Students deserve a functioning, productive financial aid office

Editor,

It is time UNM students stand up, unite and demand that the University do better. We pay good money for second-rate services, and it is time that we say, "No more."

UNM could do better in many areas, but the one we need to address today is the Student Financial Aid Office. When President David Schmidly was hired, in his first few Monday letters to the University, he said the needs of students would be met and that the University's aim should be to help students graduate on time and become successfully acclimated to society. I am not saying that Schmidly has failed, as failure implies that his work is done, and we can all see that it is not, but I am saying it is unreasonable for students to have loans withheld for a week past when the SFAO said it was going to send their money out because of minor errors and a backed-up system. As many students do, I depend on some amount of loans to survive my time in college, and if I am late on paying a landlord or credit card bill because the SFAO got too busy because it is under-staffed, it hurts me over the long term.

Thursday, I sat for one hour in the SFAO along with 30 other students. I am not saying that the lack of staff members working in the SFAO is the only thing holding back the productivity of that office. When I went in, the SFAO had two people working on computers that were in the public lobby in order to answer personal financial questions of students, while other members left their private offices and took a collective lunch break. Besides the fact that it is not productive to send more than one person at a time to lunch while there are 30 or more people waiting to be seen, it is unethical to have those public computers used to answer students' personal questions.

Put the students first. As a native New Englander, I have seen the way that other universities such as Boston University, Boston College, Northeastern University and many more run their support for students. The offices are quick with the appropriate amount of staff working, and the staff that is working is knowledgeable and comes ready with solutions to your problems. UNM offers none of those basic needs for students.

Now, Schmidly, I will not pretend to know your master plan or reasoning for hiring so many new vice presidents, but I implore you to set money aside to fix the SFAO before you hire another Vice President of Sitting Around. If you will not, the students should and will demand it.

Michael Westervelt

UNM student