Collections is an explosive topic in an ever changing environment. Those who work in collections must be informed of recent legal and legislative topics in the field to avoid the land mines that litigious students seek to exploit. “Land Mines in Collections” will shed light on recent topics of concern within the field of collections. Key topics will include Acceptance of Partial Payments, Refusing Payment, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, Litigious Students, and State Warrant Holds.

Presenters: Deveron Ellison, SMU and Steven Collins, UNT
Deveron has been associated with collecting bad debt since 1980. She has worked for several collection agencies in the Dallas area as a collector and supervisor. She was then promoted as the director of an automobile finance corporation working five years before going to SMU. Deveron is the Associate Director of Student Financial Operations at Southern Methodist University and has been with SMU 8 years. Her favorite pastime is cooking and watching old movies.

Steven Collins joined the University of North Texas in October of 2007 and is the University’s Collection Specialist. He is responsible for the collection of account receivables for Student Accounting and supervises the University’s refunding and collections area. In this role, Steven has focused on process improvements that include the implementation of state warrant holds, mass communications for collections and enrollment cancellations, and the automation of collection processes. Prior to his current position with UNT Steven was a customer service supervisor for Chrysler Financial managing a team of 11 adjusters servicing southern Texas. Steven holds a degree in Business Management from the University of Maryland and is a veteran of the U.S. Army.