Greetings from Virginia, SASFAA!
Hello, from the Commonwealth of Virginia! As VASFAA President, I have the privilege of addressing the SASFAA membership this July. VASFAA concluded our transition meeting a few weeks ago. I am humbled by the talented folks we have serving this year. They are sure to have an impact on the “places” VASFAA goes, which brings me to our theme – “Oh, the places we’ll go!”
Hello, from the Commonwealth of Virginia! As VASFAA President, I have the privilege of addressing the SASFAA membership this July. VASFAA concluded our transition meeting a few weeks ago. I am humbled by the talented folks we have serving this year. They are sure to have an impact on the “places” VASFAA goes, which brings me to our theme – “Oh, the places we’ll go!”
I chose this theme to pay homage to Dr. Seuss, who sparked
intellectual curiosity in many of us at an early age. Reading was fun because of him and his wacky
characters. Additionally, the theme
speaks to many of our careers. Did you
really ever see yourself as a financial aid administrator? I sure didn’t. Cop was my first choice. (Really!) Believe it or not, the appeal of these two seemingly
divergent careers – law enforcement and student financial aid – share a common
thread. For me, the appeal was the
desire to help and have a positive impact on our society. Funny, I find I’m much more successful in
doing that in financial aid and through my involvement in our professional
organizations.
The topic of involvement brings me to a few questions about
our profession that I’ve been pondering for a while. Why do we get involved? I do because this is a profession, not an
easy job; getting involved has provided the support network I need to re-center
and understand the impact we make. The
work is rewarding and we know that college makes a difference but, at this time
of year the work can become quite daunting.
During this peak season while our friends are out enjoying the pool,
beach, or substitute any summer activity you’d rather be taking part in, we are
in the office. We are worried about
students that cannot pay their summer bill and how they will get registered for
the fall. Or, we are trying to figure
out exactly how we reach all those students that still have not submitted their
verification documents so we can have their aid in place by the first day of
school. Without the trusted colleagues,
mentors, and friends I have made as a result of our professional organizations
I doubt I would still be working in financial aid. Being involved in VASFAA and SASFAA is just
my small way of saying thanks to those people and trying to pay it forward.
So, how do we energize those within our profession to get involved? How do we get them to recognize the difference between a job and a profession, and invest themselves in it? We need to encourage folks to stay and grow their skillset so they can take leadership roles. We hear every day about So-and-So’s retirement. We all have vacancies that we need to fill. Financial aid needs qualified folks ready to fill the voids.
I haven’t figured out how to tackle this issue – but it’s one I’ll keep mulling. I’ll be checking back here to see what you suggest.
That’s the beauty of our work; we have each other.
Brad Scaggs
brad34@vt.edu
VASFAA President 2019-20
