This is the tentative schedule for the NASFAA 2023 Virtual Conference. All sessions, except the NASFAA Credential Training, will be recorded and made available post-conference for on-demand viewing to all roster members at registered institutions.
Registered attendees, don't forget to complete your short session registrations and access your sessions.
11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. - Diversity Session
1:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. - NASFAA Credential Training: Cost of Attendance
Presenters: Jackie Cottom, NASFAA & Tonya Hsiung, NASFAA
This session will not be recorded or available on demand. Participants must attend the entire session for Credential Test eligibility.
For this credential training, you will learn the principles and purposes of the student budget construction process, gain an understanding of how to build student budgets (including sources for setting the value of cost components), learn about the various allowable budget components and restrictions for certain categories of students, and become familiar with budget recalculations and the impact of non-Title IV aid on the cost of attendance. Completion of this session qualifies individuals to take the corresponding NASFAA Professional Credential test free of charge.
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. - NASFAA Welcome / Opening Session
1:30 p.m. - 2:45 p.m. - Beyond the Headlines: Digging Deeper with College Access & Affordability
Presenters: Ashley Bianchi, Williams College; Liz Creighton, Williams College; Twink Williams Burns, Williams College
The college admission and financial aid fields have been focused on access, affordability, and inclusion for decades. And yet, students and families continue to struggle financially. This session explores whether three traditional, media-hyped measures of college financial access, equity, and inclusion — while helpful starting points — are incomplete. Collaboratively explore important aspects of admission and financial aid practice that directly impact students’ lived experiences but are currently un- or under-interrogated. Go beyond the boiled-down binaries so often used to talk about our work and dig into additional, meaningful measures of access, equity, inclusion, and true affordability.
3:30 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. - Hungry Minds: The Interplay of Basic Needs, Insecurity, and Mental Health
Presenters: Allyson Cornett, Trellis Company; Carla Fletcher, Trellis Company; JoEllen Price, Houston Community College
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted many ways in which postsecondary institutions can better meet the needs of their most vulnerable students. Trellis’ annual Student Financial Wellness Survey (SFWS) asks current students for insight into their personal experiences and financial wellness. The survey includes several validated scales related to anxiety and depression, as well as food security, housing security, and homelessness. This session will use the results from Trellis’ 2022 SFWS to discuss the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and basic needs insecurity. Additionally, this session will explore multiple indicators of financial wellness reported by students experiencing mental health challenges or basic needs insecurity compared to their peers, including use of various forms of credit and access to financial resources in case of emergency. Students with basic needs insecurities are far more likely to use public assistance, such as SNAP, and may benefit from increased access to student resources on campus.
11:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. - Complexities of Compliance
Presenters: Kathy Bialk, University of Kentucky; Gena Boling, Cornell University; Sherika Charity, Northern Virginia Community College Fairfax Campus; Robert Muhammad, Howard University; Arthur Young, University of Arizona
Through a Q&A format, a panel of seasoned directors with diverse backgrounds and experiences will speak about compliance challenges, how to go about fostering a culture of compliance across campus, how to develop the right balance between compliance and student-friendly processes, and much, much more.
1:30 p.m. - 2:45 p.m. - Policy Session
3:30 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. - Holistic Financial Aid Advising
Presenters: Amanda Cornelius, Northern Arizona University; Angela Karlin, University of Kansas; Chad Olson, Iowa State University; Melissa Van Meter, Ohio University
Could you improve your campus collaboration to better serve your students? Listen to how this panel of financial aid administrators interface with other offices at their institutions to build a coordinated care network for their students!
11:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. - Succession Planning: Should I Stay or Should I Go?
Presenters: Daniel Barkowitz, University of Miami; Keri Gilbert, Stephens College; Chad Olson, Iowa State University; Nicholas Prewett, Stony Brook University
Succession planning is a topic of discussion within financial aid offices. Does your current institution offer opportunities for professional development and internal advancement, or do you need to explore external opportunities? Are you Princess Lilibet, buried in the royal line of succession, or are you next in line for an assistant, associate, or director role? Hear from a panel of financial aid experts who have navigated succession planning through internal and external moves. Hear their stories, their advice, and the role mentors and peers played in making a decision.
1:30 p.m. - 2:45 p.m. - No Money, No Problem: A Community College Approach to Enrollment Management
Presenter: Amy Cable, Louisiana Community & Technical College System
Community colleges, as example, have operated under the philosophy of "if you build it, they will come" for many years (Bucher, 2010). In more recent years, community colleges have become more intentional in their enrollment management practices. This presentation will share free or inexpensive strategies any college can implement to increase enrollment at their colleges.
3:30 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. - The Power of Nudge
College success requires students to engage with their institution both academically and administratively. Missteps with required processes can threaten students’ ability to persist. Learn the effective use of nudge-type efforts to support college success. Discuss research into text-based chatbots to provide proactive outreach and support to college students to navigate administrative processes and use campus resources. In both the two- and four-year college context, outreach was most effective when focused on administrative processes that were acute, time-sensitive, and for which outreach could be targeted to those for whom it was relevant.
Publication Date: 3/17/2023
