Maria Serna

NCAA Financial Aid Advisor III

Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi

TASFAA Activities, including committee service and offices held:

• TASFAA Conference attendee
• Served on TASFAA Regional Training Committee 2020-2021
• Assisted in hosting virtual training sessions via Zoom
• Facilitated group discussions on topic of Professional Judgment

Other Professional Association Activities, including committee service and offices held:

• NSEA member
• SWASFAA member
• Presenter at College Board- Preparate: "Life just happened, how do I tell financial aid?"

Campus Activities:

• Served on hiring committees for Admissions & Recruitment Financial Aid, and Admissions Processing teams
• Serve on Enrollment Management Communication Committee, and Student Success Plan committee, Assisted in creation of Risk Assessment team in Financial Aid
• Created Social Media committee for Financial Aid Office

Other:

• Community involvement: serve as a science fair judge for K-5 schools at the Coastal Bend Science Fair

From the Candidate:

It is absolutely an honor to have been nominated to run for office, and to know my institution has placed this kind of faith in my abilities. To serve on the TASFAA Board of Directors would be a career dream come true. My tenure in financial aid began 6 years ago and since then I have made it my personal goal to leave every student I advise in a better situation than they were in before. As financial aid administrators is it our duty to assist students throughout their time at our respective institutions- from prospective student to alumni. This is such a pivotal time in their lives, every action and word of advice can have such a strong impact-we need to ensure that it's a positive one. We do this through our very efforts promoted by TASFAA- through encouragement by our peers, promotion of knowledge and our human resource, facilitating opportunities to learn and grow, inspiring others to share in our vision, and motivation to continue the job started by our founding members. If elected for office, I will continue my mission to serve our students by supporting my colleagues and lending my knowledge and enthusiasm to the association.