Case study: Twitter solving financial aid problems
Twitter as a conversation medium is all the buzz, but beyond the buzz, actual work is getting done, actual help is being given. Here’s a very brief case study and followup from yesterday:
carterharkins: Know anyone at Sallie Mae who can straighten out UCLA’s mistaken loan cancellation?
cspenn: eh, no – what’d they do?
carterharkins: UCLA even acknowledges the mistake, but still say it’ll be 3 weeks to get it corrected, and until then she must pay to stay.
cspenn: is that from the bursar’s office or financial aid? sometimes the two never talk…
carterharkins: not sure, & that’s what I told her, too. Earlier today she wasn’t getting any answers, but no update in past 2 hours. It’ll work out
cspenn: make sure that the dir. of financial aid is talking to the bursar’s office – easiest way to get things negotiated.
carterharkins: Thanks, Chris, you are a great help!
carterharkins: Thanks 4 advice yesterday. My sister-in-law was able 2 get bursar’s office talking w/financial aid people and resolved issue. Urock!
cspenn: awesome! solving financial aid problems by twitter FTW
For financial aid officers, think about the possibilities of providing yet another contact point for students to interact with your department, yet another way for you to provide your expertise to them and help them get things done.
For students, think about how to reach out beyond traditional means of communication to get financial aid help.
For anyone working at Sallie Mae, you owe me a small beer for handling your customer service issue.
For everyone, especially Carter, next time take out a student loan from the Student Loan Network instead
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This is a great example and I’ve seen it happening a lot, too, on facebook and twitter both. All participants can access exactly the people they need to be speaking with. It might seem obvious, but don’t forget: most social networks have a search function that can greatly speed your access to information. Financial aid officers need to hop on board and participate where the conversations are happening.
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