The Palo Alto College Student Financial Services (Financial Aid) wants to hear from all students regarding the services the department and its employees provide.

“I welcome students to come by Student Financial Services to complete a Financial Aid Survey for feedback on assessment of services provided or any suggestions that they (students) may contribute,” said Lamar Duarte, Student Financial Services Director.

In the last issue of The Pulse, Charles Gonzalez, Pulse Staff Reporter and Palo Alto College student, wrote an article where some students expressed concern with the customer service that they received from Palo Alto’s Student Financial Services.

“The department lacks customer service, treating students as children and not as adults,” said Rachel Garza, a Palo Alto College freshman.

The survey is available at the Student Financial Services. There was no other publicity done for the survey besides the last article published in The Pulse. Not many students are aware of the survey, and few have completed it.

Duarte counted about 45 completed surveys, and said she is waiting to hear from more students so that she can collect the data and present it to Dr. Adolfo R. “Sonny” Barrera, Vice President of Student Affairs.

To be able to resolve any concerns with any department, Barrera stressed that student feedback is important.

Students may ask for the half-page survey from the Financial Aid staff. Completed surveys are then turned back into the Student Financial Services. This collection method is different than Faculty Evaluations, which are turned into the faculty’s department. The results of the Faculty Evaluations are not released until the faculty member submits student grades.

Another concern mentioned in Gonzalez’s article is the number of employees that are available to help serve the students.

As of now, there are six staff members who are employed to help students with questions concerning their Financial Aid Application, and also to process 13 federal- and state-funded programs, like the Federal Pell Grant. Funding to employ staff members comes from the Alamo Community College District, and there are no plans to employ any more Financial Aid staff at the moment.

Palo Alto College students can look forward to giving their feedback about all of the departments on campus on a Satisfaction Survey. The survey will be out in the Spring semester for testing, and will be available next Fall at all offices located around campus for students to fill out. The Satisfaction Survey will also be available on the Palo Alto College home page through the Internet.

Meanwhile, you may pick up a survey at Student Financial Services, located in Room 113 of the Palomino Center. As of November 24, the survey is also available at the Palo Alto College Student Government Association Office, located in Student Center, Room 115.