A new billing system, recently implemented by the University, brings its many benefits at a price.
The University recently switched to eBilling – a new paperless billing system. Benefits of the new bill pay system include faster, 24-hour ability to pay bills, more self-service of students’ own finances and improved communication for University staff.
‘In today’s world many of us … expect more self service opportunities with the Internet,’ said Tawn Williams-Nell, acting bursar.
The University switched to Internet-only billing in hopes of creating a more convenient bill pay environment for parents and students.
All students now have the option to enroll a parent or guest, complete with their own I.D. and password, giving them the ability to view and pay student’s bills. Notably, enrolling parents for this option does not give them access to the student’s BG1 account – solely the student’s bills view/pay Web page.
While the new billing system is meant to enhance convenience and self-service abilities for both students and staff, it has proven to be less than a flawless transition.
‘With any new system and any new look of a bill comes some education that has to go with it,’ Williams-Nell said.
Williams-Nell added many students and parents should not be surprised by the new system, due to the abundant marketing prior to going live on the new system. The first marketing strategies for the awareness of the switch began in early March. The University began to send out literature as a means of informing students and parents of the new bill paying system that would soon be available.
The University launched the new system April 4. The go-live date was chosen in hopes of lessening the impact of such a campus-wide change. April is toward the end of spring semester and the beginning of a new billing cycle for summer semester. The change primarily affected those taking summer classes as opposed to the 18,000 students who typically start in fall, Williams-Nell said. Williams-Nell believes students need only a couple of months to understand the new billing system.
However, misunderstandings about the new bill have arisen in the midst of the change.
‘It’s kind of confusing,’ Amanda Rosario, freshman, said. ‘It took a really long time for me to receive financial aid.’
Many have experienced the dilemma that, due to federal regulations, financial aid is not allowed to be subtracted from student’s bills until 10 days prior to start of each semester, whereas the bill due date is weeks before the start of each semester.
‘One of our biggest challenges and concerns that we’ve heard is not subtracting financial aid from the bills,’ Williams-Nell said. ‘We have a very large student population on this campus who receives aid.’
The Bursar Office assures students that the financial aid they receive is taken into account as ‘anticipated aid’ and they are only required to pay the amount their bill is anticipated to be after they receive the aid.
Student Services began planning the implementation of this new system in the fall of 2006. While many continuing students will notice bill paying is now very different, it is not just the Bursar’s Office that has been affected. Admissions and Registration and Student Financial Aid are also included and now all run on the same system, therefore making the transfer of information throughout the University more accurate and convenient.
The Bursar Office maintains that while they have not noticed much more telephone or e-mail traffic, inquiries about bills come in quicker, due to the fast-paced nature of the Internet versus traditional paper bills.
‘Everybody’s used to the old system,’ Marcella Hayes, a student clerk in the Bursar’s Office, said. ‘It’s a lot of repetitive questions.’
With the new system comes a standard due date for all bills. From now on, bills will be published the fifth of every month, and due on the 25, regardless of time and weekday.
The vendor chosen to best suit the University’s needs is Cashnet, also utilized by peer schools such as Kent State, Ohio University and Miami of Ohio.
