The University Cashier’s Office sent out eBILLs to students across the University through the new MyPACK Portal system over Spring Holiday, but some students found a unexpected charge to their accounts.
Melissa Patzwaldt, a junior in communication, said she received her usual eBILL via e-mail and forwarded it on to her mother, who takes care of the account set aside for Patzwaldt’s education.
“I got a random e-mail,” she said. “I didn’t think anything of it, but I just forwarded it to my mom.”
According to Patzwaldt, she did not and would not have noticed anything was unusual if her mother hadn’t contacted her about an “overdue charge.”
Patzwaldt said she uses the five-installment monthly payment system to pay tuition and fees. Tuition Management Systems offers the interest-free plan for an enrollment fee and spreads each semester’s tuition and fees into equal payments over a five month period — November, December, January, February and March for the spring semester and June through October for the fall term.
According to Maria Brown, associate director of the University Cashier’s Office, the students affected by these penalties in interest were some of the users of the monthly system.
“We got a new system,” she said. “It’s just a little bit of growing pains.”
With the new system through MyPACK Portal, the Cashier’s Office and Tuition Management Systems have set up ePAY and the monthly payment plans to automatically draft from the payers’ accounts just as before and the system functioned precisely as it should have, Brown said.
“With all the registration and records things coming up, we want the students to know the system did work,” she said. “Basically, it’s just a timing issue.”
The new system does not take into account late payments, so some students recieved overage charges, according to Brown.
“Even though these penalties in interest are valid, they are just posted late,” she said. “We just didn’t get some of the payments.”
Patzwaldt said these penalties ranged from $59 to $100 and the Cashier’s Office assured her mother she would be reimbursed after she contacted the office. If students notice a penalty in interest on their eBILLS, the Cashier’s Office urged students to report the discrepancy by phone at (919) 515-2986 or e-mail at [email protected], which will receive responses within two business days.
According to Patzwaldt, she thinks if students keep close track of their University financial accounts, they can prevent or resolve situations like this one.
“Students need to watch their bills carefully,” she said. “You do that with your credit card, so you should do that with your tuition bill.”
Patzwaldt also said the Cashier’s Office could take measures to prevent future complications and inform students of any current issues.
“The Cashier’s Office should have sent an e-mail to let everyone know that it was a mistake,” she said. “If it’s an overcharge fee, then [the University could] let [students] know ahead of time.”
And TMS is working to contact all the students affected by this overcharge in a timely manner, Brown said.
“A very small percentage of the students were hit by this,” she said.