The Charles Jack Sheehan Distinguished Service Award was named in honor of ‘Jack’ Sheehan, one of the most respected and talented financial aid administrators in our nation. Jack was called upon by Federal officials for advice; he was influential in helping shape Federal legislation and regulation. Most of all, Jack was an affectionate advocate for students and it shone clearly through in every detail of his work. One example of his caring for students was that he drove all over New Mexico in his Jaguar to encourage disadvantaged students to enroll at the University of New Mexico and made visits to Hispanic parents to persuade them to let their daughters go away to college.

It was a fortunate day for Massachusetts when Jack came from Texas to be financial aid director at Boston University. Jack was strongly committed to helping other aid professionals, especially those less experienced. He was always willing to answer questions, even when he wasn't well, and he never made anyone think that their question wasn't a good one. His style of management was to walk around the office with his cup of coffee and drop into the offices of staff to chat and see how things were going. He transformed the office at BU, which had lots of problems when he arrived. For this, President Silber was forever grateful, and he was forced to reconsider a remark he had made at an EASFAA meeting years before - something to the effect that the job of a financial aid officer was so insignificant that he could teach a monkey to do it.

Jack served as President of this Association in 1983-84, and it was a tribute to Jack that he was also elected President of NASFAA, our National Association. Unfortunately, a terminal illness prevented him from assuming that office.

This award was created in Jack’s memory to recognize distinguished service to the financial aid profession. The recipient of this award is an individual who exhibits the traits of intelligence, integrity, fairness, ingenuity, creativity, humor, involuntary insomnia and endless patience. The recipient is committed to advancing the goals of the financial aid administrator.

This year’s recipient is a long-term financial aid administrator and a strong advocate for students for over 30 years. In addition to promoting the needs of all students, this person has provided a much-needed perspective on the financial aid needs of the proprietary sector, an often underrepresented segment of the financial aid community. This person’s knowledge of legislation and regulations is very much relied upon by MASFAA, as is this individual’s uncanny ability to know exactly who to talk to in the legislature about any financial aid topic or issue.

This person is well known within MASFAA and can often be seen at Government Relations Committee meetings and legislative events offered by the Association. This individual’s devotion to the improvement of financial aid has resulted in an unbelievably lengthy resume of advisory committees and task forces on which they have participated, including the Negotiated Rulemaking Committee for Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act in 1999, the first-ever Negotiated Rulemaking Committee for Direct Loans, the National Direct Student Loan Coalition Board, the NASFAA Proprietary Non-Traditional Committee, the MASFAA Government Relations Committee, the MA Higher Education Assistance Corporation Loan Counsel Task Force, the MA Higher Education Assistance Corporation Advisory Board, and the All Industry Government Relations Committee. This person has also served as a Board Member, the Chairman of Government Relations and the President of the American Association of Cosmetology Schools. Most impressively, this person testified before the Senate on the issue of student loan defaults.

This year’s recipient has devoted a lifetime to the financial aid profession and, for the past three decades, has fought tirelessly to improve the programs on which it is built. This individual has been an important advocate for the proprietary sector, while never losing sight of the needs of students participating in all sectors of higher education.

It gives me great pleasure to give this year’s Charles Jack Sheehan Distinguished Service Award to Janice Dorian of Mansfield Beauty Schools.