Inside Campus Partners

Jackie Shelton
Control Analyst
Payment Processing

Jackie Shelton
Control Analyst

For Jackie Shelton, Control Analyst III in Payment Processing, coming to work each day is like going home to visit her extended family. Jackie has worked with several other members of her team since she was hired at our company 24 years ago, and these co-workers are her second family. No matter how stressful things may be, she can always count on her co-workers for help, and she is always available if they need a helping hand.

With her experience and support from her co-workers, it is no wonder that Jackie is a whiz at what she does. “I’ve worked here so long that I feel I have mastered my job,” she says with confidence. It is a good thing that she has a good handle on her job, because our company depends on Jackie to oversee AutoDraft, our Automatic Direct Draft program for borrowers. “Automatic direct draft is a great way for borrowers to stay current on their payments. It prevents delinquency, which is great for the borrower and for their school,” Jackie states.

Over the last few years, more and more borrowers have elected to have their student loan payment automatically debited from their savings or checking account each month. The peak enrollment period occurred last winter when 9,000 borrowers enrolled in response to a mailing insert, and boxes of enrollment applications surrounded Jackie every day.

Now borrowers can enroll in AutoDraft through myamsloan.com, our new borrower Web site. Jackie was excited that 52 borrowers enrolled in AutoDraft the first day it was available through our Web site. Jackie analyzes reports to see if borrowers are eligible to enroll and reviews reports showing borrowers who cancel or modify their AutoDraft agreement.

Jackie also assists with balancing our bank statements, and reconciles reports for specific schools. She researches and clears payments that are in suspense, and wires money to schools if necessary. Her duties are similar to those she had when she first came to work here, but now technology--and experience--help her work more efficiently.

Although she has long mastered the basics of her job, Jackie still is challenged each day. She often must research payments and find answers to questions. She enjoys problem-solving and embraces the challenges of staying current on her job. She likes knowing that she did her best each day. “When I leave work, I want to be satisfied with what I did,” she said.

Jackie attributes her work ethic to growing up on a dairy farm. “We worked from sunup to sundown. The cows don’t wait for you when they need to be milked,” Jackie said. In fact, she did not let a recent broken arm slow her down at all. She also maintained a sense of humor about how she broke her arm although she was teased continually about it. Jackie was injured after she fell off her mother’s steps while trying to swat a bumblebee with a tennis racket. She ended up in a bed of tulips, producing what Jackie described as a mysterious looking crop circle.

When Jackie came to work here, she was a single parent of two school-age children. She now has been married to her husband, Gerald, for 21 years, and has two grandchildren, whom she adores. In addition to her children and grandchildren, Jackie is still very close to her parents and two sisters. She and her sisters like to have “ladies only” weekends and have visited San Francisco, New York City, the mountains, and beaches together.

If she has any free time in the future, Jackie wants to take art or cake decorating lessons. “I love color,” Jackie said. “I want to have color in my life.” With her close relationships at work and at home, her sense of humor, and sense of adventure, Jackie puts color in everyone else’s life, too.