Our People: Helping fund futures

For 25 years, April Chavez has had a role in financial aid for students at Clovis Community College.

Starting as a "front counter person," she has advanced in two years to the position of financial aid director, the job she has held since then.

She is now in charge of the financial assistance that one-third of CCC's more than 2,300 students rely on to fund their education.

Chavez was born in Clovis, but grew up in Davenport, Iowa, an industrial city on the Mississippi River.

After earning a college degree in finance, however, she returned to Clovis, where her parents had settled. After settling into financial aid in Clovis, she earned a master's degree in Higher Education Administration at the University of New Mexico.

Like many students at CCC, Chavez is the first in her family to attend college, and her experience helps her empathize with students she deals with in her job as financial aid director.

The News was able to carve out a little time with her on Thursday. Here are our questions and her responses.

Q: How does your background help you do your job?

A: I have a really good understanding of where these students come from, because I have been there. I was the first in my family to attend college. I was a Hispanic student, and I was on financial aid. It gives me good insight. I've had the same struggles they are going through.

Q: Do you take a different approach to an older student than to someone just out of high school?

A: Yes, a lot of times an older students have full times job, family, other responsibilities they are trying to balance. When they're fresh out of high school they may or may not have those responsibilities. I try to look at students on an individual basis and get a feel for what their story is. With students out of high school, seven if they do come in with mom and dad, I direct the conversation to the student. This is the first step of their adult journey. It's a good place to start them on making those decisions. Some of the older students need help with technology. It's better if I deal with them on an individual basis, because they don't all come from the same place.

Q: What brought you from Iowa to Clovis?

A: I was born on Cannon Air Force Base, but Mom and Dad moved back to Iowa in my first year, when Dad left the Air Force. I came back to Clovis after I finished college in Iowa, because they were here. Dad always planned to retire to New Mexico. They love this place.

Q: What made you decide to study higher education at the University of New Mexico after you had a degree in finance from Iowa?

A: It's one of those things you grow into. In higher education I found a place where I was comfortable. I got to tell students what is possible with a degree and the different paths you could take them on.

Q: What do you like about talking to students?

A: They come from so many different places, so many different backgrounds. And so many places they want to go. This is a good starting spot for their careers. Sometimes they come to us with their future plans. I've had students come back from larger schools where they can't get access to the financial aid office and they tell me, "I got this document and I don't know what it means." I can usually help them. I love this size of college, because you really get to know the students.

Q: What is the biggest challenge students face these days and how do you help them work around it?

A: The biggest challenge is funding their education. A lot of students feel like they have to take out loans just to get through. Pell grants have not kept up with inflation. The state's Opportunity Scholarships are making a big difference. We also have an "affordability program." For $25 per credit hour, they get a textbook and they turn it in at the end of the course. The cost of textbooks has skyrocketed. We do whatever we can to make a better experience for the students. We talk with them to find out what's going on. COVID-19 was especially difficult for students. We don't want students to think finances are a barrier to getting an education. We want to do everything we can to help and find alternative answers for them.

Q: What do you do in your spare time?

A: I spend time with my family and I read. I read everything, especially mysteries and history. I also do genealogy.

Q: Has genealogy resulted in any unusual discoveries about your own family?

A: Not a whole lot. I've been doing it since I was a teenager. It started with stories my grandmother used to tell. I find the historic aspect really interesting. I attend genealogy workshops at the library, and we help each other out.?

Q: And what about family?

A: My husband Mario Chavez and I have seven children, ages 12 to 39. The youngest four are adopted.