ATTACHMENT B
STATE PRESIDENTS REPORTS
Report from
Buddy Jackson, AASFAA
President
AASFAA
held their NASFAA Fall Training Workshop on November 18th, 2005 at
Auburn University of Montgomery campus. We had
72 members attend this meeting. Vice President: Ben Baker,
materials,
breaks and lunch was sponsored by an outside source and coordinated through
NASFAA. This was in connection with Hurricane Katrina and the effects to our
state.
Just
before the Christmas holiday season, Soraya Welden, MSMASFAA State President,
Sherry Gladney, LASFAA State President and Buddy Jackson, AASFAA State
President traveled to the great state of
The
meeting was held in the beautiful downtown area of
Joann
Brennan, CASFAA President and her Association staff did a wonderful job hosting
and planning this conference. They made our stay very enjoyable and
educational.
Also,
Soraya and I did our best not to embarrass SASFAA and our NASFAA National Chair, David Gelinas, who
was a special guest of theirs, but how often do we get a chance to stand in
front of large crowd in
“it
is Soraya’s fault.”
It
was truly a wonderful experience and one that I will never forget.
Now,
plans are being finalized for our AASFAA Spring 2006 Conference. The meeting
will take place at the beautiful Perdido Beach Resort in
Two
of our AASFAA members will be attending the NASFAA Leadership Conference in
Report from
February is shaping up to
become ‘WORKSHOP MONTH” in
On Sunday, February 19,
Anh Do, FASFAA Vice
President, is planning the New Aid Officers Workshop, February 22-24. It will be held at the Safety Harbor Resort
and Spa. About 90 FASFAA members are
registered to attend this workshop.
NASFAA’s CORE curriculum will be used .
All of the presenters are
Marcia McConnell, FASFAA
Leadership Chair, is planning to hold a workshop on the “Dimensions of
Leadership” for our Experienced Aid Officers workshop. This workshop will be held March 1-3 at the
Safety Harbor Resort and Spa. Guest
speaker will be John Smith from Tomorrow’s Leader, LLC. FASFAA members, Anna Zawisza, Mike O’Hara
and Bill Spiers will present sessions on diversity, ethics, and the servant
leader.
We conclude FASFAA’s series
of special workshops by offering for the first time a one-day symposium for the
Graduate and Pprofessional sector.
Emily Attridge, FASFAA Graduate and Professional Chair and her committee
have invited Dino Koff, NASFAA’s Graduate/Professional Chair to be the guest presenter.
With a one-week reprieve,
FASFAA will begin its six region workshops.
These Region Workshops will be held during the remaining March through
April 15. Region Reps and their
committees are working hard to plan meaningful workshops for all our members.
The Spring Conference
Committee is busy planning the program and activities which will culminate our
year at the Sanibel Resort and Spa, June 8-10.
Sanibel is a favorite ‘spot’ for FASFAA members. Due to the hurricanes of the last two years,
much of this resort has been replaced and upgraded. We are looking forward to returning to this
special place!
Report from
SASFAA Executive Board Meeting
GASFAA Report
Submitted by: Suzanne Pittman
2/11/06
Members of the GASFAA
Executive Board have been very active over the last few months. Below are highlights of our activities:
- November 9-11, our Community Action Committee
attended the Georgia School Counselors Conference, and had the opportunity
to share our brochure “
- On December 7, GASFAA held a workshop entitled
“Administering Federal and State Aid Programs, The Bursar and Financial Aid
Administrator Perspective.”
Presenters included both financial aid staff and bursar office
staff to give each topic both perspectives. We were pleased that attendance was more
than 240.
- On December 8, GASFAA held its first ever
Strategic Planning Retreat under the direction of Gary Mann, our Strategic
Planning Chair. We had 45
participants, and the retreat did much to chart the course of our Five
Year Plan.
- On February 1, we held “GASFAA Day at the
Capitol” where we invited members of the House and Senate Higher Education
Committees to a breakfast so that we could make ourselves available to
them as a resource as they consider legislation surrounding state
aid. This was the first event of
its kind for GASFAA, and we were extremely pleased with the turnout.
- On February 2, our Professional Development
Committee conducted the NASFAA Decentralized Training. We decided on doing this workshop a
little later in the year so more time could be put into the
preparation. Our attendance for
this workshop was more than 170.
- Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue signed the
Proclamation making the month of February Financial Aid Awareness Month in
- Plans are well underway for our Spring Conference
to be held May 17-19 at the Marriott Riverfront Resort in
Report from
Shelley Park, KASFAA
President
The fall and
winter months have been very busy for KASFAA members with state wide trainings
and outreach programs to help provide
Outreach activities
Many of the sites
were able to offer computer assistance for participants. More in-depth publicity in state wide
newspapers, radio announcements and in the public high school systems was a
contributing factor to the increase in attendance. One site had a family stop to attend as they
were on their way home to
On
On
On
Training
Nominations
At the spring
conference KASFAA will hold elections and the following KASFAA members have
been nominated for offices.
President-elect candidates are Bryan Erslan, Berea College and Pat
Arauz, University of Louisville; Vice President for Training candidates are Rick
Wilson, Bowling Green Technical College and Manual McMillan, University of
Louisville; Secretary is Karyn Yates, Eastern Kentucky University and Gina
Kuzuoka, Spalding University; Two Year Public Representatives are Margie
Philpot from Somerset Community College and Kathy Hodges from Elizabethtown
Technicial College; Proprietary Representative is Laura Geiser from Sullivan
University and Pat Nettleton from Beckfield College. Past President Heather Boutell and her committee
are to be commended for assembling such a talented and accomplished slate of
candidates.
Report from
SASFAA Executive Board Meeting
February 11, 2006
MASFAA Vice President
LaShanda Chamberlain and the Training Committee provided MASFAA members with a
quality fall workshop held on the campus of MS University for Women in
MASFAA was awarded a training
grant from NASFAA in the amount of $8,770.00 to defray the expenses incurred in
connection with providing this NASFAA training.
The National Council of Higher Education Loan Programs (NCHELP) and the
Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority (KHEAA) provided funds for this
special grant. Because of this generous
gift, MASFAA was able to provide this training at no cost to MASFAA members.
On December 10, 2005, the
state presidents from
Special
guests at the From left to right, Buddy Jackson (AL President), Soraya Welden (MS President) and Sherry Gladney (LA President)
As a special bonus, a unique
opportunity to collect a few conference backpacks for a needy elementary school
in Clay County, MS led to 200
backpacks being donated to the school!
EdAmerica assisted in this project and shipped the 13 boxes of backpacks
to the school. When the students
returned from the Christmas break, they were ecstatic to find a brand new
backpack for each student at the school!
Garry Jones, President-Elect
and LaShanda Chamberlain, Vice President were invited to attend the Tri-State
Association’s fall conference (DE-DC-MD) held in
As of February 2nd,
over $ 42,000 has been donated to MASFAA to assist students and financial aid
professionals who have been affected by Hurricane Katrina. Linda Phillips and the Hurricane Katrina
Relief Fund Committee have awarded 27 student scholarships at $300 each. The MASFAA Scholarship Application for
Students Affected by Hurricane Katrina can be found at the MASFAA web site
under Katrina News.
To date, 12 MASFAA members
have received funds to attend the MASFAA Fall Training Event, The Electronic
Access Conference and the SASFAA Annual Conference. Due to the freeze of travel budgets at
affected schools, these administrators would not have been able to attend these
events without the donations provided to MASFAA.
MASFAA will have four
officers attending the NASFAA Leadership Conference on March 5-7, 2006, in
Next up for MASFAA, it’s back
to the basics as the Training Committee will again provide “Financial Aid
101”. The event is scheduled for April 3
– 5, 2006 at the
Submitted by,
Soraya B. Welden
President, MASFAA
Report from
SASFAA Executive Board Meeting
The Sheraton Four Seasons
February 10 -
State Report –
NCASFAA held its first
Leadership Symposium in December, 2005.
It was a day and a ˝ of training that focused on strategic planning and
networking. The reviews for the symposium
were very positive so this type of training will be continued in the future.
Currently, NCASFAA is hosting
the Hospitality/Commuter Suite for the SASFAA Conference. I hope the Board will take time to stop in
and see our efforts. Who knows, you may
be rewarded with gems!
In April, NCASFCAA will be at
Next on tap will be having
annual reports completed by the executive board prior to the transition meeting
in June!
Report from
Nancy T. Garmroth - President
SCASFAA Report to SASFAA
February 11, 2006
Vice
President, Tabatha McAllister, and the professional development committee
continue to do an exceptional job of coordinating training activities for the
year. NASFAA Decentralized training was
held in
Regina
Smith, who assumed the role of counselor relations committee chair during the
year, has continued the great work of her predecessor, Jeff Dennis, in
coordinating with the S.C. Student Loan Corporation our Paying for College
Day. This event will be held February
18, 2006, at three sites across the State.
Volunteers will be available to promote financial aid awareness and assist
students and parents with completion of the FAFSA. The counselor relations committee also
published the fall edition of Face the Facts and presented to the Executive
Board a report on the effectiveness of the high school guidance counselor
summer internship program.
At
the January 25, 2006, board meeting,
Tamy
Garofano chairs the vendor/sponsor committee.
SCASFAA is very appreciative of the support received which has exceeded
original budget projections.
Earl
Mayo, site selection chair, presented information to the Executive Board. Embassy Suites in
Glenn
Shumpert, legislative concerns chair, has kept the membership up-to-date on
state and federal issues. Jeff Dennis,
the immediate past Treasurer, resumed his role in November when the elected
Treasurer, Kim Ellisor, stepped down.
Report from
February 11, 2006 Board Meeting
Forrest M. Stuart
Here is what currently
occupies our time in TASFAA:
§
College Goal
Sunday, February 12, 2006
§
TASFAA Spring
Conference, April 9 – 12, 2006
o
Theme: “TASFAA:
The Many Hats We Wear”
o
Sandy Baum,
professor of economics at
o
June Cline will
speak on selling the financial aid office and profession to upper level
administration.
o
Our opening
session will feature …
§
Implementation of
ATAC membership section redesign to accommodate zero-fee membership structure
o
Includes proposal
of by-law changes to the definitions of membership
o
By-law changes
will be presented to the membership for approval at the spring conference
§
Elections for
officers closed February 10, 2006. Results will be announced at SASFAA State
Meeting
“Thoughts” for TASFAA membership:
Only through education does one come to
be dissatisfied with his own knowledge, and only through teaching others does
one come to realize the uncomfortable inadequacy of his knowledge. Being
dissatisfied with his own knowledge, one then realizes that the trouble lies
with himself, and realizing the uncomfortable inadequacy of his knowledge one
then feels stimulated to improve himself. Therefore, it is said, "the
processes of teaching and learning stimulate one another."
Confucius, circa 500 BCE
I often think of the purpose we serve as financial aid administrators.
There are many pat “Sunday School” answers that, though true, do not get to the
depth of our profession. For example, many people say “financial aid
administrators change students’ lives.” Well, what we actually do is facilitate
learning, which, by its purest definition, produces changes in their lives.
Financial aid administrators are educators. We may not feel like it;
the faculty may not treat us like it; we may not be paid like it. I would
venture to say that many of us are convinced of it.
Carefully read the quotes of Confucius and Socrates. Seriously… read
them. Are those not the outcomes which we facilitate? Are those not the
outcomes that we should facilitate?
In establishing policies and procedures, do we create an environment of
learning? In speaking with families, do we imbue the ideals of education as
expressed by Confucius? In loan counseling and in work study programming, do we
aim to teach students facts alone, or do we create expectations of true
learning and critical thinking?
What are your expectations of students? What are your expectations of
your own education? What can TASFAA do to help you in this endeavor?
Just some thoughts from a chronic idealist…
TASFAA Membership and Budget
Update:
§
Membership: 640
§
Balance Sheet:
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TASFAA |
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Balance Sheet |
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January 23, 2006 |
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Jun 30, 06 |
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ASSETS |
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Current Assets |
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Checking/Savings |
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TASFAA INC Regular Checking (AmSouth) |
34,624.85 |
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TASFAA Inc. Interest Bearing (AmSouth) |
9,636.40 |
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Total Checking/Savings |
44,261.25 |
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Total Current Assets |
44,261.25 |
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Other Assets |
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TASFAA CD # 17 (AMSouth0039191192 Mat11/18/06) |
25,012.98 |
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TASFAA CD # 19 (AMSouth 0039191125 Mat4/29/06) |
32,366.26 |
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TASFAA CD #21 (AmSout 00391192237 Mat 3/4/07) |
53,383.90 |
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TASFAA CD #22 (AmSouth 005516742 Mat 6/28/07) |
15,306.13 |
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TASFAA CD #23 (AmSouth0039193152 Mat11/16/07) |
41,411.11 |
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Total Other Assets |
167,480.38 |
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TOTAL ASSETS |
211,741.63 |
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LIABILITIES & EQUITY |
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Liabilities |
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Current Liabilities |
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Other Current Liabilities |
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Outstanding Hotel Contracts (Signed Contracts) |
78,400.00 |
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Total Other Current Liabilities |
78,400.00 |
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Total Current Liabilities |
78,400.00 |
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Total Liabilities |
78,400.00 |
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TOTAL LIABILITIES & EQUITY |
78,400.00 |
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Report from
SASFAA Executive Board Meeting
Virginia Board Report
The theme for 2005-06 is to
“Be a
On
The Winter VASFAA Voice
Newsletter has recently been posted to the VASFAA web site. This edition has been entitled the “Training Issue.”
The Awareness Committee
coordinated what appears to be an extremely successful Super Saturday event on
February 4th. Super Saturday
is an annual VASFAA event where VASFAA members assist students and parents in
completing and submitting the Free Application for Federal Student Aid
(FAFSA). In 2004-05 VASFAA held this
event at 12 sites across the state and saw just over 600. That was a record for this event. VASFAA more than doubled the number of sites
this year, with 27 participating locations.
Although the information from all 27 sites is not available yet, it has
been confirmed one site alone saw around 320 individuals.
Advertisements for Super
Saturday were done through the Virginia School Counselor Association (VSCA),
who added Super Saturday information to their web site and also sent an e-mail
to over 1,100 counselors in
The Public Relations
Committee drafted a letter to each committee volunteer’s supervisor thanking
him/her for allowing that individual to serve on a VASFAA committee. The letter was very well crafted and
personalized for the committee member.
The letters were all signed by the VASFAA President and mailed last
week. Today, the VASFAA President
received a phone call from a VASFAA committee member regarding the letter that
was sent to her supervisor. She said the
letter was a huge hit! As a result, she thinks she might be able to get
some additional support for her to attend the May conference. In the
past, she has had to pay the majority of the conference expenses herself. Early indications are that this new project
for VASFAA has the potential to have a positive affect on how VASFAA volunteers
are viewed by their supervisors.
The Conference Committee,
Several of the general session
speakers and entertainers have already been scheduled and the concurrent
session agenda is beginning to come together.
Tom DeLuca, Corporate Hypnotist, Stephen Bargatze, “Magic with a Message”, Harvey Alston will be
featured at the conference.
The Diversity Committee is
planning some hands on activities at the conference to help the membership gain
a better understanding of what it is like to live with a disability. The Conference Committee is planning several
team building activities using the Survivor television show as the guide for
“tribes” and challenges. The
philanthropic focus of the conference will be AASFAA and MASFAA.
The
For the past several years a
section of the VASFAA membership has asked for a New Aid Officer Workshop to be
held separate from a VASFAA conference.
It has been VASFAA’s tradition to hold a one day workshop prior to a
conference. This year, VASFAA acted upon
the membership’s request and the Training Committee held a two day workshop in
the fall. The workshop was a big
success. A total of 34 individuals
participated in this event, and with the exception of three people, the average
length of experience in the profession was eight months. Basically, the workshop hit the target
audience and feedback on the content has been good.
The Vendor/Sponsor Lottery
Process has been extremely successful in rectifying the past issues VASFAA has
had with inequity in lenders sponsoring certain items (e.g., grandfathering,
etc.). This is the second year VASFAA
has used the lottery process. Although
VASFAA now has an equitable process for sponsorship within the association, it
has been realized that the current process places some limitations on securing
new sponsorship throughout the year (post lottery). Therefore, an ad hoc committee has been
established to research options for finding a way to secure additional
sponsorship during the year without sacrificing the equity that is currently in
place.
The new committee planning
and reporting format seems to be working well.
The new reporting format requires committees to update a single document
each time a report is due. VASFAA has
had three reporting cycles to date.
Many reports for the various VASFAA committees can be found on the
VASFAA website.
Lastly, VASFAA is seeing
several new members becoming involved in committee work, which is a good sign
of things to come in the future. As of
Respectfully submitted by,
VASFAA
President
ATTACHMENT C
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Budget
and Finance Report, Clark Aldridge
SASFAA 04-05 Audit
Report of the SASFAA Finance and Audit Committee
Review Date: October 22-22, 2005
On October 21 and 22, 2005
members of the Finance and Audit Committee completed a financial review of
SASFAA financial records for fiscal year July 1, 2004 through June 30, 2005.
The following is a summary of findings from this review.
Finance and Audit Committee
Review Team:
Chris Tolson
Ben Baker
Randy Craig
General Comments
The Committee found the
overall condition of the financial records to be very good. The Committee wishes to commend the SASFAA
Treasurer for diligence displayed in carrying out the duties of the
office. The Treasurer and the Finance
and Budget Committee should be recognized for insuring that the Association
remained financially sound.
Overview
Primary areas included in the
review were extracted from financial requirements outlined in the Policies and
Procedures Manual and the SASFAA Guide to Financial Management [The Guide] with
the latter document serving as the primary source for financial requirements.
While some exceptions to
Association’s policies and practices are included in this report, the majority
of this report is dedicated to specific recommendations from the review
committee related to updating specific financial criteria as it is outlined in
The Guide and other supporting documents. Although last updated in January
2005, many of the financial practices outlined in The Guide no longer apply to
the day-to-day functions of the Association. For example, the current use of
electronic banking negates many of the customary practices that have traditionally
been linked to paper trails that were available when financial transactions
were more manual in nature.
Where the Association
utilizes technology to offer speed in conducting financial transactions, is
also assumes some level of increased risk – emphasis on different methods of
tracking, verifying and reconciling transactions, and higher levels of
expectation for speedy payment of expenses that can sometimes lead to accepting
less than standard documentation.
Scope of the Review
Attachment A represents a
listing of specific areas covered during the review, focusing on sample
financial transactions occurring between July 1, 2004 and June 30, 2005. While
this review is not all-inclusive, it provides the Association management with a
snapshot of the current condition of its financial practices and an assessment
of the procedures in place that drive financial transactions. Additionally,
while a majority of the review focused on the files provided by the SASFAA
Treasurer, individual transactions reflect on day-to-day accepted practices of
the management and general membership who conduct business on behalf of the
Association.
Period covered by the Review: July 1, 2004 through June 30, 2005
Accounting Software: Quickbooks
Basis of Accounting: Cash
04-05 Treasurer: Lester
McKenzie
Financial Transactions and
Supporting Documentation
- REF: Refund of Conference Fees to Patrick James
It
was noted that a refund check was twice issued to Patrick James; once on
10/27/04 and again on 4/29/05.
Note:
Both the need for a refund and the need to re-issue a refund (initial payment
not received) were documented. However, we could not determine if a stop
payment had been issued on the 10/27/04 payment and we could not determine that
the initial payment had been credited to put the funds back into the checking
account balance.
- REF: Payment to Third-Party Vendors
In 4
instances, payments were issued to third-party vendors without sufficient
documentation. While it is noted that all vendors were performing legitimate
business for the association, documentation should have exited to indicate the
expected and agreed upon charges. While the necessary documentation might exist
in other records, it was not attached to the payment request to support the
Treasurer’s actions
Payee: Transaction
Date Description/Lacking Documentation
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Bank of |
8/3/04 |
Charged to Professional
Development. Only reason listed with request was Embassy Suites |
|
Antoine Johnson |
2/13/05 |
Only explanation provided
references Clark Atlanta Jazztet. No commitment or agreement letter for
services was located. |
|
Michael Tapscott |
2/13/05 |
Individual was paid
honorarium for a presentation; however no commitment letter or invoice was
attached. |
|
Brittney Pritchett |
6/23/05 |
Honorarium for logo work
but no evidence to indicated that this individual was retained to perform the
work or that the work was completed. |
- REF: Refunds
In 4
instances, payments were issued as refunds of registration fees; however
documentation failed to provide sufficient detail to explain the transaction.
Payee: Transaction
Date Description/Lacking Documentation
|
US Education Finance Corp |
2/18/05 |
$1,905 refund made because
of a registration overpayment; however no names were listed to document who
was overpaid. |
|
Tamara Kline |
11/24/04 |
A late registration fee was
refunded; however no explanation was provided to explain why a refund was
warranted. |
|
Mike O’Grady |
11/24/04 |
A $275 payment was made
directly to the individual on behalf of another member of the company.
Documentation did not exist to explain who requested the refund and why it
was paid to another individual instead of the person who registered or to a
company. |
|
|
2/18/05 |
$855 was refunded as a
registration overpayment; however no names were listed to document who was
overpaid. |
- REF: Bank Chargeback
It
was noted that on the February, 2005 bank statement, the checking account
received a chargeback for $260 and $395. Although the amounts themselves
appeared to be conference related, we could not find documentation which registrants
were associated with these charges or what was subsequently done, if anything,
to recover these funds.
- General Operating Procedures
Utilizing
the existing procedures outlining the duties of the Treasurer and procedures
related to financial practices in general, the review team recognized that a
number of these were outdated and needed to be revised to:
a)
Account for
changes in technology that affect the manner in which financial transactions
and associated documentation now occur, and
b)
Changes in day-to-day
business practices
The
following is a summary of the review team’s recommendations:
|
Item/Description |
Reference |
Recommendation |
|
Cash Balance – None greater
than $100,000 in a single account |
GFM 3.3c |
Considering the current
levels of the association’s reserves, using this requirement as a safeguard
to protect funds is less important. Also, given the current cash flow of the
association, this is not a practical policy to enforce. |
|
CD Purchase – Always
approved by both the President and F&A Chair |
GFM 3.3d |
Propose evaluating to
determine if different standards should be used for CD-renewals and rollovers
versus CD-purchases. |
|
Expenses – Verify that: a)
Checks over
$5000 have signature of both Treasurer and President b)
There was daily
cash reconciliation at the Annual Conference by the Treasurer and F&A
Chair c)
Committee
chairs signed off to approve reimbursement to committee members |
GFM 4.3a GFM 4.3 GFM 4.3f |
Ref: a)
Existing policy
needs to be updated to clarify how this relates to paying credit card
statements (where total payment exceeds $5k, although individual charges are
less than $5k) and to clarify what forms of authorization may be used to
document the president’s authorization to pay – e.g., fax, e-mail, etc. The
review team suggests clarifying that the $5k approval relates only to
instances where an individual charge to the credit cards exceeds the $5k
threshold. b)
Propose using a
worksheet to document receivables and deposits and retaining it as official
documentation of the reconciliation. c)
Current
practice is inconsistently applied. Propose updating the exiting policy to
take into account the logistics of the membership relative to each committee
chair or officer and setting minimum standards for approval of expenses. |
|
Travel – Auto |
Various references |
1)
Propose
clarifying if purchasing Damage Waiver Insurance is an acceptable charge to
the association. 2)
Generally, good
documentation was included to justify the use of an auto in lieu of other
forms of transportation. Since there were some noted inconsistencies in the
types or amount of documentation to support the use of an auto, the
association may want to outline specific documentation that is expected and
acceptable as a requisite for accepting auto rental charges. |
|
Lodging – Verify
reimbursement was paid at the single room rate only |
P&P 10.5.1 (5) |
There is no reasonable way
to verify this. The review team suggests removing this from the procedures. |
|
Meals – Verify
reimbursement did not exceed per diem rates (for individual reimbursement) |
P&P 10.5.1 (6) |
There existed isolated
instance where established per diem rates were not followed and the expenses
were paid by the Treasurer without any documentation to explain the exception
to the policy. |
|
Credit Cards – Are credit
limits $3,500 or less? |
|
Credit card limits are now
higher. The GFM and P&P need to be updated to reflect the new credit card
limits. |
|
Credit Cards – Were
expenses always reported within 30 days? Credit Cards – Were
expenses always reported within 30 days? |
Various references |
1)
The review team
documented 5 monthly payment periods in which expenses were not reported in
time for the Treasurer to pay the bill by the due date. 2)
The team
identified late fees resulting from the late submission of expenses and
resulting late card payment. Total paid in late fees was $320.63 3)
Propose review
of policy for submission of expenses to include timeliness, accuracy and
proper documentation, and the results of non-compliance with Association
policy, e.g. retraction of credit card privileges. |
|
Vendor Sponsor Income –
Verify amount received with ATAC accounting, sponsor forms and Treasurer
records |
General item |
Only
one inconsistency in sponsorship invoicing/posting was noted. In the case of National Education, they
were originally invoiced for $4,200. A
second invoice reflected $2,500 received and $1,700 due; however the actual
posting showed $2,565 received. We could not find where the remaining $1,700
(or $1,635) was received and posted. |
|
Comp
Registrations/Memberships – Verify the number of complimentary registrations
and memberships for sponsors to sponsorship levels. |
Under
the current tracking systems, there is no easy method for verifying this. |
|
- Membership and Event Registration Reconciliation
In
the advent of using online registration, reconciling membership and registration
databases has become increasingly more challenging. Following are general areas
in which the review team recommends the Association look into establishing
procedures to help monitor the accuracy of its databases used for tracking
membership and event registrations.
a)
There is a
one-to-one relationship in the amount of fees paid for membership and event
registration. As a common practice, the review team suggests always segregating
receivables to enable it to distinguish between ‘standard’ fees and ‘late’ or
other types of fees. This will allow a quick check on numbers of registrants
(dividing the balance by the amount of the fee) and provide an easy way to
report head counts. It also offers a way for the association to assess trends
in payments.
b)
Since the
Association is so heavily dependent on ATAC as a tool for tracking paid members
and event registrants, procedures need to be updated to provide a means of
verifying ATAC data with the Association’s other records.
c)
It was noted that
when the New Aid Officer workshop fees were posted, the membership dues on the
ATAC system was not updated. As a result, NAO participants are not reflected as
paid member in the ATAC system.
d)
The Association
should consider if it wants to seek payment (as a matter of procedure) from
anyone who registers online but fails to follow through with submitting an
actual payment.
ATTACHMENT A
SASFAA Audit – 04-05
The following represent
specific areas to be reviewed as defined by the SASFAA Guide to Financial
Management (GFM) and the Association’s Policies and Procedures Manual.
|
|
Item and was reviewed |
Reference |
|
1 |
Finance and Audit maintains
a copy of financial software and monthly back-up files from the Treasurer |
P&P 6.3h |
|
2 |
CD -0 Ensure they are the
primary source of short-term investment over other forms |
GFM 3.1 |
|
3 |
CD – No CD greater than
$100,000 |
GFM 3.2c |
|
4 |
CD- No CD with a maturity
date greater than 60 months |
GFM 3.2a |
|
5 |
Reserve Fund – Not greater
than 50% of operating budget |
GFM 3.3 |
|
6 |
Investment Practices –
Evidence of F&A and Treasurer review of cash balances to determine the
need for additional investments |
GFM 3.3a |
|
7 |
Cash Balance – None greater
than $100,000 in a single account |
GFM 3.3c |
|
8 |
CD Purchase – Always
approved by both the President and F&A Chair |
GFM 3.3d |
|
9 |
CD – Are originals kept in
a lockbox? |
GFM 3.4b |
|
10 |
Checking Account – Are
copies of statements sent monthly to the F&A chair? |
GFM 4.1d |
|
11 |
Checks – Are 2-part carbon
checks being used? |
GFM 4.1 |
|
12 |
Bank Transfers (of
accounts) – Verify that only the following persons have signatory authority -
Current
Treasurer -
President |
GFM 4.22 |
|
13 |
Expenses – Verify that: d)
Checks over
$5000 have signature of both Treasurer and President e)
There was daily
cash reconciliation at the Annual Conference by the Treasurer and F&A
Chair f)
Committee
chairs signed off to approve reimbursement to committee members |
GFM 4.3a GFM 4.3 GFM 4.3f |
|
14 |
Contracts – Were contracts
signed ONLY by the President? |
GFM 5.0 |
|
15 |
Bonding – Verify the
existence of a valid Fidelity Bond of at least $50 mm |
GFM 6.2 |
|
16 |
Investments – Confirm that
either the President or Chairperson of F&A verified all investment
accounts |
GFM 6.2 |
|
17 |
Travel – Air – Verify that
only coach class fare was reimb. |
P&P 10.5.1 (2) |
|
18 |
Travel – Auto – Was prior
approval of President OR the Treasurer obtained before rental occurred? |
P&P 10.5.1(3) |
|
19 |
Travel – Auto – Verify that
the rate for reimbursement was lowest amount compared to other forms of
transportation |
P&P 10.5.1 (3) |
|
20 |
Travel – Taxi and Shuttle –
Verify that receipts were provided for these types of reimbursements and that
tips are ‘reasonable’ |
P&P 10.5.1 (4) |
|
21 |
Lodging – Verify
reimbursement was paid at the single room rate only |
P&P 10.5.1 (5) |
|
22 |
Lodging – Verify that
receipts were always provided with reimbursement requests |
P&P 10.5.1 (5) |
|
23 |
Meals – Verify
reimbursement did not exceed per diem rates (for individual reimbursement) |
P&P 10.5.1 (6) |
|
24 |
Meals – Verify that names
of participants are included on receipts where group meals are involved and they are SASFAA
members or ‘appropriate’ guests |
P&P 1`0.5.1 (6) |
|
25 |
Telephone – ID large
charges, if any, and determine if documentation shows calls were fro SASFAA
business |
P&P 10.5.1 (7) |
|
26 |
Expenses > $10 – Verify
receipts are provided with reimbursement requests |
|
|
27 |
Permissible annual
conference travel - |
REF Section 10.5.2 of the
P&P for details |
|
28 |
State association meeting
travel – Verify that SASFAA did not reimburse the President for travel in
his/her own state |
P&P 10.5.3 |
|
29 |
Meeting Registrations –
Look for any exceptions granted and documentation to support them – were they
approved by both the conference chair and the Treasurer? |
P&P 10.6 |
|
30 |
Credit Cards – Are credit
limits $3,500 or less? |
|
|
31 |
Credit Cards – Were
expenses always reported within 30 days? |
|
|
32 |
Credit Cards – Is there
evidence of any personal charges on the corporate cards? |
|
|
33 |
Reimbursements – Calculate
the average number of days from receipt of request to payment date |
|
|
34 |
Membership data – compare $
received with ATAC accounting |
|
|
35 |
Meeting Registrations –
verify amount received with ATAC accounting |
|
|
36 |
Vendor Sponsor Income –
Verify amount received with ATAC accounting, sponsor forms and Treasurer
records |
|
|
37 |
Reimb to the President –
verify accuracy of expenses and completeness of documentation |
|
|
38 |
Reimb to the Treasurer -
verify accuracy of expenses and completeness of documentation; that the
President and F&A chair were sent copies of documentation |
|
|
39 |
Payment of Invoices –
Verify the average timing for payment of invoices received |
|
|
40 |
Comp Registrations/Memberships
– Verify the number of complimentary registrations and memberships for
sponsors to sponsorship levels. |
|
Report
from Conference Chair Lisanne Masterson
Report from Diversity Chair Crusie Lucero
SASFAA Executive Board Report
Diversity
Committee
February 11,
2006
The Diversity Committee met
via conference call November 1, 2005.
The committee discussed the availability and cost of a general session
speaker for the SASFAA Conference. Interest
sessions were assigned to each committee member to develop descriptions and
contact possible presenters.
The SASFAA Diversity Committee met November 27 and
November 28 in
General Session: (Scheduled
on Tuesday, February 14 from 10:30 to 11:30 pm). We reviewed information on prospective
general session speakers. After much
discussion, the committee selected Stephen Bargatze, Student Services Program
from Hermitage, TN. NellieMae is
sponsoring the general session speaker.
Pathways to Leadership Luncheon: (Scheduled on Tuesday from 11:30 am to 1:15 pm). The committee discussed the selection of a
speaker—hopefully very inexpensive or maybe a panel of SASFAA
leaders. After reviewing several
suggestions, Zeb Davenport,
As of February 3, we had 281 persons registered for
the luncheon. On February 5, Jeff Dennis
sent a message to all who registered thanking them for registering for the
luncheon and telling them it was overbooked and the committee was emailing them
to verify their attendance at the function.
They were asked to respond by February 7. As of February 7, 2006, 116 said they were
going to attend; 67 said they were not; 10 were not sure and 88 had not
responded. Jeff was going to resend a
reminder to those 88 to see if we got any more responses. TG is sponsoring the luncheon and luncheon
speaker.
Interest Sessions:
The committee was responsible
for the following sessions:
·
Unmasking your
Cross-Cultural Skills
·
The
Multi-Generational Workplace
·
The Diversity Map
·
Unmasking Personal
Prejudices/Biases in the Workplace
·
Guerilla
Activism—Program Development to Enhance Diversity
·
How Understanding
Difference Makes a Difference
·
Diversity: A Mosaic of Possibilities
The Diversity Committee
members have done a tremendous job in working together to include diversity for
our conference this year without having everything labeled “diversity”. There are three sessions that have the word
“diversity”.
Submitted by:
Crusie Lucero, Diversity
Chair
Committee Members:
Anthony Bowles, AmSouth
Lending Liza
Bruce, Educational Credit Management Corp.
Jeff Dennis, Southern
Joy Goldberg,
Marilyn James,
Tess Underwood, NellieMae
Student Loans
Report from Electronic Service Chair Erik Melis
To: SASFAA Executive
Board
From: Erik
R. O. Melis, Chair, SASFAA Electronic Services Committee
Date: February 9, 2006
Subj: Electronic Services Committee Report for
February 2006 Board Meeting
The following updates have
been made to the web site, through coordination with ATAC and other SASFAA
committees and board members, since the October 2005 board report:
(1) Banner ads for additional sponsors added to
the web.
(2) Updated version Travel Expense Form and
Travel Guidelines to ATAC and updated on web including updates to mileage
reimbursement rate post to the web.
(3) Worked with Conference Committee to get 2006
Conference Mini-Site up and running including testing and activation of on-line
conference registration form.
(4) Worked with SASFAA Vice-President to get
information our on the web for the SASFAA Summer NAOW including testing and
activation of on-line registration form.
(5) Worked with SASFAA Past-President and
Newsletter Chair to get on-line ballot setup for SASFAA election including bios
and photos incorporated into ballot and opened balloting for absentees.
The following web-related
projects are planned or are in progress by the 2005-2006 Electronic Services
Committee:
(1) Electronic Services
committee will work closely with Board Special Appointee to review the
functionality of the new SASFAA web site in order to recommend P&P changes
.
(2) Electronic Services
committee will evaluate the current web layout and navigation and determine
possible enhancements that should be made to facilitate easier access to
information on the web. (In-progress … committee members are reviewing the
current layout to try to determine where improvements and/or changes are
warranted)
(3) Electronic Services
committee will work to finalize proposal for disposition processes for
obsolete/non-working electronic equipment within SASFAA. (In-progress)
(4) Have been discussing with ATAC options for
making the handling of complimentary membership fees and registration fees and
the handling of registration cancellations/transfers more manageable. Will be meeting with Treasurer at annual
conference to discuss some options.
The following items related
to SASFAA Listserv maintenance are continuing for 2005-2006:
(1) Electronic Services
committee has worked with ATAC to determine feasibility of having all members
being able to receive listserv messages but only having current, paid members
being able to post to the listserv. This
will be presented to the board as a recommendation to the board at the February
Board meeting.
Throughout the course of the
upcoming year, the Electronic Services Committee will continue to work with the
elected Board, State Presidents, and Committee Chairs to get input on
improvements and updates for the SASFAA web site and to determine ways that the
Electronic Services Committee can assist in meting goals and objectives.
Report from Legislative Chair Bill Spiers
SASFAA
Legislative Relations Committee
Board Report
February 11, 2006
The Legislative Committee has
remained active and in contact through email and conference calls. We will have our first fact to face meeting
here at the conference and will address issues related to current legislative
trends.
Environmental Scanning
While we haven’t published
our February issues of articles important to financial aid administrators, we
will issue that report when we return from SASFAA. Unfortunately, my travel schedule has
precluded me from compiling the information.
I am glad to report that we
notified the SASFAA membership of the reductions to the financial aid programs
two weeks earlier than NASFAA posted the article on their site. This demonstrates the importance of the
monthly digest.
Electronic Response to Congress
While I now know how to
accomplish our efforts to simplify the membership’s ability to communicate with
congress, I am going to present my idea to the full Legislative Committee
today, and then will make a recommendation to the Board for action.
Reauthorization
A wise man once said, “Who
knows?” Now that we have the court
positions filled, we may see this move forward.
No promises as
Additional Information
Once the Legislative
Committee meets, I will provide the Board with additional information and
recommendations via email.
Report from Membership Chair Juanita Russell
The Membership Chair has been
very busy answering emails and telephone calls concerning conference
information and membership questions. Numerous requests were made from vendors
asking for the SASFAA conference registrants list. The membership committee is
encouraging states to continue to promote membership in SASFAA.
SASFAA
membership Statistics
February 9, 2006
Current Membership Total: 1256
Members by Ending Membership date
341 6/30/2003
421 8/31/2004
467 8/31/2005
788 6/30/2006
Members Not Renewed from Last Year 0
Institutions with Current Membership 438
Membership by State
South Carolina 96
Out of Region 113
Report from Newsletter Editor April Kendrick
Since the last board, the
following activities have transpired:
The second quarterly edition
of the newsletter, SASFAA Winter 2006 Newsletter, was placed to the
SASFAA website and accessible January 5, 2006. A special thanks to the elected
board, state presidents, committee chairs and liaisons for providing their
reports for the Winter SASFAA Newsletter. In addition, this edition also
included the election information. The SASFAA sponsors came through again with
their advertisements.
April Quarterly Newsletter
Articles and ads for the
April newsletter need to be submitted to the newsletter editor no later than
March 10, 2006. Every effort will be made to have the newsletter available on
the SASFAA website by April 15, 2006.
A;; state presidents, elected
officers, committee chairs, and liaisons are also encouraged to provide
articles for inclusion and the keep the SASFAA membership informed of
activities taking place. As indicated, articles need to be provided to the
newsletter editor by mid-March, if at all possible. Exceptions may be made.
Contact the newsletter editor at 859.246.6304 or by email at April.Kendrick@kctcs.edu
if the deadline cannot be met.
*All submission should be
provided to the Newsletter Editor. Articles are to be submitted to April D.
Kendrick,
Report from Site Selection Chair Ron Gambill
SASFAA Executive Board Meeting
Site Selection Report
February 11, 2006
The
Site Selection Chair reported on the visits made to
Additionally,
meeting contracts and locations have been completed for the 2007-08 Executive
Board and Conference Committee. A
contract amendment has been negotiated to secure additional meeting room space
for the 2007 Conference to be held in
Submitted by
Report from Vendor/Sponsor Chair Keith Reeves
2005-06 Sponsorship Report
Overall Status
As of 2/08/2006, total
commitments for sponsorship (conference, banner ads and miscellaneous) totals
$191,460, which exceeds the budget ($155,508) by $35,952. Commitments for Newsletter advertising totals
$23,375, which exceeds the budget ($17,000) by $6,375. The grand total for sponsorship and
advertising is currently $214,835. This
figure will increase some before the end of the current year as a few sponsorship
opportunities remain available with the mid-level workshop, new-aid training
and the June Board meeting events yet to come.
Conference
A great response from SASFAA
supporters is evident in the number of vendors and sponsors providing support
for the conference in
- 66 sponsors (61 in
- 16 Platinum (10 in
- 16 Gold (15 in
- 11 Silver (14
in
- 23 Bronze (21
in
- 0 General (1 in
- 76 booths in the exhibit hall (72 in
- All breaks will occur in the exhibit hall
(Gilford DEFG)
- SASFAA ’07, and SASFAA Professional Development
also have booths
Banner Ads
The total revenue from banner
ads on the web site is $26,200. This
represents 23 different organizations.
The Sponsorship Chair would
like to publicly thank Heather Boutell for making life easier in regards to
accounting for all of the sponsorship funds.
Also, appreciation is due to Laura Diven-Brown for her patience in pulling
together all of the sponsorship information for the program and Janet Sain in
working with the drayage contract (and general advice).
Keith Reeves
Sponsorship Chair
Report from Special Appointee Susan Little
February
11, 2006
To:
SASFAA Board
From:
Susan D. Little, Special Projects
Subject:
Report to the Board on Activities
Cheryl
Hughes, SCSLC, Janet Sain SASFAA part-president and I met at the South Carolina
Student Loan Corporation on December 14 to review the Archives. We were surprised to find only 6 boxes of
materials. A details list of the items
in the boxes is attached. The following
steps are being taken to gather further information on our Archives.
I. Contact
has been made with Vera Brooks and Dave Cecil to ask if they hae any clues
about what should be in the Archives.
II. Picket
and Hatcher has been contacted to see if perhaps any files were not moved from
their offices to the SCSLC. There were
none.
III. Ellen
Green was contacted by Cheryl Hughes and she indicated there were some CD’s
with information on them from the time of Bill Cox’s presidency. None of those could be located. Ellen has not seen any other microfile boxes
other than the 10 rolls we have which are only a small percentage of the total
which we would expect to have been microfilmed by Pickett and Hatcher.
IV. Erik
Melis will be asked to determine what is stored on our Web site and for how
long to determine what recent information is available.
V. We
will make a one-time solicitation to SASFAA members for old programs, minutes,
etc. which might be lurking in office files and could be shared with SASFAA to
fill in missing information.
It
is the recommendation of the Archive review group that SASFAA adopt the
following as official policy.
Records
which should be kept and stored (in paper or electronically as to be
determined) include:
Newsletters, directories, minutes, copies of
conference programs, treasurer’s 990's and budgets, GAP reports and annual
reports, copies of all Policy and Procedure Manuals for all areas of SASFAA
administration.
Files
which should be destroyed or sent to other entities include:
Cancelled checks more than 5 years old, rosters of
conference attendees, duplicate documents (newsletters, programs, etc.),
conference handouts from individual interest sessions, and any documents which
came from other professional associations (other regional groups, for example)
should be returned to those groups.
We
will be obtaining information on two projects which would have a budget impact
for the coming SASFAA year. One would
involve moving all information which is on microfilm to a CD format for
preservation purposes. The second will
involve a cost estimate on storing all of our paper documents on a secure Web
site. There are companies which do this
kind of work for associations and it would be the ultimate safe type of
storage.
FOUNDATION REVIEW
Barry
Simmons, Zita Barree, Jill Rayner and I have been working on gathering
information from other state and regional associations which might have set up
a foundation to handle special financial projects. VASFAA is the only source we can locate which
has actually set up a foundation. An
e-mail from Dan Mann who is president of MASFAA is attached indicating the uses
they make of special funds but they do not have a Foundation set up to handle
these activities.
Notes
from Barry Simmons’ conversation with Buddy Johnston who set up the VASFAA
Foundation reflect the following about their Scholarship Management:
1)
VASFAA set up their Foundation as a way to manage a scholarship fund which was
set up to honor long‑time
2)
VASFAA originally scheduled several
levels of giving but Barry recommends just one level to participate. This could be done in the manner of a pledge
which could be paid over several years.
3) The funds are invested in CD's but the
feeling is that there could be other investment tools which would return a
higher interest rate.
4) The Scholarship is given each year to the out‑going
VASFAA president for a student of his/her choice. Financial need is not required but is often
used by the out‑going VASFAA president.
5) The VASFAA Budget and Finance Committee
manages the investments and oversees the distribution of funds.
6) Originally the scholarship wording listed a
specific amount of the scholarship. Due
to changing interest rates, it is thought that setting a minimum amount with a
clarifying statement that the maximum amount will be based on the income of the
fund. This would eliminate any problem
with interest rates being down one year and not generating enough income for the
award resulting in the fund being subsidized by general Association funds.
Zita
provide the following information about the New Century Educational Endowment Fund component of the VASFAA
Foundation. This is similar to the
MASFAA options which are managed without a Foundation.
If
your office has an unlimited budget and your school funds everything you need
for your staff development, then you don't need a "Buddy"! What's a "Buddy"? Several years ago, VASFAA established the
New Century Educational Endowment Fund, commonly called "Buddy
Awards". It's not a scholarship
fund for students, but a fund to help financial
aid
professionals in their own development.
In previous years, the Buddy Award has enabled financial aid colleagues
to gain valuable training in specialty areas that simply
cannot
be funded by their schools, attend the SASFAA Summer New Aid Officer's Workshop
and study ways to improve retention.
Award amounts range from $50 to $1,000.
It's
not very often you can get 'free money' to aid in your professional
development. Submit a proposal today for
the New Century Educational Endowment Fund.
Applications can
be
found at www.fasfaa.org, under the Forms Bank.
Applications can be submitted at any time and grants are awarded
throughout the year.
We
will have a final proposal at the transitional Board meeting after we have
discussed the information above.
Review of the PPM and Financial Guides
Meetings
on both of these topics will be held later during the SASFAA Conference and
a report will be made at the
transitional Board meeting.
Report from
SASFAA Leadership & Strategic
Planning Summit 2005
Summary of Evaluations
November 11- 12, 2005
Evaluations completed – 29
Rating scale from 1 - 10
- Setting
the context (planning process overview, background materials overview and
discussion: 8.45 avg
Excellent
planning – I did not waste my time
Set
a good atmosphere for us
Excellent
job.
I
was already familiar with this; however, it was defined in a very helpful way.
Clear and concise.
- SWOT
analysis: 8.45 avg
An
effective and interesting method to move groups to key sessions.
Great
Some areas tough but a good starting point.
Valuable assessment of internal/external factors
Very
helpful and insightful
Very
good session
Great
resource
I
was not familiar with this concept.
- Leadership
lunch: 7.66 avg
Great
– I loved my group – a great learning experience for me.
Conversation
was wonderful.
Matching
was more important to task at hand.
Probably
found this the least helpful.
- Identifying
our core values & beliefs: 8.79 avg
Create
some ‘outside the box’ ideas that may not have been expressed in other venues.
Good participation
Good review.
No real ’new’ information
Very helpful
A
very helpful exercise, really engaged the participants. We really need to
identify and publish our core values and beliefs as an association.
- Sharing
perspectives on key issues: 9.66
avg
Some
‘ team building’ spirit was expressed as participants shared new points
containing the same basic idea or value.
Well done – good participation
Helpful to know what people think.
What committee takes away will be key
Again,
engaged participants. Some insights but for those not nearly involved, it brought
out the fact they there were not aware of some activities that we identified
that are already being done.
- Creating
a vision for our future: 8.66 avg
More
difficult to determine than I thought it would be.
My
favorite part. It started off as something
hard to do (early morning) but ended up as the most satisfying activity.
Different
takes on existing ideas
Great
way to incorporate many different ideas for the vision.
- Agreeing
on the critical issues: 9 avg
Most
people agree on the major issues but describe them differently. Everyone had an issue that they care for more
than other issues.
Very
good group effort
- Identifying
next steps: 8.88 avg
Constructive
Good
exercise – more to do.
Follow-up
with implementation!!
- The
readings and materials provided:
8.46 avg
Good
prep for these of us who had not had the chance to see some of the SASFAA docs
I
didn’t get a change to read the materials beforehand. They look good, but maybe the packets should
have been sent in advance.
Excellent.
Would
like to have
Would
like to have the facilitator’s overheads
Really
enjoyed the generational handout.
- Rate
the Hilton –
- Meeting
Rooms - 8.61 avg
- Food –
8.11 avg
- Sleeping
Rooms – 8.14 avg
Meeting
room – a little cold!
Nice
accommodations – location was great.
Easy flight into
The
location of the hotel is excellent.
- Using
the following scale, rate the Leadership & Strategic Planning
This
was a great process for SASFAA to go through. It was needed and has been needed for a long
time. I think this was very worthwhile.
This
was a long time coming – very much needed and very successful. I was proud/honored to be part of it.
“Preferred
Futuring” is great way for initiating strategic planning. The hard part is insuring action is taken on
the plans which were developed.
I
was truly afraid this would be waste of my time but it was not.
I
hope we came up some useful – I enjoyed being part of it.
Excellent
idea to have a retreat, and it was well implemented. Having a professional facilitator was a great
model and
Very
well done.
Days
went too long; otherwise good job.
I
was very pleased with the
Again,
what happens after the meeting will be the test of the investment of my time.
This
workshop has been a great experience.
This has given us alot to think about and a jumping off point to carry
forward.
Very
worthwhile. Hopefully brought folks
together who questioned the value of this retreat.
This
summit gave me a wonderful insight for my day to day operations. I really enjoyed this summit. Thanks!
Excellent
meeting that was immensely helped by having a facilitator to set rules and
parameters and then enforce them to allow maximum opportunity for
participation.
- Additional
comments, thoughts, ideas, suggestions and things we should know.
Very
worthwhile, new, creative, great working concept
Difficult
tasks, thought provoking, great give and take.
End
the days early.
This
was more than what I expected. It was very inspiring and made us think. I had a
lot of fun doing a difficult task. Thanks for pulling this together.
Could
provide an opportunity for continuation as part of the SASFAA conference.
SASFAA Board of Directors Meeting
February 11, 2006
The Long Range Planning (LRP)
Committee recommended, and the Board of Directors approved, convening a meeting
of invited participants, to the SASFAA Leadership and Strategic Planning
Summit. The
The day consisted of a
variety of information and interactive sessions with specific focus on
identifying SASFAA’s current strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and
threats. The group considered the
Association’s core values and beliefs and prioritized critical issues. Finally,
the meeting concluded by engaging in a meaningful small group exercise to
develop preliminary action plans in the following areas:
·
Create/Develop a Rising Young Professionals Scholarship
·
Involve NAOW
participants in structured follow-up and opportunities
·
Add/Create a
“Best Practices” area on the SASFAA Web site
·
Determine the
impact of reauthorization/reconciliation on lender support
·
Bring SASFAA
training into the states
·
Acknowledge,
track & monitor volunteers
·
Involve former
state presidents at a greater level
·
Reassess SASFAA
President’s role with the states
·
Reassess
Membership alternatives
·
Determine ways we
can create a holistic approach to supporting and strengthening our diversity
The
LRP Committee will meet on February 12th to review the evaluation,
The
Committee also developed a regional profile that provides an overview of the
mission, history, successes and strategies for the future engagement of the
Association. This has been distributed to all in attendance at the conference
and will subsequently be posted to the web page.
The
Committee wishes to thank the following individuals for their assistance in
planning and conducting the
- Transportation
and Logistics – Jane
McNaughton, Ron Gambill and Curtis Whalen.
- Sponsorship
Coordination – Keith Reeves.
Sponsorship for the event totaled $6,581.25. Contributions were received from Sallie
Mae Lenders, EdSouth, NextStudent, Wachovia and Citibank.
- Budgetary
Consideration - The
Committee wishes to recognize all participants for their efforts to economize
on travel expenditures to attend the
Attachments:
Submitted
by Carol Mowbray
Southern Association of Student Financial Aid
Administrators
Leadership and Strategic Planning
The Southern Association of
Student Financial Aid Administrators was founded in order to establish a
community of members, who through the sharing of ideas and professional
competencies and experiences would serve more ethically and effectively the
diverse needs of students, parents, and institutions. The present and future existence of the association
continues to be based on this founding principle.
To facilitate this mission,
the association pledges to support professional communications in all areas
concerned with the administration of student educational financing
programs. The association is committed
to developing future leaders by actively involving its membership. To accomplish the goals set forth by the
association in a dynamic environment, the Southern Association of Student
Financial Aid Administrators offers personal and professional development
opportunities and embraces sound principles and practices of aid
administration.
VISION STATEMENT
The Southern Association of
Student Financial Aid Administrators is a dynamic organization serving
practitioners, users and providers of student financial aid programs. This effort occurs in an environment of
mutual respect and support which encourages questions, discussion and the
shaping of ideas – thus promoting opportunities, equity, and access in and to
higher education.
SASFAA History
Founded in 1963, the Southern
Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators has continually provided
outstanding training and leadership opportunities to its members.
SASFAA held its first Annual
Conference in 1964 in
In 1965, the fledgling
association conducted its first comprehensive training of new professionals at
a workshop held on the campus of
In 1966, representatives from
SASFAA joined together with counterparts from MASFAA, EASFAA, and SWASFAA and
formed the National Student Financial Aid Council, which subsequently became
the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.
Realizing the need for
continued training and leadership development for experienced aid
administrators, SASFAA inaugurated its Management Institute series in 1972 in
In 2006, SASFAA serves more
than 1300 members across the nine southeastern states. Its primary focus is still training and
leadership development. The Annual Conference of SASFAA to be held February
12-15, 2006 in