Georgia State was established in 1913. That means they’ve had 104 years to establish a stable system that can accommodate their entire student body and take care of our needs, like all other universities have…. right?
The Panther nation was named the fourth most innovative university in the country in 2017, but still has not found ways to effectively handle housing, financial aid, and tuition. Why are we seeing student tweets about the financial aid department hanging up on them again?
As for the overflow plan — let’s talk about that. We asked around, and couldn’t locate a single student that knew about that cute little contract catch. And that’s fair because who reads contracts anyway? But isn’t it a little unfair to expect students to be okay with the fact that with the contract they’re actually just renting a bed?
If you’ve seen Georgia State housing rates, you know that $4,000+ a semester should not only get you a bed. And it times of crisis (much like these ones) that space that you’re essentially paying for should not be compromised because Georgia State wanted to raise its student retention rate ( = more money).
Increase the amount of space, and when it comes to your financial aid department, increase the number of faculty.
This is not the first time The Signal ran a story on financial aid complaints . Last year wasn’t either. We know students complain a lot (and about everything) but there is a problematic pattern with the fact that students are being dropped from their classes (many of which we know and interact with, and heavily resemble mature and responsible beings), or are spending prolonged times in their day waiting in line, or tied to a phone.
And that’s not to mention the broken-phone communication. “You will need to call this number,”, “Go ahead and talk to the program director of…”, “Let me transfer you to my…”. No, you tell me what to do, because that person is probably busy, out of office, or will probably transfer me back to you.
Get some more phone assistants! Part-time employees! Train more people in more fields! Multi-task! Figure! It! Out!
Let’s set down the basics: Students definitely are not perfect, and we’re not trying to argue that we all put in our FAFSA applications on time. But there’s got to be a way that other universities manage to accommodate and tend to all our needs despite our (only occasional) irresponsibility.
