Jen Farkas, director of financial aid at the Yale School of Public Health (YSPH), has received this year’s P. Jerome Cunningham Distinguished Service Award from the Connecticut Association of Professional Financial Aid Administrators (CAPFAA).
The Cunningham Award, one of four annual awards presented by the organization, recognizes a CAPFAA member for distinguished service to the financial aid profession. It is given in memory of P. Jerome “Jerry” Cunningham, one of the organization’s co-founders in 1970 and its first president.
Farkas joined Yale University in 2011 as an assistant director of undergraduate financial aid and became director of the university’s Student Financial Services Center in December 2013. She has led YSPH’s MPH financial aid operations since January 2016.
She is a long-time volunteer at CAPFAA, which she joined after becoming a financial aid professional in 2010. During this entire period, she has been involved in FAFSA Day, in which volunteers help Connecticut’s high school families complete their FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid).
Farkas is entering her third year as chair of CAPFAA’s Graduate and Professional Concerns Committee, which discusses issues relevant to graduate and professional students, and coordinates training. Recently, she represented Connecticut in the Eastern Association Student Financial Aid Administrators (EASFAA) for four years. The EASFAA includes members from 11 Eastern states, as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
“It was an unexpected honor to be recognized by my peers for service to the organization,” Farkas said. “Everyone at CAPFAA works hard to help students afford education, just like we do here at YSPH. It’s rewarding to collaborate with and support colleagues across Connecticut doing such important work.”