NASFAA held their annual Leadership Conference in Washington, DC from February 28-March 2, 2010. Three MASFAA members attended. Leah Barry (Associate Director of Enrollment Services at Boston University), MASFAA’s Treasurer Elect and Bernie Pekala (Director of Financial Strategies at Boston College), MASFAA’s President Elect were attendees while Dr. Clantha McCurdy (Senior Deputy Commissioner for Access and Student Financial Assistance at the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education) was a presenter.

The mission of the conference was to provide state and regional elected aid administrators the resources and information to better serve their members. The agenda included topics such as: “New Realities for Financial Aid and Aid Associations,” “Fiscal Facts and Realities” and a “Policy & Advocacy Update.” Dr. McCurdy led a fantastic session on “Communication Styles and Generational Differences.” In addition the conference provided ample networking opportunities with each other and NASFAA staff.

On the last day, NASFAA had assigned all of the attendees to arrange “Hill Visits” and to advocate in support of federal financial aid. As a primer to this assignment and the conference, NASFAA did provide a webinar titled “Maximizing Your Hill Visits.” Leah Barry and Bernie Pekala were able to visit and discuss the current status of SAFRA with Education Legislative Assistants from the offices of Senator Kerry, Congressman Mike Capuano and Congresswoman Niki Tsongas.

Please note: Within weeks of the visits, Congress was able to pass the historic financial aid bill that had languished for over a year since the President’s first proposal.