Our goal is to get the students what they need as early as possible as simply as possible and as concisely as possible, because they're there for academics, they're not there to learn GW systems. So our goal is to be as easy as possible.

Welcome to Focus, a podcast dedicated to the business of higher education. I'm your host, Heather Richmond, and we will be exploring the challenges and opportunities facing today's higher learning institutions. In this episode, we're joined by Jennifer O'Quinn, Director of Student Accounts at the George Washington University to discuss the steps they are taking to create integrated student experience through a variety of payment solutions. Hi, Jen, thanks so much for joining us today.

Happy to be here.

Great. Well, can you start out by telling our audience just a little bit about your background?

Yeah, I started with George Washington University in 2008 as a systems analyst. I joined our student accounts team in 2014. Took over the operation in 2016. And I've been the student accounts director since then.

That's great. And how about GW? Can you tell us a little bit about the university?

Yeah, we are nestled in the heart of DC. We are the closest George to the White House. We have a really robust undergraduate population on campus in DC, we also have an extensive number of graduate programs, we have a law school, med school, and we are changing the world one life at a time. 

I love that. That's great. So speaking of, as director of student accounts office, you know, really, what's your goal? And what's your approach to really being that resource for students?

Our goal is to get the students what they need as early as possible, as simply as possible and as concisely as possible. And then hopefully, they will just sign up for a payment plan, take care of their bill, set up the refund profile, do all the things and then they honestly hopefully won't have to talk to us very much. Until the next semester, because they're there for academics, they're not there to learn GW systems. So our goal is to be as easy as possible.

Yeah, make it easy on them. So hopefully, they do what they're supposed to do, but primarily focus on their studies.

Absolutely.

How about expanding? I really liked that, you know, kind of that approach to having an integrated student experience? Can you really expand on what you mean by that?

Yeah, we're a Banner school. So the students are used to doing almost everything through Self Service Banner. We, you know, use a lot of Ellucian products, but we love TouchNet. And then it allows us to do our statements, our payments, our refunds are 1090 ATŐs kind of all in the same portal. So the student doesn't have to remember what's where, all of their financial stuff is in the same place.

That's really great. Just having that single kind of unified place, I've heard some horror stories of a student has to go here, they have to have this login, they have to have that credential to get into this system. So just having it in one place is probably really good for the student.

Yeah, we've also integrated our single sign on so the student doesn't even have to log in to email, they just have to click a link from our self-service. So it's pretty great.

So you mentioned a minute ago, you know, one of the things is really getting your students to be able to get into payment plans. So can you maybe give a little bit of an overview on your payment plans and how you service your students that way?

Yeah, so we have our standard plan for the semester is four months for fall and spring, three months for summer, just because summer is a shorter period. Students are able to enroll even before we turn on assessment. So we provide them with everything they need to estimate their charges so that they can get in early. And then we also have some targeted plans for our students who are kind of in programs with alternate schedules. We don't call them quarters, but they are similar to that. And we also have targeted plans for our graduate assistants and teaching assistants to make it easier for them, since they are doing GW a wonderful service.

Yeah, that's great. And probably really helpful to have the different targeted plans based upon kind of who you are, and when you want to pay, when you can actually get that going.

It's just it's a really wonderful opportunity for our students because, you know, we know that our students are coming from all different backgrounds and have different requirements and different estimated family contributions and everything. So being able to space your payments out has been a really great opportunity for our students all within the same portal.

Yeah, and did you start out that way? Or do you have kind of one plan and then you learn like, we need to have different plan options or how did that work?

When we first implemented, we had one plan, it was a five month plan. So we had a five month for fall, a five month for spring and a three month for summer. And there was one month that overlapped. And we learned very quickly, that was not great, which is why we now have four, four, and three, because that doesn't add up to thirteen. So we would allow students to self-enroll into the one plan. And then if they contacted us and needed something special, we could build them an administrative plan, or we could handle it some other way. We have always had our what we call our estimated to actual and that we do allow students to enroll prior to the start of the semester and estimate what they expect their costs are going to be, and what their expected credits are going to be. Because we haven't necessarily gotten all the outside scholarships, yet, we haven't necessarily gotten all of the third party sponsorships on there yet. So that's really helpful. And then after the start of the semester, when everything should have been turned in air quotes, we roll it to a term balance plan. It used to be an itemized balanced plan, we like the term balance much better, because it's much more streamlined. But that makes the plan automatically update to the student's account balance so that they don't have to keep sending us adjustments every time they drop a class. Or add a class right? Our overachievers.

Exactly. Well, it probably makes them feel a little bit better to I would think by being able to say, hey, I want to get in a plan. I don't want to have to wait till my charges hit to do that. Because I'm already going to be you know, really into the academic side. So being able to get into the estimated plan and then just automatically having a rollover, probably it kind of helps a little bit of the stress and anxiety, I bet.

Absolutely. And we require, so we have four months, you know, August through November, and if you sign up, or July through November, pardon me. And if you sign up after any missed payments, you have to make those as a down payment the way that we set it up. So it's it behooves everyone to sign up early, so that they can space their payments out to the broadest extent, and make sure it fits their budget.

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. And then you talked about having the tailored plans. And so how do you make sure that just those students who really qualify for those tailored plans are able to get into those plans.

So we love the eligibility roles, big props for the eligibility rules, theyŐre fantastic. We're currently using a combination of attributes and student parameters college level campus, to make sure that we're offering the payment plan specifically to the population that needs them because of that alternate schedule, or because of, you know, whatever it is that's happening for them. GRAŐs have an attribute. And that's going really well, we haven't seen any issues with that, which just means that I set it up correctly.

Let the tool work for you.

Exactly. Yeah, we're very decentralized at GW. We have basically 10 different schools that students can participate in, and every school likes to do their own thing, their own special way, of course, so at the end of the day, we just need to accommodate the academic side while also providing the best experience from the administrative side.

Yeah, 100%, I can definitely see that, and it also probably makes the student, again, feel better when they come in. And they see the options are like, Ôoh, that's me. And I can actually apply for this type of plan.Ő

Yes, that's the goal.

That's the goal. So how about any other kind of plans? Do you have something else? I think we talk a little bit about the health insurance policy.

Yes. So starting this semester, we have a mandatory health insurance program for certain populations on our campus, we've created an option for our GA and GRA students to voluntarily enroll in that program. And we're doing that through the attribute code as well. So basically, our GA/GRA students, we put the attribute on their account, and then we send them a message to let them know that they're eligible. They can come into student account, email, they can view their account, they can use the additional items, they don't know what's the addition, they can sign up for the insurance using the additional items functionality. And then while they're in there, if they're interested, they can also sign up for this special payment plan that's further group because we're multitasking that attribute and it just makes the whole process very convenient for them.

That is really a smart way to use that. So using attributes and really kind of using that then to be able to target message them and then be able to kind of flow them into and here's the plans available to you. I love that. So is there anything else you're thinking about, seems like that every kind of piece of functionality within payment plans that you can customize, you're taking advantage of that anything else that is on the horizon?

Well, we're always looking at new ways to use the payment plans, because we love how convenient they are to the students without requiring a lot of manual intervention from the administration side. So we're looking at ways that we can potentially set something up for our military students, so that they have, you know, that additional benefit GW is very military friendly. So we just have to figure out the best way to identify them potentially, before they certify, which is the sticking point. We also just started a kind of late enrollment plan. So if a student finds out that they are not going to get some sort of funding that they were expecting, and they need a last minute payment plan, not to say last minute, but you know, things happen, its life, we have not available now. So we are looking forward to the upcoming functionality that's coming in, in terms of delinquency reports, and potentially holds placement, again, just to communicate with the student as much as anything because the student, you know, once they find out, there's an issue, they can take care of it. But it's that connection piece, right, that we're hoping that TouchNet will be able to continue to strengthen.

Yeah. And again, you just want to be able to multitask and have one thing set up and have it do lots of things and communicate.

Yes, that's my favorite. Yeah, I'm a little famous for setting up things like that.

I think that's wonderful. And so kind of thinking about other types of payments, that are not in the payment plan. I know you have several types of deposits, too. And so can you talk a little bit about how you, you know, really roll your deposits in your process?

Yeah, we love the deposits module, we use it for our incoming programs that require deposit, which is, you know, our undergraduate but also several of our graduate programs require a deposit. Our law school requires a three tier deposit, which is really fun, but definitely doable, because it's, the deposit module is so flexible. We also have a deposit for some of our study abroad programs, we require them to put down a down payment, to cover some of the costs associated with setting up the study abroad experience, which thank goodness, I don't have to have anything to do with it. But by using the deposit function, it makes it much easier for all of the different offices that offer study abroad to accept those funds in a compliant way without a lot of extra hassle. So that was really good.

That's awesome. Well, it sounds like again, you're really maximizing the functionality. So any kind of tips to other schools or advice if they're thinking about implementing payment plans or deposits, when setting it up.

Just like with anything, plan out what you want to do, use the resources within your team, within TouchNet. I'm a resource, clearly, reach out, it's fun, network, just to make sure that you understand how it's going to work ahead of time, and you know, have everything in place. And don't forget to check your automated messages semi frequently so that they're up to date with the information that you want to share. Because at least at GW, we've been making a lot of updates to our processes to make sure that there is a student friendly as possible. Every time we do that, we have to remember to update all of our messaging, as well. And recently found out I forgot one. 

So there are some things that you can't set and forget, you have to set and check.

Yes. Yeah. All those dates they update, you know.

True, either that or generalized your messaging. So you don't have to worry about having date and timestamps on there.

Yeah, well our favorite is making sure that students have the exact information that they need when they need it so that they can't say that we didn't tell them, so some of the stuff has to be hard coded.

Absolutely, absolutely. Well, that's really kind of a great segue into making sure the student is aware. And I know that some of that is making sure that they're agreeing to different consents that you may use. So can you talk a little bit about how you use the consent manager to spread that awareness?

Yeah, we love the consent manager, broken record, we love it. So we've been using it for our financial responsibility agreement. The majority of our students do use the TouchNet portal for again, statements and activity and refunds and deposits and etc, and so on. So it's a good way to collect the financial responsibility agreement. And we also recently added a screen to cover our refund policy in the event that the student does have to drop courses for whatever reason. So now we have the studentŐs acknowledgement of our refund policy usually prior to the start of the semester, we have some evidence that the student was at least presented with the refund policy. And then that actually feeds right into starting this fall semester are partnered with Grad Guard to offer tuition insurance to our students. And so that flows fantastically, because everything is all integrated. So we've enjoyed that tremendously.

Yeah, that's awesome. I know, we've really enjoyed our partnership with Grad Guard too, and really see that benefit to the student by having that integrated student experience, again, of saying, hey, while you're coming through and making your payment, this might be a time that you want to look at tuition protection, especially looking at the refund policy. So can you kind of explain a little bit on how you guys are using Grad Guard and how it's working out so far?

Yeah, so we were previously with a different vendor and learned that Grad Guard was integrated with TouchNet. And we love anything that's integrated and hands off. So we learned that Grad Guard offered kind of better coverage, both in what's covered and how much is covered. So we made the change. And then we're using attributes, again, to offer kind of targeted levels of insurance, depending on what class the student is in, whether they're undergraduate, on campus, undergraduate, off campus, graduate, med or law, because their typical bill tends to be different depending on which group they're in. It's, again, it's very integrated, the student or authorized user goes in, they can decide whether or not they want the tuition insurance, if they sign up, it's very easy. And it's 100% through Grad Guard, GW doesn't have to handle any money or any charges or anything like that. And if they don't, a little box stays on their home screen until the end of the enrollment period, which for us is the first day of the semester. So that if they change their mind, or if they just need, you know, a visual reminder, every time they log in, tuition insurance is great. And we strongly recommend tuition insurance as a great way to protect your investment in higher education. Anyway, it just stays there. So they can see it through our enrollment period. So we like that, and students are definitely signing up, we saw six within the first hour that we had it on, and we're now you know, several 100. And it's hard to sell insurance to young people. Yeah, so we understand. But again, we love that it's presented to the student that they, you know, have the information that they need to make whatever choice works best for their family

100%. And again, I think it goes back to if you just make it easy, and part of the process that you said you have that integrate experience, that it's not this separate thing I have to think about and go apply for but if it's something that makes them make sense, and it's really a pretty small percentage of overall tuition, then it's almost like all the other places, you're just going to checking a box and saying, Yes, I want to protect my investment,

Every time I buy something from Amazon with a protection plan, this screen pops right up. It's the same experience.

100% Yeah, great. Well, I can't wait to hear a full year in your great results that are going to be having with Grad GGuard. That's wonderful. So let's talk about so this has been really great to hear everything kind of making it easier for the student and really simplifying their experience. But I think a lot of that also has a benefit to you and your staff and really simplifying and reducing manual processes. So can you talk a little bit about that?

Yeah, so from a tuition insurance perspective, we were previously accepting tuition insurance payments on behalf of our previous vendor, again, through the additional items functionality and TouchNet, which was greatly like that, there was a lot of manual maintenance on our part, because we'd have to make sure that the students pick the right level of coverage, we would have to make sure that the student didn't add multiple coverages, because they only need one, and then the students were contacting us trying to opt out after they'd opted in. So we'd have to update that manually. And then at the end of the enrollment period, we would have to send the list to the vendor. So we'd have to clean it up and password protect it and transfer in a very safe and secure way. But all of that took time and effort during the busiest part of our year, you know, the first week of the semester is not when we want extra activities. It's not having to do that is you know, it hasn't happened yet. But I'm already super excited about it.

That's wonderful. That's great. And then I mean, thinking about too during that really busy time and what would normally be I'll say billing and statements. You've actually made some transitions to having more of on demand statements. So you can talk a little bit about that.

All right. So we love the on demand statements, because it's just fantastic. It updates every time the student makes a change to their account. It's not stagnant like the statements that we load just for notification purposes, so and we also have the student's schedule on it, they can see all of their charges, they can see their pending credits, because right now, nothing's been released yet. And then they can see their statement. And that also meets the needs of the majority of the requests that we were getting for itemized statements or reimbursement or third party sponsorship, or whatever purposes, students were always asking us for those so that they could go get funding from someone else, which is understandable. But now it's super easy breezy for them, because they can just pull our on demand statement whenever they need it. And we're no longer trying to fulfill those requests, again, during our busy periods, so it's been a win, win for everybody.

That sounds great. I think I heard you say, so you still do, do you still do like a monthly statement? But then they can go anytime in between? Or how do you do that?

Yeah, so we still do a monthly statement, in part because we want that notification going out and saying, hey, you have a non zero balance at GW, you either need to, you know, clear your balance by making a payment. Or maybe you have a refund that you need to request before we have to escalate it to DC, because we always recommend getting your money and not giving it to DC. And we also like having that history so that my office also handles collections. So if we need to send notification history as part of an appeal, we can say, yes, you received all of all of these statements on this days. Oh, but we can also see the history on the on demand statements. So if we need to, we can say, oh, you also pulled an on demand statement on this day, this day, with this balance on all of those days.

Yeah. And so kind of thinking about that self-service model and right, really making it easier and integrated. Students can also go retrieve their 1090 ATŐs in the same place, right?

Yes. So we've been partnered with ECSI for years to help us distribute our 1090 ATŐs, and then recently ECSI and TouchNet, were able to integrate that function. So we still do all of our mailing and everything through ECSI. But the students are able to consent to an electronic 1090 AT in TouchNet, which is fantastic. That makes it so much easier to collect that data and make it easily transferable to ECSI, even more students that haven't provided us with their social for whatever reason. So we're mailing significantly less 1090 AT's which is, you know, great cost savings. And then the students also don't have to remember how to go log in to ECSI to retrieve the 1090 AT, they just have to click a button. And hey, while they're in there, if they still owe anything on their spring balance, they can go ahead. While you're there, you know, because everything's in the same place. It's great.

That is wonderful. Again, power of integration, you definitely have built that integrated student experience for sure. I know there's a lot of compliance and security regulations around payments, especially, you know, online and getting validation. Are there some other things that you're doing really, in that security vein right now too?

Hot off the presses, we are working on getting set up with the ACH validation service that TouchNet offers, we are as excited as you can be about that, about compliance. Compliance is super exciting. Yeah, that'll be really great, because TouchNet has updated it so that doesn't validate/save payment methods that have already been validated, which we were a little worried about, just from a studentŐs service perspective, it would have been kind of extra for the students. So we are excited about it in that it's going to massively cut down on the number of return payments that we have for, you know, account not found or account not typed in correctly is like we like to call it and um, and that will make it a much better experience for the student. If they try to enter the wrong bank account information, they'll find out right away instead of four days and the $35 fee later.

Or putting the wrong account in and somebody else gets the money. And then what about for the international payments?

So for international payments, we are excited. We love everything and we're super excited. We're happy people. We're getting ready, papers and everything are signed, we're waiting for our kickoff meeting to implement TransferMate, which is another integrated TouchNet partner that we're excited about. They have this wonderful service, particularly for our international students in that, you know, once the student fills out the form and gets the email, they can do their wire online or they can go to their bank and they'll get a phone call from TransferMate to make sure that everything is working as expected and then because the wires being done through transfer me it's much easier to track and make sure that it's being accurately and quickly posted to the students account versus wires that we're receiving sort of outside of TouchNet that we don't know anything about until they show up. So we're very excited about that. And TransferMate has some other things coming down the pike that we think our international particular Chinese students are going to be very excited about, but I don't want to steal their thunder. So fingers crossed. We're excited.

That is awesome. Yeah, you got to make sure that you're tailoring that experience across the board, like you said, the more you can integrate in and have that be a better student experience, the better for everybody.

Yeah, well, having a diverse population is also a great experience for our student body. So in our own small way, we're very, we're excited.

I say, I've learned a lot about how you're really maximizing all the functionality to really provide that great integrated student experience. So Jen, thanks so much for talking to me today.

Absolutely. Thanks for hanging out. It was it was fun, and we're excited about all the different things we have coming down the pike.

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