Editor's Embelishments

by Gary Spoales, Bank of America
VASFAA Voice Editor

Welcome to the first edition of the newsletter for 2003-2004. We hope you enjoy the content as we begin a new publication year and again welcome your suggestions for future issues. Send any comments, suggestions or submissions for publishing to me at: gary.a.spoales@bankofamerica.com or call me at 301-879-8008 with questions.

We are "Going the Distance" this year to provide you a quality newsletter in a timely manner. Fortunately for me, Joe Dobrota, Holly Rison, Tanya White and Judith Cramer have all agreed to continue to support my efforts in this regard. I will also have the pleasure of working more closely with previous frequent contributors who have decided to become members of the committee. Linda Miller and Brian DeYoung are now full-fledged members. As always, the VASFAA board and Committee chairs continue to be unofficial members and sometimes contributors to the newsletter. Together, we hope that you enjoy another year of our publication known as the VASFAA VOICE. The publication schedule can be found in the calendar section of each issue as a reminder of when to submit YOUR contribution to the "VOICE".

As we head back to school for the Fall semester, aren't we glad that we don't work at the University of Colorado? Every year The Princeton Review Inc. compiles a list of the nation's schools and produces an "Annual Ranking of the top Party Schools". The list released a month or so ago, as usual, generated a buzz -- and drew complaints from this year's winning college---the University of Colorado at Boulder. Although your school may have not made this list, each of you has something to brag about on behalf of your institution. You'll have two opportunities to let others know about it. You can use the newsletter to write an informative article about your school or provide a short blurb for our "People and Places in the News" section. 

In this issue, see the article about the new program at Virginia Tech that begins this Fall. Our "People and Places in the News" section is filled with numerous comings and goings that you'll want to review. Included this time is the recent move made by a Virginia resident and former GMU employee - see if you can find him. He may become a valuable resource in his Deputy Director position in Washington, DC.

In the Winter issue, the featured school or program could be yours and YOU might be one of those in the "News" if you are either lucky or not careful - you decide! As you receive this, the Fall conference will be just days away. We hope to see you there but hope to report on its' many activities in the Winter issue if you miss it. 

As we begin a second year under the new format, the committee would like to provide you with concrete submission guidelines to better serve the membership and potential contributors.

The purpose of the newsletter is to keep the membership informed and up to date on association supported activities, and items and/or articles of general interest to the financial aid community. Careful steps are being taken to meet your needs professionally while resisting the temptation to accept articles simply to fill space. Consequently, we have developed an editorial policy to accomplish this task. 

Article Guidelines: The Editorial staff will review all articles submitted for publication. Submissions should be of a professional interest to the association and not include marketing and/or advertising of products, services, websites or personnel.

Full articles should be no longer than two typed pages single spaced. It is requested that all submissions be provided in 10 pt size with Arial font type to save our publishing editor time and energy.

AD and Picture Guidelines: The online newsletter flows best with graphics submitted in .jpeg or .gif format. Other options should be reviewed with Joe Dobrota, Publishing Editor, prior to sending. An ad should not be larger than 6'' in width. You submit it in either Full color or black& white according to your preference.

We are seeking Gold Sponsors to possibly submit vertical ads this year (to enable us to get them further up in the page & have text wrap around the ad). A vertical ad would be about 2'' wide x 4-5'' high. An example of the size of traditional ads may be found at: http://www.vasfaa.org/newsletters/fall2002/page1.htm. We had one sponsor submit an animated gif. ad which can be viewed at: (http://www.vasfaa.org/newsletters/fall2003/page6.htm)

(Note: Ads are only accepted from Sponsors at the Gold level who receive a free ad in the issue of their choice based on availability)