UCC, SLB sign agreement to make loan application easier
STUDENTS OF the University of the Commonwealth Caribbean (UCC) are to benefit from a recent agreement signed between the institution and the Students’ Loan Bureau (SLB) to facilitate the seamless processing of loan applications.
Under the memorandum of understanding, both organisations will seek to mutually promote effectiveness and efficiency in the services offered to beneficiaries or students of the UCC. Through collaboration, the organisations expect to achieve several common objectives. These include: Compiling and maintaining a comprehensive database of the UCC students who are SLB beneficiaries;
Ensuring that students apply for loan funding in a timely manner to facilitate speedy processing;
Ensuring timely disbursement of funds to students’ accounts;
Establishing and maintaining a reliable system of tracking beneficiaries to aid in minimising the level of delinquency.
To facilitate the registration of loan applicants before the end of each enrolment period and to expedite the processing and timely disbursement of funds, UCC will assist in the collection of the required documents and verification of affixed signatures of their students who are SLB loan applicants.
To further facilitate the process, the SLB will provide a checklist of the relevant documents to the UCC and an electronic listing of the UCC applicants.
At the end of each day, the UCC will electronically provide the SLB with a list of students for whom documents have been certified. In addition, specimen signatures will be provided to the SLB for the authorised UCC personnel to enable verification. The physical documents will be packaged and furnished to the SLB within one business day. Of course, students may opt to go directly to the SLB to drop of their documents.
This facilitation by the UCC will assist the students in getting to a ‘D’ status, prior to the end of the registration period, and enable follow-up by the UCC with those students with status below a ‘D’ to get them to bring in the relevant documents to expedite the process.
The UCC-SLB partnership also provides for the linking of the websites of both institutions and to facilitate information sharing.