Office of Undergraduate Education

Student Aid director talks pandemic work on industry podcast

Melissa Kunes is an assistant vice president for Undergraduate Education and executive director for Student Aid at Penn State. Credit: Steve Tressler / Penn StateCreative Commons

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State’s top financial aid administrator joined the “Off the Cuff” podcast from the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) to discuss how the Office of Student Aid pivoted during the pandemic and shared an inside look into how the office has continued to serve students.

The Nov. 18, 2021, episode of “Off the Cuff” featured Melissa Kunes, assistant vice president for Undergraduate Education and executive director for Student Aid at Penn State. Kunes was joined by host Justin Draeger, president and CEO of NASFAA, and Tyler Pruett, director of financial aid at Samuel Merritt University.

Kunes explained that prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Penn State Office of Student Aid had about 75 employees working at the University Park campus, as well as staff at each Penn State campus, to serve the 72,000 students that receive financial aid. Each year, the Office of Student Aid handles about 66,000 calls, answers 22,000 emails, and holds 11,000 in-person student appointments. When the pandemic struck in March 2020, the office — like nearly all offices at Penn State — had to immediately find ways to work from home.

“We were fortunate that we had the technology and technology staff to facilitate this transition,” Kunes said. “So, we moved all staff home with either a laptop or desktop computer and we were able to continue to provide secure access to student record processing and customer service without skipping a beat.”

Kunes said except for processing paper mail, most Student Aid employees were able to continue their duties from home. In August 2021, many Student Aid staff moved to a hybrid work schedule, spending half their time working from home and half their time in the office.

“The beauty of our work is that it’s very measurable,” Kunes said. “We have data points. This was true pre-pandemic, during the pandemic, and it’s true now. We can track how student records are being reviewed and completed. We can track the number of phone calls that are coming in and completing. We can track how many students want to see us.”

One major change since the start of the pandemic for students is that the Office of Student Aid is now on an appointment system instead of a walk-in system. Students now have the option of scheduling an in-person or virtual appointment. Kunes said virtual appointments appear to be more popular than in-person appointments.

Kunes, Draeger and Pruett also discussed the need of technology infrastructure in order to securely and effectively work remotely, the importance of ensuring that employees are feeling connected and not isolated, and how offices may have to change the methods for tracking completed work.

To learn more about NASFAA, visit nasfaa.org.

The Office of Student Aid is part of Penn State Undergraduate Education, the academic administrative unit that provides leadership and coordination for University-wide programs and initiatives in support of undergraduate teaching and learning at Penn State. Learn more about Undergraduate Education at undergrad.psu.edu.

Last Updated November 29, 2021