You've Got Mail: All Bills Now Sent Electronically

The Bursar's Office has introduced a new electronic billing, or e-billing, system, which will replace the old billing method. Paper bills will no longer be mailed to students. The electronic billing will serve as the official method of generating tuition bills to all enrolled students. Students are automatically registered for this service and can access their tuition information through their online CyberFriar accounts. According to Kathleen Shine, Bursar, prior to the implementation of e-billing this year, "bills were printed in house and mailed via the U.S. Postal Service." Students and authorized users will now be notified via e-mail each time a new billing statement becomes available. The Bursar's Office said the change is both efficient and practical for the College community. Students and designated family members can now view their bills securely from any computer location and at any time of day. "The bill and other activity data is current and is available 24/7 on the Web, and right at your fingertips, just like most bank information," said Shine. Now all student account information is easily accessible, including any charges, payments, and financial aid information. Students and parents will be able to view and pay tuition bills, and print a copy of current or prior billing statements, among other things. "It also really helps students and their families to get information about their current financial situation immediately-no more waiting for paper bills, no more calling up Student Accounts or running up to the office to get data, no more confusion about whether the student sent financial information to the parent and is the data current," said Shine. In order to authorize a parent or guardian to receive notification of billing statements, students must simply log on to their CyberFriar accounts and designate a parent or guardian's username and e-mail address. An e-mail will subsequently be sent to that parent or guardian notifying them that an account has been established, and will provide them with a link to the e-bill web site. Information remains confidential and secure. Only a student or authorized user may access any account information. "I think this will be fiscally efficient for the school, but some parents are not technically savvy and this could cause a host of problems on an individual level," said Jessica Pepin '10. For the most part, however, the transition to e-billing has not posed any major problems. "Most of the reaction has been very positive," said Shine. "Many students and parents have been asking to receive bills online in the past few years, and it is great that we can now accommodate them." Students have been made aware of the recent change. Letters were mailed out to parents, and an e-mail was sent to all students to inform them of these changes and of the actions to take to view bills online and to allow others to access their accounts. Information was also presented to both incoming students and their parents at the new student orientations prior to the beginning of the academic year. "We also had posters made and put up around campus to remind students of the change," said Shine. "We have also updated our Web site with information on the process." From the administration standpoint, e-billing was instantly accepted as a vital tool to implement at PC. "The change was presented to the vice president of finance [Michael Frazier] and was approved based on the tremendous value it represented to students and their families, and the practically zero cost to PC; the product practically sold itself," Shine said. The electronic billing is environmentally friendly as well. Paper usage will be drastically reduced, and it is cost effective for the College due to its reduction in postage costs. "From a purely environmental standpoint, I think it's a great thing, and I think everyone's capable of using a computer at this point, so why not support the switch?" said Jessica Crawford '10, of the e-bills. No checks, envelopes, or stamps are necessary to make a payment. "E-billing helps keep the College's costs down as we eliminate paper processing and bill distribution. Keeping costs as low as possible is very important to PC," Shine said. "We don't want added expense to be passed on to our students in increased fees." With a built-in system of checks and balances, the e-billing process ensures that no mistakes are made. "No e-mails are sent until we approve them first," said Shine. The system has also been tested throughout the past six months in order to guarantee a smooth transition. "I think that it will be a much more efficient system than paper billing if people keep up with it," said Amanda Zefi '11. "But sometimes paper can be a better reminder." Although the bill won't be physically sent to the student or parent/guardian, he or she can print a paper copy of the e-bill account thus accommodating this issue. An e-mail reminder will also be sent as a notification for upcoming bills.