By Chloe Stanley, NASFAA Communications and Engagement Assistant

MVP: Most Valuable Professional is an occasional series that features a brief Q&A with a different NASFAA member. Do you know a financial aid colleague with something interesting to say? Let us know by nominating them today!

MVP Micah Hansen 
Financial Aid Director
Southeast Technical Institute

Meet Micah Hansen, financial aid director at Southeast Technical Institute. 

Micah has 16 years of experience working in financial aid. He started his career at South Dakota State University and has since worked at Globe University and Kilian Community College. He has been at Southeast Technical Institute for about six years. 

For Micah, the most important way he stays up to date with changes in the industry is through being active in the state, regional, and national associations and organizations. He said the mentors and colleagues he has met along the way have been his most invaluable resource. 

“Being able to make those connections is vital to staying energized and staying positive in this career,” Micah said. “All of the folks who I've worked with in financial aid have always been gracious about passing along any bits of knowledge or wisdom that they've gained to help assist in any way that they can, with both students and colleagues.”

Micah has extensive volunteer experience at the state and regional level. He has served the South Dakota Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (SDASFAA) Executive Council as the president. He has volunteered for multiple years with the RMASFAA Summer Institute, and hosted the RMASFAA annual conference that took place Oct. 20 in Rapid City, South Dakota. 

At the regional level, he has made significant contributions through his electronic initiatives. Developing and maintaining the RMASFAA website, Micah finds joy in discovering innovative ways of getting things done. 

“Helping with the website over the years has been a lot of fun, I am always learning something new with it and finding something that we can do a little bit different.” 

Learn more about Micah, his interests, and his career path in the Q&A below!

How did you get your start in financial aid? 

I started out not planning on being in financial aid at all. I had left a totally different career and had a connection to the Assistant Director of Financial Aid at South Dakota State University. They had a temporary position come open, and they mentioned maybe I’d like to see if it's something I would be interested in. So I started the temp position, enjoyed what I was doing, and now I’ve worked at four different schools. 

A lot of what led me on that journey was having some really strong leaders and mentors in the field who all encouraged me to continue to grow in financial aid.

What do you find the most rewarding or fulfilling about your work?

Making connections is vital to staying energized and positive in this career. As much as this upcoming conference will be tiring, it will be energizing and very rewarding. Even hearing just one person say that they got something out of it, or that they felt like they learned something is always a benefit for me.

Also, what's really rewarding for me is seeing other people I have worked with have their achievements recognized. That, for me, is also always a big win.

If you could change one thing about financial aid - what would it be? 

Sometimes the most challenging thing is the increasing reporting requirements. Over the years we’ve seen more of those requirements growing and changing, involving more time to do some of those processes. Yet, not all of our schools are seeing that reflected in the amount of staff we have or in the workload that we can expect to carry. And so that, for me, is sometimes a challenge. I hope that future automation can find a way to ease this burden by reducing the need for manual reporting.

What is something you wish all higher ed folks knew about financial aid?

I wish more folks understood that financial aid doesn't automatically cover everything. I hope to see more education for incoming students on the realities of federal aid and its ability to cover the total cost of education. 

What advice would you give to someone just beginning their career in financial aid? 

Take advantage of opportunities to volunteer and don't be afraid to ask a lot of questions. Financial aid is confusing for everybody, even those of us who've been in it for years. As soon as we think we know the rules, they make a change, so asking questions is a big thing. 

If you utilize those opportunities to get involved, and you start to make connections with people, it's a lot easier to reach out for help. Building those connections is super important because it increases the knowledge base you have access to.

Tell us about your institution. What are some unique aspects of working at Southeast Technical Institute?

We serve a diverse group of students, many non-traditional students, and just a broad range of folks that are coming through. Our office is unique because we have a very seasoned staff here. When school starts and there's a lot of students wanting to see folks, our team is really great at pitching in. All of us will pause what we're doing to help a student in need.

What’s one resource or habit that you rely on to maintain a productive balance in your day-to-day work? 
 
This year was obviously very unique with the delayed release of information for the FAFSA, and then our shortened timeline. I regularly check updates like Today’s News and use resources like AskRegs and forums to stay informed. Trying to keep up to date on those sometimes feels overwhelming, but utilizing that information is important to addressing problems we come across. Being proactive as we got information, we started posting that out there for our students and for other folks.

What’s a recent experience or accomplishment that has brought you a lot of joy?

Recently something out-of-the-blue happened. A couple of colleagues were at a conference talking about the conference in South Dakota that I am hosting this year. They were with another financial aid professional, who actually turned out to be a childhood friend of mine that I have not seen for a number of years and didn't realize was working in financial aid. The discovery of that connection was a fun surprise and it reminded me of the connections that we build in this field.

Anything you have learned in the past year, or any new hobby or skills you have picked up that have surprised you?

I got better at using some of the resources that I already have, including at home. I am a big gardener during the summer, and I do a lot of canning of sauces and salsas. This year, I used my grandmother's old processing tool, which was a fun experience. This summer, we decided to tear off and expand our deck on the house. So I spent a week of vacation doing full destruction and reconstruction and expansion of the deck on the house, which I was pretty proud of and pretty happy to get done. Getting to dust off those skills was kind of a big accomplishment outside of financial aid life. 

Any fall plans or typical activities or traditions that you enjoy in the cooler months?

Every year we do a different theme for Halloween, and I spend most of October building life-size decorations for the front yard. This year, we're doing a theme from the movie The Ring. But in the past we've done Stranger Things, E.T. and Harry Potter. When it comes around to actual Halloween the number of kids and families that come by to see what's new every year, it’s a lot of fun.

Publication Date: 10/29/2024

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