10 Questions With NASFAA’s New National Chair, Kristi Jovell
By Maria Carrasco, NASFAA Staff Reporter
Meet Kristi Jovell, FAAC®, NASFAA's 2024-25 National Chair!
Kristi is the assistant vice president of student financial services and enrollment at Middlebury College. She began her career in financial aid over two decades ago at Elmira College as an admission counselor, and later transitioned to assistant director of admissions and financial aid.
Since then, Kristi has worked at multiple aid offices, including at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Suffolk University, and Champlain College.
She has served as president of the Eastern Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (EASFAA) and on NASFAA's Board of Directors as representative-at-large and regional representative. Kristi has also served NASFAA as the chair of the Conference Program Task Force, and as a member of NASFAA’s Financial Affairs Committee, Pell Restoration Working Group, Awards Task Force, and more.
Kristi was a first-generation college student and a Pell Grant recipient. She remains passionate about the positive impact higher education can have on the trajectory of students' lives.
“For me the Pell Grant has always been important,” Kristi said. “It's the federal government's cornerstone program for need-based funding, and it helps many low-income students make it through their undergraduate years in college.”
As she begins her tenure as 2024-25 NASFAA national chair, Kristi took some time to discuss with Today's News her goals for the next year and what inspires her as a financial aid professional.
What do you think is the biggest issue facing the federal aid programs right now?
Outside of the current issues impeding our ability to get aid to students with the FAFSA, I would say student funding. Campus-based funding has been flat at best. The Pell Grant, even when we see modest increases, has still lost considerable pace against college costs. It would need to be roughly doubled to restore its purchasing power.
What are your top three goals for your tenure as national chair of NASFAA?
First, a successful transition of the NASFAA president and CEO position, which includes supporting our amazing interim President and CEO Beth Maglione, the search process itself — which is in full swing with our Presidential Search Committee – and onboarding the next president and CEO as they begin their tenure. I have full faith in the work of the NASFAA board and the national leadership team to ensure this full transition is smooth.
My second goal is ensuring NASFAA's voice remains strong in support of our profession and students, as the challenges with FAFSA simplification and the new FAFSA form continue. These challenges were exacerbated for 2024-25 with the Department of Education’s (ED) recent announcements on not providing batch corrections, and the continued delays on other processing fronts.
My third goal is supporting my colleagues. It's been a rough and tough year to be a financial aid administrator, and it just feels like the hits just keep coming. The NASFAA team and Board of Directors will continue our efforts to support our profession, whether that's at the table with ED or through providing training presentations, the NASFAA Communities in Slack, and other tools to help keep our community informed, connected, and supported.
If you could change one thing about financial aid, what would it be?
I couldn't pick one, so I'll share two things. I would remove barriers and support access for students. I would also establish higher Pell Grant awards for students, and implement a one-time FAFSA for students. We certainly don't need any new FAFSA ideas right now, but as we stabilize all of this, I can envision a form that students do once. It would come to schools annually with new income information and other pieces, removing those barriers for a student and allowing us to do the back end processing we need.
My most motivating financial aid experience is…
Always working one-on-one with a student to help them navigate their finances to pay for college and earn their degree, whether that's from awarding additional financial aid to introducing lifelong financial literacy knowledge. I am driven by the idea that we can help change the trajectory of a student's life. That piece is never lost on me.
Who has been the biggest professional influence for you over the years, and why?
The dean of admissions in my first professional job, Bill Neal. Enrollment management has been described as an art and a science, and Bill taught me the art side of the equation. The importance of relationship building and the impact we can have on students and families, while still meeting enrollment goals.
What is the best professional advice you have been given?
The idea of building an emotional bank account. This is from Stephen Covey's book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” which I love, and is really about the intentionality of building trust. I’m building up trust in my account with my team and my colleagues across campus, so that in hopefully the rare times I need to make a withdrawal, I've built a good reserve of trust that allows me to either preserve the relationship or advance an idea that they may not be sold on, but are willing to try.
If you were not working in financial aid, what career would you pursue?
I really enjoy higher education, and I don't think I would stray too far from financial aid. I probably would branch off in enrollment towards student success and retention. Although, fun fact, my first job offer was a sales position for a company that produced radiation-tolerant cameras used in nuclear power plants. If I didn't decide to take an admissions counselor job instead, who knows what I would be doing now?
What NASFAA service/product is most helpful to you?
That’s a toss up between AskRegs and Today's News. I use Today’s News daily, but when I need to research an answer, AskRegs is my first go-to.
What's the one thing you won't skip — or shorten — in the morning?
That's an easy one for me. Coffee, preferably reading Today's News and other morning industry newsletters.
What’s on your summer reading list?
Besides all the regular reading ED has been providing us lately, I've been rereading Michelle Obama's book “The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times.” I’m building a conference session that I can present this year when I travel that would focus on how we can apply her lessons and tools to help us find and protect our light during these tough times as financial aid administrators. I've also started listening to a new podcast, “Hard Fork.” “Off The Cuff” is still my favorite, of course, but I've found “Hard Fork” and I'm enjoying it.
Leave your welcome messages, comments, and congratulations to Kristi in the comments section below!
Publication Date: 8/20/2024
David S | 8/20/2024 3:43:03 PM
Thank you for your dedication to our profession and our members, Kristi. I'm glad to say that I've known you for a long time and seen you accomplish and grow so much. You've made such an impact.
And thank you thank you thank you for spreading the One-Time-Only FAFSA idea! It's overdue, and I'll never shut up about it. Think of how much it would have helped so many students this year if a prior year FAFSA already had them covered and they didn't have to worry about this year's mess. Wouldn't have solved the entire problem, but it sure would have helped. But it would help in a so-called "normal" year too.
Heather B | 8/20/2024 1:51:19 PM
Glad you are at the helm, Kristi! Fun to read these facts about you.
Marvin S | 8/20/2024 9:49:34 AM
Great article Kristi! NASFAA is lucky to have Kristi's leadership during such uncertain times.
Daniel M | 8/20/2024 9:21:10 AM
Great interview Kristi! NASFAA is fortunate to have strong leadership during this time of change and challenges. Keep up the good work!!!
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