7.14.20
Financial aid director appeals for more resources to help WSU students
WSU Financial Aid Director Sheelu Surender, second from left, poses with WSU students at the annual Distinguished Scholarship Invitational.
Sheelu Surender’s occupational hazard these days is loss of sleep. As director of the WSU Office of Financial Aid, Surender has been examining the applications of thousands of students requesting help with pandemic-related money issues.
“Most recently I was awake wondering how best to relay we were out of funding to nearly 1,000 students whom we are unable to help,” Surender says.
In the course of a normal semester, Surender might encounter 10 to 20 emergency requests from students. But the spring semester was far from normal, as many students lost their jobs during the state-mandated shutdown and also had to cope with unbudgeted costs related to all WSU classes moving online.
“Most of our students work and they were counting on that money to meet their costs, whether it was for the balance of their tuition or simply buying food and paying rent,” Surender says.
WSU was eligible for about $4.3 million in stabilization funds for students under the federal CARES Act. That money was distributed to about 2,800 students who automatically qualified and another 1,500 students who applied by the first deadline. But about 1,000 students were declined, either because the money had run out or they were ineligible for CARES.
Surender is grateful she also was able to distribute relief through the WSU Foundation’s COVID-19 Emergency Fund for Students.
“Those donations are critical and more important than ever before,” she said. “We have to have additional resources to mitigate this crisis.”
Although some students are going back to work this summer, many don’t have jobs to return to, are getting fewer hours or can’t work due to pandemic-related issues.
“We’re hearing about students who are facing hard choices about their education,” Surender said. “My fear is this is a precursor for what’s going to happen in the fall. Many simply can’t afford to attend school without our help.”
Consider donating to the COVID-19 Emergency Fund for Students or to need-based scholarships by visiting foundation.wichita.edu. To learn more about how you can make an impact, contact Darin Kater, WSU Foundation vice president, at 316-978-3887 or darin.kater@wichita.edu.
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