Pretend you are a reporter and want to know, "Where in the world is the Emporia State University Financial Aid Office and Who Works There?"

The answer to that question begins with our location, which is halfway between Wichita and Kansas City (at least that’s what our Admissions counselors tell us) in Emporia, Kansas. More specifically, our office is located on the south end of campus in the administration building.

As you walk across campus, you pass by many beautiful structures, an occasional modern art piece, gorgeous flowers and stately old trees, hear the band practicing, until finally you come face to face with a bronze statue of Corky the Hornet who stands guard over Plumb Hall, the administration building.

If you take a right in the rotunda to the end of the hall, you are in the Financial Aid Office where you are greeted by Bobbi Fagg. Bobbi is one of the office frontline receptionists and is the financial aid jack-of-all-trades. For this office, she is also the student employee supervisor and she “mother hens” them and other students through graduation and beyond. Seated farther down the counter is Jessica Arndt, the part-time receptionist. Jessica was a work-study student in the Financial Aid Office while earning her undergraduate degree at ESU. It doesn’t take long to see that students and the office are fortunate to have these two ladies.

You proceed to the end of the counter and take a left through the doorway where possibilities are right, left, or straight ahead. For now you decide to turn right. You see office mailboxes and work counters used by the eight student employees. Without them the phones would go unanswered, files would be disorganized, the mail would not be distributed, and the documents to shred would be piled ceiling high.

Take another right past the coat rack and meet Jule Kirk. Jule is the office financial aid packager, budget guru, bill payer, purchase order initiator, automated financial aid system expert, the best proof reader ever, and she can organize a great holiday celebration. She laughs easily and often, except when it’s FISAP time.

Walking down the hall in the opposite direction, you pass two rows of filing cabinets, one on your left and one on your right. Although you are fully aware of FERPA and other privacy laws, you decide to take a peek inside a cabinet. Guess what – it’s empty! The break in the right bank of cabinets leads you to the reason for this strange situation. It’s the scanning room. The scanner and its companion computer, operated by one of the student employees, is cranking out computer-saved images at a pretty fast pace. Ah, technology and the move to a paperless environment.

You back out of this room and continue down the hall. Straight ahead is an office, and immediately to its right is another. You go straight and this is where you meet Janet Emch. You find out that Janet has been in the financial aid business for over 40 years and consortium agreements are her bane. Besides being the keeper of consortium agreements, she completes Pell originations and is the verification master. She is the ultimate Hornet fan so she is the logical person to maintain the financial aid portion of the NCAA database.

It’s time to investigate the office you previously passed up. When you speak with this financial aid professional, you might detect an accent. She is originally from Scotland and her name is Marion Jones. She is overseer of Stafford, PLUS, and alternative loans. You will never find Marion to have her “knickers in a twist”, as she leaves that to those less able to deal with stress and multi-tasking.

You decide to backtrack down the hallway to see what else you might have missed. Straight back from the reception area doorway, you enter a space with three printers, a copier, and a desk for the graduate assistant, who monitors work-study and does document tracking. On the back wall are three more doors that lead to three more offices. You pick the door on the far left. You encounter the only male office employee working away in his spotless office. He introduces himself as Thad Davidson, and you learn that he is the Assistant Director and takes care of online award letters, disbursements, and helps with technology ideas and issues. Thad was also a former Financial Aid Office student employee. This place must be on to something—they develop their own employee pool.

You step out of his office and go to the next door to visit with Connie Corcoran, the Associate Director. Connie works closely with the graduate assistant to make the work-study programs effective. She also spearheads Satisfactory Academic Progress and knows all when it comes to scholarships. She notices that you are holding a cup of coffee purchased from one of the nearby coffee houses and instinctively reaches for her own cup, which has now gone cold, since she poured it first thing this morning. Next, you go to see who is behind the final door.

In this office you locate Elaine Henrie, Financial Aid Director. During your conversation about the ESU Financial Aid Office, you find out the entire campus is going through a major software conversion. Being a team lead for the project and the President of KASFAA are just two more things to keep her busy. She is headed for yet another meeting, but leaves you with two of her favorite life philosophies, “We don’t get do-overs, so live your life with joy” and “She who laughs, lasts.”

As you look over your notes for the article, you recap that ESU, established in 1863, has over 6,000 students, awards bachelor through doctorate degrees, offers 2+2 and totally online degrees, and has four colleges. However, you realize you do have one more question—"Is everyone required to wear a uniform?" The answer is easy. No, it’s just a Friday spirit day and black and gold apparel is encouraged.