Our January 2024 Team Spotlight is Anafe Robinson. Entering her fourth year as a Senior Consultant, Anafe brings over 30 years of experience to College Aid Services and is NASFAA certified in 12 different areas of financial aid. She is also a NASFAA Certified Financial Aid Administrator (FAAC®) and has earned a bachelor’s as well as master’s in business administration from the University of Phoenix.
What do you like most about being a consultant?
Besides the flexible schedules, I like being a consultant because I love the challenges that come with each assignment; it’s always a new adventure when you start working with a new client. I have been in financial aid since 1989 so I know how important it is to constantly grow your knowledge base in this field, or you will fall behind very quickly. Working with different institutions around the country gives me the opportunity to be well-rounded and my job is never boring either.
What do you enjoy about working for College Aid Services?
What I love about working here is the culture – family-oriented, supportive, and I have the opportunity to meet new people all the time. When I have a question or need assistance, I am able to connect with my College Aid Services team members via Teams and the response is immediate. I am fortunate to work for College Aid Services because I am able to utilize my strengths as well as they are investing on my professional growth; that is something that I have learned not to take for granted in the workplace.
What areas do you specialize in?
I don’t know if I would call it a specialty necessarily, but I know where to look for things when it comes to regulations. My colleagues will ask “Anafe what is the new reg for X?” and then I start my research and provide links to sources. I am really good with process mapping too; that’s where you make flow charts and diagrams to make the steps more visual. I am a visual learner, so this is probably the reason why I enjoy creating process maps. Not everyone learns from just reading so I consider it an important task so we can all learn together.
How do you stay up to date with regulations and policy changes?
Through my network of colleagues. Utilizing online subscriptions also comes in handy. I subscribe to various sources such as NASFAA, state/regional associations, FSA Partners, and other sources. The trick is to have the information get pushed to you and then set aside time to read them instead of the other way around. I also utilize platforms like LinkedIn and other social media platforms for additional sources. I take advantage of any free trainings that are available.
What challenges do you see on the horizon in Financial Aid?
I would say “FAFSA Simplification” which includes the new 2024-2025 FAFSA. I think about the timeline since the 2024-2025 FAFSA is delayed and how that operationally affects Financial Aid Offices in terms of timely delivery of aid award letters, have a better projection of budgets, allocation of institutional funds, among others. I also see a lot of financial aid professionals have transitioned out of the field, so finding their replacements could pose some challenges.
What advice would you give to a new Financial Aid officer?
Focus on the basics and don’t be afraid of feedback because that’s the only way that you’re going to learn if you’re doing something right. Financial aid is always changing, that’s the nature of our profession. Ask yourself: How do we make things better? What can we do to fix things that are under our control? Utilize your network of financial aid professionals, attend conferences (virtual or in-person), network to meet other financial aid administrators because you learn different perspectives through their experiences and gain knowledge that manuals can’t teach. Every time I attend some training or conference, I learn something.
What do you like to do when you are not doing Financial Aid?
I do like to travel even though I haven’t done so since 2020. I just moved from California to Florida, so my focus has been unpacking and getting situated in my new home. However, this year my husband and I plan to continue our travels outside of the country – the next in the bucket list are Japan, Taiwan, New Zealand. We have traveled to Southeast Asia mostly: Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore. I enjoy visiting new places, learning about different cultures, and most importantly trying new foods.
If you are interested in joining Anafe and the rest of our College Aid Services team, review our current openings here. To learn more about how College Aid Services can help your institution, contact us at info@collegeaidservices.net or by phone toll-free at 833-GETCAS1 (833-438-2271).