NASFAA announced the winners of 2009 awards during the National Conference in San Antonio, TX. Numerous financial aid administrators and others in the financial aid field were awarded for their accomplishments and service to students and the profession. NASFAA salutes each of the award recipients for his or her contributions and accomplishments.

A list of recipients appears first, followed by details on each award. A listing of previous recipients for each award is available on-line.

Lifetime Membership
Eleanor Morris

Distinguished Service Award
David L. Gruen

Meritorious Achievement Award
Pamela Fowler
Debra Wiley

Robert P. Huff Golden Quill Award
Dr. Susan Dynarski

NASFAA State and Regional Leadership Awards

• EASFAA: Michael McGraw
• MASFAA: John Parker
• RMASFAA: Myron "Mick" Hanson
• SASFAA: Janet Sain
• SWASFAA: Linda Gonzalez-Hensgen
• WASFAA: Steve Herndon

State Awards

• Service to the Financial Aid Profession: Virginia
• For Service to Advance Access and Diversity: Florida
• Service to Students and Parents: Nebraska

• Finance Committee
• Federal Issues Committee

Lifetime Membership

NASFAA's Lifetime Membership is presented to Eleanor Morris who has distinguished herself through more than three decades of spirited and untiring service at the University of North Carolina and to the cause of equity for all students. She was instrumental in the history of the College Scholarship Service Assembly, serving as an institutional delegate, the first female chair of CSS Council and as a Trustee of the College Board. She was recognized as one of the CSS's 50 "Hall of Famers."

Unselfishly, she has served as a leader in numerous capacities in the North Carolina, Southern and national associations. Her career stands as a model for all members of the financial aid profession. During her years of service she has exhibited the highest level of commitment to the profession, and unflagging dedication to increasing access and opportunity for all students.

Distinguished Service Award

The Distinguished Service Award is presented for outstanding achievements in furthering NASFAA goals, and for significant contributions over a sustained period of time.

David L. Gruen served as the 2008-09 Chair. Through his drive and commitment to supporting the financial aid community, he has provided necessary leadership within his state, regional and national professional associations, and presented younger members with a strong role model.

When called upon, he has always willingly assumed the mantle of leadership, giving tirelessly and without hesitation of his time, talents, and creative abilities. NASFAA applauds Gruen for his tireless commitment to improving the welfare of students and families, serving as an advocate for their interests, and supporting the precept of need-based financial aid.

Thanks to the diligence and devotion of outstanding leaders like him, the financial aid administration profession is able to provide the leadership necessary to open the doors of educational opportunity for generations to come.

Meritorious Achievement Award

As the first Federal Student Aid Ombudsman, Debra Wiley successfully established an office to promote individual problem solving and provide an opportunity for customer feedback with student loan agencies. Her goal has always been to work with all parties to resolve the immediate issues and to analyze each case for the potential for change that might prevent recurrence of the same problem. She has worked tirelessly for borrowers who have encountered problems that have persisted for decades, and she has been especially helpful to veterans and the disabled who have had special and extraordinary difficulties. Her energy, focus and commitment to resolution since the program’s inception ten years ago have made the Federal Student Aid Ombudsman essential to loan borrowers nationwide.

Pamela Fowler was recognized for her dedication to low income students and her avid support for need-based financial aid. She has given unselfishly of her time to serve on NASFAA’s Board of Directors, the National Conversation Initiative’s Public Policy In-Field Professionals Group, and many other committees. She was instrumental in providing her expertise in the creation of NASFAA’s Standards of Excellence Review Program and she continues to serve as a Peer Reviewer. She has consistently represented NASFAA as a well respected leader and teacher among her peers in the financial aid community.

Robert P. Huff Golden Quill Award

The Robert P. Huff Golden Quill Award is made each year for outstanding contributions to the literature on student financial aid. Dr. Susan Dynarski is this year's recipient. She may be most recently remembered by the financial aid community for this proposal: "Pell Grants on a Postcard: A Proposal for Simple and Predictable Federal Student Aid." She argues that there is a cost of compliance and in the "Worst case: compliance costs drive out target population - Students don't apply for aid or go to college."

The economics of education and tax policy is her primary focus for both her teaching and research. She is a Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research and has been a Visiting Fellow at Princeton University and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

Dr. Dynarski has studied the impact of grants and loans on college attendance; the impact of state policy on college completion rates; and the distributional aspects of college savings incentives. Her current research focuses on the effect of academic preparation on college success, gender gaps in education outcomes and simplification of the federal student aid system. She has testified on her research to the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, The House Ways and Means Committee and the President's Commission on Tax Reform. She has a special interest in the interaction of inequality and education.

Dr. Dynarski holds degrees from Harvard University (A.B. in Social Studies and Master's in Public Policy) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Ph.D. in economics).

NASFAA State and Regional Leadership Awards

The NASFAA State and Regional Leadership Awards are presented to one individual in each region who exhibits high integrity and character, who has shown creative leadership and has inspired and encouraged others to actively participate in professional development, who has made outstanding contributions at the regional and state levels over a sustained period of time, and who supports the goals and objectives of NASFAA. While announced at the NASFAA Conference, these awards are presented at the respective regional association conferences throughout the year. Each of the award recipients is listed below.

• EASFAA: Michael McGraw, Director of Financial Aid at Tompkins Cortland Community College, has served his institution and our profession with character and integrity for over 33 years..

• MASFAA: John Parker, director of community services and educational research at Iowa Student Loan Liquidity Corp. John honors MASFAA with his commitment to the aid profession and for his roles as leader for his state, the region and the national association.

• RMASFAA:, Myron "Mick" Hanson, Director of Financial Aid at The University of Montana, where he has a long and dedicated history of state, regional and national involvement with both the organizations and the people behind them.

• SASFAA: Janet Sain, Assistant Vice President and Account Executive at SunTrust Education Loans. She has represented the profession with the highest of integrity throughout her distinguished career.

• SWASFAA: Linda Gonzalez-Hensgen, Director of Financial Aid at El Paso Community College. Linda has been very active within the financial aid community for over 20 years on the state, regional and national levels. She has a total commitment to higher education.

• WASFAA: Steve Herndon, Director of Student Administrative Support Systems at California State University, Bakersfield. Steve has been an active volunteer and supporter of the financial aid profession and financial aid programs on all levels since the early 1980's.

State Awards

State Awards are presented each year to state associations that submit projects to be evaluated by NASFAA's Awards Committee. These awards recognize individual state associations of student financial aid administrators for outstanding projects that contribute to the financial aid profession in the service categories identified below. The association offering the winning project in each of the categories receives a banner to reside with the state association and a $500 prize check. The award winning projects are summarized below.

• Service to the Financial Aid Profession:
  The Virginia association created the first-ever year-long Webinar series entitled Self-Assessment for Optimum Compliance. The theme focused on issues related to audit and compliance, which affect every institution of higher education. The committee's goal was to provide training that would benefit the Virginia association members without extra cost to participate. There was no travel costs involved, so schools with limited budgets could participate. The training webinars were very successful. The number of Virginia association members attending web training continues to grow as more webinars are offered.

• Service to Students and Parents:
  The Financial Literacy Week project represents the collaborative efforts of NeASFAA and the National Student Loan Program (NSLP) to organize two different week-long, statewide, multi-campus events to accomplish the following goals: enhance the money management skills of college students; raise public awareness of the importance of sound financial education for young adults; and attract attention for those who influence policy decisions in Nebraska.

  NSLP provided accredited financial counselors to teach financial education seminars for college students on NeASFAA member campuses that chose to participate. Each campus selected a one-hour seminar on topics such as budgeting, identity theft, credit reports, contracts and frugal living.

  During the two week-long events, seminars were presented on 20 campuses and 576 students learned valuable money management skills. Members of Nebraska's congressional delegation were invited to attend both week-long events. All three Congressmen either made appearances or sent representatives to campuses located in their districts. Approximately 73% of the participants completed evaluations, indicating the information was extremely valuable and they would recommend the seminars to their friends.

• Service to Advance Access and Diversity:
  The Florida association's Early Awareness Outreach Committee created the FASFAA Foster Youth College Access Brochure. The purpose was to get this brochure into the hands of Florida's foster youth and partners so they can see their pathway to college. The brochure effectively communicates the basics of college access, with particular emphasis on financial aid, with the changes in the 2009-10 independent student definition affecting foster youth. FASFAA collaborated with foster youth partners in Florida, including, but not limited to, the Department of Children and Families, Intervention Service agencies, Florida Department of Education Outreach Services and Children's Legal Services.

  The brochure was distributed electronically to partners, was posted on several websites and also linked to foster youth newsletters. A paper copy of the brochure was also developed, making it colorful, eye-catching and straightforward, which appealed to foster youth. The reaction to the brochure has been extremely positive.

Committee of the Year

The NASFAA Committees of the Year for 2008-09, selected by National Chair David Gruen, are the : Finance Committee and the Federal Issues Committee. The Finance Committee was awarded for its extraordinary work to adjust to the economic downturn to ensure NASFAA's financial stability. The Federal Issues Committee had its hands full with the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) and many other actions by Congress. They did a great job keeping up with Congress, Gruen said.

A comprehensive list of previous years award recipients is available on-line.

By Haley Chitty
NASFAA Director of Communications

Posted 07/15/09 to www.NASFAA.org. Redistribution to non-NASFAA institutions is prohibited. Please submit Web Site questions or comments to Web@NASFAA.org.