"Retirement is GREAT!" NASFAA President Emeritus Dallas Martin told the editor of Student Aid Transcript magazine last week. "You can get up in the morning and drink coffee for as long as you want, you don't have to get right into the shower or shave."
Martin is clearly enjoying his retirement. He spoke about his family, classes he's tried, his garden, and some activities he may be planning for the future. But it's no surprise that, after 32 years at the helm of NASFAA, Martin's heart and mind are also still with helping students to achieve their educational goals. When asked what he had advocated for in the past that is still yet to be realized, he said without hesitation "making Pell Grant a true entitlement." This concern is likewise on the minds of student aid professionals nationwide, as it arose repeatedly during National Conversation Initiative (NCI) Listening Sessions and is a prominent part of the NCI Preliminary Recommendations.
In the following excerpts from the recent interview, Martin talks about the importance of keeping students at the forefront of student aid advocacy. A full-length article featuring his interview will appear in the July issue of Student Aid Transcript.
Question: According to NASFAA Founder Allan Purdy, at its beginnings in 1966, the objective of the National Student Financial Aid Council - which eventually became NASFAA - was to give a national voice to financial aid. Throughout your tenure as NASFAA president, and today under Dr. Phil Day's leadership, advocating on behalf of students is still among the most critical of NASFAA's activities. In fact, looking to the future, the Dallas Martin Endowment Fund, named in your honor, is about growing new student aid policy experts and advocates for the future. What are some effective ways NASFAA and its members can advocate for student aid at the grass roots level?
Martin: "I think the best way to advocate for student aid is to tell the real stories of the students we work with. Some of the best advocates that we've ever had have been what we refer to as 'NASFAA's Student Aid Success Stories,' where people come forward and talk about their lives, what the chance to go to college meant to them, and how it turned them around. Those stories resonate with people. They're real, they're honest - they are living testaments to the benefits of the programs, and I think those are the people who still can be and should be our strongest advocates.
It is also very effective to take some of these students to actually meet with lawmakers and policymakers. If you can get a representative, or even a staff person at first, to sit down with a group of interested students - and I don't mean students who are trying to lobby for more money - who can talk with them in person about their actual stories, their life experience and what they've been through, I still think that's the most powerful message we can put out there. We've done this in the past, but you have to do that over and over and over - it's a continuous process.
We also need to make sure that the people who benefit from the student aid programs say thanks. That's something we don't do enough of; we don't go back and write to people who have voted for these programs or more funding and say, 'Thank you. Because of what you did, I was able to attend college' and now I'm in [such and such] and I look forward to being in the workforce, paying my taxes, helping my community. Let them know that yes, this is an investment that is worthwhile. Those are the thoughts you really need to keep first and foremost in front of the policymakers.
When I first started in financial aid, during our National Defense Student Loan (now Perkins Loan) exit interviews, we told students that they ought to write a letter to their representatives to thank them and to let them know how much they appreciated the money provided by the aid program. We told the kids that if they'd write the letters, we'd pay the postage. So we would dip into our own pockets to pay for the stamps, and students would bring in their letters. I'm not saying that every student did, but we would get 50-60 maybe a year who would take the time to write a little note or letter that we'd drop in the mail. Although we provided them with their representatives' names and addresses, we didn't say which one voted for what funding or program. That wasn't important. What was important was for students to say that because of this program, I was able to get my education, and I am grateful to my government for providing me this opportunity.
I think we forget sometimes that it is those serving in our government we should thank. Yes it's our money, but policymakers and legislators have to prioritize the distribution of funding, so we need to let them know that they are having an impact. In today's world, when we are so quick to send off an email when we're angry, sending an email or note to representatives to say 'Thank you - I just got my Pell Grant this year,' or 'Thanks, I realize the award went up this year and I appreciate that because I really depend on the funds for school,' will make a huge difference."
See the coming issue of Student Aid Transcript for more of the April 2009 interview with Dr. Martin. You can help support the future of student aid advocacy through the Dallas Martin Endowment for Public Policy and Student Aid.
Posted 05/27/09 to www.NASFAA.org. Redistribution to non-NASFAA institutions is prohibited. Please submit Web site questions or comments to Web@NASFAA.org.
