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Volume 1
www.rccomms.com
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This issue addresses two major events that are
affecting higher education right now:
The
shift in your parent population from hovering baby
boomers to inquisitive Gen Xers, and the flood of
new communications requirements around the Student
Loan Sunshine Act passed last month.
These new realities are requiring that business and
financial aid officers come up with fresh
communications to ensure utter clarity, full
disclosure and sufficient choice. This issue offers
up efficient, new applications that will satisfy the
regs, give the Gen Xers what they want, and provide
your customers with responsible choices to getting
the tuition bill paid.
Have a
great summer!
Sincerely,
Ruth Griggs Fontana,
M.B.A.
Principal, RC Communications |
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MARKETING
Baby Boomers are Out, Gen X’ers are In:
A Generational Shift in Parents
Coming to Your Campus Soon
Helicopters, Snowplows and Bulldozers 1.:
anyone in higher education administration knows this
refers to parents, not machinery – those baby boomer
parents who interfere, coerce, and threaten to get
what they want for their children attending your
college or university. As a business officer, you
interact (read: negotiate) with parents on a
daily basis over issues such as FERPA requirements,
bill due dates, financial aid packages and using
electronic billing and payment services. And just as
you have finally mastered this demanding generation
of parents, in comes the next generation: the Gen X
parent, who is about make a move on your campus.
Baby Boomers are the post-World War II generation
born between 1946 and 1960. A giant cohort of
over 76 million men and women, they are now
beginning to enter retirement with a vengeance.
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STUDENT
LENDING
The
Sunshine
Act:
Spotlight
on Smart
Borrowing
The
Student
Loan
Sunshine
Act, the
House
bill
introduced
in
February
and
overwhelmingly
approved
in May,
requires
colleges
and
universities
to
provide
full
disclosure
and
choice
in the
private
lending
products
they
offer to
their
customers.
The
communications
effort
financial
aid
offices
and
lenders
undertaking
to
comply
with
these
requirements
is a
daunting
task. A
new
reader-friendly
format
must be
used to
present
the
terms
and fees
in a
consistent
manner;
a
side-by-side
comparison
of terms
and fees
for a
minimum
of three
lenders
must be
delivered;
full
explanation
of the
factors
that led
to the
preferred
lender
status
is
expected;
institutions
will
need to
expand
their
communications
online,
in
print,
in
person
and over
the
phone to
help
their
customers
assemble
the most
advantageous
financial
package
possible.
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SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
Ruth Griggs Fontana has lead workshops and delivered
session presentations at eight student financial
services and state bursar conferences across the
country within the past year. She utilizes her
expertise in payment systems marketing and primary
research to demonstrate how higher education
business officers can enhance their billing
communications with parents and students.
New York State Organization of Bursars and
Business Administrators
NYSOBBA
2007 Conference
June 11, 2007
Niagara Falls, NY
Session Speaker
Michigan Association of Student Financial
Services Administrators MASFA
Third Annual MASFA Conference
May 21, 2007
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Session Speaker
Kentucky Association of
Student Receivable Officers
KASRO
2007 Meeting
May 2, 2007
Leitchfield, Kentucky
Session Speaker
Wisconsin Association of Student Business Office
Personnel
Administrators
WASBOPA
2007 Annual Meeting
April 23, 2007
Appleton, WI
Session Speaker
21st National College & University Business
Officers Conference
PDG II, Inc.
April 1-4, 2007
Palm Springs, CA
Pre-Conference Workshop Moderator and Keynote
Speaker
Session Speaker
Ohio Bursar's Association 2006 General
Meeting
October 25, 2006
Columbus, Ohio
Session Speaker
Central Association of College and
University Business Officers
2006 CACUBO Annual Meeting
October 17, 2006
Denver, Colorado
Session Speaker
National Association of College and
University Business Officers
NACUBO Student Financial Services Conference
March 7, 2006
Memphis, Tennessee
Keynote Speaker
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WHITE PAPER
 In April 2006, RC
Communications published the white paper, “Best
Practices in Billing Communications: Increasing
Collections, Reducing Costs and Improving
Communications through Enhanced Billing Services”
is a white paper that offers an overview of best practices
in paper and electronic billing and payment and the
results that could be obtained by implementing them.
Using the billing practices of leading financial
services and utilities companies as a guide, the
white paper demonstrates how to apply these
state-of-the-art techniques in an organization to
increase collections rates, reduce costs, and
improve customer satisfaction. Primary research
findings reveal the attitudes and usage preferences
of payers when these new paper and electronic
billing approaches are implemented. Secondary
research findings from some of today’s top billers
provide the basis of recommendations utilizing the
latest in electronic bill presentment and payment
techniques.
The white paper is the first of its
kind to present a comprehensive
study of paper and electronic
billing and payment services for
higher education institutions, and
is a must-read for all
administrators of higher education
tuition management services.
Yes, I would like to receive a copy
of the white paper
“Best Practices in Billing
Communications”
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ABOUT
RC COMMUNICATIONS
RC Communications provides online and offline marketing and
communications consulting services to financial services, payment systems and higher education providers.
The firm offers practical marketing solutions to help organizations improve communications, reduce costs and
enhance relationships through strategically designed marketing programs.
RC Communications has a unique specialty in enhancing customer communications through the billing medium. We provide marketing insights to
organizations with traditional paper or newer electronic billing processes. By delivering better communication
through an organization’s highest response vehicle: the bill, organizations can enhance their customers’
experience, elicit positive action, and improve relationships.
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 ©
Copyright 2007
RC Communications
All rights reserved |
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