|
Editorial Reflections...
Financial Aid Counseling
by Becky Cady, Clark College
I looked in my dictionary and found the following definitions:
counsel: (koun' s_l ) n. 1. The act of exchanging opinions and ideas; consultation.
2. Advice or guidance, esp. as solicited from a knowledgeable person. See Syns at advice.
3. A plan of action.
advice: (_d-v_s') n. 1. Opinion about what could or should be done about a situation
or problem; counsel. 2. Information communicated; news. |
I especially like definition number two of counsel,
"advice or guidance, especially as solicited from a
knowledgeable person." That's it. That is what
happens all day long in financial aid
offices across the nation. Students
come in through our doors, soliciting
our guidance on how to
fill out the forms, how to pay
for college, how to apply for
scholarships, how to qualify
for grants, how to become independent,
how to deal with an un-savory
academic past. Every "how
to" unravels and seeps into other
areas of their lives. We learn of their
tremendous struggles, their prejudices,
their hopes and dreams. We follow the
same regulations in the morning as we do
in the afternoon; yet in the morning
we are proclaimed as angels because
we have been able to approve assistance
and during the afternoon we are
declared devils because we have
had to deny funding.
Our students do come to
us seeking our advice and
counsel. Sometimes they
come defensive and defiant -
they almost always come fearful.
They perceive us as the experts and
view us as guarding the gateway to their
future. We sometimes receive them defensively and
defiantly, often guarding against them in fear because
we may not be able to help them, they may expect too
much from us, we may not have the
answer to their question. It is such
a tangle. How do we listen to them
and answer the questions they do
not even know to ask? How do
we encourage them and connect
them to the campus community
while managing our fast-paced
workload?
I doubt there is a definite answer.
It does seem that if we can receive
them openly, if we can reassure them in
their fear and doubt, if we can
explore the full range of their
situation and find the best
and most creative solutions
to their particular
circumstance, we will have provided
wise counsel and good
advice. And our students will be
reassured, they will know that they
are valued and respected and that
they have received full and fair
treatment, regardless of the dollar
amounts included on their financial
aid award. That is the counsel students
can expect to receive from financial aid
professionals across the nation.
|
