TASFAA Regional Spring Training
(formerly Regional Rallies)
Submitted by Lisa Blazer/Chair Regional Spring Training Committee

This year, the Regional Spring Training (formerly Regional Rallies) provided consistent training throughout the state, offering professional development for financial aid personnel. We had over 450 people attend training at 7 locations across the state. It was a great opportunity for TASFAA team members to network, learn more about customer service, teamwork and how to be a gold medal financial aid team member!

“In Pursuit of the Gold: Racing Towards Excellence” gave attendees an opportunity to dialogue and participate in conversations about gold medal customer service and teamwork. The sessions were started off by an Opening Ceremony including an Olympic Torch and a great TASFAA flag created by our own Carolyn Jones from Collin County Community College. It was awesome to generate so much excitement about the service that we provide to students.

This workshop explored the purpose and role of the financial aid professional in achieving excellence in service to students. It was a chance to discover and explore ways to reach individual and team goals. To become gold medal financial aid athletes, attendees participated in several activities including active listening, discovering the importance of having fun at work, writing thank you notes to the people that have made a difference in our professional careers, and the choosing the right attitude. Attendees also worked as a team to create a puzzle (with a twist) and discovered what’s really important when it comes to working as a team in the financial aid office as well as across a campus.

The highlight of the training included the creation of commercials about our financial aid offices that were performed in front of the entire group. It was awesome to see so many creative ideas and fun commercials! The creative juices were certainly flowing during this portion of the training.

Finally, attendees discussed the future of financial aid in Texas by discussing Closing the Gaps and the important role of the financial aid office in ensuring students succeed in college. It was great to see visionary thinking about what our offices should look like down the road. Each person also made a commitment for what they will do over the next year to become gold medal financial aid athletes!

With all of that said, I can’t wait for next year! Additional locations will be added to the training so that more schools can take advantage of this opportunity. Financial aid is going through a lot of change and next year’s training will highlight some of those changes and provide even more opportunities for professional development! Don’t miss out on this free training offered by TASFAA and sponsored by our friends in the lending community.