I am particularly proud of our College Goal Sunday Committee and the fantastic third annual College Goal Sunday event that they implemented in 17 locations across Massachusetts on Sunday, January 28^th. A record 217 volunteers, the majority of whom were MASFAA members, turned out that day to assist a record number of attendees in the completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Special thanks to this year’s College Goal Sunday Committee Tri-Chairs, Gail Holt (Mt. Holyoke), Paul Lynskey (MEFA) and Martha Savery (MEFA); Statewide Site Coordinator, Catherine Nelson (Brandeis University); and their hard-working Steering Committee members, Allene Begley Curto (Springfield College), Marsha Forhan (Colleges of Worcester Consortium), Iris Godes (Quinsigamond CC), Kristi Pierce (TERI), and Carmen Pineda (HOPE).

Thanks so much to all of the MASFAA volunteers who assisted with this event as support staff, one-on-one counselors, and presenters! This event would not have been possible without your participation! Thanks also to this year’s Site Coordinators, Dana Cole (TERI), Karen Derouin (Holyoke CC), Tina Favara (Northern Essex CC), Beth Feinberg (Northeastern University), Beverly Guerin (Middlesex CC), Mary Jenkins (Cape Cod CC), Martha Johnston (Citizens Bank), Carmen LaFontaine (TERI), Barbara Larocque (Adult Learning Center), Nitza Martinez (Springfield Technical CC), Sarah Morrell (Fall River EOC), Hannah Morrison (Massasoit CC), Marcia Munday (Waltham HS), Deborah Nichols (Fitchburg State College), Joan O’Hara (Malden HS), Beverly Pierce (TERI), Yveline Previl (Pine Manor College), Heather Rebmann (ROCA), Susan Sullivan (Bunker Hill CC), Michelle Tufau (Quinsigamond CC), and Donna Wood-Lozier (Springfield College). Read much more about College Goal Sunday 2007 in this edition of the newsletter.

Here’s what some of our other MASFAA committees have been up to over the past couple of months:

• The Archives Committee is currently working on the collection of Association-related information, including minutes, photographs, newsletters and memorabilia, dating back to the Association’s inception in 1969. If you would like to donate any of these items to the MASFAA archives, please contact Shawn Morrissey.

• The Committee to Enhance Ethnic Diversity (CEED) is planning a diversity training event for the membership this spring. Stay tuned for more details on this event! The Committee now has a library from which members can borrow books related to diversity. For more information on the books contained in the library, and how to borrow a book you might be interested in, please go to http://www.masfaa.org/docs/DiversityLibrary.doc.

• The Conference Committee will be hosting next year’s Annual Fall Conference November 7^th-9^th at the Newton Marriott in Newton, MA. Save the date!

• The Early Awareness Committee is working on their annual Journey to College event, an opportunity for middle schools to partner with local colleges or universities to create programs that encourage young students to make higher education a primary goal. The Committee will be offering three $200 scholarships to new early awareness programs that are created as a result of this program. The Committee’s new publication for middle school students, Jump Start Your College Savings, will be available in March.

• MASFAA, in conjunction with EASFAA, will be presenting NASFAA’s spring training workshop, entitled Leadership Foundations for Aid Professionals. The eastern training will be held on February 16^th at Northeastern University and the western training will be held on February 23^rd at Springfield College. Registration information will be available soon.

• The Government Relations Committee has been hard at work keeping the membership informed about all of the new legislation being introduced in the Senate and the House. Watch the listserv for more information on the Sunshine Act as well as the bills to reduce student loan interest rates and to increase the Pell Grant. Based on membership opinion, MASFAA has endorsed the repeal of the drug provision and has signed on in support of the efforts of the Coalition for Higher Education Act Reform on this front.

• The Membership Committee has been hard at work renewing memberships, soliciting new members, and making sure that you can search the database for colleagues who are current MASFAA members. For the first time ever in MASFAA’s history, we have reached 885 paid members!!!

• The Newsletter Committee continues to publish our fabulous MASFAA Newsletter in its new online format. We encourage all members to submit items for publication.

• The Professional Development and Training Committee will be holding the Support Staff Workshop on February 14^th at Wellesley College. The new two-day leadership training for our Emerging Leaders nominees will be held on March 5^th and May 22nd at Wellesley College. The Committee is currently working on the Novice Workshop, which will be held in June.

• The Public Relations Committee hosted its western networking event on January 25^th at L’uva in Springfield. Approximately 25 people attended. The Committee has put together a list of possible sites for our Final Fling event in June. Watch for the opportunity to vote on this year’s location!

• The Technology Committee is working hard to update and enhance the MASFAA website on a monthly basis and, very recently, coordinated the online voting process. If there is something you would like to see that isn’t currently on our website, please let us know!

I am very excited about the MASFAA events still to come this year. Feel free to contact me at savery@brandeis.edu or (781) 736-3706 with your input, suggestions, comments and concerns!