By Joseph Pawlowski
Missed a tuition payment? Whether the problem is an unresolved bill or a required vaccination, the University knows the key to grabbing students’ attentions – their stomachs.
The status of students’ accounts is critical in determining their ability to participate actively on campus. Should an account be flagged with a hold for any one of numerous reasons, serious implications may follow that could potentially interfere with the student’s meal plan, registration for classes and even graduation.
A hold can be placed on a student’s account for any number of reasons, all pertaining to various departmental checks that are meant to keep students in line.
“The most popular holds are immunization holds, library holds and student accounts holds,” said one student accounts advisor, who wished to remain anonymous.
These holds are three among many that may be placed on students’ accounts due to some form of perceived delinquency on their behalf. Should a student refrain from returning a library book, for instance, his or her account may be subject to a library hold.
Similarly, failure to pay tuition and fees on time could result in a student accounts hold, otherwise known as an NR hold.
Unfortunately, the entire premise of a hold has, in many ways, backfired at the students’ expense. Many times students are completely ignorant of the fact that a hold has been placed on their accounts until they are put in an undesirable situation that arises as a consequence of the suspension.
Sophomore Christy Dean said she felt victimized last year when, one day, she tried to use her meal plan and was told that it had been deactivated. She followed up on the issue at Card Services where she was shocked to find out for the first time that a student accounts hold had been placed on her account because the University had not approved her student loan. She immediately paid the balance on her account and, two weeks later, was able to use her meal plan again.
“The way that Hofstra dealt with the situation was ridiculous and unfair since there was such a lack of communication on the University’s part,” Dean said.
Dean’s story is an all too common one among University students who, in the past, have complained of an inability to register for classes, send transcripts and access on-campus internet service as a result of a hold that has, unknown to them, been placed on their accounts.
University officials say students are made fully aware of all account holds via their Hofstra Portals. In order to view a hold, students must check their financial aid status for the given aid year. More often than not, however, students fail to check for a hold without any reason to believe that a hold has been imposed on them.
“I didn’t find out until I received an enormous bill for tuition, which I never have to pay,” said sophomore Tiffany Steele who had a hold placed on her account because she was not registered for enough credits for her scholarship to be paid. “No one notified me of a hold until I pursued the issue myself. I was alarmed and frustrated.”
The hold actually prevented her from registering for courses online, in which case an advisor had to manually register for her.
Holds are posted on the Portal site toward the end of each semester, around the same time that the registration process begins. Even if students do check their statuses, they may still have difficulty registering for classes in a timely manner should an active hold be in play.
“Only for probationary holds are letters generally mailed to students,” said the student accounts advisor, who added that little change is expected in the foreseeable future in that respect.