A few months ago at the first orientation, the staff in the FinAid department were very friendly and upbeat. But once near the beginning of the school year, or just to simply come back to ask a few questions, their whole demeanor had changed. They didn’t smile, had a obvious attitude, and treated you like you were wasting their precious time. It’s basically like they put up a front when you first meet them, but once you enrolled into the school or something along those lines, they show this completely different side. Their sudden negative approach just made me want to withdraw entirely from the school, but I’ve already taken out loans and I don’t want to take a gap year. I’ve met a few nice staff members at the school, but the ones I met in FinAid made me feel like I wasn’t even worth their time. I’m not the only one they treated like that, but it’s still bothersome. It’s to the point where I refuse to go there unless I really need to and with a parent/guardian. Has anyone else had a similar experience to this?
The people who work in financial aid office are not faculty – they are staff. I wouldn’t let their behavior bother you.
You are talking about Financial Aid staff members, right? They are usually not faculty members. Dealing with a rude professor is another kettle of fish entirely.
Yup. I know what you mean. They should be replaced with restaurant servers who know how to handle busy times. i always leave big tips to those who handle stress well. My fin aid officer is getting big box of chocolate next time I see her.
I got to know our financial aid person very well in college (ages ago). She was incredibly nice and helpful to my husband and me. Not everyone had the same experience. Usually the ones who didn’t have a good experience had not done their preparation and were demanding. I currently have a friend who works in financial aid and the stories she tells about students and parents are eye brow raising. These are not restaurant workers depending on tips to supplement their wages. They are not sales people. These are educated, competent people who deal with the an often ungrateful, entitled public.
I just turned in my payment to the bursar office today. They have a mailbox outside, but I wanted to make sure I knew who to make the check out to, so I stepped inside for a moment. The clerk never looked up from her computer at me, even as she answered my question, lol. Before I left I said, “Sorry for bothering you – I’m sure you get that question a lot.” I’m sure she does, actually, and I did feel bad about having to ask. Still…maybe she could have acknowledged that I was there…
@runner019 Doesn’t answering your question count as an acknowledgement?
The staff at my school are state employees, so not only are they incompetent but they’re also paid handsomely for their incompetence. Lol. I’m joking (mostly) - I try to keep a proper perspective when dealing with people who may be rude. Just remember that it’s not personal so don’t take it personally.
@JustOneDad Body language says more than words. I’m not super mad at her - I was more just amused that she was pretty much doing her best to ignore me. I work customer service so I understand that people have bad days or get sick of hearing the same question over and over. I think that I just put a lot of emphasis on making eye contact and having open body language in any kind of business interaction.
I am staff at a Uni. Although I’d spent years in academia, this job is my first that involved working with “customers”, or helping in a support capacity. I really like it, even though I sometimes find it frustrating having to deal with various egos. Still, I am always very conscious if my need to be helpful. For this reason, I may be MORE disappointed than most when I encounter unhelpful staff. We represent the Uni and, as such, NEED to be customer oriented. I don’t see many with that attitude unfortunately.
I’ve had the opposite experience; most of the staff at my school are very nice and helpful, which was an utter shock to me because the staff at my high school were always annoyed when students would go to them for questions.
I think sometimes they get annoyed about answering the same questions repeatedly, but that comes with the territory. As the above poster mentioned, they represent the college, so that should be mindful of their “customers.”