Beginning this semester, the Ac- ademic Advising Center will handle financial aid appeals for students looking to keep their scholarships if their grades drop below the re- quired standards.

The new appeals form will in- struct students to report to the center to get an academic plan doc- ument, which will be completed by a University advisor. This new form will replace the older version that was multiple pages in length.

This form will include verifica- tion of hours needed for degree completion as well as an anticipat- ed graduation date. A meeting will then be scheduled with the student to discuss their progress.

At this meeting, the advisor will make recommendations to help the student improve their progress if tutoring, counseling or a shift in course schedule is needed, for a few examples. These recommenda- tions will be noted on the appeal form along with other information and then returned to the Office of Financial Aid.

In some cases, the center will re- quire verification of information

from the academic departments. If verification is needed, the cen- ter will send the students to the department of their major with a blue form, which will ask a repre- sentative from the department for the hours remaining and estimated graduation date.

The advisors will begin all forms, but if they cannot confidently es- “timatethegraduationdateorre- maining hours, further information will be needed from the faculty. The center will not require all students to submit the verification forms. In the event that students go to a faculty member’s office with the old forms, the student should be directed to head to the

Academic Advising Center.

This process is different from its

predecessor in years past because students had to handle all the pa- perwork themselves.

Amy Hebert, the coordinator for the Academic Advising Center, be- lieves this change will benefit both the students and the faculty.

“This appeals process only ap- plies to federally funded scholar- ships, such as anything the student would receive for having complet- ed the FAFSA,” Hebert said.

In Hebert’s experience over this past semester, she has processed over fifty appeals and says her ad- visors have probably processed the same amount, which would result in a multitude of appeals consider- ing they have a staff of eight em- ployees.

“I don’t know if the new system will be easier, but it will be more efficient. Students and faculty will have to do more to complete the process, but it gives the advisor a chance to talk to the student to see what is really going on with the student. If their grades are falling, then we will we help them put some things into place that will ultimately make them a better stu- dent, so that they can keep their funding and continue their educa- tion,” Hebert said.