President's Message
Hello CAPFAA! I’d like to start out by first giving a special thanks to Odette Franceskino and Bill Mangini. As many of you know, I will soon be going on maternity leave. Odette and Bill have graciously agreed to help out in my absence. I have no doubt that CAPFAA will thrive with them at the helm.
This last year has been very difficult for those of us in the Financial Aid industry. We’ve gone through the regulatory ringer but, we’ve come out on the other side as survivors. We’ve learned to do more work with less resources and how to maintain our sense of humor. We’ve seen the economy go down and watch anxiously as it slowly makes a comeback. I want to congratulate each and every one of you who’s hung strong and stuck through it all. I also want to congratulate each of you new to the industry. You’ve come aboard during difficult times. Financial Aid is a rewarding profession. You will make some lifelong friends.
CAPFAA as an organization has also come through a difficult time. Volunteerism plummeted. Committees ran on the fumes of colleagues burned out from their jobs and exhausted from holding up the proverbial columns of the organization. We struggled trying to find financial aid administrators willing to run for and serve on the Executive Council. We came to a turning point.
At the Annual Business Meeting, several votes were taken. Many surrounded the question: “Do we allow our third party colleagues to have more said in the organization and the opportunity to run it? Is CAPFAA important to us anymore?” On that day, we decided that CAPFAA is important to us. That it should be run by financial aid administrators, and that we will do what it takes to make that happen.
Changing these words into a reality is the task CAPFAA has been charged with. As your incoming President with the help of a wonderful Executive Council, some outstanding Committee Chairs, and some enthusiastic volunteers, we will make this happen. We now have a strategic plan in place to give us some structure and a framework to move forward. We’ve consolidated some of our committees in an effort to get back to the hub of what CAPFAA is about and create core strength.
If you truly want CAPFAA to thrive and really meant it when you said that CAPFAA is important to you, then I invite you to put your money where your mouth is and volunteer. Join us. Every hour you can spare is helpful to someone. Look at the committee list, contact a chair and find out more. Come to the Executive Council meetings. Be involved.
I look forward to working with each of you and am excited at the road that lays ahead.
Sincerely,
Jennifer C. Fuhrmann
