Why Blog?

We are looking for interesting blog posts to share news and updates with the MASFAA membership!

But I can't write a blog!

Yes, you too can write a blog. Every member of MASFAA has knowledge to share with their colleagues. We can help you get started. The definition of a blog is something that is written in an informal or conversational style. Keep it simple and easy, this doesn't need to be a big project.

What do I write about?

Did you do a session at your state conference? You could write a post about the key takeaways from your presentation? 

Are you working on a session for the MASFAA or NASFAA conference? Give us a preview or some info to get people interested. 

Are you attending other not financial aid specific conferences? Tell us about them so that your colleagues may consider attending.

Do you have a technology tip that you often share with people in your office?

What questions do you get asked most by your colleagues? Turn the answer into a blog post.

Are there events happening in your state association? We'd love to hear about them. What did you learn? What went great? What will you do differently next time?

Did you attend a MASFAA event? What did you learn? What would you want others to know about the event?

How to I submit something?

The best place to send your blog post, your questions, your comments is to:

blog@masfaaweb.org

You can also contact:

Melissa.haberman@uwex.edu

Love, MASFAA

Happy Wednesday, MASFAA!  Are you feeling in <3 with all of the Financial Aid things happening?  If not, maybe you’ll love the news that I have for you today. 

In case you didn’t realize it by the way this blog post came to you– the MASFAA listserv is BACK!  We heard you, and we made it happen.  The email address is the same as it always was – masfaal@masfaaweb.org.  Feel free to continue to use the job board or forums on the website in addition to the listserv.

Speaking of the website, we just want to make sure that our members know how to use our awesome new website.  The number one thing to remember – if you can’t find something that you’re looking for – LOGIN!  Some of the menu choices for members only won’t show up unless you’re logged in.  The log in button is a little person on the top right of the page on a desktop, and if you’re on your mobile device, it looks like an arrow in a door.

If you need ANY assistance at all with our website, please contact any member of the Communications and Electronic Initiatives Committee.  All of the members of the committee are listed here: https://masfaaweb.wildapricot.org/CEI/

Been missing our blog lately? So have we!  We’d love to hear what’s been going on in your state, or anything that you’d want to contribute to the MASFAA blog: professional development topics, advocacy efforts, etc.  Anyone can contribute a blog, not just members of our committee (though we’d love to have you).  Send submissions or ideas to blog@masfaaweb.org and our committee will work with you to get those out to the membership.

Things to look for in the coming weeks: an update from the recent executive council meeting in Minneapolis at the site of the conference in October, announcements about our summer training opportunities (Summer Institute and Leadership Symposium may be getting a facelift – stay tuned!), lots of conference teasers and info, and of course – before you know it, the ballot!

So keep your eyes in your inbox for updates from MASFAA, and have a Happy Valentine’s Day.

MASFAA Website

The new MASFAA website is here! https://masfaaweb.org/ 

Log In

Everyone that went to the conference and selected membership already has a login to the new site, and you should have received information about how to login. Start by clicking the little blue icon at the top right corner of the page. If you have not received an email or you are unable to log in use the password reset page. 

Ready to renew your membership? Create a profile with your email and password. We now offer the ability to pay online by credit card using PayPal, as several of state associations already do. Once your payment is received you will be granted access to the member only content areas of the site.

Create Your Profile

Click on the icon you used to log in and a menu will appear. Go to view profile. Then click "Edit Profile" up at the top. Make sure your name, contact info and other info you would like to share are accurate. You can even add a profile picture!

Start exploring the site this week! We will send you some tips and tricks on the site over the next few weeks. 

Spotlight of the Week
Conference presentations from the October conference are available at https://masfaaweb.wildapricot.org/conference-presentations

Dynamic Blog Layout

Have you noticed that the blog looks a little different? It has been redesigned to use a dynamic template. This template is suited to look best on smart phones and tablets to make it even easier for you to access blog content. The same great content is still there.

Old Look

New Look

We are looking for someone to resign the header banner to fit better with the new look and feel. Please let us know if that might be you! Contact Melissa Haberman or Jayme Jarrett for more info!

We need your help!

The MASFAA Communications and Electronic Initiatives Committee is hard at work building a new website for the association! As we begin to map everything out, we would like input from YOU regarding what you like about the current website, what you dislike, what you would like to see more of, etc.

Please take a few moments to complete the survey below about the current MASFAA website, and what you would like to see on the new website.


https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/M6X3HLC

 Your feedback is very important to us!

Thank you!

MASFAA Communications and Electronic Initiatives Committee

Want to Make Something Great?

Have you ever had that one project you really wanted to do, but you didn’t feel like you had quite enough resources to make it happen as quickly as you’d like?  But if you got what you needed to make it happen, you just know it would be great!

That’s kind of what we feel with a terrific project our Communications and Electronic Initiatives Committee is doing.  They have taken on the ambitious challenge of setting up a totally new web presence for MASFAA.  Using a tool called Wild Apricot, this strong team has started diving in to restructure and design our new MASFAA website from scratch.  It’s a meaningful thing that we are all eager to see succeed this year.  There’s plenty of work to be done and having some additional MASFAA members join in would make things flow even better. 

Do you like being part of a team that is making something special happen?  Would you enjoy being able to help launch something that will be noticed for a long time?  Here’s your chance.  Complete a Volunteer Form today and mark that you want to be a part of the Communications/Electronic Initiatives Committee for 2016-2017. 

Thomas Ratliff

MASFAA President

***Note, the Communications and Electronic Initiatives Committee is having their first committee meeting next week, so please volunteer today!

What is Communications & Electronic Initiatives? (and how you can help!)

Hello from beautiful Kansas City! Conference has gotten off to a wonderful start, we’ve laughed, we’ve cried, we’ve handed out some awards, and I encourage you to check out MASFAA’s twitter account (@masfaaweb) if you don’t already follow the twitter to see some of yesterday’s action.  You can also follow other conference attendees’ tweets at #mymasfaa to see what’s happening.

The Communications and Electronic Initiatives Committee is gearing up for a big year, and we’re looking for a few brave souls to help us with our mission.  Curious about that long title and what we really do?  Right now, you’re reading part of it.  The blog is one of our main functions – making sure the membership stays informed of what MASFAA is doing through communication in a timely fashion through blog articles, and we also solicit other articles we think the membership would enjoy (think the Leadership Spotlights or Zach’s Technology in the Office post).

Speaking of timely communication, the twitter account is another one of the ways that the committee gets the word out to the members about what’s going on – either in the association or in the financial aid world at large.  We know that some folks would prefer to read a blog and don’t really do the twitter thing, and some folks really tweet it up – that way, people have options when it comes to us putting information out and ways for people to communicate back to the association.

There’s also a Facebook group for MASFAA – if you’re a part of it, awesome!  One of the tasks this committee has been charged with is converting that from a closed group to a “like” page, so that’s something that we’ll be taking on this year.  Work on that has already begun, but with all of the other tasks we have, it’s not an overnight switch.

Ah, yes. “Other tasks.”  If you like website work…here’s where you come in!  Our committee is also in charge of the MASFAA website, and we’re going to be doing some WORK to that this year.  I would LOVE to have some folks help out with that – we’re going to be doing some really rewarding work.

Please feel free to contact me with questions about the committee – I’m happy to answer anything.  Definitely volunteer to help us have a successful year in 16-17!

Jayme Jarrett,
Chair, Communications & Electronic Initiatives
j-jarrett@onu.edu