By Shawn Berry, TG

Few financial aid administrators will argue that an effective presence on your institution’s Web site enhances communications with your customers. Your Web site can either help you to serve students more effectively, or it can create complications. This depends on how effectively your information is organized, and how simply it is delivered.

Each year, as use of the Internet increases, your presence on your school’s Web site will become more and more important. As access to the World Wide Web expands and tuition costs rise, more prospective and current students, parents, and others will be visiting your site to research opportunities, seek assistance, and examine their options for financing a higher education.

Whether you are only now preparing to expand your Web site content, or if you have already created and posted in-depth financial aid information on the Web, this article provides you with some things to consider when working with your presence on the Web.

General Considerations
The biggest challenge in creating and posting information on your site is to assure that it is well-organized, easy to understand, and inviting to use.

The first and most important rule is to organize and write your information from a student’s perspective, not from your perspective as a financial aid professional. Do not use technical terms, over-explain your process, or offer volumes of information. This will only intimidate and frustrate your virtual visitors. Do this, and you will find you have increased, rather than decreased, your workload!

Effective Web writing is also important. Cut your information to include only the bare essentials. If some of your information requires long explanation, offer a link that a visitor can use to access detailed information. Use bulleted lists and bold subheadings, and avoid long paragraphs.

One valuable tip: Include a new work-study student in your office to help with creating or upgrading your site information. Why, do you ask? A new student will appreciate your role in financing their education (they chose to work for you), but he or she will be unfamiliar with your office process and the jargon common in the industry. If he or she doesn’t “get it,” then you can be fairly sure that most of your customers won’t either. Your new work-study student will help keep your focus centered on getting the messages across to your customers.

Critical Sections
Although several factors play a role in the information that is included on your site, there are some sections that should always be included. Each of the suggestions listed below should be customized or adjusted to meet the needs of your office, institution, programs, and students.

Include a glossary of terms
An online glossary helps to explain those terms that you find you have to explain repeatedly. Review financial aid glossaries offered in publications from guarantors, lenders, servicers, and others for terms to include. Encourage your staff to recommend additions. Create links from other documents on your site to glossary entries. Include a “Suggest a New Term” link on each page of your glossary to capture those terms your site visitors are looking for but cannot find.

Offer an events and activities calendar
Post early and final deadlines for submitting forms, requesting information, or registering. Include dates, times, and locations of financial aid presentations, activities, and fairs. Make sure you post major deadlines in the campus-wide calendar offered to visitors of your school’s Web site, or ask the owners of this page to offer a link to your calendar.

Promote news and events
This is the place to post guidance that is relevant to many of your students during a specific time of year. If the guidance is lengthy, then post a summary and offer a full page description through a link. Include important notices, changes in deadlines, and new scholarship and grant opportunities. Include a one-page summary of “Steps To Take This Semester,” so that each student can understand, keep track of, and complete the tasks necessary to obtain his or her aid.

Provide a section for forms and instructions
Offer links to all of the forms necessary to complete the various processes in your office. Consider sorting them by either time of year, by type of student, or by another easy-to-understand set of categories. If possible, offer forms in different formats, in different languages if they are available, or with accompanying instructions.

Supply useful Web links
Set up a page that provides Web links to online resources. Organize and categorize your links by type of resource or by audience. Consider providing a one-sentence description for each link.

Describe your process
A helpful resource can be a simple, step-by-step description of your process for obtaining financial aid. Again, it is important to describe your process in terms that a student can understand. Eliminate any steps that do not require action from the student’s perspective.

Include a staff and subject directory
Offer a directory of the names, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses of your staff. Offer a listing organized by last name, and a listing offered by topic. That way, visitors can look up a member of your team if they know their name, or if they have a question about a specific program or issue.

Link to your online services portal
If your institution offers online account status, billing options, and other electronic services through a user name and password, make sure to include a link to these resources. To promote these services, summarize what tasks students can accomplish using the portal. Offer an e-mail link or phone number students can call if they are having difficulty with access.

Compile your frequently-asked questions
A list of frequently asked questions with prepared responses can help students and parents with their questions. It can also be a useful resource for staff who counsel students over the phone or in person. Include a “Suggest a Question” link to capture those questions your site visitors need answers for but cannot find.

Offer an office fact sheet
A simple one-page sheet that lists your office name, your office’s vision or mission, physical and mailing addresses, instructions for special shipping, main phone numbers, fax numbers, Web site addresses, and a map can help students communicate with you and help visitors find you.

Include a site map
A site map lists the pages available on your Web site. As visitors return more frequently, they will find this feature useful to jump directly to a specific page they need. The site map will also help your office staff to navigate through your information quickly.

Good luck with your site creation or enhancements!

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Shawn Berry is a National Account Representative with TG serving schools in Arizona. You may contact Shawn at (800) 252-9743, ext. 2506, or by e-mail at shawn.berry@tgslc.org. Additional information about TG can be found online at www.tgslc.org