Help Families Manage Their Finances with FACTS
Today’s families are juggling rising costs, evolving school commitments, and uncertainty about the future. When your school offers flexible, transparent financial management through FACTS, you help families breathe easier—and stay engaged in your community. From helping determine available aid to covering fees for families in need, FACTS makes it easy for both schools and families to stay on track. Here are a few of the many financial management features available through FACTS:
Financial Summaries
The financial aid awarding season presents challenges that can pull at the purse strings and tug at the heart strings. The Financial Summary report in FACTS Financial Aid Management allows your school to make difficult aid decisions by offering a wide range of information to inform the process. Information provided includes:
- Concise breakdowns of income and assets vs. expenses of applicants
- The ability of an applicant to meet the financial obligation presented through tuition charges
- Ranking of the family within all who are applying to your institution
- The applicant’s standing with regards to Title I (Free and Reduced Lunch) and what percentage of the Federal Poverty Guideline
By utilizing these tools, your institution will be able to make sound and equitable choices with regards to providing financial assistance to the families who need it the most.
Build Trust with Transparent Tuition Agreements
One powerful way to reduce stress and promote clarity for families is through clear, consistent tuition and enrollment contracts. By setting expectations early in the enrollment process, these agreements provide families with a better understanding of their financial obligations, available payment plans, and school policies. FACTS makes it easy for schools to create, manage, and share digital contracts that align with tuition management tools—so families have a seamless, transparent experience from enrollment to payment.
Paying FACTS Fees for Families
Did you know that FACTS fees can be paid for the consumer by the institution? This means that if a school believes a family shouldn’t have to pay the FACTS fee for financial hardship or any other reason, it’s easy to cover the fee themselves. A school user can simply adjust the fee in the consumer account and FACTS will collect funds directly from the school. This can be a helpful solution for covering fees owed to FACTS so that students can be rolled forward in the roster while payment fees are reassigned in Continuous Enrollment.
To learn more about this process, as well as access a step-by-step guide to paying these fees, please visit this HubHelp article. Make sure you are logged into FACTS before viewing.
Revising Award Amounts
Anyone that’s ever written a paper knows that editing is sometimes the hardest part of the process. Luckily, if your institution is using both FACTS Financial Aid Management and FACTS Payment Plans, editing or removing financial aid is a straightforward process.
Whether there was an error in the award amount or a family chooses not to accept the financial award, here are the steps to complete the return. If a correction has already been made on the payment plan for the returned award(s), you may start with step 6.
- Once logged in, hover over Payment Activity and select Agreements.
- Click Post Financial Aid Awards from the links on the left side of the screen.
- Click on #Transactions Created within the Convert Awards to Transactions step.
- Select the transaction(s) you wish to delete.
- Click Delete Selected to remove the converted transactions.
- Click on #Awards to Convert within the Convert Awards to Transactions step to remove the award.
- Select the award(s) you wish to remove.
- Click Remove Awards.
- To confirm the removal of the award(s), click Remove Awards again.
- Once Remove Awards is selected, the full award amount is pushed back to Financial Aid Management.
Visit HubHelp for more information on this process, as well as many more helpful articles!
In celebration of Women’s History Month, FACTS has been reflecting on the courage of past generations of women who fought for the opportunities women have access to today. It’s also been a great chance to celebrate the influential women in our lives right now. Fortunately for our team at FACTS, we don’t need to look far to find examples of women making a difference – our team is filled with incredible women in leadership positions.
As a company focused on education and payment technology solutions, we’re especially grateful to have these women on board, as data shows that women are only at the c-suite level at 6 percent of financial technology companies. Women are woefully underrepresented across the finance and technology industries in general, holding only 24 percent and 28 percent of leadership roles respectively. When factoring in additional challenges women face in the workplace, like battling stereotypes and increased rates of burnout and microaggressions, it’s clear that the path to leadership is anything but easy.
Despite these challenges, it’s important to keep pushing forward, as data shows that when women hold leadership roles, everyone wins – especially in technology. Tech companies where 30 percent of leaders are women have a 15 percent increase in profitability compared to those with no female leaders. Fortunately, one of the best ways to increase the number of women in leadership is well within our reach – representation, with women across all age ranges stating that strong role models are crucial to their own success in the workplace. In this spirit of representation, we spoke to some of the incredible women in leadership roles here at FACTS to learn some of their keys to success and what advice they have for the next generation of leaders.
Don’t Get Too Caught Up in Your Plan
DeeAnn Wenger, President, Nelnet Business Services: I didn’t necessarily aspire to be a leader. In fact, when I was approached about leading my first team, I turned it down. I only wanted to be accountable for my work, not that of other people. I was highly encouraged to accept the position; however, and it ended up changing my goals and my career.
Becky Pollock, President, Nelnet Payment Services: I didn’t envision my career as it is today. When I pursued a career in accounting, I had a goal to be a CFO, which I accomplished before the age of 40. Early in my career, I realized I loved the concept of revenue creation, but desired a closer connection to the end customer. So, I asked for an opportunity to lead a business.
Jackie Strohbehn, President, Nelnet Campus Commerce: Since a very young age, I aspired to be in leadership roles, but I would call my path to leadership unconventional and heavily shaped by mentors, leaders, friends, and family. The journey and experience of getting to where I am have been more valuable than the success itself.
Jodi Spethman, Chief Marketing Officer, Nelnet Business Services: My path to my current position has not been linear and certainly not a path I had planned for myself. It’s been more like a game of Frogger! I’ve served in various roles across different business lines within the company and feel strongly about continuing education and learning with each new opportunity. I hope I never stop learning.
Danielle Egr, Chief Technology Officer, Nelnet Business Services: I didn’t envision my career as it is today, as IT was not a path I thought I’d take. I received great advice to not focus on title when considering a new position, but instead the personal growth and contribution the position could bring. I’m a planner, so taking away the expectation that my career progress along a prescribed path of job titles was very freeing for me. It allowed me to take side-steps to broaden my experience in ways I’d never be able to do otherwise.
Never Be Afraid to Ask Questions
Egr: When I started in IT, there were very few women in formal leadership positions. I was often the only woman in a room of leaders and was even more intimidated because I was not in IT from the start of my career, and everyone seemed to know way more than me. Then I had my “Aha!” moment. One of my colleagues made a comment that I knew was not accurate, but he said it as if it were fact. Most of the people in the room were nodding in agreement until I respectfully challenged him and then everyone was nodding with me. That’s when I realized we’re all doing the best we can and none of us have all the answers. If I don’t understand, I ask questions. It’s not a weakness; it’s how we all learn. It would be worse if I didn’t ask the question and make bad assumptions.
Pollock: I recommend to individuals that I mentor to not be afraid to always ask why. Knowledge and expertise help to build confidence in yourself and allow you to hold your own in conversations and brainstorming in business discussions.
Strohbehn: It’s so important to never be afraid to ask questions. I believe that every problem presents multiple opportunities to come up with a creative solution and engaging thoughts and opinions from your peers makes problem-solving even better.
Turn Challenges into Motivation
Strohbehn: Watching the challenges my mother faced as a woman in a male-dominated industry inspired me not only to be a leader, but to press on, take even more risks, and never question that it was my choice to try, even if someone told me no. Many years before joining Nelnet Campus Commerce, someone told me to my face that I would not succeed in my role because I was young and a woman. This fueled my desire to prove him wrong. Moments like these continue to inspire me. Even if I fail, I will know I tried and that I did so with strong conviction and by staying true to myself.
Spethman: I have certainly encountered my share of moments in my career where there have been inappropriate comments made by male colleagues or leaders about my looks or others’ when the focus should have been on our abilities. While these comments can be temporarily demoralizing, I have never found that they held me back. Instead, they’ve given me even more drive and determination to succeed.
Egr: I’ve encountered a few leaders throughout my career who I felt trusted my male peers over me since there weren’t many women in IT at the time. However, I was always able to prove myself in those situations, so it never significantly affected my success.
Create Your Own Opportunities
Pollock: From an early age, I was encouraged to go beyond what was asked of me; so instead of waiting until I was given a new role to demonstrate new skills, I would volunteer for projects and take on tasks that were outside my current responsibilities. I also look for problems businesses or consumers are having and brainstorm ways to solve them. Don’t be afraid to share your ideas.
Spethman: My stepdad always encouraged me to be independent and stand on my own, and I’ve brought those traits into my career. I’ve always approached my roles with curiosity and raised my hand to take on projects or additional responsibilities. I believe your opportunities are driven by you and not necessarily by your circumstances.
Focus on What’s Within Your Control
Strohbehn: One of my favorite pieces of advice I’ve been given is to choose your attitude. We cannot control much in this world, but we can control how we respond and how we act toward others. The women I look up to, like my mother and peer female leaders, all work incredibly hard with smiles on their faces. They are also extremely supportive of each other, which creates an exceptional environment to thrive in.
Wenger: My best advice is to know when to stand up for yourself and know when to let something go. You shouldn’t fight every battle. Leaders have to work through some challenging situations and showing a little grace and treating everyone with respect goes a long way in building relationships.
Egr: Be coachable. We all have strengths and weaknesses. Take action on constructive feedback.
Grow Through Community
Pollock: Participate in your community by joining committees, boards, or non-profit organizations. This will not only help you build relationships and gain confidence working with people you don’t know but will also allow you to gain leadership skills outside your organization. Putting in this work and time helped me to grow as a leader and see challenges and opportunities I wouldn’t have seen otherwise.
Strohbehn: When you find people throughout your career who inspire you or are great at what they do, keep those people in your life. Stay connected to them, ask them for their opinion, and thank them for their time. More often than not, people will want to help you and may even learn something from you as well.
Be a Team Player
Spethman: One of my favorite parts of my position is helping my team accomplish their individual and professional development goals. Seeing them become more confident in their craft and helping them achieve success gives me a great sense of satisfaction. Knowing that I am representing my team and not just myself is also a huge confidence booster for me as a leader. Pushing for what I believe will help my team gives me drive and courage.
Egr: My career goals have always been based on purpose, continued learning, and working with others. When I consider new positions, it’s not about title or leadership credentials. It’s about personal growth and the contribution I can make to the team and organization’s success.
Wenger: I have a passion for business strategy and creating ways for sustainable growth, but more importantly, I want to be a great boss – somebody that makes a difference in the careers of those I work with. I care deeply about the people on my team and want them to be happy and successful. If I can help them achieve their dreams, that gives me tremendous satisfaction.
Pollock: I was raised by parents who emphasized characteristics of servant leadership. Valuing and caring for people, helping others succeed, and pursuing success as a team is what defines a good day for me.
Bring Your Authentic Self to Work Every Day
Wenger: One of my best pieces of advice to the next generation of women in leadership is to bring your authentic self to work every day.
Strohbehn: Stay true to your authentic self. I have found at times in my career, especially in a male dominated sector, I felt I needed to change my appearance, only say certain words, quiet my opinion, or stay silent when I should speak up. This never feels good in the long run and ultimately shortchanges both you and your organization. Trust your gut; it is so often right. Women tend to ignore it…don’t! Your opinion is worthy of being heard. Diversity of thought is what spawns innovation.
Egr: I now focus more on learning and being authentic to myself and less about what others think of me. To be authentic you need to know yourself and be true to what drives and excites you. Find positions or projects that align with those characteristics. Be curious so you’re always learning and growing.
With role models like these to guide the way, we can’t wait to usher in future generations of women in leadership at FACTS!
From our keynote speaker, Angela Maiers, to our intensive pre-conference workshops perfect for FACTS beginners, there’s a perfect session for everyone this July 11-14 at Elevate 2022. This year’s conference in Dallas will feature over 100 sessions, covering topics like finance, communications and marketing, database management, and more.
With so many sessions to choose from, however, it can almost seem overwhelming to decide which ones to attend – especially if you’re in charge of enrollment management at your school and have your eye on nearly all the sessions. That’s why we’ve pulled together this handy list of our top five professional development sessions for enrollment managers. Use this as a guide to start planning how you’ll make the most out of your Elevate 2022 experience, but feel free to explore all the sessions that interest you. With so much to offer, you’re guaranteed to never get bored!
Effective Retention Strategies to Keep Your Families Enrolled – By Dr. Rick Newberry, CEO of Enrollment Catalyst
Are you concerned about retention for the new school year? Do you have a retention plan in place to keep your families enrolled? During this workshop, we will discuss effective strategies you can implement to keep your families enrolled, highlighting ways that you can inspire your school community to focus on their role in the retention effort.
The Marketing Jumpstart – By Kurt Lewis, Consultant at Education Marketing Solutions
This action-packed hour of techniques, tips, and tricks will kick your marketing efforts into high gear! Kurt Lewis will provide practical advice on topics including value propositions, parent ambassadors, websites, and financial aid.
Supercharge your Enrollment! 7 Quick and Easy Steps to a Full & Engaged Funnel – By Jesse Roberts, CEO of Unbound 360
In this interactive session, Jesse Roberts will provide tips, tricks, and strategies to get the most out of your admission efforts, whether you are an office of one or twenty-one staff members.
Using FACTS for Continuous Enrollment – By Tracy Smith, Enrollment Specialist at FACTS
Is Continuous Enrollment right for your school? Learn more about the anatomy of Continuous Enrollment and the various options you have in FACTS to support this enrollment practice. Hear about all the ins and outs and decide which option is best for your school.
What’s New in FACTS Application & Enrollment? – By Courtney Haindel, FACTS Product Marketing Manager
Would you believe us if we said almost everything? Application and Enrollment has changed a lot. This session is designed to help you understand all the new features released in the past two years – from reporting and easier bulk communication to checklist upgrades, tasks, events, and so much more!
For up-to-date information on session times, speakers, and more, view our full Elevate 2022 agenda.
Still haven’t registered yet? Reserve your spot here.
While many of us know the importance of social-emotional learning (SEL) for students, providing teachers with similar tools can be just as beneficial for schools – especially in a world that’s been turned upside down by COVID-19. Educators have always had their hands full but are now tasked with not only navigating the changes and uncertainty of the pandemic, but also supporting their students through this crisis. It’s become clearer that prioritizing the mental health of teachers is a critical component in addressing the needs of students and communities. To put it simply, if we don’t take care of teachers, we can’t take care of students.
One of the easiest ways to see the effects of not prioritizing teachers’ mental health is retention rates. While teacher turnover has been a pervasive problem in school districts throughout the country, with nearly 40% of all teachers leaving the profession within their first five years, rates have increased dramatically since the pandemic began. In fact, 1 in 4 teachers considered leaving their job in 2021. Teachers that leave the field cite many different reasons for their departures, but one of the biggest common themes is overall lack of support. So what can schools do to create a supportive environment for educators and keep them in the classroom?
The Link Between Teacher SEL and Retention
Many experts agree that the answer may be in SEL training and resources that allow administrators to support teachers’ mental health needs, demonstrating how valued and heard they are. A recent study from the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and the Collaborative for Social Emotional and Academic Learning (CASEL) of 5,000 teachers found that they are more in need of SEL than ever before, citing anxiety and stress related to the pandemic.
“Meeting the social-emotional needs of students, staff, and communities resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic is every educator’s number one priority,” explains Greg Walcott, author of Significant 72: Unleashing the Power of Relationships in Today’s Schools. “The past two years have not only brought about new levels of stress and anxiety, but have made more apparent the equity, financial, and learning gaps prevalent across the globe. This reality has left educators feeling unprepared to meet the needs of their students and themselves. Quality professional development during this time is crucial not only to student and staff well-being, but staff retention as well.”
Research supports Walcott’s position, with a strong link seen between SEL and teacher retention rates. CASEL reports that teachers with more highly developed emotional skills report greater job satisfaction and less burnout. These teachers also have better relationships with their students and administrators, creating an overall more positive work environment that fosters retention. With 80% of educators from across 15 countries stating that positive emotions and emotional well-being are crucial to success in the classroom, it’s clear that SEL can no longer be just for students if we want to slow down teacher turnover.
Teacher SEL in Action
Schools that know the true value of SEL take steps to ensure that this approach is implemented schoolwide, with a focus on adult learning serving as one of the key indicators that the school is taking a systemic approach to SEL. In these settings, staff have regular opportunities to cultivate their own social, emotional, and cultural competences, just as students are encouraged to do. Educators are also able to collaborate with one another, build trusting relationships, and maintain a strong community.
A schoolwide SEL approach doesn’t just mean creating a supportive environment, however; it’s important to take concrete steps to find ways to support staff SEL efforts. This can include encouraging teachers to create their own personalized SEL professional learning plans, creating a culture of appreciation, or implementing and modeling a growth mindset across the school. It can also include providing dedicated opportunities for teacher self-care and re-energizing, as well as putting in place other retention tools and programs for teachers to participate in.
One of the best – and most underutilized – SEL tools for teacher retention is coaching. Teacher coaching creates a personalized path for educators to develop the skills they need to manage the daily stresses of teaching. It allows teachers to focus on their social-emotional needs, increasing their confidence in both their teaching abilities and their ability to handle stressful situations. By giving teachers the tools they need to focus on their mental health, they’ll feel more confident facing new challenges and ultimately staying in the profession.
Incorporating SEL into other programs like mentoring, professional development, and teacher leadership opportunities can also help to build a stable workforce and minimize teacher turnover. In the same way that teachers are encouraged to gain professional skills, they should be encouraged to develop social-emotional skills – especially new teachers. “The more supported teachers are in their early careers, the more likely they are to stay in the profession,” explains Laurie VanderPloeg, Director of the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs.
With teachers ranking personal resources to support mental and physical health as the second-most helpful contribution in educator well-being, second only to more personal time throughout the day, it’s clear that establishing formal SEL programs is worth the investment. SEL opportunities like coaching programs and mentorships should be easy for teachers to access, demonstrating not only that their hard work is appreciated, but that there are programs in place to help them keep growing within their roles.
Final Thoughts
While students will always be the focus of education, it’s important to ensure that teachers are taken care of too. Just as students need a safe emotional environment to learn, teachers need to know their mental health is a priority to provide the best education to their students. Investing in SEL programs not only creates better learning outcomes, but also fosters an environment that teachers are happy to work in for years to come.
Identify at-risk students earlier and easier
As educators and students around the world can attest to, the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us the importance of being able to shift our perspectives. From redefining what it means to be together to what exactly a classroom looks like, we’ve had to adjust to a constantly changing environment. Technology has played a huge role in shifting these perspectives, providing the tools needed to keep up with changes, as well as a way to connect with the outside world as we sheltered in place.
Even with the best technology available, learning loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic affected schools worldwide, disrupting education for 1.6 billion students at its peak, according to a recent report by the World Bank, UNESCO, and UNICEF. Students experienced critical declines in learning in important subjects like math and literacy, as well as in social-emotional development. Many schools are turning to classroom intervention, tutoring, or after-school services as part of learning recovery, but it can be difficult to determine which students need the most help.
Shifting the Perspective on Data
The key to identifying learning loss in students may be as simple as reframing the data schools receive through their student information system (SIS). When viewed holistically, data received from an SIS like FACTS can help schools predict trends and proactively identify students showing signs of learning loss. While identifying learning loss has traditionally relied on a hunch from a teacher, knowing what signs to look for across different data sets provided by a school’s SIS or learning management system (LMS) offers welcome support for educators stretched thin with the ongoing challenges of COVID-19.
Data That Indicates Potential Learning Loss
So what sort of data are we talking about? While there’s no perfect algorithm to identify learning loss, reading between the lines of available data can help teachers identify students that need help catching up. From attendance to behavior, here are some of the key indicators that leaders and teachers should look for in their SIS and LMS in order to intervene as soon as possible.
Declining Grades or Test Scores
One of the clearest ways to identify learning loss is a decline in a student’s grades or scores. Consulting firm McKinsey found that first through sixth graders were an average of five months behind in math and four months behind in reading after the 2020-2021 school year, which can lead to lower scores on assessments.
With an SIS like FACTS, parents and tutors have access to online reports of assignments, quizzes, and test scores daily, allowing them to get involved in academic progress. Analytics can help identify students that are falling behind in the classroom and what topics they’re struggling with, making it easier for educators to identify trends and adapt lesson plans based on students’ learning levels.
Incomplete or Missing Assignments
Learning loss doesn’t apply only to academic subject matter. Due to the constant changes and upheaval of the previous school year, many students disengaged from school altogether, forgetting the behaviors and mindsets instilled in them through in-person instruction. This lack of commitment and interest can lead to incomplete or missing assignments.
Using an SIS or LMS allows teachers to quickly and easily access gradebook data to identify which students are not completing their assignments. Systems may also allow for teacher comments, providing a record of specific areas in which a student may be experiencing a decline in learning, as well as further information for parents and tutors to work with students at home.
Behavior Events
Looking at student behavior is another way to identify learning loss. When students don’t understand the material being covered, they might act out in order to hide or avoid subjects that are difficult for them. Personal difficulties may also lead a student to display a lack of interest, motivation, or engagement – which has a direct result on their performance, grades, and overall behavior.
Leaders can make use of behavior reports via their school’s SIS to identify behavior concerns that, when viewed in conjunction with low test scores or unfinished work, point to learning decline. These reports also provide invaluable information to parents who may not be aware of how their child is adapting to returning to the classroom or switching to a new style of learning.
Attendance Trends
Poor attendance is often the first and most obvious sign of learning loss. While some students struggle to attend virtual or hybrid classes, others may be struggling to reintegrate into a physical classroom. Growing absenteeism has been reported, likely reflecting quarantine regulations and other challenges unique to education during a pandemic.
Leaders and teachers can identify students with poor attendance easily through data available via their SIS or LMS, as with FACTS’ Excessive Absent/Tardy – Student Report. Reports like these allow educators to see what students are not receiving the instruction needed to keep on track with learning goals and identify learning loss before it becomes a serious problem.
Parent Communication History
If a student’s parents are frequently being contacted by their child’s teachers regarding bad behavior, missing assignments, or poor grades, it’s possible that learning loss may be to blame. Communication logs within an SIS allow schools to keep track of emails sent to parents regarding students’ progress and needs. When a threshold set by a school has been met, it may be an indicator that learning decline is occurring and intervention may be necessary.
Keeping track of these communications is especially helpful if a student has multiple teachers that may not be able to communicate with each other about an individual student’s progress or performance. Logs allow both schools and parents to get a sense of a student’s overall performance and identify academic issues as soon as possible.
Although there’s no one-size-fits-all formula to identify learning loss, shifting our perspectives on what the student data we’re so used to seeing means is a great place to start. With an SIS that keeps different sets of data in one convenient location, it’s easier to notice similarities between reports and identify trends that can point to learning loss in students that teachers may not have initially suspected. While recognizing learning loss is only the first step in learning recovery, the sooner it’s identified, the sooner schools can move forward in preparing students to face the challenges of a changing world.
Learn more about FACTS Student Information and Learning Management System here.
