Sessions & Speakers

Change management, process management, and SIS utilization.

Shannon is the Director of Student Financial Services at Frank Phillips College in Borger, Texas. Shannon also serves as a Senior Consultant/TPS Administrator for Blue Icon Advisors. Her primary responsibilities include student financial aid oversight, compliance and administration. Shannon received her Associates Degree from Amarillo College, Bachelors in Agronomy (Soil Science) from Texas Tech University, and Masters in Higher Education Administration from Texas Tech University. Shannon is actively involved with TASFAA, SWASFAA and NASFAA. Shannon has served as Past President of TASFAA and SWASFAA, Past Commission Chair of the Certified Financial Aid Administrator® Program Commission and member of NASFAA’s Executive Leadership Collective. Shannon’s expertise includes compliance, audit, policy and procedures, administrative capability, leadership and Federal Perkins liquidation. In her free time, Shannon enjoys traveling, running, gardening, and crocheting.

Sharmain Lazard-Talbert currently serves as the Director of Financial Aid and Scholarships/Interim Director of Recruitment & Enrollment Services at the Southern University at Shreveport, a position she has held since June 2022. She has over 9 years of progressive roles within Financial Aid and Enrollment Management and enjoys facilitating informative financial aid and financial literacy workshops within her campus, community, and state association. Sharmain has been active in state, regional, and national financial aid associations, currently serving as the 2024 LASFAA President. She is a two-time recipient of LASFAA’s Distinguished Service Award and a recipient of LASFAA’s President’s Choice Award. Sharmain is a former participant of the NASFAA Diversity Leadership Program and currently serves as a Diversity Leadership Program selection committee member. Sharmain earned her bachelor’s degree in Physics from Southern University and Agricultural & Mechanical College and her master’s in Business Administration with a concentration in Project Management from DeVry University.

Ms. Morrissey is the Dean of Financial Assistance and Scholarships at Community College of Rhode Island and has worked in the public higher education field for over 30 years. She has held various leadership roles in financial aid professional associations at the state, regional and national levels, and is the 2023-24 president of the Rhode Island Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (RIASFAA). She has also served as president of both the Eastern Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (EASFAA) and the Massachusetts Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (MASFAA). Ms. Morrissey held the position of Treasurer and Board Member of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) for 2021-2023 and is currently on the board of the Rhode Island Student Loan Authority (RISLA). She received a BBA in Accounting from Anna Maria College and an MBA in Management from Fitchburg State University, and is a proud first generation college graduate.

Dr. Tangalakis has 23 years of experience in higher education in various roles in student financial aid, focused on equity and access, student success, retention, enrollment management, scholarships, strategic planning, and transformational aid administration. Christina is currently the Associate Dean of Financial Aid at Glendale College, in Glendale, California. She is active in her local, state, regional and national associations and is proud to have served on the NASFAA board for 2020-2021 as a Commission Director, overseeing the work of the State Advocacy and Implicit Bias task forces. Her other association roles have included NASFAA CFAA Commission Past-Chair, WASFAA Ethnic Diversity Chair for 2020-2022, and is the current CASFAA Past-President for 2023-2024. Dr. Tangalakis has worked in four different sectors of higher education and has a broad understanding of the challenges facing financial aid administrators. As a parent of three daughters, all college graduates, Dr. Tangalakis has navigated the financial aid process from the personal and the professional perspective. She has a keen interest in conversations on creating meaningful work for financial aid staff, improving how students experience the financial aid process, and maintaining compliance in a rapidly changing environment. Her research on reforming SAP from an equity lens will be presented at the 2024 AERA Conference in Philadelphia. In 2014, Christina published her doctoral thesis on the college-going identities of Latinx students without documentation. Christina also serves on the board of the Foundation for the AIDS Monument and lives in north Los Angeles with her family.

Dr. JoEllen Price (FAAC) started her higher education career in 1988 and became a financial aid director in 1992. Dr. Price currently serves as the Dean of Financial Aid and Scholarships at San Jacinto College in Pasadena, Texas. Prior to assuming the role on June 5, 2023, she was the executive director of financial aid at Houston Community College. She has led financial aid operations for 6 different institutions (public, private and proprietary) in four states over her 35-year career. Positions held include executive director of student financial programs overseeing student accounts and financial aid; assistant vice president of enrollment management overseeing admissions, financial aid, and marketing; interim director of institutional research; registrar; and vice president of operations for a full-service financial aid consulting company working with over 50 different institutions. She currently serves on the Board of Trustees for the Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrator's and serves on multiple committees and task forces for TASFAA, SWASFAA and NASFAA. She completed all 16 NASFAA credentials in September of 2021 and is a NASFAA Certified Financial Aid Administrator. Dr. Price earned a bachelor's degree in business (1991), a master's degree in business administration (1997), a master's degree in information technology (2015), and completed her Doctorate's in Education (2022).