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This resource is being maintained for historical purposes only and is not currently applicable.

General Institutional Responsibilities

PublicationDate: 7/1/95
ChapterNumber: 2
ChapterTitle: General Institutional Responsibilities
SectionNumber: 3
SectionTitle: The Network of Responsibilities
PageNumbers: 36-38

2.3 The Network of Responsibilities

Although business and financial aid offices of postsecondary schools
have some responsibilities that are separate and distinct, other
responsibilities overlap and are interdependent. To effectively
administer Title IV programs as prescribed in federal law and
regulations, it is essential that school officials remember that good
stewardship of federal funds is ultimately the responsibility of the
institution AS A WHOLE.

((Example of the network of responsibilities))
To illustrate the network of responsibilities that lies behind a simple
action, consider the relatively routine activity of collecting and
processing time sheets for Federal Work-Study (FWS) student
employees. The following exercise is intended to give you a chance
to consider how complex this network of responsibilities can be.
Don't worry about the specific answers to these questions--they may
vary from one school to the next.

- The FWS time sheet requires an oversight signature.

- Who is authorized to sign and certify that a student's work was
performed in a satisfactory manner?

- Students must remain eligible from one term to the next.

- Who monitors student eligibility and academic progress?

- Some eligibility requirements are school policies.

- Who develops these policies for the school?

- Students are paid their wages on the basis of their time sheets.

- Who collects the time sheets from students?

- Who processes the payroll?

- Who reconciles the payroll to the time sheets?

- Students may only earn up to the amount of their authorized FWS
awards.

- Who determines the amount of the award?

- Who monitors students' earnings to ensure that they do not earn
in excess of that amount?

- All schools are required to spend at least 5 percent of the federal
share of their FWS funds to employ students in community-
service positions.

- Who locates and develops these jobs?

- Who monitors the percentage of funds used for these jobs?

- Student earnings are part of the institution's overall FWS budget.

- Who develops the budget?

- Who monitors expenditures?

- Schools that receive FWS funds are required to apply for those
funds and to report to ED on the use of those funds.

- Who completes the application?

- Who completes the report?