Organization works overtime to process student loans
Jorge Barrera
Northern News Services
Iqaluit (Aug 07/00) - Tina Rose sits in a side office, just off the silent curling rink in Iqaluit, worried about money.
She's the town's day camp co-ordinator and her office is cluttered with rubber basketballs and crayon drawings tacked to the wall.
The recent Inuksuk high school graduate is planning to attend Mount Allison University, a small university with ivy covered stone walls and footpaths between the maple trees, in the town of Sackville, N.B.
As of last Thursday, she still hadn't received a financial assessment from Financial Assistance for Nunavut Students.
"I don't know if I've been accepted or how much I'm getting," said Rose. "I have to book my plane ticket still."
Staff at the Financial Assistance for Nunavut Students (FANS) centre in Arviat are pulling long hours to process student applications.
Supervisor Mary Pameolik said she's been working from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. with only a two-hour break for supper, in an effort to push 300 applications through a brand new system.
Start-up problems
The new high-tech system has been online for only one week. The joint venture between the Government of Nunavut and a software company based out of Ottawa began last summer, but ran into unforeseen problems caused by the unique communication conditions in the North.
"We were expecting things to be up and running by July 1," said David Freeman, special advisor for adult learning and post secondary services.
Getting secure satellite feeds and other technical issues stalled the implementation of the system, which was scheduled to take over June 30 as the Northwest Territories' government handed over student financial assistance.
Freeman said letters of acknowledgement outlining each student's financial assessment were sent out on July 25.
According to Rose's father, Bert Rose, they've heard nothing.
Freeman said all students should have been processed by the end of last week.
"There are still some students we need more information from," said Freeman, "but overall it should be all done."
