Case Study: Pomona College

August 2021

Goals

To serve as the interim director of financial aid and provide oversight for new year setup in PowerFAIDS.

Situation

The financial aid director at Pomona College not only led the office, but was integral to office operations, completing file review, verification, and awarding. The director needed to take a leave of absence, and contacted Blue Icon Advisors to fill her position during the leave. One major initiative during her absence was leading the financial aid side of a new student decision release, which included PowerFAIDS setup for the new award year and working with Admissions and other campus officials to design and implement a new process.

Solution

Blue Icon Advisors provided two part-time consultants to fill the director's role: one to provide leadership and maintain operations for the unit and the other to provide assistance with PowerFAIDS new aid year setup and new student decision release. As the engagement progressed, the director decided not to return from the leave of absence. Blue Icon was able to increase and extend Pomona's support until a new director was hired.

Outcome

"The consultants from Blue Icon not only just kept the office together, but made improvements to move the office forward," said Seth Allen, vice president for strategy and dean of admissions and financial aid. Over the course of the 10-month engagement, the consultants successfully trained staff to perform PowerFAIDS system setup functions, established policies and procedures for institutional aid professional judgments, and increased staff efficiency through automation. The consultants also worked closely with newly-promoted associate directors to encourage and support their efforts as emerging leaders.

"The consultants' final report was full of good information and additional improvement ideas," said Allen. "I shared it with the new director and others for us to use as a guide to move us forward."

 

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Publication Date: 9/27/2021

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