Membership Justification Sample

[Insert date]

Dear [Insert Supervisor's First Name]:

Keeping up with the ever-changing laws and regulations that govern the Title IV student financial aid programs has become increasingly difficult — particularly as the novel coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the pace of change in our industry. Even under normal circumstances, it is vital to ensure the financial aid office stays up-to-date and learns how to implement changes to the student aid programs so [insert the name of your institution] remains in compliance. For this reason, I am proposing that we become members of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA), the only national association founded by financial aid professionals that collaborates with the U.S. Department of Education and other relevant federal agencies.

Joining NASFAA will allow us to network with a peer group of more than 29,000 financial aid professionals who represent nearly 3,000 institutions nationwide. Further, NASFAA offers continuing education opportunities our staff can utilize to maintain and strengthen our knowledge of Title IV programs and resources to streamline our processes. During this time of uncertainty, NASFAA has been at the forefront advocating for financial aid professionals and students, and providing quick, detailed analysis of instructions from the Department of Education and other federal authorities, housed in its COVID-19 Web Center. As NASFAA members we would receive access to:

  • Training and professional development offerings, including webinars, articles, self-study guides, self-evaluation guides, and online courses.
  • Unlimited subscriptions to NASFAA's daily newsletter with updates from the Department of Education, Congress, and in-depth predictive analysis on future legislative and regulatory actions.
  • NASFAA's AskRegs Knowledgebase, a help desk-type resource that our institution can use to receive in-depth answers to our specific compliance and regulatory questions, particularly as they relate to changing circumstances due to the impact of the coronavirus.
  • Many other vital compliance resources, like monographs, how-to guides, quick reference guides, compiled Title IV legislation and regulations, and a member-generated content library filled with information provided by our peers in other financial aid offices.
  • Research reports, including benchmarking surveys and tools to help determine what's happening in the field and among our peers, as reported by other NASFAA members.

In addition, as NASFAA members we'll get member-only pricing on job ad placements on the NASFAA Career Center, registrations for NASFAA's live-site events and conferences, NASFAA's Policies & Procedures Builder tool, and more.

I hope you agree that joining NASFAA would be a valuable investment that will greatly benefit the financial aid office, our institution, and our students. Thank you for considering this request. You can find more information about joining NASFAA at nasfaa.org/Institutional_Membership.

Sincerely,

[Insert your name here]

 

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