Summer 2006 - TRANSITION ISSUE Online Publication    


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Trekking Boldly Forward With...
Incoming VASFAA President, Erik Melis
Submitted by: Erik Melis, VASFAA President, 06-07

Trek Boldly Into New Frontiers
VASFAA Mission Briefing From...
Erik Melis, Incoming President

The VASFAA Transitional Board Retreat took place from May 22 - 24 at the Airfield Conference Center in Wakefield, and we have had a successful launch to our bold trek for 2006-2007. We also managed to leave the retreat with a balanced budget for the upcoming year.

The theme for 2006-07 is to “Trek Boldly Into New Frontiers” which will be accomplished by launching five special “ships”. These ships are: MemberSHIP, PartnerSHIP, LeaderSHIP, ScholarSHIP, and FellowSHIP. Each of these ships will have specific mission objectives to help ensure the success of our VASFAA trek. The mission objectives are:

MemberSHIP
  1. Increase overall membership in the association by encouraging those that used to be members and are no longer active to become active once again, and by reaching out to those institutions that are eligible to have members in the association but for whatever reason have chosen not to be active;
  2. Ensure broad sector representation in association membership by reaching out equally to all sectors.
PartnerSHIP
  1. Increase volunteerism and involvement in the association by providing opportunities for new members and those not previously involved to step forward and get actively involved in committee work;
  2. Enhance the relationships VASFAA has with external partners and entities like SCHEV, the newly formed Commonwealth College Access Network, SASFAA, NASFAA, and state and federal legislators;
  3. Reach out to legislators at the state and federal level to provide information about VASFAA and advocacy on financial aid and college access issues.
LeaderSHIP
  1. Provide development opportunities for new leaders within the association using mechanisms such as the Leadership Symposium, committee chair opportunities, etc;
  2. Encourage membership to work with Past President and Nominations and Elections committee to have, at a minimum, two highly qualified candidates for each position on next year's slate of candidates.
ScholarSHIP
  1. Provide high-quality training to the membership at the annual conference in 2007;
  2. Provide additional high-quality training opportunities for our members beyond the annual conference to include a series of fall training events targeted at all levels of training needs.
FellowSHIP
  1. Provide additional opportunities to foster networking and sharing of ideas within VASFAA and between VASFAA and external groups such as SASFAA, NASFAA, and other state associations;
  2. Provide increased opportunities for members to provide feedback and input to the association utilizing a series of "away missions" during which the President and other members of the board will go to various parts of the state and see feedback through several hosted roundtable discussions.

I am extremely pleased to say that we have committee chairs and co-chairs for all of the VASFAA committees we will have in 2006-07, and most of these chairs were able to attend the retreat. There are also several people in committee chair positions who have not previously served in VASFAA leadership positions. This is a great way to get the missions of LeaderSHIP and PartnerSHIP started.

VASFAA had a year of great accomplishments in 2005-06 and the new Board is going to carry some of those initiatives forward and build on them as we strive towards achieving our trek. For example, we decided to have another series of training opportunities in the fall to include training for all levels including Experienced Aid Officer training, New Aid Officer or Mid-Level Aid Officer training, and Support Staff training.

We will also strive to prepare an annual conference in May 2007 that will rival all before it. All the VASFAA committees involved in putting together the annual conference have already set sail on the ScholarSHIP and have begun the hard work involved in carrying out this most important mission.

The Board and committee chairs are working on ways to improve the in-depth committee descriptions for each of the VASFAA committees that were started last year. These will help those desiring to enlist onboard the PartnerSHIP and do volunteer work with VASFAA to identify just the right committee position for their expertise and commitment level. The descriptions, which will be posted to the web, address questions like what type of tasks need to be done, what time or travel commitment is involved, what expenses are involved, etc.

I am extremely excited about the upcoming year and look forward to the journey we will experience together as we “Trek Boldly Into New Frontiers.” This trek would not be possible without the efforts and commitment of all those that graciously volunteer their time and resources for VASFAA. The list of crew members continues to grow and I am sincerely indebted to all those that have stepped forward already and those that will still step forward as we begin the new VASFAA year.

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