Borrower Experience: Special Direct Consolidation Loan Opportunity
We are happy to provide an update on the progress of Nelnet’s participation in the Department of Education’s new Special Direct Consolidation Loan opportunity.
The consolidation opportunity has been available to eligible borrowers since January 17, 2012, and Nelnet’s call center has been staffed to take calls about eligibility and the details of the opportunity since that time.
Nelnet began sending e-mails to qualified borrowers on January 18. The second e-mail will be sent on January 31 to all eligible borrowers who haven’t yet applied. Our communication efforts, which include a series of six e-mails, as well as a series of three direct mail postcards, will continue through June. Nelnet’s internally developed website (www.specialdirectconsolidationloan.org), which helps borrowers learn more about Special Direct Consolidation Loans and how to apply, is also live.
As we have moved through the first week of availability, we have seen an increase in phone calls and open rates for our e-mail campaigns. We are aware that there has been some confusion regarding how to apply. We have updated our communications and our website by including more explicit application instructions before the borrower is redirected to www.studentloans.gov.
We are excited to be able to serve eligible borrowers with this new option to help them better manage their student loans. We continue to develop a program that will allow schools to request a copy of their students who have been contacted by Nelnet regarding the Special Direct Consolidation Loan Opportunity, and we will send you additional information as it becomes available.
Please let us know if you have questions.
Don Buehrer, Regional Director, Nelnet Partner Solutions
Training: Check Out February & March Webinar Wednesday Schedule
We hope you can join us for one of our free Webinar Wednesday training sessions. They happen every Wednesday at 11am and 2pm (eastern time). They are designed to be an hour or less, so you can fit training into your busy schedule. Just click on the link and register; we will take it from there!
Understanding Federal and Special Consolidation Loans (Feb 1)
This session is an introduction to Federal Consolidation Loans. We will discuss benefits, eligibility, and how consolidation impacts a school’s default rate. Additionally, the session will also cover the Special Loan Consolidation Program that is in effect through June 2012.
Date: Wednesday, February 1, 2012 Time: 11:00 am, Eastern Standard Time (New York, GMT-05:00) Session Number: 800 871 839
Date: Wednesday, February 1, 2012 Time: 2:00 pm, Eastern Standard Time (New York, GMT-05:00) Session number: 803 476 268
Cohort Default Rate Overview and Challenge Process (Feb 8 )
Financial aid professionals need to understand Cohort Default Rates. This webinar is designed to provide an overview of CDR regulations along with information on how to challenge draft rates. We will discuss the why, when, what and how of the challenge process and provide you with resources to that end.
Date: Wednesday, February 8, 2012 Time: 11:00 am, Eastern Standard Time (New York, GMT-05:00) Session Number: 805 046 203
Date: Wednesday, February 8, 2012 Time: 2:00 pm, Eastern Standard Time (New York, GMT-05:00) Session number: 802 499 128
Top Ten Compliance Issues (Feb 15)
This webinar will provide you with an overview of the 2011 top 10 audit and program review findings along with suggestions on how to avoid them at your institution.
Date: Wednesday, February 15, 2012 Time: 11:00 am, Eastern Standard Time (New York, GMT-05:00) Session Number: 801 691 698
Date: Wednesday, February 15, 2012 Time: 2:00 pm, Eastern Standard Time (New York, GMT-05:00) Session Number: 800 889 033
The Loan Servicing Environment – Getting the Most from Nelnet As A Servicer (Feb 22)
This session is designed to give you an overview of the federal loan servicing environment. In addition, Nelnet will highlight advantages and opportunities available to schools and their students. We will take a tour of Nelnet’s newly launched School Portal, review self-service opportunities, communications sent to borrowers and innovations for both the school and borrower and give you the opportunity to tell us what you are looking for from your loan servicer.
Date: Wednesday, February 22, 2012 Time: 11:00 am, Eastern Standard Time (New York, GMT-05:00) Session Number: 801 516 262
Date: Wednesday, February 22, 2012 Time: 2:00 pm, Eastern Standard Time (New York, GMT-05:00) Session Number: 802 984 938
Engaging Your Students via Social Media (Feb 29)
This session explores the millennial students and their preferred modes of communication – including social media. We’ll delve into the facets of utilizing Facebook, Twitter and other social media formats and how aid offices can use these mediums to better connect with students in their world. You’ll learn a new way to get students to “like” your office!
Date: Wednesday, February 29, 2012 Time: 11:00 am, Eastern Standard Time (New York, GMT-05:00) Session Number: 808 917 621
Date: Wednesday, February 29, 2012 Time: 2:00 pm, Eastern Standard Time (New York, GMT-05:00) Session Number: 804 391 165
Using NSLDS (March 14)
This session is an introduction to NSLDS. We will discuss access, security, navigation, reporting, enhancements, how loan servicers are reflected and what to expect in the future. We’ll also look at how the FSA Exit Counseling site is linked to NSLDS and what benefits that provides for both the school and the borrower.
Date: Wednesday, March 14, 2012 Time: 11:00 am, Eastern Daylight Time (New York, GMT-04:00) Session number: 803 517 171
Date: Wednesday, March 14, 2012 Time: 2:00 pm, Eastern Daylight Time (New York, GMT-04:00) Session Number: 800 312 824
Loan Repayment Plans (March 21)
In this session, we will consider all the repayment plan options for Direct Loans and FFEL Loans. We will also take a look at repayment incentives and loan discharges.
Date: Wednesday, March 21, 2012 Time: 11:00 am, Eastern Daylight Time (New York, GMT-04:00) Session Number: 804 907 964
Date: Wednesday, March 21, 2012 Time: 2:00 pm, Eastern Daylight Time (New York, GMT-04:00) Session Number: 800 365 553
Direct Loan Reconciliation (March 28)
This webinar is designed to take you through the monthly DL reconciliation process and the year end closeout process as well. We will look at various reports, tools and resources available to assist you in reconciling direct loans.
Date: Wednesday, March 28, 2012 Time: 11:00 am, Eastern Daylight Time (New York, GMT-04:00) Session Number: 808 948 140
Date: Wednesday, March 28, 2012 Time: 2:00 pm, Eastern Daylight Time (New York, GMT-04:00) Session Number: 800 641 758
Dana Kelly, Southern Regional Director, Nelnet Partner Solutions
Wellness & Office Morale: How Happy are You?
In a recent issue of Harvard Business Review, a number of articles were related to the “value of happiness.” What you would expect from a business journal, right? Everything has to have a value. The article The Economics of Well-Being by Justin Fox mentioned the time when the global public thought the King of Bhutan was off his rocker when in 1972 he announced that “Gross National Happiness is more important than Gross National Product.” His administration created the Centre for Bhutan Studies that administered a nine-dimension national happiness account. Well, 40 years later, it appears that the king may have been prophetic. New and evolving studies in behavioral science are indicating that happiness is not only very important, but also quantifiable in many cases. In fact, it enhances the Gross National Product.
I am passionate about associate engagement. It is an extremely important topic because, in my opinion, engagement has a direct correlation to long-term business value. To be successful for the long term, a business needs to execute and generate results, and it needs to do so in a way that promotes organizational health for sustainability. Happiness is a key factor to organizational health.
Theories are now showing that there are two kinds of happiness—real and synthetic. Synthetic happiness is what we produce when we don’t get what we want. For instance, a celebrity that loses her fame and can walk the streets without being bothered reflects positively on her newfound happiness. While she didn’t choose to lose her fame, she sees her anonymity as a good thing. Natural happiness is when we experience what we do want—we set a weight loss goal, we achieve it, and we are happy about achieving it.
Some would argue that synthetic is not as good as real happiness, but evidence doesn’t indicate that is the case. People are not necessarily good at predicting what will make them happy. Big, positive events (like winning the lotto) don’t frequently have the sustaining happiness factors that people believe they do. Does more money make their lives easier? Without a doubt. Does it keep them happy 10 years from now? Not necessarily. Ask the lotto winners—it also produces all sorts of unintended stresses.
Additionally, research shows that the frequency of your positive experiences is a much better predictor of your happiness than the intensity of your positive experiences. So, many bite-size mouthfuls of happiness carry you through the day longer than the less frequent full-course meal. Think of the implications of that statement!
So, when are people happiest in the workplace? When they’re trying to achieve goals that are difficult but not out of reach.
Here’s another finding: Mind-wandering on the job reduces happiness and productivity. The productivity conclusion is a “duh,” but the happiness one is compelling. By creating more focus in our work, we can be happier! What does that say about multi-tasking? You can participate in this interesting happiness research by joining 15,000 other smart-device users at http://www.trackyourhappiness.org/ and entering your happiness data.
So, here’s to a happier 2012 for all of us. Our mind is a powerful instrument that can create happiness for ourselves and for others. What a cool thing that happiness is a choice.
Credits for the concepts in this article go to Daniel Gilbert and his book, Stumbling on Happiness, and Matthew Killingsworth, a doctoral student at Harvard.
Evan Roth, Executive Director & Chief Learning Officer, Nelnet
Anne Watson, Midwest Regional Director for Nelnet Partner Solutions
Dawn Knight: What is your main focus right now? I know you’re on some projects for Nelnet; can you give me some insight on those?
Anne Watson: Working with school staff to serve on Nelnet Advisory Council, reviewing motivational speakers within Nelnet to speak at upcoming conferences, co-sponsoring presentations on DL Coalition and customer service, working with State on preparation for winter training, focusing on the legislative process, and continuing to stay in touch with our customers in an attempt to improve our processes and provide even better service.
Dawn: Have you had any memorable moments over the past year work-wise that you’d like to share?
Anne: At my age, all my moments are memorable – if you can remember them! Seriously, being ranked number one last quarter as a TIVA by schools. I am so proud of my Nelnet team and all our school clients.
Dawn: What is your favorite work-related iPad app that you can’t live without?
Anne: Outlook!!! Raina, my coworker, sent me a “congratulation note” when I replied to her using my iPad! Purchased iPad two weeks ago—it is great. Ask me this question two to six months from now, and I am sure I will have a “better” answer.
Dawn: What do you see as the biggest challenge schools are facing right now?
Anne: Where do I start? Having worked in schools for over 30 years, my heart goes out to financial aid staff. Finding your balance, prioritizing, working with less, and being more effective within your office with all the continuing regulations and policies, increasing default rates – these are just some of the challenges schools are facing. Yet, with all of the above, your number one challenge, internally, is student satisfaction.
Dawn: What is your best recent read or CD you’ve purchased?
Anne: Recently, my best reads are- Hot, Flat and Crowed by Tom Friedman, Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin, and Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. Best recent CDs are Intimacy by Kem and the Healing Power of Music by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO).
Dawn: Who has been your Work / Life mentor throughout the years and why?
Anne: My mom and dad. They moved my family (10 of us) to the North when I was 9 years old so we could have a “better life”. They always worked as a team; and they worked diligently on their jobs from dawn to dusk, 6 days a week. They never had a car until my Mom turned 60 years old, and they seldom missed work. They never made us feel like we were a burden. We felt loved, and they taught us to share with each other and with others. They were the greatest.
In my professional life, I have had so many mentors. Like the two I will mention, Father McKendrick and Peter Roddy, they all believed in me and saw talent that my mother and father saw and set the course for me to succeed. While they have all passed on, my many mentors/friends that are in my life today and are working in or retired from the financial aid profession (you know who you are), I am most grateful.
Dawn: What was the most recent meal you cooked that turned out awful?
Anne: Cannot say. What can you do to salmon that is awful? (never overcooked) I usually cook this fish 3 days a week – broiled, grilled, or baked. All vegetables are good steamed or broiled. As you can see, my meals are not complicated or varied enough to be awful.
Dawn Knight, Western Regional Director, Nelnet Partner Solutions
In the January 20th Electronic Announcement, FSA announced an upcoming “FAFSA Office Hours” event on Twitter scheduled for January 26th. Yes, FSA has launched a new Twitter account @FAFSA! FSA plans to use Twitter to support ongoing conversations about student financial aid. FSA will be hosting a monthly series of Q&A sessions on Twitter. The first event will be January 26th at 4:30 p.m. EST. Martha Kanter, the Under Secretary of Education, will be hosting “FAFSA Office Hours” where she will solicit and answer students’ FAFSA questions live on Twitter.
Here’s how it works:
- Follow @FAFSA on Twitter for FAFSA information and financial aid tips.
- Ask questions now and during the live event on Twitter using the hashtag #askFAFSA
- Follow the Q&A live through the @FAFSA Twitter account
- A summary of the live chat including the full Q&A will be posted on the ED.gov blog following the event on the 26th.
If you are interested in promoting this event on your school’s Twitter or Facebook page, FSA drafted some sample posts for you to use. They are as follows:
Sample Tweets:
- Federal Student Aid is now on Twitter! Follow @FAFSA for the latest FAFSA information and financial aid tips.
- Exciting news: @FAFSA is holding “Office Hours” on Twitter Jan. 26th @ 4:30pm EST. Submit your FAFSA questions now using #AskFAFSA.
- Did you hear that FAFSA is hosting “Office Hours” on Twitter? Yup. Follow @FAFSA Jan. 26th @ 4:30pm EST & submit questions using #AskFAFSA.
Sample Facebook Posts:
- Exciting News: Federal Student Aid is now on Twitter! To kick things off, they will be hosting “Office Hours” to answer your FAFSA questions on Twitter. You can start submitting your questions today using the hashtag #AskFAFSA. Follow the @FAFSA Twitter account January 26th at 4:30pm EST where Martha Kanter, The Under Secretary of Education, will be answering your questions live. Follow @FAFSA today! https://twitter.com/FAFSA
- Don’t forget, the deadline to submit your 2012-13 FAFSA is [INSERT YOUR SCHOOL’S DEADLINE HERE]. If you have questions about the FAFSA, submit them on Twitter using the hashtag #AskFAFSA. Make sure you follow @FAFSA and tune in to Office Hours on Twitter, January 26th at 4:30pm EST to see if your question gets answered! https://twitter.com/FAFSA
Pam King, Partner Solutions Strategy Director and Regional Director for Missouri
Using Nelnet’s Loan Reporting Tool (Jan 24)
This session will give you information about how to use Nelnet’s loan reporting tool. You’ll find this session helpful in understanding the kind of information you can access. You will also learn how to setup automated reports, and we’ll go over some frequently asked questions from users already engaged.
Just click on the session number below to register:
Date: Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Time: 1:00 pm, Eastern Standard Time (New York, GMT-05:00)
Session Number: 805 533 484
The FAFSA Basics & Beyond (JAN 25)
Every financial aid professional needs to understand the FAFSA in order to provide the best counseling to students. This webinar is designed to provide the basics for those new to Financial Aid, and as a refresher for those more experienced aid administrators.
Just click on the session number below to register:
Date: Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Time: 11:00 am, Eastern Standard Time (New York, GMT-05:00)
Session Number: 800 578 861
Date: Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Time: 2:00 pm, Eastern Standard Time (New York, GMT-05:00)
Session Number: 809 340 264
Ron Hancock, Nelnet Regional Director
As the audience of Jim’s Blog, we want to hear from you. Our goal is to provide you the information needed to help you perform your job, assist your students, and sometimes give you a little something extra to make you smile or laugh. What do you want to read about?
We have a few new series rolling out for 2012. Be on the lookout for those! Some topics we typically blog about are:
- Financial Literacy
- Training
- Financial Aid Best Practices
- Conferences
- Profiles in the Financial Aid Profession
- FAQs
- Changes at Nelnet
- People at Nelnet
Do you have a favorite series of Jim’s Blog that you follow? What else would you like us to blog about? Do you have a co-worker you think deserves being recognized? Have you implemented a program on your campus that is successful? Would others benefit from your knowledge or something your office has done? It could even be something not directly related to financial aid. Maybe professional development, community involvement, etc.
If you have an idea for a blog series, please share that with us by Friday, February 3rd. You may comment here on this blog post or you may contact your Regional Director. Once we get ideas, we will take a poll. The series that receives the most votes will be a regular series on Jim’s Blog for 2012, and the person who submits the winning idea will be featured. We look forward to hearing from you!
Jodi Long Miller, Western Regional Director (CA) & Social Media Strategist
Peggy Tvrdy, Director of Financial Aid, Doane College (NE)
Long walks with friends, reading mysteries, constantly redecorating her house, and spending time with family. That’s the best way to describe what Peggy Tvrdy likes to do in her time away from work. Peggy is the Director of Financial Aid at Doane College (NE) and serves as the Nebraska (NeASFAA) State President. She has spent most of her life in the education arena, having served as Director of Financial Aid at Doane College and Southeast Community College (NE), working as a college planning specialist for EducationQuest Foundation, and as a relationship manager for The Student Loan Corporation. She considers herself an avid Nebraska Cornhusker fan (very few in Nebraska do not claim this distinction) and is proud to note that her father has had Cornhusker season tickets for 47 years.
Don: How did you select financial aid as your profession?
Peggy: I don’t think anyone selects this as a career choice; you kind of fall into it. I interviewed at the EducationQuest Foundation and had no idea what a FAFSA was. I was fortunate enough to come out of college free of student loan debt, thanks to sacrifices my parents made. After interviewing with EducationQuest, I was offered the position and I have been in the world of financial aid ever since.
Don: What major changes have you seen in financial aid during your years in the industry?
Peggy: Obviously, the elimination of FFEL has been the biggest change as well as the continual demand of more reporting of information to ED. In my early years in financial aid, the FSA Handbook was published ahead of time with the new regulations, whereas now we are implementing regs long before guidance is issued in writing.
Don: What is your favorite movie, book, TV show?
Peggy: Classic Book: The Great Gatsby; Recently read book: Save Me by Lisa Scottoline; Movie Classic: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof with Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman & Burl Ives; TV Show: PanAm, The Good Wife, Drop Dead Diva, Y & R
Don: If you could change one financial aid regulation, what would it be and why?
Peggy: I don’t know – there are a lot that could be tweaked a little, and that would make most of us much happier!
Don: Who are/were your mentors?
Peggy: Tom Melecki & Tammy Stevenson have influenced me the most since I have joined financial aid.
Don: What is the most enjoyable part of your job?
Peggy: Knowing that I am helping students achieve their dreams of completing a college education and watching them mature over their 4 years at Doane.
Don: Name one thing about you that most people do not know.
Peggy: My real name is Margaret.
Don: What has been your biggest challenge work-wise over the past 12 months?
Peggy: Implementing the new SAP rules… not that they are much different than what we were doing previously, but how we handle transfer credits at our Lincoln Campus has been a challenge for our IT people to create a report that gives me the information I need.
Don: How do you spend your time when you’re not working?
Peggy: I enjoy spending time outside during the summer/spring/and fall and walking with girlfriends. I love to read anything and everything, but particularly mysteries. I also enjoy decorating my house and doing crafts. I love to shop and drink wine with my girlfriends. I enjoy spending time with family, especially my 7 nieces and one nephew. Oh, and I forgot to mention that I am a Husker fan through and through. My dad has had tickets for 47 years.
Don: If you could invite any three people to dinner, who would they be?
Peggy: George Clooney, Warren Buffet, and Jesus (wonder what kind of conversation that would be like?!)
Don: Where was the last place you went on vacation? (and what did you do?)
Peggy: My last true vacation (not counting a day or two off after a conference) was in Las Vegas. My best friends from high school and I met there to celebrate our 40th birthdays. We had such a good time that we’re planning a trip to Phoenix in March.
Don: What is your favorite holiday memory?
Peggy: It is definitely NOT my favorite, but the most memorable was the Christmas Blizzard of 2009. I was snowed in at my parents’ farm for days! Just the three of us – no one was able to get anywhere. Talk about cabin fever! I have never felt so cooped up in my life. I would have never survived one winter on the prairie as a pioneer! Believe me, I have never been so glad to see a snow plow in my life.
Don Buehrer, Regional Director, Nelnet Partner Solutions
Dana Kelly, Southern Regional Director, Nelnet Partner Solutions
Dawn: What is your main focus right now? I know you’re on some projects for Nelnet; can you give me some insight on those?
Dana: TRAINING!! With Webinar Wednesdays proving successful and Money Mondays gaining ground in Financial Literacy, Nelnet has to continue to be the leader in training initiatives. We have some interesting things planned for New Aid Officers and those who want a refresher. Look for Nelnet to continue to provide exciting new opportunities for training while keeping Webinar Wednesdays an ongoing focus.
Dawn: Have you had any memorable moments over the past year work-wise that you’d like to share?
Dana: Webinar Wednesdays have provided me so many experiences – from technical glitches to connecting people across the country who have like needs or processes. I would not have imagined that a webinar could be turned into a personal training experience but where there is a will, there’s a way. Add to that, students who are so open to learning about financial literacy and eager to put examples into practice. It has been a very rewarding year.
Dawn: What is your favorite work-related iPad app that you can’t live without?
Dana: As a fairly new iPad user, I would say that GoodReader is what I am using the most…
Dawn: What do you see as the biggest challenge schools are facing right now?
Dana: I think it is the same challenge they have faced for years…doing more with less. More administrative oversight and less personnel/time in which to do it…The environment of change is relatively consistent. How’s that for an oxymoron! But our school colleagues take it in stride because it’s the world they live in. Regulatory changes the past few years have created administrative requirements that must be addressed. So, challenge is the aid officer’s middle name with regard to staying on top of it all.
Dawn: What is your best recent read or CD you’ve purchased?
Dana: Well, I don’t purchase CDs anymore. I just download specific songs. So, I can’t pick just one… As for reading, I can’t say I enjoyed The Shack as much as I appreciated its message. If you can get through the disturbing parts, it’s well worth what you come away with in my opinion.
Dawn: What was the most recent meal you cooked that turned out awful?
Dana: That would be the buffalo wings I tried to make on the opening Sunday of football season… there is a reason so many places sell them!! I will be buying mine from now on!!!!
Dawn Knight, Western Regional Director, Nelnet Partner Solutions
This session is an introduction to Federal Consolidation Loans. We will discuss benefits, eligibility, the current in-school consolidation option, and how consolidation impacts a school’s default rate. We will also cover the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. The session will also cover the Special Loan Consolidation Program that is in effect from January 2012 through June 2012.
Just click on the session number below to register:
Date: Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Time: 11:00 am, Eastern Standard Time (New York, GMT-05:00)
Session Number: 802 765 217
Date: Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Time: 2:00 pm, Eastern Standard Time (New York, GMT-05:00)
Session Number: 809 516 564
Dana Kelly, Southern Regional Director, Nelnet Partner Solutions
