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elanya at 05:16pm on 04/09/2002
elanya at 05:16pm on 04/09/2002I just sent an e-mail to the New Brunswick Minister of Education, about my bursary, and the generally shit-poo dealings I've had with the NB Student Loan people. Now I'm going to go have some soup, go over some dissertation stuff, and get ready for my game. You can read the test of the letter below.
Honourable Minister Furlong,
My Name is Heather Hatch, and I am a New Brunswick resident currently living in Sheffield, UK, while I attend university there. I am enrolled in the MA European Historical Archaeology program at the University of Sheffield, which is scheduled to end at the close of this month.
I am writing to you because I have not yet received the New Brunswick Bursary of $3,825 CAD which I have been granted. I need this money in order to finish paying my tuition, so that I can graduate from my course. The University administration has, thankfully, been very patient with me.
It was my understanding that the bursary was to have been dispatched to the school after confirmation was received by the New Brunswick student loan office that my Canada Student loan cheque had been cashed. I have since learned that the cheque was mailed out to my permanent residence in Fredericton, where I live with my mother, Shirley Mellish. The cheque never arrived there.
My mother has been attempting to sort this issue out on my behalf, but she has had difficulties in doing so because the loans office can't give her any information without my authorization. She attempted to have them contact me, but as is the way with such things, I have not been available when they have called. The second time they called, they left an enigmatic message along the lines that "My school should have the document I need." I have no idea to what this message refers, and the woman with whom I deal at the University is on holiday until the 16th of September.
I would most gratefully appreciate it if you or someone from your office could contact me and inform me what the status of my bursary is, and What I need to do in order to obtain it. I would also like to note that I will be leaving the UK for Canada on the 29th of September, at which point I will not be able to deal directly with the University here.
I would also like to authorize my mother, Shirley Mellish, to deal with he student loan department on my behalf.
Finally, I would also like to inform you, as the Minister of Education, of my great displeasure in ever having to have dealt with the New Brunswick Student Loan department at all. This was the first year that I have required a student loan, and in all my dealings with them, they have never managed to handle their affairs with any degree of competence. During my initial application process, they repeatedly ignored my phone calls and faxes. It was only when I went to the office in person where any of my problems then resolved, and that was by the intervention of one specific employee, whose name I regret that I do not recall. When I needed to fill out a change of status form, the reassessment was done, but the status not changed. This proved highly stressful, as I required the proper assessment in order to receive my loan. I also needed to be able to prove that I had sufficient funds to maintain myself in the UK in order to be granted access to that country. Again, it was only through the interference of the same employee that this was resolved in time, and it was nearly not.
At any other time when I have needed to speak to someone from that office concerning the poorly thought out system for dealing with international loans, I have never spoken to anyone who has been able to competently or confidently answer any of my questions. Additionally, it is difficult (and expensive) to have to contact the loans office from overseas. The answering service is not set up to direct callers to actual people unless they sit through the entire initial message, at which point, most of the time there is no one to speak to and the caller is directed to an answering machine. Often the mailbox is full, and no message can be left, which makes the process as futile as it is frustrating. Whenever I have left a message (or sent a fax), it has never been replied to.
On top of all of this, the combined amount of loans and bursaries I was able to obtain from both the national and provincial governments is not even enough to cover the full year's tuition. Combined with the above, I have found that the entire loans process has been unpleasant, and unhelpful, and I hope that as Minister of Education you might consider looking into some ways into which the system can be improved, such as better training of the employees both in navigating the nuances of the loan system itself, and in customer service.
I thank you both for any assistance you might be able to give my in the question of my bursary and for your consideration of my complaint.
Sincerely,
Heather Hatch
Honourable Minister Furlong,
My Name is Heather Hatch, and I am a New Brunswick resident currently living in Sheffield, UK, while I attend university there. I am enrolled in the MA European Historical Archaeology program at the University of Sheffield, which is scheduled to end at the close of this month.
I am writing to you because I have not yet received the New Brunswick Bursary of $3,825 CAD which I have been granted. I need this money in order to finish paying my tuition, so that I can graduate from my course. The University administration has, thankfully, been very patient with me.
It was my understanding that the bursary was to have been dispatched to the school after confirmation was received by the New Brunswick student loan office that my Canada Student loan cheque had been cashed. I have since learned that the cheque was mailed out to my permanent residence in Fredericton, where I live with my mother, Shirley Mellish. The cheque never arrived there.
My mother has been attempting to sort this issue out on my behalf, but she has had difficulties in doing so because the loans office can't give her any information without my authorization. She attempted to have them contact me, but as is the way with such things, I have not been available when they have called. The second time they called, they left an enigmatic message along the lines that "My school should have the document I need." I have no idea to what this message refers, and the woman with whom I deal at the University is on holiday until the 16th of September.
I would most gratefully appreciate it if you or someone from your office could contact me and inform me what the status of my bursary is, and What I need to do in order to obtain it. I would also like to note that I will be leaving the UK for Canada on the 29th of September, at which point I will not be able to deal directly with the University here.
I would also like to authorize my mother, Shirley Mellish, to deal with he student loan department on my behalf.
Finally, I would also like to inform you, as the Minister of Education, of my great displeasure in ever having to have dealt with the New Brunswick Student Loan department at all. This was the first year that I have required a student loan, and in all my dealings with them, they have never managed to handle their affairs with any degree of competence. During my initial application process, they repeatedly ignored my phone calls and faxes. It was only when I went to the office in person where any of my problems then resolved, and that was by the intervention of one specific employee, whose name I regret that I do not recall. When I needed to fill out a change of status form, the reassessment was done, but the status not changed. This proved highly stressful, as I required the proper assessment in order to receive my loan. I also needed to be able to prove that I had sufficient funds to maintain myself in the UK in order to be granted access to that country. Again, it was only through the interference of the same employee that this was resolved in time, and it was nearly not.
At any other time when I have needed to speak to someone from that office concerning the poorly thought out system for dealing with international loans, I have never spoken to anyone who has been able to competently or confidently answer any of my questions. Additionally, it is difficult (and expensive) to have to contact the loans office from overseas. The answering service is not set up to direct callers to actual people unless they sit through the entire initial message, at which point, most of the time there is no one to speak to and the caller is directed to an answering machine. Often the mailbox is full, and no message can be left, which makes the process as futile as it is frustrating. Whenever I have left a message (or sent a fax), it has never been replied to.
On top of all of this, the combined amount of loans and bursaries I was able to obtain from both the national and provincial governments is not even enough to cover the full year's tuition. Combined with the above, I have found that the entire loans process has been unpleasant, and unhelpful, and I hope that as Minister of Education you might consider looking into some ways into which the system can be improved, such as better training of the employees both in navigating the nuances of the loan system itself, and in customer service.
I thank you both for any assistance you might be able to give my in the question of my bursary and for your consideration of my complaint.
Sincerely,
Heather Hatch
satisfied
good letter, and
Re: good letter, and
-- wolfy