar staff through change, challenging times and conflict. We help our team set goals and lead the way to accomplish them. Leaders capitalize on the strengths of their team members and help them feel valued and important. Whether you are new to a leadership position and wanting to strengthen your leadership skills, an experienced Bursar leading a team and looking for new ideas, or someone with plans to lead in the future, this workshop will help you recognize what it takes to create, motivate and lead a successful team that’s envied by other departments! Come prepared to share ideas, interact and have some fun as we learn ways to improve our performance as a team leader and a team member. (Sherry Deirth, Ivy Tech Community College-Bloomington)
Monday April 23, 2012
General Session	Are You Maximizing Your Payment Acquisition Options? (David Peterson, i7strategies)
				Management Track
Breakouts	Sensible Strategies (Financial Literacy) Insure borrowers are aware of their obligations and that they are organized to meet their repayment obligations. This is to also insure that borrowers are financially literate. (JoAnna Svoboda, Midwestern University)	Addressing the Covenience Fee Debate on Campus (TBA, HigherOne)	Social Media 101: About Influence (Jared Beard, Indiana University)	University of Virginia's Business Professional's Certification Program The University of Virginia has decentralized most of their business processes to the school and departmental level. This requires a large number of employees to be familiar with University policies, accounting structure, and information systems. The Business Professional Certification Program was developed in response to a need to provide structured training, informal learning opportunities, and communications to the departmental level business professionals. The end result is a better informed business professional workforce and a more collaborative relationship between central financial administration and the departments. (Tommye Arnold, University of Virginia)
Breakouts	How to Effectively Use Student Labor During Tight Budget Times What are the pros and cons of utilizing student labor in university departments? How do you efficiently train, schedule, supervise and evaluate students without spending an enormous amount of time doing that? What are the costs vs. benefits? This session considers the potential opportunities from this often untapped resource. (Gaylene Hargrove, Oklahoma State Unviersity)	Student Refunds-Prepaid (TBA, Citi)	Low Cost Online Payment Strategy Learn how Georgia Tech identified a low cost alternative of accepting online payments which has saved them over $1 million dollars annually for students electing to pay by credit card. By offering e-check (ACH process) and outsourcing the acceptance of credit cards through a third party vendor (convenience fee method) we have been able to reduce costs, streamline processes and redirect savings back to Academic Programs. (Carol Payne, Georgia Institute of Technology)	Roadmap to Developing an In-House Training Program Every University has a unique operating environment that determines who is the audience for a certification program. In this session we will explore: Determining the audience for the certification program Determining if any topics should be required training Prioritizing training topics Evaluating whether to offer courses in a classroom, online, or in informal workshop environments Determining if rewards should be available to trained employees. (Tommye Arnold, University of Virginia)
Breakouts	Just How Much Can We Do Electronically? AKA Hug a Tree & Save Money This session explains how to go about converting paper laden processes (requests, reconciliations, etc.) using routine office software. How do you determine suitable processes to convert? How many processes do you convert at one time? How do you get buy in from staff? What are the costs and benefits? How do you keep track of it all? Come explore the answers to these questions and more! (Gaylene Hargrove, Oklahoma State University)	ACH Update An update on the latest rules changes effecting higher education and the banking industry in general. (Jessica Rios, GACHA)	Customer Service in Higher Education Does it exist, do we care? A full filled and informative session on encouraging and coaching excellent Higher Ed/Bursars Office customer service. (Mary Marcum, University of Kentucky)	Think, Plan, Communicate, Collaborate! How often have you wished for just the right exercise that will energize your team, enable better communication, or encourage collaboration? This session will focus on low-cost exercises that you can execute at your institution. Focusing on improving communication, encouraging strategic thinking, team collaboration and creative problem solving, these simple games are both fun and instructional. Master strategist David Peterson will lead the group in a series of exercises with attendees forming the participant groups and explain the learning lessons for each exercise. This session will have people moving, talking, collaborating and communicating while learning how to use these important tools to energize employees and improve teamwork. (David Peterson, i7strategies)
Breakouts	Reporting Qualified Charges and Scholarships The session will cover how SCAD tracks and reports information for the 1098-T and 1042-S forms. The session will show the Banner setup of the forms and fields used to report qualified tuition/fees and scholarships/grants on the 1098-T. The session will also include a quick overview of the procedures for reporting scholarships for nonresident students on the 1042-S. (Yolinda German, SCAD)	Financial Data Security in a Complex Environment Are you concerned about data protection, Red Flag rules, and credit card data security (PCI DSS)? Do you know all of the places the data you are entrusted with is stored, how it is used, and who has access? Are you sure? By tradition and design, universities are well known for their open networks and diverse computing environments. In today’s age of data breaches and identity theft, traditions can collide head on with data security. Hear what one university is doing to address these hot topics while striving to maintain security, compliance, and tradition. (Ruth Harpool, Indiana University)	As Your University Goes Global; Simplify the Receipt of International Student Tuition Payments (Ben Kavalec, Travelex Global Business Payments, A Western Union Company and Carol Payne, Georgia Institute of Technology)	Motivating and Improving Morale in Bursar Office The daily challenges of the busy Bursar Office can take a toll. Unhappy students, reports to review, pressures to reduce receivables, overtime…How do we improve employee morale and motivation? How do leaders of the department keep their morale high and stay motivated? During this session, we will discuss how to recognize morale and motivation problems and how these issues affect the productivity of the Bursar Office. We will explore some low cost ways to motivate staff to give 110%, improve morale and create a healthier work environment. (Sherry Deirth, Ivy Tech Community College)
Breakouts	Embracing Technology to Promote Exceptional Student Services in Higher Education (Julie Selander, University of Minnesota)	A Case Study for Secure Vault Payments (Lisa McCleary, University of Georgia & TBA, eWise)	Addressing the Challenges Associated with the Mandate of Student Health Insurance Georgia Tech mandates student health insurance for over 5,600 students. Of these students approximately 1,400 students have their own personal coverage. Learn how Georgia Tech manages the assessment, insurance waivers, collection and reconciliation of these expenses. (Carol Payne, Georgia Institute of Technology)	The X Factor of Leadership What makes a truly good Leader? Join Mary in this interactive and humorous session identifying the winning components of Leadership. (Mary Marcum, University of Kentucky)
Tuesday April 24, 2012
General Session	Essential Leadership Skills for Challenging Times Change and challenge are the watch words for our world today. This presentation will explore challenges and opportunities professionals are facing during turbulent times. Leaders are being challenged on every front to increase value within a limited or diminishing resource pool. Jack Welch, former chairman and CEO of General Electric, stated, “Good leaders create a vision, they articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive the vision to completion.” Strategic thinking, informed decision making and effective communication are essential leadership skills for success today. (Jairy Hunter, President, Charleston SouthernUniversity) Dr. Jairy C. Hunter, Jr. is president and professor of management at Charleston Southern University. Previously, he served as vice chancellor for business affairs, vice chancellor for development, and professor of accounting at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington; vice president for administration at Broward Community College, and vice president for business at Blue Ridge Technical College. He also served as dean of student support services and professor of higher education and management at Appalachian State University.
Breakouts	Customer Relationship Management (CRM): How Can It Help Your Student "Customers?" CRM - both a business strategy and a set of software tools and technology designed to increase efficiencies and build customer satisfaction. It’s been used extensively in the commercial sector and has been adopted by many admissions offices for recruiting and relationship building; however, it has not been leveraged much in other student services offices in higher education. CRM has great potential to be used across the institutional enterprise, and specifically in the offices providing student financial information, support, and counseling. CRM strategies and tools can provide a more holistic student services experience by allowing a 360 degree view of information, thereby increasing efficiencies, improving effectiveness, and providing an environment for student success. The presenter will provide an exploration into some of the capabilities of CRM for your institution including case management, knowledge base, communications, and metrics/reporting. (Julie Selander, University of Minnesota)	Evals and Goals and Discipline-Oh My! Do you regularly do staff evaluations? Are you a goal setter and does your staff have goals and expectations they need to meet? How about that “problem personality” on your team? Are you taking the necessary steps to deal with the situation or are you looking the other way and hoping the problem fixes itself? Whether you are a Bursar overseeing a team or you are a member of that team looking to acquire or improve your leadership skills, these are important aspects of the job that you need to know about. This session will look at some of the do’s and don’ts of staff evaluations, things to consider when setting goals, conflict resolution, and how to deal with those difficult disciplinary situations that arise in every office. (Darla Freeborn, Whitworth University)	Improving Collections in the Bursars Office (James Garrant, Wellesley College)	Mobile Strategy (and Motivation) for the Business Office (Lisa McCleary, University of Georgia, John McElroy, TouchNet)
Breakouts	Have It Your Way… Application of Payment Options During this session we will discuss Banner AR options that impact application of payment. Bring your questions or challenges regarding application of payment and be ready to leave with solutions! (Charmaine Daniels, Georgia State University)	The Bursar Boomerang-Solving Student Financial Issues in One Place Without One Stop Shopping The University of New Haven has created a position in the Bursar’s Office to prevent students and parents from being bounced between the Bursar’s Office and the Financial Aid Office. The presentation will outline the creation of this position, the qualifications for the ideal candidate, and the results after year one. This session is ideal for employees who do not have the benefit of a one stop shop and want to try and limit the amount of bouncing around customers are exposed to on campus. (Marc Maniatis, University of New Haven)	Best Practices in International Payment Processing With international students growing at an astounding rate in higher education, issues with wire transfers for tuition payments are becoming extremely common. Payment processes are complicated and foreign exchange rates coupled with high bank fees make it even more confusing and costly. This presentation will share best practices for a simple and cost-effective payment process for international students, while saving the University a significant amount of time. Also, hear direct findings from James Garrant, the Director of Student Accounts at Wellesley College, and how implementing this system considerably improved Wellesley’s process for international tuition payments. (Sharon Butler, peerTransfer and James Garrant, Wellesley College)	Earning Your PhD in RDC Spend some time with a $2.7 billion dollar university that has been depositing all checks via remote deposit capture (RDC) since October 2008. Learn about the key components of their RFP and how they implemented the system, installed 100 scanners, and trained nearly 300 users in ten months across eight cities without adding to staffing or increasing travel. Learn how using RDC reduced their deposit float, streamlined their check processing operations, improved their interest income, and paid for itself in the first year. (Ruth Harpool, Indiana University)
Breakouts	Cash Handling & Bursar Office Internal Controls Safeguarding cash and preventing fraud is only a part of the equation. Explore simple cash handling strategies that may be utilized to protect you, your staff, and your students. Easily develop office procedures based on these guidelines and establish a solid audit trail as well. Set the tone for healthy skepticism and internal control education throughout your institution. Initiate and maintain written policies and procedures to reinforce consistency. (Gaylene Hargrove, Oklahoma State University)	Third Party Billing-Organizing, Processing, Monitoring, & Collecting Despite the current condition of the economy, the University of New Haven continues to have a large number of students who are sponsored by various entities. Personnel changes have helped to increase efficiency and provide better service to students. Learn more about how UNH processes third party billing, attempts to keep it organized, and, most importantly, gets paid from third party sponsors. (Marc Maniatis, University of New Haven)	Why Do You Need Consent to Call a Cell Phone? TCPA Issues and Trends (Bess Lochocki, Todd, Bremer & Lawson)	Durbin Amendment: What Does the Business Office Need to Know to Save Money! (John McElroy, TouchNet)
Breakouts	FERPA Refresher This session will provide you with an overview of key FERPA regulations and an opportunity to talk through any scenarios that you want clarity on. Bring your tough cases and come prepared for an interesting discussion! (Charmaine Daniels, Georgia State University)	Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) Update (Richard Middleton, The US Department of Veteran's Affairs)	Bankruptcy 101 This seminar will explain bankruptcy and the bankruptcy process to those who have never gotten close to a bankruptcy court (and who hope that they never will). It will cover from a very high level the different types of bankruptcy, explain the various legal terms and introduce the players that are encountered in the bankruptcy system, and briefly explain how the most common consumer cases are conducted. Finally, it will look at the unique status that student loans currently enjoy. (TBA, Bass & Associates)	Customer Service/Communication with Our Students What is your preferred way of communicating with your students and to other departments? How do you incorporate departmental changes that affect other departments? How do you get students need to know information? (JoAnna Svoboda, Midwestern University)
Wednesday April 25, 2012
General Session	Roundtable (Jason Beard, Professional Development Group)