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Thursday, October 20, 2011

How Financial Aid Day Began


Financial Aid Day is a special day that is set aside to celebrate and recognize the contribution of all Financial Aid Professionals across the United States of America for helping students realize their college dreams and for being so ever effective at helping our institutions accomplish their mission.

Financial Aid Day, FAD as it is commonly referred to, is celebrated on the third Wednesday in October. The first FAD was held on October 20, 2010; the second will be on Wednesday October 19, 2011. On FAD, colleagues are encouraged to do something special - have an office party, a potluck, a toast, etc., to celebrate our contribution to our profession.  Colleagues are also urged to take lots of pictures to record this momentous occasion, so that we can share them with our regional, national, state and federal colleagues, as we demonstrate our respect, love and passion for Financial Aid: A Grand Profession.

FAD was created by Neville R Brown, the President of EASFAA, during his 2010‐2011 tenure, as part of what he referred to as “The President’s Projects.”  Other projects under this initiative were: EASFAA Across Our Region (EAOR) - a video of aid administrators within our EASFAA region at work in their respective institutions, Moments-of‐Silence (MoS) - a conference project honoring administrators and their spouses who passed during President’s Brown’s tenure,
Certification of the Financial Aid Professional - an initiative to promote support for the certification of aid professionals and Dolls-For‐Diversity - a conference project that depicted ethnic diversity through dolls.

On Saturday, June 25, 2011, at the Annual EASFAA Retreat in Baltimore, Maryland, then Past‐President Neville Brown entertained a motion to have the 3rd Wednesday in October be designated as Financial Aid Day for Financial Aid Professionals across the EASFAA Region.  Motion passed unanimously.

On Saturday, July 16, 2011, at the NASFAA Board of Directors (BOD) Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, EASFAA Past-President and BOD Regional Representative Neville R Brown introduced FAD as part of his Annual EASFAA Report and urged all Regional BOD Members to supplicate their colleagues to “join forces with EASFAA,” to celebrate FAD and help it gain national recognition for all financial aid administrators across the nation.  His plea was well received by the Board: It won the support of NASFAA, although he did not entertain a motion likewise.

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