IUM student complaints

The International University of Management (IUM) this week explained to The Namibian Consumer the nature of administration processes at campuses. Students have sent emails and SMSes, complaining about a number of issues they face at the university, with late refunds being the most common of the complaints. Some of the student’s grievances are as follows:

n IUM please refund students the whole money they have to get after deducting your money from our loan. I was supposed to get a refund for N$8 600 but it was only N$2 651 that was deposited on my account, I tried calling the finance department but received no answer.
– Concerned student

n IUM, please sort out your finance department. It is so disturbing that direct bank deposit payments are not showing on the student statements after many months. Every time I enquire I am just advised to keep the proof of payment. Since the beginning of this year I was given two account numbers: Bank Windhoek and Standard Bank, which one is the right one. Are our children getting the right education at this institution or we are just wasting for our money.

We contacted IUM for comment on these questions and also on the late loan refunds and this is the response from the Vice Chancellor Virginia Namwandi:
Complaint 1: Students Receiving refunds lesser than expected
The University offsets any amounts owed to it by the student before the Namibia Students Financial Assistance Fund (NSFAF) refunds/pay-outs are made. Students who are not satisfied with refunds made to them and who claim to have not received any assistance from the Finance Office are encouraged to provide their full names and supporting documents to the office of the Dean of Students. They may also email their queries to iumhelpdesk@ium.edu.na.

Complaint 2: Students’ Direct Deposits taking long to Reflect on students Accounts
At some point IUM used both Bank Windhoek and Standard Bank accounts for direct deposits. However, to avoid confusing the students IUM now only uses the Bank Windhoek Account # 3000 338051 for direct deposits.
However some of the deposits lack adequate student reference details, this forces the University to put these deposits in suspense while we try to establish the depositors.
We are on record encouraging the students and their guardians to always include the student names and number as reference on each deposit made. This is the reason why we also encourage students to keep the deposit slips in case of queries.

Complaint 3: Students receiving refunds late
The university endeavours to pay out refunds as soon as the reconciliation and verification of amounts due to students have been concluded.
Delays in students receiving their refunds are sometimes attributed to the following:
• Students furnishing us with incorrect bank details. Consequently, the refunds will not sail through and the students will have to be tracked to refurnish us with correct details.
• Students requesting funds to be deposited in inactive/closed accounts. This results in refunds to students bouncing back to us.
• Students expecting refunds before the Ministry of Education has paid IUM. We only refund after receiving payment from the ministry.

We have requested all students to open bank accounts with banks of their choice and the response has been overwhelming. The university also encourages students to ensure the bank details given to our finance office are correct. In the event of delays, students are encouraged to quickly check with our finance office for possible errors and omission or to use our finance help desk e-mail. Students are also free to come and check for their names on our refund lists. The lists are maintained at our finance offices and, for the sake of privacy, students will be identified only by their IUM finance account numbers.
Students are encouraged to contact the office of the vice chancellor with queries and to use the channels of communication listed above.

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