Franklin Building to consolidate services

The building may house the student credit union and the PennCard Center. "Please don't come visit us," is the message Frank Claus would like to give students about his Student Financial Services office. SFS is renovating its Franklin Building headquarters and allowing students to do most financial aid functions on line, as part of a general overhaul of the building's student services designed to consolidate more functions there. Claus said the building --Ewhich already houses SFS and the registrar -- will combine more administrative services under one roof. The PennCard Center --Ewhich must leave its current location at 38th and Walnut streets by June 1999 to allow for construction of a new Wharton building --Ewill also probably move into the Franklin Building next fall, Claus said. Claus has invited the University of Pennsylvania Student Federal Credit Union to move into the lobby of the building as well, if there is enough room. The front section of the current financial aid office will house an after-hours center, complete with Penn InTouch terminals, a Money Access Center machine, tuition payment drop off and a terminal for use with the new PennCards. The area will be open 24 hours a day to PennCard holders, but Claus said upgraded lighting, an emergency phone and a closed-circuit TV system wired to the Department of Public Safety will provide it with tight security. "The way we are designing this it will be like Fort Knox here," Claus said, adding that he would still advise students against making large withdrawals late at night. In December, SFS will open a cashier's desk designed to provide express payment service in what is now the building's lobby. At the same time, the current financial aid office will be used for financial aid counseling, and the office's "cattle stall" waiting area will be replaced by a more comfortable reception area, he added. Financial aid counselors will undergo careful training over the next few months to insure that they are capable of handling all student requests -- or of finding someone who can, Claus said. "The burden of the solution will be on them," Claus said. "We are trying to make it so that the first person students see solves the problem." Some students agree that the office needs to become more efficient. Engineering sophomore Seema Thomas said the amount of time it has taken SFS to respond to phone calls and process forms has prevented her from being allowed to register for classes. "I am happy they give me aid, but it could be a lot better," she added. But other students said SFS counselors are already very well trained and eager to help. "They've been very efficient. I just call and they answer all my questions," Wharton junior Renee Arthurs said. And in an effort to save students time and reserve the financial services office for counseling rather than routine operations, many financial aid tasks can now be done on line, Claus said. Over the summer, SFS asked students for their banking information in order to provide them automatic tuition refunds. The information enables SFS to refund student bank accounts immediately, eliminating the need for students to pick up checks. Of 2,600 students who signed on to the program, 908 students' tuition refunds have been directly wired to their accounts.

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