If you are a Moravian student, I’d be willing to put money on the fact that you have had a Student Hold. You know them, you love them, and they make your life an absolute hell. A perennial source of frustration and anger, the unwelcome obstacle that rears its head at the most inconvenient times.

Every single year, I experience the same issue with Financial Aid; my scholarships or grants take a long time to mail or process, and despite my relaying this information, I still have to suffer through a Student Hold for my first month and a half of school until the check arrives in their office. These financial resources are the lifelines of many students, but when these students find themselves in a processing limbo, they’re left to grapple with the notorious Student Hold.

The only solution I could possibly think of is paying for tuition out of pocket and then being reimbursed after the scholarship check arrives.

I don’t know about you, but I do not have $5k+ sitting around in an off-shore bank account to send to the financial overlords. This entire experience is a saga of paperwork purgatory and administrative apathy that turns the first few weeks of a semester into a harrowing experience. If you’re a Moravian student, chances are you’ve danced with this procedural devil at least once, and it’s a tango you never signed up for.

I know that it is possible to temporarily lift a Student Hold for a day so that this essential paperwork can be completed, but despite my continuous requests, I suppose there are certain instances in which they refuse to make an exception. The hold, it seems, is an immovable object impervious to the plight of students.

I have one of many anecdotes from one of my friends who could not schedule classes due to a ten- cent over-due charge. Yeah, you read that right: a total of one dime is the reason this girl could not register for classes. TEN CENTS! The Moravian Student Accounts Department holds worse grudges than your local public library; I’d even be willing to say that my extremely harsh primary school librarian would have probably forgiven that fine. But no – not Moravian, because those ten cents will help pay for the renovation of our student union building!

If you have a Student Hold, you cannot register or even plan for your classes. As a double major who needs approval from both of my advisers, it is not feasible to wait weeks for a check to reach the financial aid office I have no control over. The inability to register or plan classes is a substantial roadblock to all students; waiting weeks for a check to traverse the administrative maze, all while being unable to take essential academic actions, is a lesson in frustration.

If you have a Student Hold, you cannot use any AMOS functions. Want to fill out payroll paperwork? Not happening. Want to try to fill out your Travel Abroad paperwork? Forget it. Schedule or even plan your classes? Oh, you wish!

My biggest pet peeve is the payroll documentation. If Moravian wants me to pay my overdue bill, letting me fill out my payroll paperwork seems like the pretty straightforward way to do it. Want me to pay a bill? Let me work to PAY the bill. If Moravian wants its dues, logic dictates allowing students to work to pay their invoices.

Account Holds emerge are a paradox. Students are expected to adhere to strict timelines, yet what happens when the roadblock preventing compliance is a bureaucratic barricade? That answer seems lost in the administrative abyss.