In our last meeting the value proposition of our current collection agencies was on the table as well as our seeming inability to keep customer accounts current and accurate. Since that time we met face to face with all our Collection Agencies and found that our biggest issue was lack of communicating with them on a sustained basis. Additionally, we were not consistently providing them with current accounts that needed attention. We have also found that our best collections option is with the Kentucky Department of Revenue Enterprises Collections Group (D.O.R.). D.O.R. gives us the distinct advantage of tying into tax returns of our in-state customers and executing payroll garnishments. We are also in process of meeting with Touch-Net to fully define needed improvements and issues and establish plans to address before we renew our contract with them. It should also be noted that the collection agencies were taking as much as 54% of collections and only recovering as little as 14% of total portfolio provided to them. Our plan for collections is now a 2-fold approach:
Remove all accounts from current collections and place Kentucky customers with
D.O.R. only
Tie into a collection agency that specializes in bankruptcies, as we see an increase in
the number being filed. Given they are primarily a legal collections firm, they can better tie into
accounts outside Kentucky.
We have come to the clear understanding that the registration process requires more hands on deck than we have available in the Bursar's office. It has been communicated to the Finance staff and will be expected that our Purchasing, Accounting, Administrative Assistant and Human Resource Services teams will assist the Bursar's office on a scheduled rotation to field calls during registration. The phone calls from parents and students have been significantly underestimated regarding staffing to field them. Numerous phone calls with simple questions turn into upset customers because they are not being answered or responded to in a timely manner. Another of the primary issues is not having enough resources to handle manual processes such as processing checks, or accounting for book vouchers. In addition to this, upstream activities in Financial Aid and Registrar's Office were not consistently communicated and accounted for by the Bursar's office (mixed reasons for this). When this happens now, the team members are doing "Go and See's" versus just accepting phone call answers. When an issue repeats itself or an answer does not make good sense to them, the team member actually goes to see the person(s) involved at all points in the process. Phone calls don't always generate a full understanding of the problem or its root cause, but a "Go and See" will.
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