MASFAA Officer Nominations Sought

Submitted by the Nominations and Elections Committee

 

The MASFAA Nominations and Elections Committee is seeking MASFAA members who are ready to make a difference for their peers, their students, and their careers. We invite you to consider nominating yourself or a colleague to run for a MASFAA elected office for the 2020-21 membership year. MASFAA has service opportunities for President-Elect, Secretary, Treasurer-Elect, and two Delegate-at-Large positions. These new MASFAA leaders will begin a life changing experience when they take office at the conclusion of our conference this upcoming October in Michigan. MASFAA and the financial aid profession depends on volunteers to develop and grow our association and our great profession. Please consider nominating yourself or sharing the name of nominee idea(s).

Please submit nominations online by February 20, 2020 for consideration. That’s 2/20/2020.

Here are the duties of the vacant officer positions with more detail online in MASFAA Policies and Procedures documents:

• President-Elect: The President-Elect is an Officer of the Association and performs the duties of the President in the event of absence, incapacity, or termination of the President and performs such duties as are assigned by the President or prescribed by the Executive Council. This is a three-year commitment (serving as President-Elect, then President, then Past-President).
• Secretary: The Secretary is an Officer of the Association and is responsible for developing, distributing, and maintaining the applicable records of the Association and the Executive Council. The Secretary distributes meeting notices and such other communications as provided for in the Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws. This is a two-year commitment.
• Treasurer-Elect: The Treasurer-Elect is an Officer of the Association and performs the duties of the Treasurer in the event of absence or incapacity of the Treasurer. The Treasurer-Elect is responsible for assisting the Treasurer with developing, distributing, and maintaining the financial records of the Association and the Executive Council and performing transactions as directed by the Finance Committee. The Treasurer-Elect shall be ready whenever required to give to the Executive Council any funds and financial records as requested. This is a two-year commitment (serving as Treasurer-Elect, then Treasurer).
• Delegate-At-Large (2 Positions): Delegates-at-Large are Trustees of the Association and serve as representatives of the general membership of MASFAA for the purpose of discussing issues and concerns brought before the Executive Council. 

If you have any questions we encourage you to reach out to any member of the Nominations and Elections Committee:

Maureen (Mo) Amos, Northeastern Illinois University
Samantha Matchefts, University of Missouri-St. Louis
Val Meyers, Michigan State University
Chad Olson, Iowa State University
Marvin Smith, IUPUI (chair)
Karla Weber, University of Wisconsin

 

  

2020 MASFAA Conference needs you!

Submitted by the 2020 MASFAA Conference Program Committee

As the fall semester winds down at many of our organizations, take advantage of fewer meetings and a quiet campus to submit a session proposal for the 2020 MASFAA Conference!

As a reminder, the theme for our 2020 Conference is People, Purpose & Passion – A PATHWAY TO SUCCESS and we’re looking forward to meeting new people and providing sessions to support the purpose and passion we all have for serving our students.  However, to ensure we bring you a fantastic lineup of sessions and keynote speakers, we need your help! The Conference Program Committee is seeking session proposals now, so please take a moment and think of ways in which you can contribute to our conference.  We invite you to submit interest session proposals now through January 31, 2020 for consideration.

Please visit this link to complete your session proposal: https://forms.gle/jszSJU42WnsTvAPR8

One thing to note, please do not use this form to submit your Business Solution sessions – we’ll be collecting those separately in conjunction with Jayne Dinse, Chair of Donor Development.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact your Conference Program Co-Chairs:
Betsy Johnson:     betsyj@bgsu.edu
Susan Swisher:     swisher@sxu.edu

Reflecting on the Past, Preparing for the Future

Submitted by Marvin Smith, Executive Director of Student Financial Services at IUPUI and 2018-2019 MASFAA President

This picture is from a MASFAA planning retreat held at IUPUI on July 31, 2018. I’m reflecting on some great work that has occurred over the past year by our volunteer organization—and is still occurring as we head toward our annual conference in Chicago October 6-9, 2019. 

As I look at the group I’m struck by how much change occurred over the past year. Some of the MASFAA leaders in our group have left the profession (Chandra Owen), left the region (Gena Boling), left for other career opportunities (Crystal Bruntz, Sara Beth Holman, Nick Prewett), changed schools (Laura Rogers, Emily Haynam, Heidi Carl, Alex DeLonis, Dick Battig), and even changed names (Marcus Szymanoski is now Marcus San Marino). That’s 11 changes, not even counting promotions for Michelle Trame, Nathan Lohr, Marcus San Marino, and maybe some folks I’m forgetting. Whew!

But we kept up with change because that’s what financial aid professionals are good at! I am so thankful for folks that stepped up and filled roles when asked. Roberta Johnson took over Advocacy and Legislative Affairs, Keyimani Alford and Chad Olson took on Delegate-at-Large roles, Dena Norris became Missouri state representative. Not to mention Sue Swisher is now in the past president role for the third time! We also had some late committee chair assignments. Ginny Washington agreed to co-chair the Access Committee; Stephanie Petsch and Jennifer Schroeder agreed to co-chair Summer Institute and Leadership Symposium.

Given all the changes that have occurred, our group of dedicated volunteers have accomplished so much. A few highlights…

• Stephanie Petsch and Jen Schroeder and an experienced group of outstanding faculty conducted a well-attended and well-received Summer Institute and Leadership Symposium at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, MI; special thanks to the state of Michigan for great attendance and Shashanta James for her work coordinating some logistics at her wonderful university. 
• Nick Prewett put together a strong ballot of volunteers and we held a successful election for our 2019-20. 
• Heidi Carl, Kathy Bialk, Kerry Gilbert, and Laura Rogers made sure our bills were paid, contracts reviewed and signed, and minutes and records were kept in order—no small task in a volunteer organization. 
• Nathan Lohr and Emily Haynam have helped deliver timely MASFAA communications via our website and various social media channels all year long. 
• Michelle Trame worked with membership chair Matthew Kearney to develop some membership change ideas to be discussed at the Chicago conference. 
• Keyimani Alford and Karla Weber put together an outstanding series of professional development webinars while overseeing our taskforce efforts; many of these taskforce leaders will be involved in Chicago conference interest sessions.
• Dick Battig helped coordinate a review of Michigan conference sites and the Board selected The Henry in Dearborn, Michigan for our 2020 conference location. In addition, Dick co-chaired a MASFAA strategic plan committee with Sara Beth Holman; a new MASFAA Strategic Plan will be rolled out at the Chicago conference. 
• Chad Olson worked with webmaster Nathan Lohr to enhance our online vendor support options; we are expecting strong vendor support at the Chicago conference. 
• Roberta Johnson and a team of MASFAA leaders helped put together a MASFAA Advocacy Toolkit (now available on the MASFAA website) that will be highlighted at the Chicago conference. 
• Jackie Kennedy-Fletcher and Derek Kindle have put together the first-ever Diversity and Inclusion statement to be adopted by MASFAA and will be discussing the potential implementation of NASFAA Diversity Toolkit initiatives for states and our region at the Chicago conference. 
• The state presidents continued to filter important MASFAA messages to our nine states and support MASFAA initiatives.
• Finally, Betsy Johnson, Susan Teerink, Sue Swisher, Amanda Fijal, and teams of MASFAA’s finest have put together an outstanding conference program, speakers, and activities that are sure to make the 2019 MASFAA Conference in Chicago an event folks will not want to miss!

This is just a short list of MASFAA activities this past year. I know I’ve left out some names and accomplishments, but I look forward to celebrating all that is MASFAA with my fellow Champions of Tomorrow at the Chicago conference. Register now at www.masfaaweb.org/conference.
 
Regards,
Marvin Smith
MASFAA President 2018-19 and Executive Director of Student Financial Services, IUPUI