The Nationally Recognized

Submitted by Lou Murray, co-chair Association Activities and Resources Committee

Greetings from the TASFAA Association Activities and Resources Committee! The new academic year is upon us and already there are a number of outreach and early awareness activities taking place throughout the state. Many of our members have participated in events over the summer and we all want to make sure that such activities are logged inside the TRAINetwork.

The TRAINetwork… surely you have heard of it by now! TASFAA was awarded the 2006 NASFAA State Award as we introduced the TRAINetwork to the fellow financial aid associations of NASFAA. This October will make one year since the TRAINetwork went live. The committee is proud to partake in such a project that has already created interest from other Associations on how to create a similar tool in their respective areas.

While the TRAINetwork has gained recognition, the association is behind on reporting such events to the database. Please take the time to log your events so that the State can make note of our successes, as well as areas of needed attention. The TRAINetwork can now be accessed by going to the www.tasfaa.org web site and clicking on the TRAINework icon located in the center of the homepage. The committee is urging you to utilize the TRAINetwork as your way of communicating to TASFAA about the activities in your area. Grade school events, high school nights, financial aid awareness events, parent nights and other types of activities are listed and mapped. The system allows all member institutions to view such activities by state territory, county and zip code and also provides a brief detail of the event’s purpose, audience, turnout and comments measuring the success following the event. As our industry demands continued attention and support, this information is useful throughout various conversations that take place between TASFAA members and community, state and federal leaders.

The committee is requesting association members to notify us regarding any entries that were logged, but are not showing up in the system. We welcome all comments and suggestions made by the Association to improve the TRAINetwork.

The committee is also requesting the name, title and contact information for your institution that is in charge of coordinating or managing outreach and awareness activities. This information will be used to assist us in pursuing event updates and entries throughout Texas. This information can be emailed to AssociationActivities@tasfaa.org.

Finally, the committee is in need of association members located throughout the State from both the school and lender communities, and we ask that you consider becoming a volunteer member. If you haven’t completed your volunteer form, please do so and consider serving on the Association Activities and Resources Committee. For more information about the TRAINetwork or the duties of the committee, please email AssociationActivities@tasfaa.org.