You want to make sure that students are prepared in the classroom, and it's our job and our responsibility to make sure that they are financially settled outside of the classroom. 

Welcome to Focus, a podcast dedicated to the business of Higher Education. I'm your host, Heather Richmond, and we will be exploring the challenges and opportunities facing today's higher learning institutions. Today, I caught up with Fredderick Simmons, the Student Account Services Manager at Portland Community College, to discuss how bringing together siloed services creates a powerful one stop shop to support student success. Hi, Fredderick, thanks so much for joining me today.

Great to be here, Heather, thank you so much for having me. I've watched so many of these podcasts, and thank you for this opportunity.

Well, I'm so excited to hear about what's going on at Portland Community College. But before we dive in, can you just tell us a little bit about yourself and your background?

Sure, absolutely. So my background is very extensive within higher education, I'm going on about 18 years of experience all within student accounts. So my higher ed is journey began first at Nova Southeastern University. I do want to give a quick shout out before I move on, to the national champions of Nova Southeastern Sharks, congratulations on winning the division two Men's Basketball Championship. Always thinking about you guys. So very excited to hear about that. But moving forward on my professional career. I first started working in our call center at Nova. So I was responsible there for taking incoming calls, answering emails on a plethora of services. So what was really interesting is we had a one stop shop mentality at Nova, so I was answering calls about our bursar, our registrar, financial aid. And at that time, we also got a new VP, Dr. Brown. And we also then started taking calls on Help Desk. So I was answering calls from helping students log in, submitting their assignments online. So then the next call could be where's my financial aid refund? So I got a lot of experience working in the call center. And also what was very unique is at the time, we were the only 24 hour call center in higher education. So got a lot of experience, another Banner school, a TouchNet school. Then I moved on had the opportunity in 2015, I moved on to work as the Student Accounts Manager at Houston Baptist University, they've had a rebranding, so they're now Houston Christian University. So I spent some time there about six years. My role was handling fee assessment, but really, it was really impressive, because I was actually the implementation manager for TouchNet there. When I started and moved there in 2015, from Florida to Houston, had the opportunity to really dive in and be fully hands on implementing TouchNet at Houston Christian University. So really working with payment plans, or refunds, billing, so really just being hands on and outlining and framing the structure is really interesting. Before implementing TouchNet, we were still using paper bills so it was a really huge cost savings, having TouchNet, to where we then went to strictly the E bills. After that, I moved on to the College of Health Care Professions, also in Houston. And there I was on the accounting side. So I took a step back dealing directly with students. And we'll talk about that later and how the pandemic affected that decision as well. But it was really another opportunity to still work within higher education. But to be honest, Heather, I felt that I was lacking something I was lacking the ability to really impact students. Like I mentioned, I wasn't dealing directly with students, I was away from doing orientations. And so I needed to find something more. What my true calling, I felt like my purpose being now 18 years in higher education. So I started, you know, researching what was out there. You know, what other colleges, you know, I had been in Houston for six years.  And so what else was out there? And so, I stumbled upon Portland Community College, where I am now. I started here in May of last year, and it's been a really great opportunity and another Banner and TouchNet school. Over the years, I felt like I found a home, and my niche on Banner and TouchNet, that relationship has stuck with me over this time, and really looking forward to bringing my experience and knowledge here to Portland Community College.

Well, it sounds like if you're going to go anywhere, it better be a Banner and TouchNet school. Well, that's what's so great, though. And I'm so excited to talk to you because you have that expertise. And you've learned so much throughout the different institutions of how things work and how to make that better student experience, which is what I think we're all after. And so speaking of that, I know we talked about that this last year, has really been a transformational time at Portland Community College. So can you just expand a little bit on that.

Yeah, absolutely. As I mentioned, I started here in May. And then shortly after we had a new president, Dr. Bennings. And her vision is that we are brick and mortar institution, and that we need to be of service to our students. And so previous to Dr. Bennings and previous to our president, Dr. Matsui, we operated under four different college presidents. And so Portland Community College, we have four main campuses, our Sylvania campus, our Rock Creek Campus, our Southeast campus and our Cascade campus. Also, each one of those campuses had their own individual presidents, own budgets, own ideas, but then they also then reported to our district wide president. So as we go through this reorganization, this transformation that brought about a lot of change, a lot of restructure. So there's a lot going on, in the positive direction, though, here at Portland Community College. What that opportunity has presented is what does the student experience actually look like? Whether we are on campus five days a week, or are we on campus three days a week? One of the gracious things that our new president, Dr. Bennings has instilled in us is the opportunity as managers of our departments to find out what's best for our department, as well as servicing the student. And so we've adopted what's called an onsite flex schedule. So what that schedule allows us to do at any point in the semester, where do we need to be more present and visible for the student. So what we've taken upon in account services, we've identified there are three weeks, so 12 weeks out of the year, three weeks each semester, where we feel that we need to be the most present for our students. And so those three weeks are two weeks before the start of the semester, and then the week of, and so because we draw for non payment, we find that our week before the start of the semester or the week of is our really high point for our students. And so students are trying to pay their balances, trying to get their financial aid in order, to enroll in payment plans. And so we want to make sure that we're utilizing all of our sources, our resources, and what we call our all hands on deck on schedule.

Now, it makes a lot of sense. And I know, talking about taking four different campuses with four different leaders and bringing it all into one. That unification. And I think that the new president has coined a phrase for that, right?

Yeah. So the phrase that she likes, and what we're offering is our ÒOne Together, Together OneÓ model, and I think it's, it's such a great model for us to follow. So I can imagine, like you said, having four different presidents I myself struggle at times trying to circulate and be visible at all four campuses. So I can understand the struggles that were there before. So I do appreciate this new model that we've adopted ÒOne Together, Together OneÓ to really show that we are all hands on deck, we all are in this together, and reshaping and re-engaging, as Dr Bennings likes to say, the community.

And that has to just feel really good for students too, and not maybe being disassociated and really kind of feeling being part of that one. And really being together, I think that's a great motto to live by, and really probably helps to steer a lot of what you're doing in terms of better student services and better experiences and technologies you're investing in and that transformational time.

Yeah, absolutely. You mentioned that technology, so pre pandemic, and I just had a great meeting this morning with our online student success manager, talking about and looking at our virtual services. So pre pandemic, which I'm sure a lot of colleges, we weren't using zoom, there wasn't a chat feature. So all of this and continues to still be new to us. So one of the great things that we are doing here at Portland Community College is looking at the technology, what resources do we currently have, and expanding on those resources. So for instance, our chat feature, we are now going to have the ability to warn-transfer a student into another department. So for instance, if I'm speaking with a student, about their bill or about their payment plan, and they mention to me that they're having some issues with childcare, I'll have the ability to chat our staff member in our WRC (Women's Resource Center) and say, I'm speaking with this particular student, they're having some issues with childcare, are you available to chat with the student. And the great thing about this feature is the student won't have to repeat the information so when I'm able to transfer that individual into the next chat room, the transcript is saved. And so that way, the individual or staff member in the WRC will be able to see the prior communication. So that's just one of the things that we're looking at. One of the things that I'm really excited about, and just speaking on a one stop shop mentality, is the student advisor that TouchNet has. We're really excited about this product, it really drives home our reorg in our own structuring here at Portland Community College of our answer center. This product really fit the need and the benefit our of our answer center, our answer center is going to be made up of the Student Account service area. And it's going to develop off of that one stop shop mentality. So just really looking at what are the key players? Who are the key players? What department needs to be present and visible for our students in this answer center? So we mentioned a little bit of collaboration, we acknowledge there are going to be some pain points, right? Training is going to be a main component of that. But at the end of the day, it's what's best for our students. And so the community of staff and faculty that I have here and the support, I'm really excited and really looking forward to that conversation.

Yeah, I think it's great. Well, obviously, it goes in line with ÒOne Together, Together One.Ó And I think that we talked about that really being transformational in terms of this hybrid approach to staffing. And having the ability, during that key time to have everybody there, but maybe on the off times, having a little bit of a flex schedule during that flex time, but still having the tools and technology at home, if you're working from home to be able to still serve the students, so maybe expand a little bit on how you're working with your staff to do that.

Yeah, absolutely. So just to give you a little idea of the makeup of our student account service area. So as I mentioned, we do have four campuses, and we have two individuals at each campus. So we have our lead, as well as our student account service cashiers. And so it's really impactful and really helpful. What we've done is we've created a tool that actually tracks our incoming services. And so what we do is utilize this tool to see when students are coming in, in person. And we're tracking that information as well as it's time stamped. And we're also tracking what services did the student need, whether it's parking and transportation, did I need a parking permit? Did I need to see financial aid? Did I need to pay my bill? Did I need to speak with enrollment services to get an ID card? All of that information is tracked, and we utilize that information, for our all hands on deck. So we know that those three weeks we need to be visible for our students, but also that information is shared with our executive Dean's in our Student Affairs Department. And they're also taking on that project as well as tracking to see when they need to be available, more importantly, for our students, advising. And then also just looking at a granular scale, to say, let's get all this data, we have all this information, now what is the plan of action? I guess you can say that's where the difficulty comes in. So I'm really excited to see that come to fruition and actually starting tomorrow is when we're going to start putting those plans into action. So tomorrow, we're meeting at our Rock Creek Campus, and we're going to be talking about what does the onboarding process look like for a student?

Wow, that's great timing to be chatting about this. I love how you're using data. I think that is another big piece that came away from the pandemic, right was how do we capture this data? But then now that you have, what are you doing with it, and the fact that you're able to use this data and seeing when or where services needed most and then, restructuring your schedules around there to ensure that you have that great student experience. ThatÕs awesome. That's a great use of that data.

Yeah, absolutely. We understand, if this individual or this department may not be on campus, well, there is somebody that is going to be on campus. So again, just having that ÒOne Together, Together OneÓ model that somebody is going to be here to help you. So if it's taking a student's phone number down, and what their information is, and reaching out to the department on this and acting on the student's behalf. I have a great team, I'm really blessed and fortunate to have the individuals that I have on my team who are willing and able to assist in any way we can. TheyÕre always, what can we do? I will take on that project, I can call the student, I know I can go into the classroom, and talk and speak to students about how to order a parking permit. So all of these things, I've talked about are definitely things we're going to be exploring in the future.

Now, that's great. And you talk about orientation. I just want to think about enrollment retention is so key, and it starts at the very beginning. And so sometimes I think that maybe when it comes to student finances and having to pay and how do you do those things? That's not real attractive. And you don't think it's a Òrah rahÓ to be part of orientation, but it's a matter of fact. And so what are some things that you're doing to make sure that at the very beginning the students start off successful? 

Yeah, so one of the things that we're going to be doing is meeting with our new student residents. And so what they're responsible for is meeting with new students, and talking with them about what that process looks like, submitting their application, are they an international student, linking them up with the correct departments and staff members as they're going through that enrollment process. And how we would fit in is on that orientation piece, to say, I've registered for classes. How do I look at my bill? How do I pay my bill? How do I possibly enroll in a payment plan? Or am I using some type of other way to pay whether it's going to be a third party billing, whether it's going to be through a tuition reimbursement? What does that process look like? So we would like to look and say, is that a one day orientation? Is that a two day orientation? Is that our virtual service? So all of these things that we're looking at to say, what is the best way to make sure that our students are informed? Because again, finances can be a sensitive area of discussion. And so one of the things that I always say is, I want finances to be the last thing that a student worries about, and the one thing to focus on is their academics. We're a teaching institution, a teaching college, so we want to make sure that students are prepared in the classroom, and it's our job and our responsibility to make sure that they are financially settled outside of the classroom.

No, you're absolutely right. And I think that's great, because the last thing you want students to be worried about are finances, and that could actually be a barrier, that they don't understand it, or don't realize they have options. They may just say, forget it and withdraw, and then you've lost that student. So you mentioned payment plans a little bit ago, can you expand a little bit on how that's really helping combat that barrier for payment? 

So, pre pandemic, we did not allow students to rollover balances. So, we understand the pandemic, brought a lot of undue hardship, a lot of financial hardship on students, not only here in the Portland community, but globally. So it was really looked on, what can we do? So sometimes student accounts can kind of get a bad rap about student has a hold, they have this balance, or it's affecting retention, it's affecting enrollment, they canÕt register. So we looked at that and said, what can we do to increase enrollment? What can we do to be more involved and be more engaged with our students? And so right now, we are allowing students to rollover $1,000 balance, as long as they're able to have a financial plan, or enroll in a payment plan to offset that past due balance. And so we've given the ability to customize our payment plans. We are a Banner school. So we are using the student attributes to identify those particular students who do need those custom payment plans. The thing that's great about our custom payment plans, it does stop our collection series, so it does prevent students from going into collections. So that's also a great thing for our students as well. But also more importantly, our current payment plans for our current students, we offer a three installment and a five installment payment plan, we do allow students the ability to cancel their installment, again, we understand you know, there's financial hardships that do come up, so we do give the students the ability to cancel their installment. We've also looked at, the financial hardships that our students are experiencing. So right now, we've also taken off the late fees for our payment plans. So hopefully, in an attempt to get more students to enroll in payment plans, and also to give them another avenue of a way to pay. So also another thing that we're looking into is to expand on our custom payment plans. We have our standardized three installment, our five installment, but if I'm speaking with a student, they just say this is when I get paid once a month, or twice a month or even once a week, is there anything that you can do to customize the payment plan for me? So that is something that we are looking at, can we add on? Can we customize our payment plans a little bit more to fit the financial needs and the financial structures of our students?

I think that's really great and because it sounds like they want to stay in school, they really do want to pay, but they just have these circumstances that if you can work around that, and that's where having the flexibility in a payment plan solution enables you to be able to do that. And it seems like that's one of those examples where a student really wants to be able to come in and have a face to face conversation, if they're having those hardships and that's where I think having that one stop area and view of the student can really help your staff service the student better. 

And you mentioned the in person, but just also having the ability for zoom. Having the Zoom Room has really helped our students to say, hey, how do I pay my bill? So our students had the opportunity to log into their self service. And what's great about that is we have a virtual tab. When they click on that virtual tab, it actually will list all of the departments and who has zoom feature, or who has chat, or who has both. Here in student accounts, we decided right now to keep both features available. So a student does have the ability for a chat, or for zoom. And what's great about the zoom, is the student has the ability to share their screen, so we can actually see right when the student wants to pay their bill, we can actually also emulate the student through TouchNet. So we can actually go step by step, see what the student is seeing, at the same time that we're seeing it, seeing it from their view, and walk them through whether it's viewing their bill, whether it's enrolling for a payment plan. We love the on demand statement feature that's available for students when we're speaking with them about their tuition reimbursement. We're really loving that feature, and also giving them the ability to pay their bill through the on demand statement as well. 

I love the idea of having the Zoom Room. And again, probably something we wouldn't have done pre pandemic. And so tell me a little bit more about that. Do you have like certain, like zoom hours? Or is it something that is during this time where you have to schedule it? How does the Zoom Room work?

Yeah, so our hours are Monday through Thursday, nine to five. And so our in person, Zoom chat or phone are serviced through those hours, on Fridays, we are nine to four. So during any one of those hours, Monday through Friday, we are available, just on Fridays, we are fully remote. So there wouldn't be any in person services. But they could still reach out to us through zoom or chat any day of the week.

Oh, that's great. And goes back to that ability to have the flex schedule. And how is your employee morale now? So we've talked about the studentsÕ success? How about employees being able to have this flexibility? I'm sure they're happy?

Yeah, so they were even happier this semester. There were only four days on campus for our all hands on deck. But again, I think it's very important, as a manager to stay in tune with our students. But also it's important to stay in tune with our staff. We understand the pandemic had a tremendous effect on our mental health across the board. I think I had four staff members that were hired during the pandemic. So it was very interesting that when we had our first all staff meeting, so some of our staff members had never met for two years. Everything was through zoom, everything was through chat. And so when we had our all staff meeting, it was great to say, hey, I've been working with you for two years, great to meet you in person. So I think having these all staff meetings, we're actually having another one next Tuesday, are really great for the employee morale, and also having the onsite flex schedule boosts the employee morale as well. There's that notion of well, I've been home for two years, I can fully do my job for two years at home. So why do I have to come back to campus? Or why do I have to be on campus three or four days a week. But I still think it's that important piece of why we're here. And the true mission and purpose of why we're here in higher education is to serve our students. And I think it's important for our students to see us, to see that we're visible, to see that there is a face for them to speak to. Because we don't know what that student could be experiencing, or what that student needs. And we're not just advocates, we're not just here to collect your bill. We're a product of the college, it's our responsibility to help that student in any and every way we can.

Absolutely. I think that's great. They probably appreciate that. And you're right, when you meet it is a different experience meeting in person, have it be staff or students or whomever. And really, full circle goes back to what we first talked about why you're getting Student Account Advisor up and going because it gives you that capability of having that tool to match what you're trying to accomplish in a hybrid work environment.

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we all know, students now want instant service. We mentioned earlier about just that warm transfer. We acknowledge that because we have this onsite flex schedule, that there's different points, that one department may be available. But having  Student Account Advisor, solves all those problems. We can set it up to where here's a student's financial aid. So if I'm entering enrollment services, my main duty may be to print IDs. But with student account advisor, I may be able to do a little bit more, I may be able to provide a better service, overall service for the student. I may be able to assist and say, here's what your balance is, you are on a payment plan, you won't be dropped from classes, and youÕre financially settled. Here's your declining balance. So just adding a little bit more service, a little bit more functionality. For the staff member, I think not only services the student better, but I think for me, personally speaking, I find it a little bit more rewarding. I remember when I was a student in undergrad going to the University of Florida, a huge school, there were times I felt a little bit lost. I remember going to class my freshman year in a theater like classroom with 1000 students, in an accounting class, that's very intimidating. So I find that Student Accounting Advisor, is a tool that solves that, breaks down a lot of barriers that our students experience and in faculty as well.

Absolutely, and while you've solved the transfer problem, in terms of going from department to department, you actually, with Student Account Advisor saw that before you may even have to transfer. So being able to have more knowledge to the person who is talking is not like, I'm only financial aid, I can just give you this information, I'm going to have to pass you over to student accounts to see how much you owe, the same support staff can be there and answer all those questions, which is amazing to the end user.

Yeah, absolutely. And I think we have an advantage, working in student accounts in the sense that what's on the student account is a reflection of different parts. The student actually enrolled in a degree seeking program, is this program even eligible for financial aid? Does the student have enough credit hours, all those things are actually outside of student accounts, but it reflects what's presented on the bill. So our knowledge of those things that's going on in enrollment services, what's happening in financial aid, we already transitioned into our answer center, our one stop shop. And so Student Account Advisor just adds on to that, another tool that my staff and other individuals throughout the college can use as another resource to service our students.

Oh, that is great. And it sounds like Portland Community College is well on the way to transforming student services and student accounts, just by all the things that you've already done. Are there any other initiatives you'd like to talk about that really involve this better student experience?

Yeah, I think one of the things I've mentioned before is getting more involved in our orientations. One of the things that I'm really excited about is our CLIMB Center. I had a wonderful meeting last week, with one of the executive dean's over the ESOL department, and we would really like to be more involved. I know, when I first came on board, we were short staffed, I think staffing is an issue with several institutions and colleges. But one of the things that I wanted to be mindful is the community that we are serving, that we are a community college, and really acknowledging who is coming to Portland Community College. So I was very intentional and very strategic on going through the process of who we were going to hire and bring on. I'm really excited, we have an individual that can say hi and bye in 14 different languages. He's currently taking Korean Speaking 1, and he's taking German Speaking. And this was all in an effort to service our students. And we have a large ESOL population. So we're recognizing that we can do better on serving our students, and realizing that there are barriers. One of the things that I'll share my own experience, trying to register for a spring course here at Portland Community College, the enrollment process asked a lot of questions that for an international student could be very daunting, and very discouraging. So one of the things that we did talk about is having an orientation day or having a separate day, where we can meet with students specifically, and then literally handhold them to fill out that application. Fill out the application, enroll for college, and if they wanted to, they could actually pay so just having a one day event, for ESOL students. So that's just one of the things that we're doing, just being more intentional on our population being more strategic on who we're targeting, and our demographics and realizing that there are some barriers to getting enrolled into PCC but also being mindful and recognizing them and making a plan of action to take down those barriers.

Wow, sounds like you are doing so much all at once here, that's really great. This is all really fantastic.

It is. And I'm very excited to be here. Again, just having my experience, over 18 years of higher ed experience has set me up for this position to do wonderful things. I've mentioned the staff that I have, I couldn't do anything without their support and the support of our Dean's and, some of the faculty that I've spoken with, so I think there are great things to come here at Portland Community College, and I'm just very excited to be here.

Oh, it's wonderful. Frederick, thanks so much for taking the time to chat with me today. I cannot wait to hear how this one stop shop concept really continues to progress at Portland Community College.

Absolutely. Thank you so much, Heather for having me.

Absolutely. Well, you are really defining and demonstrating ÒOne Together, Together One.Ó Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Focus. Don't forget to subscribe so you can stay up to date on the business of higher education. For more information, check us out at TouchNet.com.