FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Contact:  Robert Preston, Jr.,
              912.260.4276
              robert.preston@sgc.edu

For the Second Year in a Row, SGC Wins Gold in System Customer Service Awards

Eighty-five percent. That figure helped South Georgia College earn a gold medal in the University System of Georgia’s 2010 Customer Service Awards – the second year in row that SGC has won a gold medal for customer service improvements.

The 85 percent represents the increase in efficiency in financial aid processes developed and implemented during the last fiscal year by SGC’s financial aid department. The success of the improvement effort dramatically reduced the number of person-hours spent on each financial aid application, the time students waited to learn whether or not their application had been approved, and stress for students, parents, and employees. This project not only won a gold medal in the USG’s awards but was also one of three projects statewide nominated for the Governor’s Customer Service Awards later this year — a first for South Georgia College.

During Spring 2009, the Financial Aid department at South Georgia College initiated the project based on Lean Six Sigma methodology to streamline the financial aid process. As things were, the financial aid process was cumbersome, stressful, and rife with delays and inefficiencies. To address the situation, Cinnimin Durham, Financial Aid Coordinator, collaborated with Wes Brown, then the Interim Director of Enrollment Services, and the rest of the Financial Aid department. They came up with an organizational re-alignment that resulted in significant improvements. The end result was that the six-week wait students experienced in Spring 2009 had dropped to a maximum of six days by Spring 2010, with some applications being processed in as few as three days. The standard deviation dropped 28 points, from 43 in 2009 to 15 in 2010. What is particularly impressive is that these improvements took place during a period of growth at South Georgia College; Spring 2010 saw the highest enrollment of any spring semester in SGC’s history. Additionally, students who waited to the last minute to apply for financial aid waited as long as four hours to see a counselor during Spring 2009. A year later, the wait was down to 15-20 minutes.

“The financial aid process can be stressful for students and parents, even when things operate smoothly. Under our previous system, there were just too many points at which mistakes could happen, further complicating and prolonging the process. This project helped staff process more applications in a more efficient manner and was implemented with little or no cost to the institution. I am very proud of this team and their dedication during this project to help enhance this step of the enrollment process; they worked very hard and are to be commended,” says Wes Brown, Vice President for Student Success.

This is the third year in a row that the College has won a medal in the customer service awards and the second year in a row SGC has taken the gold. In 2008, SGC won a silver medal for Enrollment Process Improvement Initiative. Last year, the College earned a gold medal for its project to decrease the number of students who lose financial aid due to Learning Support Suspension/Probation. “I am very proud of our employees and for the positive impact this project has made for our students. At SGC, we want to provide the best service possible to our students, and this project is but one of the many efforts in which we are engaged to continually enhance our service level,” comments Dr. Virginia Carson, President of South Georgia College.

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About South Georgia College

South Georgia College (www.sgc.edu) was founded in 1906 and is an accredited two-year institution in the University System of Georgia. Located in Douglas, Ga., the college's environment gives students exceptional opportunities for interdisciplinary study and close collaboration with faculty. With over 20 majors and transfer opportunities, South Georgia College provides the finest education possible to the citizens of its service area.