I have always been fascinated by the political process and how rules and regulations affect the things we do daily as financial aid administrators. No matter what your political affiliation, we are bound by our duty to the students and the ‘laws of the land’. When I had a chance to see how these rules are made, I jumped at it! So on a blustery November day, I accompanied Dawn Mosisa, the Tri-State Federal Relations Co-Chair, to the Regional Public Hearing for Negotiated Rulemaking. The purpose of the hearing was for financial aid administrators (and national organizations, students and lobbyists) to express their views on what they want to see changed, improved or clarified in the recent rules that were published by ED. They can also suggest things that should be put on the negotiated rulemaking table this winter. Dawn, as an experienced negotiator, was a wonderful guide to the process, and we sat and debated about the finer points of the final rules in between speakers. I am sure that I have watched too much ‘West Wing’ and C-SPAN, but the atmosphere wasn’t at all what I expected. Several very well prepared speakers came to the podium to give point by point arguments about the parts of the rule of which they either agreed or disagreed. There was no screaming or yelling or debating (I said I watched too much C-SPAN!), it was very civil and almost, dare I say boring. The experience wasn’t as intimidating as I thought it would be and it was interesting to see the things that interest people outside of the aid office (the Teacher Grant was a very hot topic).

I would encourage anyone to take the chance to become involved in this interesting process. How many times has a student complained and we wanted to say (or said) “Go tell your Congressman”? Well, now is our time to jump in and be heard. How often do we actually get a chance to make a difference in the practices of not just your office but every financial aid office in the nation? So, if you have something to say or are interested at all in the process, please consider attending Negotiated Rulemaking this winter,
even if it is just for one day. You have plenty of opportunities to speak with your Negotiators and the Association members that represent you during the breaks. One thing that I learned at the hearing was that your voice truly does count.