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Friday, July 19, 2019

It's July - Let's Get Started!


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!”

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