Welcome to MASFAA Moments!

(by Aaron Steffens, MASFAA President)

On behalf of the entire Executive Council of the Midwest Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (MASFAA), I would like to welcome you to the official blog of our organization! 

A few of the 2014 Conference Scholarship recipients: Aaron Peterson,
Emily Haynam, Lindsey Roberts, and Kristen Gibbs

 This blog replaces our electronic newsletter and will serve as our primary means of communication with the membership. It is indeed an honor to author the first blog post for MASFAA Moments. As your recently inaugurated President, I would like to offer a short recap of our recent conference in Charleston, West Virginia. More than three hundred members gathered October 12-15 to learn about the latest changes in financial aid policy and discuss best practices with colleagues. Presenters highlighting the conference included Ash Beckham, LGBTQ activist and educator; Connie Kilmark, financial counselor better known as the “Dr. Ruth of Money”; Dr. Marco Clark, CEO/Founder of Broken Promise School; Justin Draeger, NASFAA President and CEO; Eileen O’Leary, NASFAA National Chair; and Byron Scott from the U.S. Department of Education. Those in attendance were able to attend seven general sessions and choose from almost sixty interest sessions to further their professional development. Members even had an opportunity to share their abilities during the “MASFAA’s Got Talent” contest held the last evening of the conference. That, alone, is worth an entire blog post that I’ll let someone else cover. At this time, I would like to extend a big thank you to the members of the West Virginia Association for being great hosts to the MASFAA membership!

Justin Chase Brown, Lori Vedder, and Craig Slaughter

In looking forward to next year, please mark your calendars for October 4-7, 2015. “Growing Connections For Success” is the theme for the 2015 MASFAA Conference that will be held in Coralville, Iowa. My colleagues in Iowa are looking forward to being your hosts.

As I close this first of many blog posts, I would like to thank the membership for giving me the awesome opportunity to lead MASFAA for the next twelve months. This Executive Council is full of energy and ready to begin implementation of our new strategic plan.

Best Wishes,
Aaron Steffens – MASFAA President