September 08, 2005
New director of financial aid at SIUC Trustees approve Hamilton appointment
Hamilton came to the position with a broad range of experience in student financial aid, including administrative positions at Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield, University of Tennessee-Memphis and the University of Kansas Medical Center.
At SIUC, Hamilton says she continues to try to improve processing for student financial assistance, to get more information on the Web and to increase communication with students through e-mail.
"The other issue," Hamilton said, "has to do with finding additional sources of funding for students. State aid has not gone up, federal aid is not going up and tuition and fees keep increasing."
Pinpointing the area of highest need — and what can be done to assist those in that category — will be Hamilton's focus. "We need to make sure there is no financial barrier for students to come here for school," she said.
Meeting or exceeding the expectations of SIUC's students is among the goals of Southern at 150: Building Excellence Through Commitment, the blueprint for the development of the University by the time it celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2019.
A native of Girard, Kan., Hamilton earned a bachelor's degree in marketing and a master's in business administration from Pittsburg State University.