“The objective is to make sure the students are getting assistance they can trust,” said Rep. Stephen Nass, chair of the Committee on Colleges and Universities.

With more than half of college students seeking financial aid, the University of Wisconsin System and the state government are working to create more openness about how lending companies are selected.

The Assembly’s Committee on Colleges and Universities met Sept.25 to ensure that universities are following through on their commitment to openness.

The meeting followed recent controversy surrounding university financial lending advisors including the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s director of financial aid, Jane Hojan-Clark. She sat on an advisory committee for Loan Xpress, one of the primary lending companies the university does business with. She also accepted two paid trips to Ohio and New York for business meetings.

Since the information was revealed, Hojan-Clark has stepped down from the committee, but is still the director of financial aid.

Rita Cheng, the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs, said Hojan-Clark did not violate any rules at the time of her trip. It wasn’t until the Board of Regents’ June meeting in Milwaukee that they established a formal rule against paid business trips from lending companies.

The new policy still allows UW employees to sit on advisory committees but prohibits them accepting any financial reimbursement or free travel. Instead the university itself will be responsible for travel expenses.

In addition, the lenders the university recommends come up on a rotating basis when Internet users go to the financial aid website. Previously, the website consistently listed one lending company first, which some felt was unfairly affecting student’s decisions on what lending company to use.

Rep. Stephen Nass, chair of the Committee on Colleges and Universities, was concerned about any lingering problems with the increasingly used financial aid system.

“The objective is to make sure the students are getting assistance they can trust,” Nass said.

After the UW System looked into financial aid controversies, problems have also arisen about certain chancellors on non-UW System committees or boards.

For instance, Nass said the Assembly committee is especially concerned about the UW-Oshkosh chancellor who gets paid to sit on a board for U.S. Bank. UW-Oshkosh has a bank card program through the university where students can use their ID cards as debit cards.

“They continue to think whatever they want to do, they can do,” Nass said. “That’s not OK.”

As another measure of openness, the committee has asked the system to collect information about all chancellors and vice chancellors sitting on a board.

“The committee wants to know what else is out there,” Nass said.

> Comments