Tramuta takes helm of statewide association of financial aid pros

Associate Vice President of Enrollment Services Dan Tramuta has been named President of the New York State Financial Aid Administrators Association.

Dan Tramuta, associate vice president for Enrollment Services, has broken new ground at SUNY Fredonia as its first financial aid professional to be elected president of the New York State Financial Aid Administrators Association (NYSFAAA).

Tramuta accepted the gavel at the organization’s annual conference, whose theme was “Celebrating Commitment to Student Success,” at the Adams Mark Hotel in Buffalo. More than 250 members and guests, including many of Tramuta’s Fredonia colleagues and family members, attended the closing dinner and heard Tramuta’s inaugural presidential address.

“It was a very special evening for me since my entire Financial Aid Office professional staff (Megan Zaffalon, Jeremy Corrente and Sarah Miller), [V.P. of Student Affairs] Dr. [David] Herman and both my wife, Laurie, and my daughter, Michaela, were there,” Tramuta said. That the mid-October conference was convened in the association’s Region 1, within a short drive of Fredonia, was a bonus for the incoming president.

Tramuta takes the reins of the NYSFAAA, a volunteer association of financial aid professionals that advocates and promotes equal access to post secondary education for all students, during a challenging, yet truly exciting chapter in its 42-year history. He succeeds Curt Gaume, director of Financial Aid at Canisius College.

Recent years have brought the forced migration to a new loan program and creation of challenging aid programs during an economic recession. But that hasn’t compromised Tramuta’s ambitious plan for NYSFAAA to take an even more proactive role in helping to impact the rules and regulations that govern financial aid professionals at both the state and federal levels.

He has asked co-chairs of both the federal and state side of the association’s Government Relations Committee to identify key issues that need to be addressed. Responses have already been encouraging, with the future of the federal Perkins Loan program, Gainful Employment and increased SAP requirements for TAP already placed on the list.

Tramuta will also ask fellow members to contact and establish relationships with legislators and their staffs within the Higher Education sector. Several initiatives are also in development to increase membership by utilizing a more strategic and targeted effort to reach out to Financial Aid Offices and college administrators. A concerted effort to redesign the association’s website to make it more engaging will be mounted in the coming months.

“NYSFAAA has always set the gold standard and has done so because, at the end of the day, there has been this strong commitment to serving our students and families and doing so in the spirit of volunteerism,” Tramuta said.

SUNY Fredonia was well-represented at the conference, beyond Tramuta’s appointment, including a performance by “Premium Blend,” a student a cappella group, during the cocktail hour portion of the dinner and a speech by SUNY Fredonia’s Student Association President Kevin Wysocki at the luncheon that day.

“Our students need us right now, probably more than ever, because of the economic crisis,” Tramuta added. “They rely on financial aid professionals to help them navigate through an increasingly complex financial aid process.”

Prior to beginning his new office, Tramuta, a NYSFAAA member since 1986, served as president-elect of the association for the last 12 months. The entity’s more than 1,500 members represent more than 350 institutions that include community, business and technical schools, four-year colleges and universities, nursing, medical and law schools, and financial institutions. The association offers education, professional development and networking opportunities for its members and for colleagues in related education, business and governmental professions.

Tramuta is a former residence hall director, assistant varsity basketball coach and varsity tennis coach at SUNY Fredonia who was appointed senior Financial Aid advisor in 1986. Subsequent positions he held included associate director, interim director and director of Financial Aid and interim director of both Admissions and Financial Aid. Tramuta earned his current position in 2005.

A year ago, he received the William A. Troy Service Award at the State University of New York Financial Aid Professionals conference for outstanding contributions to the financial aid profession within SUNY.