The potential elimination of the Department of Education has caused understandable consternation on campus. Although a relatively new concept, for those of us administering financial aid today, ED has always been there — our conscience and our guide — regulating us but also providing much needed training and support. If the worst should happen, who will process the FAFSA; manage the systems that allow us to originate awards and then draw down the funds to pay students’ tuition; advise our alumni repaying students loans and collect their payments? Well, we don’t know the answers to those questions today, but we can share the following tips to help you survive and thrive during this period of uncertainty.
In her LinkedIn article, Navigating Uncertainty: Leadership Strategies for Challenging Times, Jennifer A. Garrett focuses on the emotional part of managing through uncertainty. The first step she recommends is to stay calm. Take care not to transfer your anxiety to your team. When communicating with them, focus on the things you can control and maintain a solution-oriented mindset.
Next, communicate with transparency and empathy. When employees feel like they are intentionally being kept in the dark, they begin to panic, (i.e., “whatever is coming must be very bad if my manager won’t talk about it.).” Instead, share what you know, admit what you don’t, and let your team know you understand how difficult it is to continue to do the day-to-day work of the financial aid office when the rug may be pulled out at any moment. If you have a regularly scheduled meeting, continue to hold it. If not, implement one to ensure no one feels like they are in the dark.
Keep your team focused on finding solutions to challenges as they arise rather than worrying about the unknown. Strive for flexibility, adaptability, creativity and collaboration – and provide the necessary resources for the team to be successful whether it be technical guidance or time off for self-care.
Finally, lead with optimism. Change is hard, particularly when you don’t know what the change will be, but it’s not always bad. Where you can, identify and share where you believe the coming change may improve a process or the students’ experience.
The prospect of no Department of Education certainly presents a complex challenge per the definition in 6 Strategies for Leading Through Uncertainty by Rebecca Zucker and Darin Rowell. It is complex because there are many interdependent elements involved, and some elements are currently unknown, and some may change over time in unpredictable ways. Further changes to some elements may disproportionately affect the entire system. Solutions to complex challenges are often found through trial and error and require a willingness to learn and adapt. How is this applicable to the elimination of, or substantive changes to, the Department of Education? At some point, another entity or entities may need to take over the responsibilities and the initial selections may not be the best fit, so other changes will come down the line. Those new agencies may believe additional or less regulation is necessary. The result, of course, is that your office must be adaptable and generate solutions quickly based on the current environment each time one of the elements changes.
The next suggestion is one that no financial aid administrator wants to hear: don’t strive to be perfect. Of course, you have students and colleagues who rely on your knowledge of financial aid programs, and it’s not a good look when you don’t know how to do something or when something is going to happen. You can’t know something that hasn’t been determined yet, no matter how good you are at your job.
When we don’t have all the details of a coming change, we can become paralyzed — unable to move forward in any way until we know everything. The opposite is also a possibility — the need to take some action immediately may cause us to oversimplify the challenge to rush to a resolution. We need to be somewhere in the middle where we can act on information as we receive it and remain patient until additional information becomes available.
Finally, know that you are not alone. Of course, you have many colleagues across the country in the same predicament as you. You also have colleagues and leadership on your campus who can offer support and resources to help your office through this difficult time. Communicate with any department that is part of the enrollment process and your executive team, so your campus can work together to overcome uncertainty and continue to offer excellent services to students and their families.
And don’t forget, the Higher Education Assistance Group also has your back! Our services include interim staffing, compliance review, training, and more. Visit our website or email info@heag.us for more information.
