By Zachary Gibson
When students register today for Winter Semester classes, many of them will encounter an unpleasant message telling them they cannot register because of registration holds.
Hundreds of students call the Financial Information Center each semester and begin their conversation with 'I have a hold on my account.'
According to the Financial Information Call Center, failure to pay past due account balances will cause three specific holds to appear on a student''s account. These holds restrict registration, transcripts and diplomas.
'Holds on students'' accounts for not paying fees and charges on time cannot be released until a student has paid the amount in full,' said Danny McDavitt, a supervisor for the call center.
Although many students argue for the hold to be released so they can register, regulations restrict the option. Students requesting holds to be lifted for just five minutes will be disappointed.
'Exceptions for lifting holds are rare,' McDavitt said. ' ''But I need to register'' is not a good enough reason for releasing the student from their financial obligation to the university.'
Information specialists receive telephone calls for numerous reasons affecting student accounts.
'We receive calls for holds, students wanting to waive medical insurance, to check on financial aid and general application questions for student loans,' said Kyle Isenbarger, a 23-year-old call center employee from Urbana, Ill.
Student Academic and Advisement Services conducted a study to determine the reasons why students were calling offices within the financial services division at BYU. Results showed that over 40 percent of calls received within the division had been transferred from another location.
Norm Finlinson, associate dean for SAAS, said administrators attempted to reduce the amount of transferring and consolidate the needs of students by making one phone call to a designated call center.
'Our real motivation is to simplify things for the students and reduce their frustration,' Finlinson said.
The organization of the call center provides students assistance without the hassle of having to be transferred from place to place.
Kelly Wilson, manager of the financial information center, said many of the things students request when they call in can be done by using financial services Web sites.
'Most of what we are doing here students can look up on their own,' Wilson said. 'We have their student accounts posted online.'
Wilson said one of the main purposes of the specialists in the center is to teach students how to efficiently use the account analysis and billing payment Web sites.
The Financial Information Center has access to financial information posted by all campus offices and departments.
'The student account is where all the individual offices across campus compile the information into one space,' Wilson said.
Although the specialists can give the account balance and the origination of the charges, discrepancies with charges from specific offices are managed separately.
'When it comes to finding out exactly what the charge is for or for getting the charged removed, they need to be transferred to the specific office,' Wilson said.
Wilson said the Financial Information Center attempts to take complete ownership of calls received, but the exact details of charges are often not available to the specialists assisting students.
Students receive statements for individual charges from ticketing, housing, health center and other offices on campus. As implemented this semester, tuition billing statements are no longer mailed. Instead, students are referred to Route Y for detailed information about their student account.
'Stay up-to-date on your account and pay things off when they are placed on the account,' Wilson said.
She also said that billing statements from other campus offices may be eliminated in the future as technology permits statements to be coordinated online.
Students may also print and view their personal student account by clicking on 'Account Analysis' in 'Tuition Billing Statements' of Route Y.
Finlinson encourages students to use the Financial Information Center as a resource for all financial services and financial aid questions.
'My invitation is that if students access the service and they don''t receive what they perceive to be adequate assistance, I hope they would let us know,' Finlinson said.