Student Association senators are taking more steps to reach out to Corcoran School of the Arts and Design students after a report highlighted the main issues they have faced during their transition to GW.

The seven-page report, which was presented to the SA Senate on Monday, found that many Corcoran students were not able to sign up for some classes because faculty were laid off or the courses had been dropped. Others could not receive financial aid because of conflicting advice from the registrar’s office about whether they needed to re-submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

Now the report’s authors are trying to improve communication between Corcoran students and GW administrators to solve the problems.

Sen. Thomas Falcigno, CCAS-U, said even though faculty issues didn’t fall under the SA’s domain, the loss of professors was impacting students.

“Corcoran students made it clear to the entire committee that faculty are a large part of the main reason why they went there,” he said, adding that he was looking into how GW could give Corcoran professors more of a voice on the Faculty Senate.

He added that he was already in touch with administrators, including Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Planning Forrest Maltzman, about issues like keeping facilities available to students.

Falcigno said the report collected feedback from Corcoran students, faculty and staff on the transition, and the committee would now check in with the University about any updates.

Other larger issues – like Corcoran students being unable to get on-campus housing or find off-campus housing, as well as problems transferring GI Bill benefits for Corcoran student veterans – are ongoing.

Veterans and students faced obstacles in receiving their benefits and financial aid this fall, after miscommunication and lost paperwork caused delays.

“I’d like to say that we can go back and fix issues but we just can’t. What we can do is look to the future and say how can we really work on these issues with the correct administrators,” Falcigno said.

Falcigno added that he would concentrate most of his efforts on making sure Corcoran students had important information, including how to register for classes and get access to an official GW email.

“I want to get to the point where I don’t have to differentiate [between GW students and Corcoran students] anymore,” said Falcigno. “Eventually it will come together.”