Commuter and part-time students hearing about the lawsuit for the first time, filed by Point Park University’s former senior director of student financial services last week, say they do not feel slighted in their financial aid packages.“I do not feel singled out,” said Sarah Mack, a junior commuter and broadcasting major. “I don’t notice a difference at all from living on campus at another school to living off campus now.”Michelle Haas, a freshman commuter and environmental health science major, said the process of receiving her financial aid was difficult, but she does not notice any discrepancies in the money she was given.“They were rude and didn’t pay much attention to my individual needs when I needed help,” Haas said. “They were slow in handling paperwork but, I’m happy with the financial aid I’m being given.”As reported in Pittsburgh’s two daily newspapers last week and on The Globe’s website, Betty L. Davis who worked at Point Park from Nov. 10, 2008 to July 2, 2010 claims in the lawsuit that Sandra Cronin, then the director of financial aid, developed a formula that preventscommuter students – over 70 percent of the university’s population – as well as part-time students from receiving the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG). Davis also alleges that during her time at the university she witnessed Cronin, now the senior associate director of financial aid, manipulate documents to bring in more federal money as well as submit them under other counselors’ names.“If that’s true, it’s terrible! Point Park has such a strong reputation for good financial aid, this sends an awful message. Especially with the school [asking] for money for the Academic Village,” said John Sfarnas, a sophomore interdisciplinary studies major.According to the lawsuit, Davis, after becoming aware of the alleged doctored documents, alerted her superior, Bridget Mancosh, the university’svice president of finance and operations. The lawsuit claims that Mancosh “praised Davis’ managerial actions,” but told her to “keep this quiet.”After Mancosh’s acknowledgment of Cronin’s actions, but subsequent indifference, Davis, according to the lawsuit, asked for an independent audit of the financial operations of Point Park.Tershel & Associates, the law firm handling Davis’ case, released the documents outlining the independent audit, performed by Financial Aid Services, Inc. Darylann Thomas is the senior consultant listed in the audit; after several phone calls and voicemail messages she could not be reached for comment.“[Cronin], director of financial aid, has been awarding the [FSEOG] to a selected cohort within the student population at [Point Park],” according to the executive summary from Financial Aid Services, Inc.The lawsuit also claims that Cronin submitted a complaint against Davis, which led to a meeting of Davis, Mancosh and a Human Resources representative from Point Park. The lawsuit says that all parties found Cronin’s complaint “unfounded,” but that during the same meeting Davis’ employment was terminated. Davis alleges that because her termination occurred several days before a federal audit, she was fired to cover up financial aid mismanagement. However, the lawsuit states that the university contends her termination was “ostensibly due to department restructuring.”A U.S. Department of Education spokeswoman told The Globe on Friday, Sept. 3 that the department had no knowledgeof the pending lawsuit. Spokeswoman Jane Glickman explained that if Point Park counted the commuter and part-time population financial needs when asking for the federal grant money, then those students are entitled to a portion of the FSEOG funds.She said otherwise universities have the right to decide to whomthey give certain federal student aid, regardless of whether their decision is based on where students reside, or if they have a full-time credit load.“I never heard it was against the rules for a university to decide to give the [FSEOG] to students who are needy and want to live on campus,” said Glickman, who explained that the department will not further comment on a lawsuit currently in litigation that it is not directly involved with.According to Title 34, Part 676 of the Code of Federal Regulations, institutions should first select recipients for the FSEOG from those students who already receive the Federal Pell Grant and have the lowest expected family contribution (EFC).Then, if institutions have remaining funds, they should award the FSEOG to students who have the lowest EFC who do not have the Pell Grant.The regulation states that for part-time and independent students, if a college or university’s allocation of FSEOG funds is based upon their included financial need, then the institution is required to award an applicable portion of the money to those students. The websitewww.fseog.com was created byArizona-based company College Aid Services, LLC to provide more sufficient sources about financial aid for students. According to the site, each school of the 4,000 universities and colleges that receive the FSEOGs get a fixed amount. If a school does not deplete the funds, then it isat risk of having a lower fixed amount the following year.“The FSEOGs are determined on an individual, student-by-student basis by the financial aid office of the school,” reads the website. “A school’s financial aid office is entrusted with the management of their FSEOG funds, filling in the financing gaps for the students who qualify. The monies are not a guarantee to a student, even if they do qualify, because the funds are limited to certain amount and are only distributed until they run out.”