Those of you attending NASFAA’s National Conference this past week possibly heard my remarks at the Business Meeting, but I thought I would share some of them again.

I come from the Cowboy state of Wyoming and have lived and worked in Oklahoma - another Cowboy state. And, as you are aware, next year’s NASFAA Conference is in Texas – another Cowboy state. So, I’m warning you now that we are going to ‘Cowboy Up!!’ this year. For those who have never heard this phrase, the simplest explanation for ‘Cowboy Up!!’ is that it’s the ‘Cowboy Spirit’ - to give it all you’ve got; don’t give up; do the best you can with the hand you’re dealt.

The Western ethos is alive and well where I live. In the West there is an unwritten Cowboy ‘Code of the West’. Although we hear much about change, these days, I believe that basic truths never change and that the Code is still applicable in today’s world and to how we, as financial aid professionals, do business. While NASFAA has developed a written code, we also live by an unwritten code within our profession. While there are many platitudes in the Code, there are two that are especially significant and applicable to us in financial aid: 1) be proud of your occupation, and; 2) be loyal to your brand and those you ride with.

Like you, I am very proud of what we do. I can’t think of a more dedicated and inspiring group of folks than those in the trenches assisting students and families every day. We are the champions for the under-privileged seeking education and pursuing a better life. We work long and hard often under some very exacting and perplexing regulations to serve our students and institutions. Volunteering is one way to demonstrate pride for your occupation. We have a moral duty to each other, to our institutions and especially to our students to be involved professionally. Without volunteers, we cannot achieve the necessary level of training and good works that our associations thrive on. Show your pride by supporting NASFAA and your state and regional associations by volunteering your knowledge, thoughts and time. It’s your duty, so ‘Cowboy Up!!’

The ongoing Direct Loan vs. FFELP debate provides a great avenue to demonstrate loyalty to ‘those we ride with.’ This debate has been going on for 15 years! Isn’t it time to put aside our differences? Let’s trust one another to make the best decision for our students and institution. So ‘Cowboy Up!!’ and refrain from personal attacks and remember our loyalty to each other and to our students. As long as the two programs are supported by the government, NASFAA will continue to support both, providing good information and training for both so that institutions can make the right decision for their students.

We have had a rough couple of years, but through the strong leadership of past Chairs Janet Dodson and Michael Bennett we have persevered. But, let’s not dwell on the past. Let’s look forward, to where NASFAA will lead in providing students with access, choice and success in higher education. I know that at times we can get mired down with regulations making it easy to forget why we do what we do. That’s when we need to ‘Cowboy Up!!’ Attorney General Cuomo’s investigations provide an opportunity to demonstrate our loyalty to our students and our profession. I challenge Mr. Cuomo to join with NASFAA to efficiently use the funds he has accumulated to educate students and families about financial aid and financial literacy. Who better for him to work with than the professionals most trusted by college-going students? Mr. Cuomo, let’s ‘Cowboy Up!!’ and work together.

This is such a rewarding profession. For many of us financial aid is more than a job, it’s a career, it’s a cause. Like many of you, we give our personal time to be involved in our professional associations. My involvement has given me so much more than I have ever put in. Like you, I’ve met and assisted many fantastic students – students who would not have been successful without our counseling and assistance. And, like you, I’ve visited places I never would have gone, I’ve met people that I never would have met, and I’ve established friendships that have endured many years and will last a lifetime. I hope that when you take a deep breath and can look back over your career that you will feel, like me, that you feel truly blessed to have chosen financial aid as your career.

So, are you ready to ride with me? ‘Cowboy Up!!’

As I prepare for our annual NASFAA Conference, I wanted to write one final blog as a reflection on the incredible honor it has been to serve as your National Chair. Words could not express all the experiences one encounters in this role or the many, many members I’ve met during the past year that both inspire and motivate me for our future.

During the past year, NASFAA released 24 National Chair Blogs, and if the truth be told, back in November 2007 I didn’t even know what a blog was! I’d like to thank NASFAA staff members Justin Draeger and Haley Chitty for their continued help, support and encouragement with “blogging.” I’m also pleased to report that Dave Gruen, our National Chair for 2008/2009 will continue the blog. For me, the blog was a vehicle to stop and think about our profession and what you face daily as financial aid administrators, and to be able to share some candid thoughts directly with our entire membership. It was also a way to engage a different group of our membership, and I really did enjoy meeting many members I did not know well as a result of the blog.

I’d like share the following story.

The Rabbi’s Gift

The story concerns a monastery that had fallen upon hard times. It was once a great order, but because of persecution, all its branch houses were lost and there were only five monks left in the decaying house: the abbot and four others, all over seventy in age. Clearly it was a dying order.

In the deep woods surrounding the monastery there was a little hut that a rabbi occasionally used for a hermitage. The old monks had become a bit psychic, so they could always sense when the rabbi was in his hermitage. “The rabbi is in the woods, the rabbi is in the woods” they would whisper. It occurred to the abbot that a visit the rabbi might result in some advice to save his monastery.

The rabbi welcomed the abbot to his hut. But when the abbot explained his visit, the rabbi could say, “I know how it is. The spirit has gone out of the people. It is the same in my town. Almost no one comes to the synagogue anymore.”

So the old abbot and the old rabbi wept together. Then they read parts of the Torah and spoke of deep things. When the abbot had to leave, they embraced each other.

“It has been a wonderful that we should meet after all these years,” the abbot said, “but I have failed in my purpose for coming here. Is there nothing you can tell me that would help me save my dying order?”

“No, I am sorry,” the rabbi responded. “I have no advice to give. But, I can tell you that the Messiah is one of you.”

When the abbot returned to the monastery his fellow monks gathered around him to ask, “Well what did the rabbi say?”

“The rabbi said something very mysterious, it was something cryptic. He said that the Messiah is one of us. I don’t know what he meant?”

In the time that followed, the old monks wondered whether the significance to the rabbi’s words. The Messiah is one of us? Could he possibly have meant one of us monks? If so, which one?

Do you suppose he meant the abbot? Yes, if he meant anyone, he probably meant Father Abbot. He has been our leader for more than a generation. On the other hand, he might have meant Brother Thomas. Certainly Brother Thomas is a holy man. Everyone knows that Thomas is a man of light. Certainly he could not have meant Brother Elred! Elred gets crotchety at times. But come to think of it, even though he is a thorn in people’s sides, when you look back on it, Elred is virtually always right. Often very right. Maybe the rabbi did mean Brother Elred. But surely not Brother Phillip. Phillip is so passive, a real nobody. But then, almost mysteriously, he has a gift for always being there when you need him. He just magically appears. Maybe Phillip is the Messiah.

Of course the rabbi didn’t mean me. He couldn’t possibly have meant me. I’m just an ordinary person. Yet supposing he did? Suppose I am the Messiah? O God, not me. I couldn’t be that much for You, could I?

As they contemplated, the old monks began to treat each other with extraordinary respect on the chance that one among them might be the Messiah. And they began to treat themselves with extraordinary respect.

People still occasionally came to visit the monastery in its beautiful forest to picnic on its tiny lawn, to wander along some of its paths, even to meditate in the dilapidated chapel. As they did so, they sensed the aura of extraordinary respect that began to surround the five old monks and seemed to radiate out from them and permeate the atmosphere of the place. There was something strangely compelling, about it. Hardly knowing why, they began to come back to the monastery to picnic, to play, to pray. They brought their friends to this special place. And their friends brought their friends.

Then some of the younger men who came to visit the monastery started to talk more and more with the old monks. After a while one asked if he could join them. Then another, and another. So within a few years the monastery had once again become a thriving order and, thanks to the rabbi’s gift, a vibrant center of light and spirituality in the realm.

M. Scott Peck – The Different Drum

As we move forward together … as we struggle with fostering a spirit of volunteerism, involvement and developing new leaders and vibrant associations, perhaps the place to begin is truly to simply “treat ourselves with extraordinary respect” .. letting that light shine brightly for all to see.

I wish all of you who are traveling to Orlando safe travels and look forward to seeing you at our National Chairs reception on Sunday evening.

Two weeks ago NASFAA published an excellent seven page article titled “Federal Student Loan Checklist: Are You Up to Date?” to help members stay up-to-date on all their loan practices. I don’t know about you, but whenever I see the question “are you up to date?”, I take a deep breath and think: “Uh oh! I hope I don’t read something we should have been doing the past several months!”

This article serves as an illustration of the many, many changes made in the loan  programs just in the last year. It is also important to note that the article is an outline of these changes, not a full explanation of each change. At the beginning of an article is a “table of contents” that links to 19 different topics that are also filled with hyperlinks to even more information and links. (Yes, you better go back and read this!)

Let’s face it, as a financial aid administrator you learn to understand and explain sentences like

“Beginning July 1, 2008, final rules make changes to 674.16, 682.208, 682.401, and 682.414, that require guarantors to report certain student enrollment dates to the current loan holder within 35 days of any changes in a student’s enrollment status that triggers the beginning of a grace period or the beginning or resumption of repayment.”

(If I were on a game show I would say “That answer is true, Bob.”)

“How is someone to keep track of all of these changes?” I think to myself. “And when can we get back to working with students and families?”

A frightening trend in federal student aid is the additional complexity being added to all federal loan programs. At its best, this complexity comes from sincere attempts to distribute aid equitably. But at its worst, this complexity adds to the administrative burden of both financial aid administrators and students. A fair balance can be difficult to find.

But that point is not what’s important in the immediate future. Part of serving students and families the best way we can is to ensure that we are up-to-date on the ever changing world of financial aid. Our work serves as the lifeblood of higher education and without our knowledgeable expertise, families suffer.

Besides reviewing the checklist, I also encourage everyone, if you haven’t already done so, to review the handouts of the upcoming NASFAA National Conference sessions. This will give you additional time to formulate your questions or to identify colleagues at similar institutions who you may want to compare loan policies and procedures. (Anyone need a drink?!)

Are you up to date?!