Student Financial Services director to retire

Steve Van Ess, director of the Office of Student Financial Services since 1994, will retire on Sept. 1.

“I’m really going to miss this place. I’ve loved every minute of it,” Van Ess says of his 30-year career with UW–Madison. “But once you price things out and know that you can afford to retire, it all starts to sound pretty good.”

Van Ess and his wife, Ann, an outreach specialist in the School of Business, will retire around the same time this fall to pursue “a lot of little plans” around Madison, he says.

Van Ess and his staff have improved the lives of tens of thousands of students over the years by advocating for financial aid and delivering it in a timely, efficient manner, says Joanne Berg, registrar and associate vice chancellor for enrollment management.

“He’s one of the most optimistic and caring people I know,” she says. “In the crazy multitasking world we live in, Steve has a unique spirit of always ‘being there’ by giving you his undivided attention. This spirit is matched only by his quick and unrelenting wit. He’s a joy to work with.”

A Green Bay native, Van Ess received a degree from UW–Madison in 1974 and was hired as a counselor in the former Office of Student Financial Aid, where he counseled students and parents on all aspects of financial aid. He served in a variety of positions, including program review coordinator and assistant director before being named director in 1994.

In addition, he is widely known in national financial aid circles and currently serves as the chairman of the Wisconsin Higher Education Aids Board.

Van Ess cites three especially significant contributions under his leadership:

• Volume growth in aid without staff growth: In 1993-94, UW–Madison had 16,886 financial aid recipients of $114 million. By 2003-04, the figure increased to 21,789 recipients of more than $246 million.
• Faster financial aid application processing: Real financial aid awards are sent in early April and nearly all other awards by early summer, months earlier than previous years.
• A heightened awareness on campus and statewide of the importance of need-based aid and the challenges facing low-income students.

“Overall, it’s a little like an unfinished book,” he says of his career. “There’s a lot of work yet to be done. We’ve seen increases in aid dollars, but costs keep going up. The ongoing challenge is how to maintain access. We’ve addressed it, but we haven’t solved it.”

Office of Student Financial Services Associate Director Susan Fischer says that Van Ess brought humor and energy to a difficult and complex topic.

“His persistent focus and advocacy on behalf of needy students has been apparent throughout his career, not only during his time as director,” she says. “He cares deeply about access to higher education by all capable students, regardless of their socioeconomic background.”

Berg will form a search committee later this spring to begin the task of identifying a successor.