Executive Board Meeting
November 3 – 5, 2006
November 4, 2006
CALL TO ORDER
President Brent Tener called
the meeting to order at 9:01 a.m.
WELCOME
Brent opened the meeting by
welcoming everyone to
President Tener, without
objection, moved the Executive Session to 10:45 a.m. and switched
INTRODUCTIONS
The following elected board
members were present: Brent Tener, President, Guy Gibbs, Past-President;
Lisanne Masterson, President-Elect; Sandy Neel, Vice President; Heather
Boutell, Treasurer and Deborah Byrd, Secretary.
State Presidents in
attendance were: Runan Pendergrast, Kentucky; Jenelle Handcox, Georgia; Erik
Melis, Virginia; Jonna Gibson, Alabama; Kim Jenerette, South Carolina, Garry
Jones, Mississippi, Rance Jackson, North Carolina, Janette Overton, Tennessee,
and Tom Judge, Florida
Committee Chairs in
attendance were: Clark Aldridge, Budge and Finance; Janet Sain, Diversity,
Soraya Welden, Membership; Ron Gambill, Site Selection; Keith Reeves, Vendor
and Sponsor; Michael Morgan, Conference, and Bill Spiers, Legislative
Relations.
Liaisons present: Mike
Hawkes; Agency, and Paul Mittelhammer, Lender.
APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES
ACTION: The
minutes from the Executive Board meeting of August 5, 2006 at the Renaissance
Hotel,
REPORTS FROM THE OFFICERS
SEE ATTACHMENT A
Report from President, Brent Tener
Brent discussed his travels
since August which included state conferences and testifying at the Federal
hearing. Deborah Tollefson
is on the NASFAA Nominations and Elections Committee. She will send an email via SASFAA’s listserv
seeking nominations.
Report from President Elect, Lisanne Masterson
Lisanne stated the following
individuals agreed to serve on the 2007 – 08 Executive Board. Chairs will be Lester McKenzie
(Vendor/Sponsor), Brad Barnett (Conference), Janet Sain (Site Selection) and
Bill Spiers (Legislative Relations).
Report from the Vice President, Sandy Neel
ACTION: Jenelle
Handcox made a motion to accept the names of the 2007 NAOW instructors. The motion being seconded by Kim Jenerette
was approved.
ACTION: Guy
Gibbs made a motion to accept the location of the 2007 NAOW. The motion being seconded by Heather Boutell
was approved.
Report from the Past President, Guy Gibbs
Guy presented the slate for
the 2007 elections.
ACTION: Guy
Gibbs moved that we accept the slate as presented. The motion being seconded by Runan Pendergrast
was approved.
Report from the Secretary, Deborah Byrd
Deborah thanked everyone for
getting their reports in on time.
Report from the Treasurer, Heather Boutell
SASFAA will receive $12,000
from the state of
Heather recommended changes
to the 2006 -07 budget – amend Line 9 to $36,050 and
Line 215 to $9,475.
ACTION: Sandy
Neel made a motion to accept the changes as presented. The Motion being seconded by Lisanne
Masterson was approved.
STATE PRESIDENT’S REPORTS
SEE ATTACHMENT B
COMMITTEE REPORTS
SEE ATTACHMENT C
Report from Budget and Finance Chair, Clark Aldridge
ACTION: Lisanne
Masterson moved for the adoption of the recommendation of PP 6.32, PP 6.38 as
presented. The Motion being seconded by
Guy Gibbs was approved. PP 6.32, PP 6.38 – Based on an analysis of
the cash on hand and in the savings account and in consultation with the
Treasurer I recommend that SASFAA purchase an additional Certificate of Deposit
of $65,000. This purchased should be
designated as part of the SASFAA “Endowment” and revenue from this CD will be
dedicated to carrying the objects identified in the Long Range Plan adopted
June 2006.
ACTION: Moved
into Executive Session at 10:45 a.m. and adjourned at 11:30 a.m.
ACTION: Called
to order at 1:01 p.m.
Report from Diversity Chair, Janet Sain
ACTION: Lisanne
Masterson moved to add LaShanda Chamberlain as the
Report from Newsletter Chair, Sharon Oliver
Brent Tener presented a
proposal on Sharon Oliver’s behalf to change permanently the Newsletter format
from HTML to PDF format with appropriate charges.
ACTION: Janelle
Hancock moved to accept the proposal as presented. The Motion being seconded by Sandy Neel was
approved.
ACTION: Heather
Boutell moved to add Martie Adler as the
Report from Site Selection Chair, Ron Gambill
ACTION: Sandy
Neel moved to add Dave Cecil to serve on the 2006 – 07 Site Selection
Committee. The Motion being seconded by
Heather Boutell was approved.
ACTION: Erik
Melis moved to allow the Site Selection Committee to work with the Don Cesar
Resort to negotiate for a $199 room rate for the June 2009, 2010 and 2011
Transition Meetings. The Motion being
seconded by Jonna Gibson was approved.
Brent Tener told the Board
that due to some employment changes Paul Mittelhammer would have other
employment responsibilities along with his lender duties. Brent opened this up for discussion as to
whether Paul should continue on the Board as Lender Liaison.
ACTION: Janette
Overton moved to allow Paul Mittelhammer to continue on the Board as Lender
Liaison. The Motion being seconded by
Sandy Neel was approved.
Brent Tener adjourned the
Executive Board meeting at 2:36 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Deborah W. Byrd, Secretary
REPORTS FROM THE OFFICERS
ATTACHMENT A
Report from President Brent Tener
President’s Board Report
November 4, 2006
Summary of Activities
GAP06: (05-06) Incoming president needs to stress the importance of reading and reviewing the GAP report and the recommendations set forth so that changes can be made. The format of the GAP report needs to be reviewed and changed for 06-07 GAP committee.
Activity: Stressed the importance of the GAP Report
recommendations to the incoming board at transition. Have incorporated each
recommendation into the formal goals and activities for each member. Have changed the board
reporting to add an ongoing review of each objective/task for each officer and
committee member.
GAP10: (05-06) SASFAA pursue the development of a
Leadership workshop to assist the region and individual states in developing
future leaders and committee chairs.
Activity: Barry Simmons was appointed to develop the
leadership workshop. Adequate funds were appropriated by the SASFAA Board to
conduct the leadership workshop. State associations will assist, when
necessary, in covering travel costs to and from the workshops.
GAP11: (05-06) SASFAA President identify potential
elected board members and committee chairs who have never attended the NASFAA
Leadership Training and commit to sending no more than three each year in order
to promote future leaders. The board
should consider elected officers first, then committee chairs. Efforts should
be made to target under-represented groups.
Activity: Will need to work with Executive Board to identify up to three
individuals to attend the NASFAA Leadership workshop per the objective. A total of $1,500, per individual, has been
set aside for the NASFAA Leadership Workshop.
GAP57: (05-06) Provide training opportunities on site
selection procedures and contract negotiations at the state level. Including
how to read and understand hotel contracts utilized for annual conferences and
state meetings.
Activity: We held a
workshop on Sunday, August 6, that will discussed site selection. Ron Gambill,
current Site Selection Chair conducted the training.
Welcome to
Review and Progress toward Goals and Objectives
I hope that you are making progress toward the goals
and objectives we outlined and approved at our August meeting. We have a lot to get accomplished this year
and we’re already four months into our year serving our SASFAA membership.
I’m looking forward to your reporting of your
activities and those of your committees as we proceed through this board
meeting today and tomorrow. I also look forward to a report from the State
Presidents and the activities that they have been engaged in at the state level
since our last board meeting.
It is extremely important that we share all of our
activities with the membership, and I would ask that you
forward your report to Deborah Byrd, SASFAA secretary, as
soon as possible. If you have already done so,
you’re to be commended on being so very prompt. I know that Deborah appreciates your getting
information to her as soon as possible.
President Attends Conference Committee Meeting
I was in attendance at the October 7-9 meeting of the
Conference Committee held in
Representing SASFAA at State Conferences
Since we met in July, I’ve been to five state
conferences. I’ve visited with FASFAA in
It has been my pleasure to represent SASFAA at these
state conferences and to bring an update of the activities that we are engaged
in at the regional level. It has also given us an opportunity to encourage
volunteerism and membership within SASFAA.
I would like to thank Tom, Jonna, Jenelle, Runan and
Janette for the warm welcome that I received at each meeting. I commend them on
the selection of their conference/training chairs. They each had a great
conference agenda, and I only wish that I had had more time to visit. It was
evident that a lot of work and planning had gone on at each conference. The agendas were “meaty” and I’m sure that
their membership left with new skills and updated knowledge. I can also tell you that they did a masterful
job in “running the show.” Congratulations to each of you.
NASFAA
I really do not have any report from NASFAA at this
time since the board has not meet for the year. The first board meeting will be
held in
Next Board Meeting
The next meeting of the board will be held in
November 6-8, 2006 Joint North
November 7-10, 2006 SWASFAA Conference Interregional Visit
November 17-19, 2006 NASFAA Board Meeting
Nov 28 –Dec 1, 2006 DOE Electronic Access Conference
February 9-10, 2007 SASFAA Board Meeting
February 11-14, 2007 SASFAA Annual Conference
April 11-13, 2007 Alabama Spring
Conference
April 11-13, 2007 Kentucky Spring
Conference
April 15-18, 2007 Tennessee Spring
Conference
April 21-23, 2007 NASFAA Board
Meeting
April 22-25, 2007 North Carolina
Spring Conference
April 22-25, 2007 South Carolina
Spring Conference
May 19-23, 2007 Virginia Annual
Conference
May 23-25, 2007 Florida Spring
Conference
May 23-25, 2007
June 7-10, 2007
June 13-15, 2007
July 6-7, 2007 NASFAA Board Meeting
July 8-11, 2007 NASFAA Conference
President-Elect’s Report
Lisanne Masterson, President-Elect
Summary of Activities Since
Last Report
PP 5.36: Begins initial planning for the next annual conference
and for the promotion of the event.
Activity: Initial contact has been made with the site hotel to
obtain information on meeting space and hotel services. A site visit with the 2008 Conference &
Local Arrangements Chairs cannot be arranged until after January 1; however, we
have submitted some initial questions to the hotel in order to begin planning. We are working on the exhibit booth and 2008
conference program page for this year’s conference.
PP 5.37: Serve as parliamentarian to the Board.
Activity: Attended the NCASFAA Fall Executive Board Meeting and
presented a parliamentary procedure session on Friday, September 29.
PP5.31: Committees should be of sufficient size and number and
represent the diversity of the membership to accomplish the goals of the
Association and to develop future leadership while being fiscally responsible.
Activity: In process of putting together a Volunteer Form that
outlines the number of and criteria for positions available on the SASFAA Board
and Committees. The membership should be
made aware of the selection process and the requirement to have adequate representation
of the membership. A review of those not
selected from this year’s volunteer list will be done in addition to those
completing the Volunteer Form for 2007-08.
PP 5.38: Conduct an orientation session at the annual
conference for state Presidents-elect.
Activity: Initial planning for the state Presidents-elect
workshop at the upcoming Conference in
Discussion
Planning for 2007-2008
Planning has begun for the 45th
Annual Conference to be held in
Two additional committee
chairs for 2007-08 have been selected – Bill Spiers from Tallahassee Community
College (FL) has agreed to serve again as Legislative Relations Chair and Janet
Sain from SunTrust has agreed to serve as Site Selection Chair.
NASFAA Board of Directors
There is an upcoming NASFAA
Board meeting November 17-29 in
Recommendations:
None
Past President’s Report
Guy Gibbs, Past President
Summary of Activity
GAP03: (05-06) The Chair of the Nominations and Elections
committee continues to ensure, to the extent possible, that minorities are
represented on the slate of candidates.
GAP04: (05-06) The SASFAA Past President and the Immediate
Past Presidents of the state associations start the process of obtaining viable
candidates and remain proactive in getting nominations for the position of
President-Elect, Vice President and Treasurer.
GAP05: (05-06) The
committee should meet in the fall at a place and time that will result in the
participation of all Immediate Past President of the states and does not
conflict with other committee meetings.
Activity: During the fall the Immediate
State-Presidents worked to identify individuals from their state who would be
interested in having their name considered for one of the SASFAA elective
offices that will be filled for 2007-2008.
Those three positions are President-Elect, Vice President and
Treasurer. During this same time the
Chair of the committee posted emails on the SASFAA listserv on a number of
occasions seeking nominations from the general membership.
The committee met in
PP6.135: The nominations of SASFAA officers should be
on the agenda of each state association’s board meeting.
Activity: The nine state associations made the SASFAA
nominations process available through their individual state listserv.
PP6.21 and PP6.22: Solicit
nominations for outstanding, significant and meritorious contributions to the
advancement of student financial aid and make recommendations to the board.
Activity: The Executive Board was notified that they
are required by SASFAA policy to identify and approve qualified individuals for
awards. These are the Distinguished
Service Award, Honorary Membership and NASFAA Distinguished Service Award
Section 9.2.1 – Distinguished Service Award
This is the highest honor
bestowed by SASFAA. Individuals honored with a SASFAA Distinguished
Service Award shall have made outstanding, significant, and meritorious
contributions to the advancement of student financial aid or the profession.
The awards committee, comprised of the elected officers of the Association,
shall be charged to consider nominees and recommend them for consideration to
the Board. Nominees must be approved by a two-thirds vote of Board
members present and voting.
Each recipient shall be
presented an appropriate plaque at the annual conference of the Association and
shall be entitled to honorary membership in the Association when the recipient
ceases to meet active membership eligibility requirements.
Section 9.2.2 – Honorary Membership
Honorary membership shall be
awarded to persons who have demonstrated outstanding service to SASFAA and to
the student aid profession. Practicing financial aid administrators
are not eligible to receive this award. Past presidents
and SASFAA Distinguished Service Award recipients who cease to meet active
membership criteria shall be automatically granted honorary membership.
These persons shall receive the same level of recognition as persons who
receive honorary membership through the normal award process.
The Nominations and Elections
Committee shall solicit the names of individuals to be considered for honorary
membership. Any voting member of the Board can make nominations.
Individuals nominated for honorary membership must be approved by a majority
vote of Board members present and voting.
NASFAA Distinguished Service Award
Specific guidelines have not
yet been received from NASFAA for this award.
The 2006 recipient is Dave Cecil who was recognized by NASFAA at the
annual conference in
NASFAA Board Meeting
I will be attending the
NASFAA board meeting in
Yet to Finish
GAP07 Coordinate
with Nominations and Elections Committee, Treasurer, Membership Chair,
Newsletter Editor, Electronic Services Chair and the Coordinator of PC Lab at
the Annual Conference.
Activity: I will coordinate with these individuals to ensure
that they are aware of their involvement in the voting process. This may involve such activities as getting
candidate information in the next edition of the newsletter, getting candidate
statements and pictures posted to the SASFAA website by ATAC and ensuring that
voting stations are in place in the PC Lab.
GAP78
Develop the purpose and structure for the SASFAA Foundation.
Code # PP 5.62: Prepares and submits meeting minutes with supporting
documents and publications, including annual conference programs, special
reports, and membership directories to archives.
Activity: Reviewed and printed the minutes of the August Board
Meeting to distribute at the November Executive Board Meeting.
Code # PP 5.64:
Orders and distributes the Association's official stationery.
Activity: Ordered
and distributed the Association stationery to the President, President-Elect
and Past President.
Code # PP 5.66: Facilitates meeting arrangements, including lodging, meal functions and meeting rooms for Board meetings.
Activity:
Treasurer’s Report
Heather Boutell, Treasurer
GAP 36: (05-06) Pursue permanent set up of PayPal option for use of membership fee payment, conference
registration payment and vendor/sponsor payments.
Activity: PayPal can now be
used to pay membership fees and vendor/sponsor payments. No vendor/sponsor payments have been received
via PayPal. Fifty-four members have utilized PayPal to pay membership.
Leonard Gude recently completed the SASFAA page to include
conference registration so members can pay those fees once registration is
opened. The payment page is currently
stored on a USF web page. The future of
the site location needs to be discussed since Leonard Gude is resigning as
Electronic Services Chair. The Policies
and Procedures and Guide to Financial Management have been reviewed by
Treasurer Boutell and sent to Budget and Finance Chair Clark Aldridge for his
committee to consider.
GAP59: Within
two weeks following each Board meeting, send budget presented at the meeting to
Leonard Gude for posting on the ATAC
website.
Activity: The budget presented at the August Board
meeting was sent to Leonard Gude, who then put that information on the SASFAA
Web site.
GAP74: Purchase QuickBooks on-line to allow Budget
and Finance Chair, President and Anne Rochester, preparer of the 990, to have
access to information at any time. Start
from scratch on QuickBooks on-line to eliminate old data that is currently in
the software version of QuickBooks on the laptop. Revise Policies and
Procedures and/or Guide to Financial Management to reflect accounting kept
on-line rather than kept on software product.
Activity: Treasurer Boutell has reviewed the Policies
and Procedures and Guide to Financial Management to update information
regarding QuickBooks on-line. These
suggested changes have been sent to Budget and Finance Chair Aldridge for his
committee to review.
GAP 82: Send
quarterly statements to all of the committee chairs and officers letting them
know their current budget expenses.
Activity: Quarterly statements were sent to all
committee chairs and officers with current budget expense information after the
end of the first quarter (July 2006 – September 2006).
PP 5.55: Arranges in coordination with the budget and finance
chair for an annual independent audit of financial records.
Activity: All necessary documentation and records for
the 2005-2006 year were sent to Budget and Finance Chair Aldridge for his
committee’s review.
PP 5.56: Files IRS form 990 for the fiscal year by the
prescribed deadline, currently November 15, and all financial reports in a
proper and timely manner.
Activity: All necessary reports and paperwork were sent
to Anne Rochester for preparation of the 990.
Anne has been in discussion with Brent Tener and Clark Aldridge about
issues with advertising taxes.
Total Cash on Hand as of
November 2, 2006:
BB&T Savings: $96,744.36
Fifth Third Savings: $78,615.86
Fifth Third Checking:
$123,015.68
Treasurer Boutell attended
the Conference Committee meeting in October in
|
Southern Association of Student Financial Aid
Administrators, Inc. |
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|
Budget vs. Actual |
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|
July 2006 - June 2007 |
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|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total |
|||
|
|
Actual |
Budget |
$ Over Budget |
% of Budget |
|
Income |
|
|
|
|
|
01 Membership Dues |
18,172.24 |
37,000.00 |
-18,827.76 |
49.11% |
|
02 Professional Development |
0.00 |
91,650.00 |
-91,650.00 |
0.00% |
|
03 Annual Meeting |
0.00 |
146,150.00 |
-146,150.00 |
0.00% |
|
04 Vendors/Sponsors/Patrons |
76,652.18 |
162,500.00 |
-85,847.82 |
47.17% |
|
05 Advertising |
32,880.00 |
47,000.00 |
-14,120.00 |
69.96% |
|
07 Interest Earned |
8,171.08 |
21,000.00 |
-12,828.92 |
38.91% |
|
08 Miscellaneous Income |
543.27 |
800.00 |
-256.73 |
67.91% |
|
09 Balance Forward |
0.00 |
35,275.00 |
-35,275.00 |
0.00% |
|
Total Income |
136,418.77 |
541,375.00 |
-404,956.23 |
25.20% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Expenses |
|
|
|
|
|
101 President |
3,068.11 |
8,000.00 |
-4,931.89 |
38.35% |
|
102 President-Elect |
1,371.49 |
5,000.00 |
-3,628.51 |
27.43% |
|
103 Vice President |
1,359.89 |
4,600.00 |
-3,240.11 |
29.56% |
|
104 Secretary |
829.96 |
4,200.00 |
-3,370.04 |
19.76% |
|
105 Treasurer |
1,176.22 |
7,406.00 |
-6,229.78 |
15.88% |
|
106 Past President |
2,298.64 |
3,558.00 |
-1,259.36 |
64.60% |
|
201 Membership/Directory |
1,252.95 |
6,000.00 |
-4,747.05 |
20.88% |
|
202
Electronic Services |
2,895.00 |
12,200.00 |
-9,305.00 |
23.73% |
|
203 Professional Advancement |
1,000.00 |
124,921.00 |
-123,921.00 |
0.80% |
|
204 Newsletter |
648.15 |
3,624.00 |
-2,975.85 |
17.88% |
|
205 Budget and Finance |
756.45 |
3,500.00 |
-2,743.55 |
21.61% |
|
206 Annual Meeting Program |
17,224.80 |
214,000.00 |
-196,775.20 |
8.05% |
|
207 Site Selection |
291.90 |
1,500.00 |
-1,208.10 |
19.46% |
|
208 Nominations and Elections |
4,141.81 |
7,600.00 |
-3,458.19 |
54.50% |
|
210 Executive Board |
6,205.59 |
42,479.00 |
-36,273.41 |
14.61% |
|
211 President's Contingency |
2,000.00 |
4,000.00 |
-2,000.00 |
50.00% |
|
213 Advance Program Planning |
0.00 |
200.00 |
-200.00 |
0.00% |
|
214 Diversity Issues |
1,915.11 |
15,180.00 |
-13,264.89 |
12.62% |
|
215 Prior Administration Bills |
9,474.57 |
8,700.00 |
774.57 |
108.90% |
|
216 Legislative Relations |
656.31 |
4,077.00 |
-3,420.69 |
16.10% |
|
217 |
0.00 |
4,600.00 |
-4,600.00 |
0.00% |
|
218 Vendor/Sponsor/Patron |
1,617.55 |
4,600.00 |
-2,982.45 |
35.16% |
|
219 Special Projects |
816.60 |
43,680.00 |
-42,863.40 |
1.87% |
|
221 Computer Hardware/Software |
0.00 |
2,500.00 |
-2,500.00 |
0.00% |
|
222 Purchase of CD |
0.00 |
|
0.00 |
|
|
223 Project Development |
0.00 |
5,250.00 |
-5,250.00 |
0.00% |
|
Total Expenses |
61,001.10 |
541,375.00 |
-480,373.90 |
11.27% |
|
Net Operating Income |
75,417.67 |
0.00 |
75,417.67 |
|
|
Net Income |
75,417.67 |
0.00 |
75,417.67 |
|
STATE PRESIDENT’S REPORTS
ATTACHMENT B
Jonna Gibson AASFAA President
AASFAA Fall conference was
held in
We had 34 exhibitors with a
total sponsorship of 50,800, we are fortunate to have s great support from our
vendor sponsors.
Brent Tener attended our
luncheon on Wednesday to give the SASFAA update. I had the honor to present Brent with a
plaque from our Governor Bob Riley appointing him an Honorary Colonel in the
Militia of the state of
We are excited to have moved
forward and have signed a contract for ATAC; we should be a running by February
2007, which will be in time for our spring conference 2007. I know our treasurer Phillip Nelson is
excited about our registration being done online.
Our NASFAA Fall Training has
been changed from November 30, 2006 to November 17, 2006 at Auburn Montgomery
in Montgomery, Al.
GASFAA Report
Jenelle Handcox, GASFAA President
The
GASFAA Fall Conference was held October 12-13 at the
New Aid Officers
Workshop
Under
the direction of Vice President Josh Dasher, the Professional Development
Committee presented the New Aid Officers Workshop as the pre-conference
training event. GASFAA had 54 colleagues
attend this workshop.
NASFAA’s Decentralized
Training
GASFAA
will sponsor NASFAA’s decentralized training on the campus of
College Goal Sunday
The College Goal Sunday
Steering Committee kicked off its awareness campaign during the Fall
Conference.
By-Laws Change
The GASFAA membership voted
at the Fall Conference for a By-Laws change.
This change to our By-Laws will allow for voting by our lifetime and
honorary members.
Runan Pendergrast, KASFAA President
KASFAA’s Fall Conference was
held October 18-20, 2006 at the Drawbridge Inn in
During the conference, KASFAA
members voted to move our annual elections from the Spring Conference in April
to an earlier month in year. This year
KASFAA elections will be held online in February 2007, prior to the SASFAA
Conference. We are currently working
with KHEAA’s IT Department on this project.
A College Goal Sunday
Volunteers Drive was held during the Fall Conference. Anyone who completed and returned their
volunteer form during had a chance to win a $50.00 VISA gift card. More than 180 KASFAA members completed and
returned a volunteer form.
For the first time KASFAA
sent two trainers to the NASFAA decentralized trainings in
The Diversity Committee is
putting together a Diversity Cookbook for the membership. The committee hopes to have the cookbook
ready at the Spring Conference.
KASFAA Spring Conference will
be held April 11-13, 2007 in
Rance Jackson, President NCASFAA
NCASFAA is in final
preparation for the NC/SC Joint Conference at the Grove Park Inn in
Leadership continues to be
a relevant topic for NCASFAA and the Executive Board supports every level of
leadership training available by providing members the opportunity to
participate in National, Regional and State level activities. The NCASFAA Board and its supporters
consistently support the Leadership Symposium and are committed to sending
representatives to leadership training.
As stated in a previous
report NCASFAA has taken an important step toward not only performing workshops
and providing material related to early awareness but also providing financial
support for middle school students to attend summer enrichment programs. NCASFAA continues to increase scholarships
for middle school students to attend programs during the summer of 2007. Increased funding will definitely open the
doors for additional students to participate in the worth program. As previously noted, the Middle School
Enrichment Scholarship Program is more than just a theme for early awareness,
but a true reality providing an educational experience to young college
hopefuls throughout North Carolina. We
have our sponsors and supporters to thank for their generosity, especially
NCASFAA has officially put
into practice the Fiscal Management Guide which is designed ensures good
stewardship of our financial resources.
The Association is in the final stages of approving the web site
developed by ATAC and with any success will be available at the time of this
report or shortly after. The Association
is excited about this new venture as it is designed to allow the membership
better access to information and improve services.
Financial aid is more than
a local, regional and national profession.
The profession is global (International) in nature with respect to those
we serve. NCASFAA continues to develop
ways to partner with other Associations in order to address shared professional
concerns, ideas, and information that will assist the membership in training
and professional development. The Fall
Conference will launch our effort to expand this concept of partnerships by
formally adopting the California Community College Student Financial Aid
Administrators Association (CCCSFAAA) as our sister association.
NCASFAA will continue to
promote training opportunities for our membership by continued partnership with
our venders, sponsors, and state agency.
Lastly, NCASFAA will continue to promote the
The NCASFAA Executive Board
approved a letter under my signature that has been forwarded to our
representative of MyRichUncle retuning sponsorship funds and also requesting
that they not participate as a vender during the Fall Joint Conference. Issues surrounding this unfortunate
circumstance have called for a review of our Policies and Procedures.
Additionally, request from
other States through the NASFAA list serve prompted NCASFAA to review our
policy on nondiscrimination. Based on
such information the Executive Board with guidance from our Policies and
Procedures Chair will address this issue.
2006
– 2007 NCASFAA Executive Board
Rance Jackson President
Tony Carter President-Elect
Dana Kelly Past President
Cynthia Grant Vice President
Christy Chestnut Secretary
Paul Coscia Treasurer
Casey Wallen Agencies
Betsy Spencer Budget and Finance
Terry Jeffries Diversity
Tony Patterson Legislative Advisory
Patricia Bowman Membership
Bridget B. Ellis Prof. Advancement – Leadership Symposium
William Zahn Prof. Advancement – New Aid Officers (Fall)
Kay Stroud Prof. Advancement –
New Aid Officers (Spring)
Rachel Cavanaugh Prof. Advancement – Support Staff
William Cox Program Chair (Fall)
Amy Berrier Program Chair (Spring)
Audrey Callahan Publications and Publicity
Sherri Avent Site Selection
Kim Driggers State & High School Relations
Lisa Koretoff Technology
Rochelle King
Rose Mary Stelma Policies and Procedures
Deborah Tollefson Special Project
Takeila Barnes
Special Project
Cyndi Walkup-Mortimer Lender Liaison
Elizabeth McDuffie State Agency Liaison
Garry Jones, President MASFAA
MASFAA
Executive Board for 2006-07:
|
President |
Garry
Jones |
|
|
President-Elect |
Peggy
Shoemake |
|
|
Past-President |
Soraya
B. Welden |
|
|
Vice
President |
|
Miss.
State Univ. - |
|
Secretary |
Jackie
Boone |
Nelnet |
|
Treasurer |
Steve
Greenough |
American
Student Assistance |
|
Member-at-Large |
Nancy
Gault |
Sallie
Mae Education Trust |
|
Director |
Robert
Givens |
|
|
Director |
Robyn
Cilwik |
|
|
Director |
|
|
The
Board of Directors conducted a meeting via conference call on August 25. The
2006-07 budget was voted on and approved.
A
discussion was held regarding the controversy surrounding MyRichUncle. The
Board voted to block any MRU individual from membership or to sponsor/exhibit
at any MASFAA function until a public retraction of the accusations and
comments made against financial aid professionals has been sufficiently
demonstrated. Although a formal letter is not being sent to MRU a letter was
sent the MASFAA membership explaining the Board’s position and decision.
MASFAA
will once again offer NASFAA’s Fall Training Workshop. The training will be
held Friday, November 17, 2006, in
Our
2 trainers for this year are
MASFAA’s
next Board meeting is scheduled for November 17, 2006, which will be in
conjunction with our fall training.
Tom Judge, FASFAA President
2006 Fall Conference-“FASFAA: 40 and Still Going
Strong”
FASFAA held its fall
conference at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort & Spa in
The 2006-2007 FASFAA board
conducted a board meeting prior to the conference on Monday, September 25.
2007 Spring Conference
FASFAA will conduct its
spring conference from May 23-25 at the Tampa Waterside Marriott. Special activities are being planned for this
event to culminate the 40th anniversary year of the association.
Additional Activities
Regional workshops have been
held in the six FASFAA regions during the fall. Spring regional workshops are
being planned, along with various sector and administrator level activities.
Information will be available at www.fasfaa.org
on all future FASFAA events.
The 2006-2007 FASFAA board
will be conducting their next board meeting on Friday, November 10 at the Hyatt
Regency Jacksonville Riverfront. Topics
on the tentative agenda include: Finalizing 2007-2008 candidate slate;
discussion of treasurer-elect position; discussion of institutional membership
dues; MyRichUncle concerns.
“Be Cool, Go To School” Campaign
FASFAA is teaming with the
Florida Department of Education in contacting over 240,000 eighth graders in
the state on the merits of an education and the possibilities for going to
college and obtaining financial aid to finance the costs. A brochure is being
developed and will be available in late November or early December for mailing.
Early Returns on 2006-2007 Year
FASFAA continues to be a
strong association but we are concerned about future fiscal challenges,
convincing individuals to run for elected office positions, and the impacts of
the upcoming elections (new governor in
Kim Jenerette, SCASFAA President
SCASFAA and NCASFAA will be
hosting a joint fall conference on November 6-8 at the Grove Park Inn and Spa
Resort in
The Professional Development
Committee, chaired by Jeff Holliday, hosted the HERA Training (ED presentation)
on October 19th. This
training was well attended and the workshop was very organized. The New Aid Officers Workshop is scheduled
for November 13th-14th, and the de-centralized training
on December 5th. Also in the
works is a possible Guidance Counselor Workshop (to be hosted throughout the
state).
The Nominations and Elections
Committee, chaired by Nancy Garmroth, has
disseminated volunteer forms to the membership as we seek candidates for 07-08
slots. The N/E committee will meet in
December to determine candidates.
Special Projects, chaired by
Tabatha McAlister, is gathering information regarding the possibility of SCAFAA
instituting the office of Chair-Elect.
Knowing the importance of this position and fiscal integrity, we
recognize the lead of many sister states and desire to
move forward in implementing the best possible means and service to our
constituency.
The Diversity Committee,
Chaired by Dr. Em McNair, have a session in place for the CASFAA conference
(NCASFAA.SCASFAA). The committee is
also planning a diversity session for next winter/spring.
The Advisory Committee to CHE
met on September 18th.
Chaired by Elizabeth Milam-Lomas, the committee’s first meeting sought
to ensure proper communication and means by which CHE can work closer with
SCASFAA to allow for better understanding of processes and proper understanding
of regulatory information.
The Electronic Services
Committee, chaired by Keith Reeves, continues to move forward to implementing
the SCASFAA website via ATAC. The
SCASFAA Board decided to go with most of the offerings for this integration.
The South Carolina Student
Loan Corporation recently presented $3MM to two different agencies within the
state. $2MM is earmarked for public
institutions while the balance for private schools. We are very grateful to the Corporation for
their benevolent gift as it assists our students in their educational
endeavors.
The full committee of the 06-07 SCASFAA Board can be found at www.scasfaa.org.
Janette Overton, TASFAA President
The TASFAA fall conference was held October
22 through October 24. The theme was “Journey to Change: New
Programs ... New Challenges ... New Opportunities.” It was held at the Franklin Cool Springs
Marriott in
HERA training was offered by the Department of Education on October 24 at
the Cool Springs Marriott. Approximately
275 were registered to attend.
John Norrell with Nelnet
is the TASFAA Training Chair. He
attended the NASFAA Training of Trainers in
Training has been set up in every district for High School Counselors and
Vocational Rehabilitation personnel. These sessions will be held in
December. The goal is to educate them on
the changes to the 2007-08 FAFSA and inform them of the TSAC (state) programs.
Lunch will be provided to all participants.
TASFAA is working with TSAC in setting up institutional sites for College
Goal Sunday. Currently there are 32
sites hosting this event. It is
scheduled for February 18, 2007. Last year CGS was offered at less than 20
institutions.
It has been the practice to offer a (1) one day New Aid Officer Training
Session at both the fall and spring conferences. A decision was made in the October board
meeting to change this. Beginning in
January the training chair along with the district chairs are setting up (1)
one day NAO training sessions in each district.
In lieu of NAO training at the spring conference a mid level training
will be offered.
The Association Governance
Committee is looking into guidelines to set up a Nondiscrimination Membership
Policy and setting up guidelines for use of TASFaa
credit cards. The
committee is also reviewing the
Policy and Procedure Manual to update job descriptions as needed.
Erik Melis, VASFAA President
VASFAA's trek into new
frontiers continues to move boldly forward… we’ve explored new worlds, changed
crew members, and have continued in pursuit of our galactic goals…
Erik Melis, VASFAA President,
along with Brad Barnett, Past President, and Barry Simmons, State Relations
Co-chair, had the opportunity to meet with Dr. Tom Morris,
The 2006-07
VASFAA Board had its first
official board meeting on August 16th.
In keeping with our theme to trek boldly into “new” frontiers, this
meeting was conducted entirely by teleconference.
The Board voted to renew its
contract with NASFAA and LearnStudentAid.org to garner a discount for any
VASFAA members who wish to participate in LearnStudentAid.org training
opportunities.
The VASFAA Board voted
unanimously to end our business relationship with MyRichUncle (MRU) until such
time as MRU retracted its remarks about the profession and demonstrated that it
had abandoned its current marketing strategy which seemed to involve enhancing
their market share on the backs and reputations of the financial aid
community. Erik Melis, VASFAA President,
drafted and sent a letter to the CEO of MyRichUncle detailing the action VASFAA
was taking.
Due to a change in
employment, VASFAA’s Secretary had to resign.
The President, with her gracious consent, appointed the prior Secretary,
Jeanne Holmes, to serve the remainder of the Secretary’s term.
The VASFAA Board had its Fall meeting in
Meeting one of our main goals
for 2006-07, VASFAA just concluded it’s first successful “consolidated“ Fall training event since going to a single yearly
conference. Three training events were
held concurrently at the
Other noteworthy committee
activities that are in progress include:
The Nominations Committee is
well on its way to having a complete slate of candidates for the 2007
election. The goal is to have multiple
candidates for every position and we are almost there.
The Awareness Committee has
made great progress in planning for the 2007 Super Saturday events. The committee is also to be actively involved
along with State Relations in trying to secure the standing proclamation for
Financial Aid Awareness Month in
The Conference Committee is
making great progress in planning a galactic conference event for 2007.
The Diversity Committee is
working hard to set up sessions and activities that will emphasize the diverse
nature of association.
The Federal Relations
Committee is monitoring congressional activity in anticipation of some movement
this year on reauthorization issues. There is also some work in progress to try
to arrange for congressional visits in
The Membership Committee is
actively working to increase the VASFAA membership by sending periodic updates
out to the listserv.
The New Century Fund
President's Council is actively soliciting applications for the New Century
Educational Endowment (Buddy) Awards.
The Newsletter Committee has
already published two issues of the VASFAA Voice Newsletter filled with interesting,
relevant and fun articles.
The Public Relations
Committee has been hard at work promoting the exciting things that VASFAA is
doing. The committee is also working with the President to send acknowledgment
and thank you letters out to volunteers and their supervisors.
The Secondary School
Relations Committee has set up 13 statewide high school guidance counselor
training workshops that will be held between November 14th and
December 15th.
The Site Selection Committee
is actively evaluating potential sites for the 2008 VASFAA Conference. Our 3-year contract with the Hilton
Oceanfront hotel ends with the 2007 conference.
The State Relations Committee
continues to monitor legislative activities related to financial aid and higher
education and is working closely with the Awareness Committee to try to get
legislation introduced and passed establishing a standing proclamation for
Financial Aid Awareness Month in the Commonwealth.
The Support Staff Training
Committee will be hosting two additional Fall Support Staff training workshops
in Northern Virginia on November 28th and in
The Training Committee has
been hard at work planning multi-faceted training opportunities for the 2007
conference.
The Vendor/Sponsor Committee
has secured significant sponsorship funding for 2006-07 and continues to work
on securing additional sponsorship.
Thanks go out to all the
board members, committee chairs and, especially, all the members that have
stepped forward as volunteers on various VASFAA committees. None of the amazing tasks that are underway
could be done without the selfless commitment of all of those who have agreed
to give their time and resources to serve the association.
There are other exciting
things still coming this fall besides those that already mentioned. VASFAA President will be attending the joint
NCASFAA/SCASFAA conference at the Grove Park Inn in
VASFAA is excited about what
has already happened this year and we are looking forward to everything yet to
come. Let the voyage continue, or as
Jean Luc Picard would say, “ENGAGE!”
COMMITTEE REPORTS
ATTACHMENT C
AdHoc Conference Manual Committee
Janet Sain, Chair
GAP56: (05-06)
Develop Master Conference Manual to include Site Selection requirements for
annual conference, NAOW and Mid-Level, Hotel contracts, Local Arrangements, and
all annual conference aspects.
Activity: Meeting has been set for December 1-3 at the
Cool Springs Marriott in
The
chair visited the NASFAA website to secure the rules and regulations to submit
the manual as a regional award consideration. The application and rules will be
sent to each committee member prior to their meeting in December.
Diversity Committee
Janet Sain, Chair
GAP14: (05-06)
The Conference, Diversity, Newsletter and Membership committees should continue
to be represented by every SASFAA state.
Activity: Each state is represented on the Diversity
committee. There are representatives from 4yr public, 4 yr private, community
college, proprietary, lender and agency on the committee. The committee
includes 8 females and one male, and a mixture of African-Americans, Caucasians
and Hispanic ethnic backgrounds.
GAP44: (05-06)
Utilize local student’s perspective in Diversity Committee as success story for
annual conference.
Activity: The TN representative on the committee will be
soliciting student success candidates from TASFAA member schools via the
listserv, TASFAA Board members, etc. The TN representative on the conference
committee has recommended a current student from her institution and will be
contacting her to confirm her participation.
The Diversity committee met
in
The items discussed included:
General Session Speaker:
Sharon Oliver from NCCU
had heard and recommended Sarita Brown who is President of Excelencia
in Education since she thought she did a great
job for the UNC Diversity workshop back last year. The chair went to the
website and read a bunch of the articles and history in relation to Ms. Brown
and her organization. They corresponded, found that she was available during
the conference dates and penciled in the Tuesday date until the committee had a
chance to meet and agreed to ask her formally. She has agreed to do the
general session as well as an interest session. Her charges are $5000 plus
travel and room. LaShanda Chamberlain from
Interest Sessions:
The committee discussed
several topics for the four interest sessions. The areas that were agreed
to be developed were: “Cultural Differences”-Dee Talley is the lead,
“Undocumented individuals/Citizenship Issues”-Caren
Stewart is the lead, “Resources for FAA on the Hispanic/Latino Student”-Em
McNair and Charlene Morgan are the leads, “Latino Youth Forum”-lead by Terry
Jeffries and Steve Woodson. Brent then shared that our NASFAA visitor has a
session she is presenting for TASFAA and was willing to do for SASFAA. The
committee is trying to hook up Linda and Sarita for that session. If that
doesn’t work out, the committee will ask Sarita to do a Q&A for her
interest session. The committee members would act as the moderators for these
four sessions and are responsible for getting AV needs, bio’s, presentations,
etc from each presenter.
Salsa Dance:
The committee was really
gung-ho on this idea. They made several suggestions. One being that an
authentic Hispanic dance troupe dressed in traditional garb that would showcase
several dances for the members at around 8pm during the President’s reception.
There is a group that Christy Barbo knows and they include youngsters and
adults who have already said they can do it that Sunday night. We would give
them a small honorarium. Then she knows some dance instructors who can show us
how to do some of the more popular dance moves and then have those dancers go
out in the audience and have folks try it out as well. Christy is the lead on
this. We wanted to start it at 8 so that we can end by 9:30 and let folks have
time to go out and still explore Nashville if they want. We would need a stage
and some AV equipment for piping in the music and mike for the instructors.
Opening session:
The committee has requested a
surprise from Brent for the Opening session so the attendees can get a flavor
of the theme. The committee also agreed to dress in traditional Spanish
garb for this session and the reception and dance lessons.
Student Success Speakers:
The committee would like two.
One hopefully during the Opening session and then the other
one somewhere else during the conference depending on their availability.
Sara Reese from Aquinas has a female student in mind already and Christy who is
the lead on this will get in contact with her. They are also hoping to get a
male as the other speaker.
Spanish forms/handouts and Resource on the Web:
The committee wanted to
display FA forms that are already available in Spanish from schools in our
region on a table in the vendor area. Maybe next to the SASFAA tables. All the committee members are soliciting
these forms from their states via their listservs.
They would then make them available during the conference. Then take some and
post them on the website as our Spanish resource page. The chair will also be
asking all the lenders who will be exhibiting to send one of their
brochures/charts/handouts they use in their schools that are in Spanish so they
can be added to the display table and list them as resources on the web.
Charlene Morgan is also creating a list of websites that can be used as
resources for the website. The committee also agreed to have Em/TG create a
commonly used FA terminology chart in Spanish to be distributed in conference
bags.
Next Meeting:
Scheduled
for December 9th in
Budget and Finance Report
Clark Aldridge, Chair
LP 63
The Budget and Finance
Committee met in
Clark Aldridge Chase
Deloris Bright
Randy Craig Chase
Richard Hawkshead Georgia Student Finance Commission
Chris Tolson
The Committee reviewed the
following:
Miscellaneous Expense Claims
Travel Expense Claims
Complementary Registrations
Memberships Records
Conference Records and
registration
Certificates of Deposit
Contracts
The associations IRS 990
Insurance Policies
General compliance with the
SASFAA Policies and Procedures
Income and expenditures
The Committee is currently
compiling its report that will be presented at the Feb. SASFAA Board
meeting. At that time, the Committee
will make some recommendations for changes to the P&P.
The Committee noted how well
organized the records were which made the review process much easier.
GAP 72
A subcommittee of the Budget
and Finance Committee has been appointed to finalize plans for the SASFAA
Endowment. Members of the subcommittee
are:
Richard Hawkshead Lead
Delores Bright
Chris Tolson
The subcommittee is charged
with recommending an investment strategy, account setup and controls, Treasurer
responsibilities, a mechanism to allow for donations
from individuals and other to the fund.
The recommendations will be
presented at the June meeting of the Board.
PP 6.32, PP 6.38
Based on an analysis of the
cash on hand and in the savings account and in consultation with the Treasurer
I recommend that SASFAA purchase an additional Certificate of Deposit of $
65,000. This purchased should be designated
as part of the SASFAA “Endowment” and revenue from this CD is dedicated to
carrying the objects identified in the Long Range Plan adopted June 2006.
Newsletter Editor Report
Sharon Oliver, Chair
GAP 31: (05-06) Follow publication time frame
throughout the year.
Activity: The fall newsletter was published in October
17, 2006.
GAP81: (05-06) The
publication of the Newsletter in PDF format for ease of printing for those
members who prefer this method and increase membership readership. Suggest
sending email to listserv with link to downloadable format.
Activity: Published Newsletter in html and PDF formats
which included an option to download and print newsletter. There were problems encountered with
delivering the PDF format of the newsletter due to the size of the file. To increase the download speed, the PDF file
with delivered in two links.
LP35 and PP 6.121: Email newsletter reminders to
the SASFAA board, committee chairs and membership to solicit articles for the
newsletter; state newsletter chairs will be asked to submit an article from
their newsletter; establish a movers and shakers section in the newsletter.
Activity: Email reminders were sent to the SASFAA
board, committee chairs and membership to solicit articles for the fall
newsletter. A few announcements were
placed in the movers and shakers section.
Reminders were also sent to sponsors to obtain ads.
PP 6.125: Newsletter will be posted on website by ATAC.
Activity: ATAC sent an email notice and posted the fall
newsletter to SASFAA’s website on Oct. 17th.
PP 6.128: Coordinate with Vendor/Sponsor Chair ads
published in the Newsletter; forward vendors and sponsors interested in
advertising in the Newsletter to the Vendor/Sponsor Chair.
Activity: The Vendor/Sponsor Chair provided a list of
sponsors for the previous year. An email
was sent to all sponsors who did not purchase ads for the new fiscal year for
the newsletter. There were several
responses received from sponsors and the deadline was extended for ads to
accommodate new sponsors. Also, an Ad
Confirmation is provided to each sponsor within 24 hours after purchasing ad
validating the ad size and number of editions.
The format for ads and the deadline dates are also included on the Ad
Confirmation.
PP 6.129: Vendors and Sponsors who choose Option #2
Newsletter Advertising on the Sponsorship Form ads will be published in the
newsletter either quarterly or per selected issue.
Activity: All sponsors who purchased ads prior to
publishing the newsletter were included in the Fall
newsletter. Additional ads that have
been purchased since the fall newsletter was released will appear in the Winter newsletter.
The Newsletter Committee
would like to recommend to the board that ATAC publish the SASFAA Newsletter in
a PDF format instead of html. Changing
the format will provide a state of the art newsletter that is not only
professional, but also easy to download and print. The change from html to PDF
will increase cost by approximately $150 to $200 per edition based on the
number of pages, photos and ads. ATAC
indicated that the cost for publishing the Fall 2006
newsletter in a PDF format would have been $485.
ATAC Cost for Delivering the Newsletter
in HTML and PDF
|
DESCRIPTION |
HTML |
PDF |
|
20 Pages & 5 photos |
$200 |
$325 |
|
Photos |
$5 |
$7 each |
|
Ads |
$10 |
$10 each |
Newsletter Contents
We appreciate the timely
submission of articles for board members.
Thank you very much for your contribution and each article added value
to the fall newsletter. The next newsletter
shall include news of interest to student aid administrators including
professional development information and events pertaining to aid
administrators in the SASFAA region. The
newsletter shall contain the following items:
Newsletter Deadline
The winter edition of the
newsletter is due in December. The
deadline for articles is November 10,
2006. All submissions (articles,
ads) should be provided to the Newsletter Editor, Sharon Oliver, at soliver@nccu.edu. Materials
should be sent as a word attachment, new times roman font, 10 pitch, and third
person.
Legislative Affairs Committee Report
Bill Spiers, Chair
Summary of Activities
GAP 38: (05-06) Provide alerts via the listserv of
reauthorization issues, legislative concerns and any other issues pertinent to
the financial aid community including all educational institutions, lenders,
and services.
Activity: Email alert to members reminding them to
respond to HERA Interim Final Regulations.
A letter was written for
Board approval at this meeting which was forwarded to USDE. The basic contents of the letter were shared
with the membership to help form their response to HERA.
The membership was notified
of several important articles concerning financial aid.
The Legislative Committee has
worked with the Electronic Services Committee to implement links on the SASFAA
website so members can respond to legislative issues electronically from the
SASFAA Webpage. This will allow members
to review the SASFAA Legislative Guide prior to submitting their responses.
While this activity will
occur prior to the Board meeting, it hasn’t actually occurred at this
point. I will represent the SASFAA
Legislative Committee and President Tener will represent SASFAA at he upcoming
public hearings. I will produce a list
of issues to be used. The list of issues
and a verbal update will be given at the Board meeting.
GAP.39: (05-06) Keep state legislative
representatives as active and involved members of the committee. Consider using alternative members instead of
automatically using state legislative chairs as committee members. Solidify that members comprising the
committee are able to commit to the responsibilities associated with being the
state representative on the committee.
Solicit additional volunteers to consider from the State Presidents.
Activity: A conference call with the Legislative
Affairs Committee was held on Friday, October 20, 2006. A review of activities was held, and plans
were developed. At this time the
committee is implementing the Legislative Reading Digest again, made plans to
review and revise where appropriate the Legislative Guide, and made plans to
develop a Guide for Visiting with Legislators and Staff. Each committee member will have part in this
activity, which will involve all of the state legislative representatives.
Future Plans
The Legislative Affairs
Committee will continue to monitor legislation, NPRM, reauthorization, and
other legislative activity. In addition,
the Committee will ensure the continued accuracy of the SASFAA Legislative and
Guide and begin production of a Guide for Visiting with Legislators and Staff,
which will hopefully be ready for approval prior to the end of this year. This guide will be used next year when SASFAA
members will make visits to Capitol Hill.
Site Selection Report
Ron Gambill, Chair
Summary of Activities
PP 6.151: Provide site
selection guidelines to state presidents at the July/August Board meeting.
Activity: Provided the
basic facility guidelines at the August 5 Board meeting.
PP 6.152: Solicit from
each state president a conference site proposal that includes tentative meeting
dates and facility requirements.
Activity: Contacted
Runan Pendergrast to determine if
GAP 57: (05-06)
Provide training opportunities on site selection procedures and contract
negotiations at the state level.
Including how to read and understand hotel contracts utilized for annual
conferences and state meetings.
Activity: The Site
Selection Chair conducted a training session for state presidents during the
August 6 Board meeting.
Discussion
The
Site Selection Committee will focus on the State of
Site
Selection assisted with arrangements for three committee meetings and has
scheduled the first Executive Board location for the 2007-08 Board at the
Crystal City Hyatt. Additional 2007-08
Executive Board meetings are being planned.
The
contract for the 2007 New Aid Officer’s Workshop was reviewed at the request of
Sandy Neel, SASFAA Vice President.
Committee Appointment
Based
on the recommendation of Runan Pendergrast, Executive Board approval is
requested for David Cecil to serve on the Site Selection Committee for 2006-07.
Sponsorship Committee
Keith Reeves, Chair
Code Number GAP 33:
Have Sponsorship and
Advertising (newsletter and banner ads) forms available on the sasfaa.org
within seven days after first board meeting.
Activity:
Appropriate
individuals have been contacted to provide update information. Mark up of the 05-06 form will be completed
following this Board meeting and forwarded to ATAC for posting. – Completed.
Sponsorship for this joint
meeting of the Executive Board and the Conference Committee include the
following:
Hospitality – National Education
Friday Dinner – edamerica/edsouth
Saturday Breakfast – Bank of
Saturday Morning Break –
Saturday Lunch – KeyBank
Saturday Afternoon Break – Sallie Mae
Saturday Dinner – College Loan Corporation
Sunday Breakfast – Student Capital Corporation
Budget Goal
The 2006-07 budget goal for
sponsorship, excluding advertising, is $160,000, which represents a slight
increase over 2005-06. Conference
sponsorship in
The budget for advertising income has been set
at $47,000, which includes banner advertising on the web and newsletter
ads. To date, commitments for banner ads
stands at $22,800 while Newsletter ads stands at $19,840 for a total of
42,640. Minimal increases in these
figures are anticipated for the remainder of the budget year.
Note to Board
All Committee Chairs are
reminded that all requests for support for various meetings should be made
through the Sponsorship Chair in order for the sponsors to receive proper
credit.
Membership Committee
Soraya Welden, Chair
GAP 17:
(05-06) Change the membership stats to percentages so that smaller states have
a chance to win the membership participation in the “friendly competition” race
conducted throughout the year in hopes of increasing membership in SASFAA.
Activity:
Our friendly state membership competition will compare 2006 membership numbers
to the 2005 numbers. The state with the
highest percentage increase as of
GAP 20:
(05-06) Have ATAC a report that shows the non-specified members and work to
clean up the non-specified membership by institution type which is currently
noted as 264 of them on the membership statistics. On the
membership/registration form, if the school is not listed, it won’t link the
person’s name with the institution type and thus gives us non-specified stats
which is misleading. Also add school type along with a
new school name or school that is not already in the database. Recommend adding
vendor/other than lender category under membership.
Activity: Currently there are 59 members not specified by institution type and 87 by affiliation type. Paula Gordon with ATAC sent the chair a list of these members.
·
The members with a membership end date of
· With assistance from the membership committee, 26 members with an institution not specified have been matched with their appropriate institution. There are 11 members’ institutions that are not listed and 22 who can not be matched or assigned based on the information we have. An email will be sent to these 22 members whose appropriate organization can not be determined, asking them to update their profile. If they are not a current member however, they can not update their profile until they renew. The chair can update this for them as needed.
· Paula is also sending a list, by November 1st, to the chair of those members who have duplicate records. The chair will identify the records that need to be deleted and send that file back for ATAC to delete the duplicate records.
GAP 21:
(05-06) Pursue concept of zero fee membership (such as TASFAA) to increase
membership for those individuals whose institutions do not pay for individual membership
fees. Membership in state association would provide
automatic membership into SASFAA thus increasing state memberships. Increase
SASFAA Annual Conference registration $25 to cover the costs.
Activity: The membership dues data for 40 state associations and 6 regional associations (including SASFAA) was collected. There were 9 associations where the dues structure could not be determined. The 40-state average was $ 39 and the regional average was $ 45. SASFAA is below the state and regional averages. TN is the only association found who does not assess membership dues. Janette Overton, the TN Association President and Laura Land, the TN Association Membership Chair was sent an email inquiring about the TN zero fee change.
LP 17:
Explore additional membership categories such as associate (non-voting)
membership for former aid administrators, students, guidance counselors, or
others.
Activity: In researching state association dues, it was found that several states have multiple member categories. Most (if not all) still required a fee for any category, even if the category was classified as “non-voting”. The majority of state associations have individual membership and only one type of membership. Other membership types identified include: institutional, regular, associate, voting, retired and student.
Membership dues
Issues within this topic:
· Should dues be charged at all?
· If so, should we collect them only at conference or other SASFAA events?
· If so, should we change the membership year to Jan 1- Dec 31? (Consider this either way)
· Should all members be charged the same amount? (if structure is changed)
· Doesn’t SASFAA already have the option for members to pay dues separately or with conference registration?
· If no dues are assessed, is SASFAA willing/able to function with a decrease in annual revenue of approximately $38,000? Or would the cost be added elsewhere?
Membership
structure
Issues within this topic:
Feedback from
Forrest Stuart, the 05-06
TASFAA President, provided some insight to the zero-fee dues structure adopted
by TASFAA.
TN
had considered the idea of an institutional membership for some time, but could
not come up with a good dues structure.
They wanted a way for a person to be a member with out having to pay
out-of-pocket. TN has three membership
statuses: Voting, Associate and Honorary. Only “voting” members can vote. Each person has to join through normal
membership process each summer, answering questions that determine type of
membership. The only issues so far are
the logistics involved in determining who is a voting, associate or honorary
member. The logic has to be in place for
ATAC to include the membership questions and for the membership chair to be
able to make a membership active. There
are no current concerns with lost revenue, however
bylaws provide option of instituting fees again if board sees the need. Conference fees have increased by about $20.
Membership stats
Total membership as of
October 27, 2006 is 827. This represents
an 8% increase over this time last year (765).
Current 2006-07 membership by
state and 2005-06 comparison:
|
State |
Current 2006-07* |
Prior 2005-06 |
Number Difference |
Percentage of 05-06 Reached |
|
|
32 |
85 |
53 |
37.65% |
|
|
180 |
290 |
110 |
62.07% |
|
|
103 |
189 |
86 |
54.50% |
|
|
66 |
96 |
30 |
68.75% |
|
|
41 |
71 |
30 |
57.75% |
|
|
109 |
234 |
125 |
46.58% |
|
|
81 |
119 |
38 |
68.07% |
|
|
82 |
144 |
62 |
56.94% |
|
|
99 |
193 |
94 |
51.30% |
*Membership totals as of
**
Agency Liaison Report
Mike Hawkes, Chair
Code
Number PP 6.174 - Request up-to-date information from each
agency and prepare a report for the SASFAA Board. The liaison is responsible for maintaining a
list of agency contacts and addresses and for passing the information to the
liaison's successor.
Activity: Made
initial e-mail request to state agency contacts on October 5; Sent reminder
e-mail on October 25; Updated contact list by adding a new contact for the
South Carolina Commission on Higher Education
Code
Number GAP80 - Continue use of NCHELP and NASSGAP reports
to be included in committee reports and ask State Presidents for help in
obtaining state agency reports for board meetings so that every state can be
guaranteed to be represented.
Activity:
Requested reports from NCHELP and NASSGAP; Copied State Presidents on
e-mails to agency contacts; Telephoned new NASSGAP President to explain
SASFAA’s interest in receiving reports from NASSGAP; Worked with Kim Jenerette
to secure a report from SCCHE
The following reports were submitted:
Agency Liaison
Once again, the Higher Education Act has been extended on a short-term basis. On
September 30 President Bush signed H.R. 6138, extending the Higher Education
Act through June 30, 2007.
Unlike previous extensions of the HEA,
this bill contains some changes to the law. These changes include:
•
Eliminates a two-year grace period for Hispanic-serving institutions to apply
for grants and repeals an existing law requiring those institutions to document
the number of low-income students they serve
•
Clarifies a change made by the Higher Education Reconciliation Act regarding
account maintenance fees paid to guaranty agencies
• Limits the
eligibility of lenders acting as trustees for institutions of higher education
(or organizations affiliated with those institutions) to make or hold loans.
This amendment would close a loophole that has permitted some schools to
circumvent the HEA restrictions on lending by schools.
•
Directs the Secretary to publish regulations that allow for the cancellation or
discharge of student loan indebtedness of spouses and parents of victims of the
September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Guaranty agencies have created a new web
site that allows users the ability to access the current electronic version of
the Common Manual. The web site can be accessed at www.commonmanual.org. The web site
allows users quick access to federal regulatory guidance and common guarantor
policies.
The web site houses the current electronic
version, 2006 Common Manual: Unified
Student Loan Policy. As changes are made to the 2006 Common
Manual, an updated integrated version of the manual or “ICM” will be added
to the site. The Common Manual continues to be available in the NCHELP
e-Library.
Guaranty agencies have also created a
college awareness and access web site as part of the College Access Initiative
(CAI). HERA added Section 485D to the
HEA, formalizing a role guaranty
agencies have been playing for years. The new site can be found at www.going2college.org, provides links
to college awareness and access information on a state-by-state basis.
Submitted by:
National Association of State Student Grant and Aid
Programs (NASSGAP)
NASSGAP celebrated its 40th
Anniversary in October at its fall conference in
Much effort has also been
given to developing the NASSGAP website which can be accessed at www.nassgap.org and to improving the annual NASSGAP
Survey. With the development of a Custom Query Tool, NASSGAP members as well as
researchers can now produce statistical reports based on any data element of
the survey.
Submitted by: Mary Ann Welch,
President
National Council of Higher Education Loan Programs
(NCHELP)
Despite
being a Baseball Hall of Famer, more people remember
Yogi Berra for his quotes rather than his performance on the field. Two of his memorable quips “it ain’t over till it’s over” and “when you reach a fork in
the road – take it” pretty much sum up the current state of play within the
Beltway.
By
some accounts, we should now be working on the 2008 Reauthorization of the
Higher Education Act (HEA). I guess in essence we are, but it is more the
“leftovers” from the 2003 Reauthorization, the parts of the HEA that were not
included the Higher Education Reconciliation Act (HERA). While the federal student loan programs have
been reauthorized until 2012, it was not for the noble purposes that these
programs fulfill but for the $12 billion in cuts that was dedicated to reducing
the federal deficit. Some valiant
attempts have been made to complete the remaining portions of the HEA, but
these have been unsuccessful and current prognostications range from
consideration during the early portion of the 110th Congress next
January, to sometime in the first quarter of 2009 after the dust settles from the
2008 Presidential and Congressional elections.
Under
different times, a case could be made that waiting until 2009 to complete the
Reauthorization of the HEA would be beneficial. It would provide a reasonable
amount of time to develop new proposals that would achieve the ultimate goal of
the federal student aid programs – to increase access and persistence for
individuals that are seeking a postsecondary education. And, the economy could
improve enough by then to allow “new” funding for these programs. The new grant programs enacted as part of the
HERA are being funded by recycling monies from the Federal Family Education
Loan Program (FFELP).
The
higher education loan community rightfully believes that it has given and given and that additional Congressional
action that would further reduce the funds available to the FFELP will result
in a reduction of borrower benefits and services that students, borrowers and
schools have become accustomed to receive.
Thus, there is an underlying fear that we are entering an era of “do-overs” and that any legislative action over the next few
years would build upon the FFELP cuts contained in the HERA.
There
has not been much evidence to suggest that there will be a “better world” after
the November 2006 or 2008 elections. At this stage in the election cycle, we
hear little more than sound bites made by the leadership of both parties. The parties maintain that expanding the
current majority, or changing the majority, will result in a better
nation. Over the past two decades, the
higher education loan community has suffered equally, regardless of the party
controlling the Congressional or administrative branches of government.
The
current legislative stagnation is also evident outside of higher education. The
reauthorization of elementary and secondary school legislation, “No Child Left
Behind,” looks like it is headed to a series of time-controlled extensions with
full consideration “sometime in the future.”
About
six months ago, Charlie Cook predicted that 20 House contests were up for grabs
and that in order for Democrats to take control of the House they would have to
pretty much “run the table.” This figure
has since increased to about 40 seats, which lowers the percentage of seats
necessary to change control to about 1:2.
This development has contributed to legislative gridlock and to the
strong rhetoric between the parties. As
the nation approaches the November election, this partisan tone should
increase. It’s also telling that recently there has been comment from the 9-11
Commission on how Congress has failed to adopt many of their recommendations –
even the ones that were reported to have strong bipartisan support.
In
brief, legislative activity resembles a rapid series of “fire drills.” We can
expect that bills will be introduced that would “take from Peter to pay Paul”
or, in terms we might identify with more closely, “take from FFELP to pay
federal student aid programs.”
At
the same time, and regardless of the results of the 2008 Presidential election,
there will be a new administration in a couple of years and this will result in
significant changes within the Department of Education. As we are in the final two years of a second
term, long-standing colleagues will begin to search out new opportunities. This happens at a critical time as rulemaking
from the HERA is already in progress.
Perhaps
another sign that a change in administration is not too distant in the future
is the influence of other Department of Education offices. We have seen greater involvement of the
Office of General Counsel and Office of Inspector General, both at the member
and association level.
The
entire higher education community will need to work together during the
uncertain times that are ahead. We may
not know when it is over till it is over, and in all probability we will take
every fork in the road to determine if it’s the best route for students and
schools.
Submitted
by: Brett E. Lief, President
No report submitted.
Kentucky Higher Education
Assistance Authority, designated guarantor for
No report submitted.
State
Student Financial Aid 2006-07 Academic/Budget Year:
·
14.6% overall increase to financial aid programs from $527 million to
$604 million.
·
The Florida Bright Futures Medallion Scholarship merit program,
augmented the award amount from 75% to 100% tuition and fees for associate
students attending a public community college.
Initial disbursements indicate there will be a shift in attendance
behavior towards the community colleges; especially among the entering
freshman.
·
The First Generation Matching Grant for students attending state
universities are receiving need based funds up to their cost of
attendance. Institutions must match the
state dollars with private donation dollars dedicated for this program.
·
Florida DOE received grant of $1,000,000 with a requisite 20% match of
institutional funds for students to earn a Commercial Motor Vehicle Driver’s
License.
·
Submitted by: Theresa Antworth, Director of Scholarship
and Grant Programs
Web Enhancements
OSFA has added three
additional reports to its Online Student Loan Reports product for schools and
is currently working on a version for use by lenders. Additionally, lenders can now access
information from OSFA’s system via the Web.
Default Prevention News
OSFA, in conjunction with its
Default Prevention program – Navigating Your Financial Future, recently
released a new Entrance/Exit Counseling DVD for school use. The DVD is available in three languages,
English, Spanish and Creole.
Cohort Default Rate
OSFA’s official cohort
default rate dropped this year from 8.7% to 8.6%, while the national rate
increased from 4.5% to 5.1%. We are
proud of the work we have done in the area of Default Prevention and feel that
our proactive approach has enabled us to decrease our rate despite the rise in
the national average.
High School Guidance
Counselor Training
In the spirit of the College
Access Initiative, OSFA is in the preliminary stages of creating a training
program specifically for high school guidance counselors. This program is designed to assist them in
their work with students with respect to financial aid programs and increase
their familiarity with the financial aid process in general.
Submitted by: Kelly Harrison,
Director, Training and Development
Georgia Student Finance
Commission
Transcript Exchange Process
In 2004, the
This has involved months of
planning by GSFC, followed by more months working closely with schools and
school systems. With approximately 600 public and private HOPE-eligible high
schools, 80,000 graduating seniors, 50 plus grading systems, and three dozen different School Information Systems (SIS) in use,
the task of training school personnel and providing appropriate technology to
augment each SIS is huge. GSFC will Beta test the process before the end of
2006 and do a preliminary calculation of GPAs in February 2007. When year-end
grades are assigned in May and June, GSFC will make final calculations and,
after results are certified by each school, announce which seniors are HOPE
eligible.
There’s a big added value to
all this. Soon, GSFC will be able to draw the transcript information from the
GAcollege411 database, and organize that information into the Georgia Standard
High School Transcript. Then, a student will be able to go to GAcollege411,
apply online to any
GAcollege411 Update
Georgia HERO Scholarship
Update
In September,
"GSFC and
Mapping-Your-Future have a long and productive relationship," Connell
said. "I am honored to be elected to the MYF Board and enthusiastic about
the opportunity to have an impact on this important organization's future
endeavors."
Submitted
by:
Student Aid
The Kentucky Higher Education
Assistance Authority (KHEAA) disbursed nearly $178 million in student aid in FY
2006. Of the $178 million disbursed, $170 million was in need-based grants and
merit-based Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarships (KEES). These programs
were funded by Kentucky Lottery proceeds. The Student Loan People provided $4.7
million in supplemental funding for state student aid.
First quarter FY 2007 student
aid expenditures totaled $74 million (39% of $190 million appropriated); this
compares to first quarter 2006 expenditures of $71.3 million (39% of $181
million).
KEES Report on Out-of-State
Expansion
The 2006 Kentucky General
Assembly approved House Resolution 323, which requires KHEAA to study the
impact of allowing students to use KEES awards at out-of-state postsecondary
institutions that have reciprocal tuition agreements with
Student Financial Aid Data
Report
A new KHEAA Reports, titled
"Student Financial Aid Data Report, 1990-91 through 2004-05 Academic
Years," is available at http://www.kheaa.com/serv_reports.html.
This edition focuses on KHEAA-administered student financial aid programs for
Outreach Activities
In FY 2006, Outreach staff
participated in 537 exhibits, conducted 768 presentations, and
distributed nearly 600,000 college planning and financial aid materials
across the state. Staff visited each of
GoHigherKY.org Update
An
Individual Learning Plan (ILP) is being developed by Kentucky Department of
Education (KDE) and will be implemented later this fall. GoHigherKY
is a master website for all
postsecondary education in
A
process is being created that will enable students to electronically send their
high school transcripts to colleges along with their application. We are
presently working with two pilot high schools and the
Guarantee Volume
KHEAA guarantee volume
increased from $1.2 billion in FY 2005 to $1.4 billion in FY 2006.
KHEAA’s
Default Aversion
KHEAA ended FY 2006 with just
a little over a 50% Default Aversion Recurrence Rate. The default aversion
recurrence rate measures how successful KHEAA is in preventing a loan from
becoming delinquent for a second time.
Submitted by: Crystal Dempsey-Gillum, Information
Officer
USA Funds, designated guarantor for
Grant supports
college-planning Web site
USA Funds® awarded
an $80,000 grant to develop a Web site that will help
The Web site will serve as a
clearinghouse of information specific to education on a state and national
level. Although middle- and high-school students and their parents are the
primary target audience, the site also will offer information for school
counselors, elementary-school students, college students and adult learners.
The site is scheduled to be
launched in 2007.
Scholarship applications
available in December
USA Funds announced that it
will accept applications online beginning Dec. 15 for $3.2 million in USA Funds
Access to Education Scholarships® to help low- and moderate-income
students pay college expenses during the 2007-2008 academic year.
Applications will be accepted
online at www.usafunds.org/scholarship from Dec. 15, 2006, through Feb. 15, 2007.
The program will assist
eligible students nationwide in achieving their higher-education goals by
awarding renewable scholarships to qualified students demonstrating financial
need. The program will award scholarships worth $1,500 for full-time
undergraduate, graduate and professional students, and half-time undergraduate
students.
Because
The scholarship program
awarded 340 new and renewal scholarships totaling $505,500 to deserving
college-bound students in
Submitted by: Louanne
Langston,
Vicky Keller,
Customer-relations Manager, USA Funds
Summary of 2005-06 Volume
During the 2005-06 year, the
grant and scholarships programs administered by the North Carolina State
Education Assistance Authority had an increase of 5% in the number of
recipients and 12% in funds awarded.
Loan volume also increased
with a 14.5% increase in the number of awards and 49% in the total funds
awarded, including consolidation loans.
Going2college.org
NCSEAA has submitted
information to the guaranty agency sponsored website, going2college.org. Since our agency’s information service,
CFNC.org, meets the requirements of HERA by providing college access
information to
Submitted by: Elizabeth
McDuffie, Director, Grants, Training and Outreach
The SC Tuition Grants Program
was enacted in 1970 by the SC General Assembly as a “need-based” program for
South Carolina residents attending in-state, independent colleges on a
full-time basis. In the current 2005-2006 school year, approximately $29.6
million was awarded to 11,940 students attending the 20 eligible SC independent
colleges. The maximum award for 2005-2006 was $2,600 and the average award was
approximately $2,400.
The 2006-2007 State
Appropriations bill recently passed by the 2006 South Carolina General Assembly
included a $3.7 million increase in Lottery funds to the SC Tuition Grants
Program. A proviso exempting the SC
Tuition Grants Program from mid-year state reductions was also included. The
$3.7 million increase enabled the Grants Commission to increase the previously
established 2006-2007 maximum grant of $2,800 by $300 to $3,100 at all 20 SC
independent colleges. Notices of the $300 increase were recently sent to all
eligible students.
The SCTG Commission
implemented electronic award notifications last year in cooperation with the SC
Student Loan Corporation. The experience has been very successful with faster
notification to the students and dollar savings from postage and labor.
The 2007-2008 state budget request was recently approved by the SC Tuition Grants
Commission for submission to the State Budget Division. Sufficient funds to
increase the $3,100 maximum grant by the 2005 HEPI percentage (3.5% increase to $3,200) were requested by the commission.
Submitted by: Edward M.
Shannon, Executive Director
South Carolina Student Loan Corporation, designated
guarantor for
Loan Volume
It was another busy season
for loan originations. Loan approvals
increased 16.31% during FY 2006.
Financial Aid Outreach
We continue to support the high school
guidance counselors with our quarterly newsletter that went out in
September. In addition we have published
and are providing to each high school a copy of "Are You Ready?" our
guide to planning and paying for college.
This publication will also be available electronically on our web
site. We have also supplied them with a
new publication we call, "Making Higher Education Possible" which is
a resource guide for Guidance Counselors with information on the federal and
state financial aid programs as well as contact information for the programs
and all SC colleges.
The 'College Night' season is just getting
started but already we have spoken to groups at four high schools and have more
than 12 scheduled over the next couple of months. In addition, we are again participating in the
Educational Opportunity College Days at over 98 high schools and sites across
the state.
Furthering Higher Education
On September 27, South
Carolina Student Loan presented a $1 million check to
Submitted by: David Roupe,
Vice President of Guaranty Services
Palmetto Fellows Scholarship
The Palmetto Fellows
Scholarship was developed to recognize the most academically talented
high school seniors in
For the 2005-2006 academic year, 4,273 students received the Palmetto Fellows
Scholarship at public and independent colleges and universities around the
state, totaling $13,895,704. Of students
earning the Palmetto Fellows Scholarship in the fall of 2004, 91.5 percent
retained their scholarship for the 2005-06 academic year.
LIFE Scholarship Program
Created by the South Carolina
General Assembly in 1998, the LIFE Scholarship is the largest scholarship
program administered by the SC Commission on Higher Education on behalf of the
State. Like most merit-based
scholarships, the LIFE Scholarship has a set of initial eligibility
requirements that must be met in order for students to be awarded the
Scholarship. Students must meet the following eligibility requirements: a
minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA on the S.C. Uniform Grading Scale; minimum 1100 SAT
or 24 ACT score; or rank in the top 30 percent of the graduating senior
class. Students can earn eligibility for
the LIFE Scholarship at four-year eligible public or independent institutions
by meeting two of the three eligibility criteria, and at two-year eligible
public or independent institutions in the state by meeting the
minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA requirement.
For the 2005-06 academic
year, 29,231 students across the state received financial assistance through the
LIFE Scholarship Program. The amount disbursed to students for LIFE
Scholarships during that time was $130,922,591.
Once students have been
awarded the LIFE Scholarship, they are required to also meet two continued
eligibility requirements to keep the Scholarship. Specifically, students are required to earn a
minimum 3.0 LIFE GPA as well as earn at least 30 credit hours by the end of
each academic year to maintain their eligibility. The LIFE GPA includes all grades and credit
hours earned by students at all eligible institutions both in-state and
out-of-state. Beginning with the 2006-07
academic year, the LIFE GPA must be calculated for all
students for the purpose of awarding the LIFE Scholarship.
SC
The SC HOPE Scholarship was
created in 2001 and implemented during the 2002-03 academic year for students
attending an eligible SC four-year institution who don’t qualify for the
Palmetto Fellows or LIFE Scholarships but graduate from high school with a
minimum 3.0 GPA. There is no application
for the SC HOPE Scholarship. Students who qualify will automatically be awarded
by the four-year institution that he or she attends.
The maximum award amount is
$2,650, and is awarded for the freshman year only. Half will be awarded during the fall semester
and half during the spring semester.
Students can only receive the SC HOPE Scholarship for their first two
terms of college at four-year institutions.
At the end of the freshman year, if a student earns a minimum 3.0 LIFE
GPA and a minimum of 30 credit hours, he or she will be able to receive the
LIFE Scholarship their sophomore year (and then their junior and senior year if
they continue to meet the eligibility requirements).
For the 2005-06 academic year, 2,613 students were awarded the SC HOPE Scholarship
for a total cost to the State of $6,260,001.
SC Need-based Grant
The SC
General Assembly established the South Carolina Need-Based Grant Program in
1996 to provide additional financial assistance to
For
the 15,282 students at public institutions receiving SC Need-based Grants in
2005-06, the average award received was $1,158.
The
SC Commission on Higher Education will request an additional $10 million for
the SC Need-based Grant Program during the 2007 Legislative Session.
SC Lottery Tuition Assistance
Program
The Lottery Tuition
Assistance Program (LTAP) was established in 2001 to provide tuition assistance
to students attending two-year institutions. Many of the students receiving
Lottery Tuition Assistance are non-traditional students choosing to update their
skills or to obtain their first degree. Also included in the LTAP population
are high school students who are dually enrolled in high school and in a
minimum of six hours of college credit at a two-year institution.
The Lottery Tuition Assistance Program is available
for students attending eligible two-year institutions in
In order to
apply for Lottery Tuition Assistance, students must complete the Free
Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or, if eligible, submit a FAFSA
waiver to the financial aid office at any eligible college in
For
the 2005-2006 academic year, 40,708 students received
South Carolina Lottery Tuition Assistance funding at eligible two-year
institutions around the state, totaling $43,724,999.
Submitted by: Dr. Karen
Woodfaulk, Director, Student Services
Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation
TSAC New Programs
TSAC is scheduled to host a
Lottery Scholarship Open Forum on November 21, 2006 to brainstorm ways that the lottery
scholarship procedures might be
simplified. Participants will include college financial aid officers,
high school counselors, legislators, legislative staff, and other interested
public officials.
Loan Division
TSAC’s loan division recently hosted a Default
Prevention Summit that brought
Compliance Division
Our next training workshop is
scheduled for December 8, 2007 at the TSAC office in
Submitted by: Robert Ruble, Executive Director
State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV)
No report submitted.
Educational
Credit Management Corporation (ECMC), designated guarantor for
College Access Initiative
ECMC joined with other
guarantors to create a college access and awareness web site – www.going2college.org. As designated
guarantor for
The College Access Initiative
also requires this information to be available in printed form. ECMC has
distributed almost 90,000 copies of “Opportunities”, an awareness publication
jointly sponsored by ECMC, SCHEV and VASFAA. Due to unprecedented demand, a
second printing of this publication is planned.
ECMC Foundation
The ECMC Foundation has
updated “Realizing the College Dream” to reflect changes contained in HERA. Developed for middle and high
school students and their parents, the guide conveys the value of higher
education and demystifies the process for first-generation college-going
students. The Virginia Department of Education partnered with ECMC Foundation
to train over 250
Federal Default Fee
On October 4, ECMC announced that it would continue to
pay the Federal default fee on behalf of students through the 2007-2008
academic year. The fee will be paid by ECMC regardless
of school type or lender selected. Previously, ECMC had committed to paying
this fee – rather than deducting it from borrowers’ loan proceeds – through
June 30, 2007. Based on ECMC’s financial strength, we have determined that we
can responsibly extend this benefit for an additional academic year. This means
ECMC will pay the Federal default fee for all applications received on or
before June 30, 2008.
Lender Liaison Report
Paul Mittelhammer, Chair
Code Number PP 6.92. Disseminate quality
information to enhance communications among members in a timely and
cost-efficient manner. Establish a means for obtaining information from member
lenders regarding concerns, issues or accomplishments.
Activity:
Code Number PP 6.94. Facilitate alliances
between and among various sectors and members of the financial aid community.
Inform the lending community of policy changes and actions taken by the SASFAA
Board.
Activity:
Code Number PP 6.95 The professional growth
and competencies of members are addressed by offering workshops, seminars,
meetings and other training opportunities.
Suggest lender topics for sessions and propose speakers for the annual
conference.
Department
of Education issues regulations on HERA provision for Loan programs on November
1, 2006. All changes are effective
December 1, 2006.
Active Military Deferment
Starting
with July 1, 2006, up to 3 years military deferment on loans first disbursed on
or after July 1, 2001.
Active
duty service during war or other military operation or during national
emergency (including qualifying National Guard)
Consolidation
Loan made on or after July 1, 2001 eligible if all underlying Title IV loans
eligible.
Eligibility
documentation includes military orders or commanding officer’s written
statement
DOE
working on deferment form and should have to OMB within the next 45-60 days
Annual Loan Limits
Loans disbursed after July 1, 2007
Undergraduate First year students from $ 2,625 to $
3,500
Undergraduate Second year students from $ 3,500 to $
4,500
Graduate annual unsubsidized loan limit from $ 10,000
to $ 12,000
Pre-Grad/Prof
and Teacher Certification increase annual unsubsidized from $ 5,000 to $ 7,000
Interest Rates
FFEL PLUS disbursed on or after July 1, 2006 fixed at
8.5%
DL PLUS disbursed on or after July 1, 2006 fixed at
7.9%
Consolidation Loan weighted average rounded up to 1/8
% capped at 8.25%
Origination Fees (
First disbursement on or after FFEL FDF Direct
July 1, 2006 2% 1.0% 3.0%
July 1, 2007 1.5% 1.0% 2.5%
July 1, 2008 1.0% 1.0% 2.0%
July 1, 2009 0.5% 1.0% 1.5%
July 1, 2010 0.0
% 1.0% 1.0%
FFEL requirement that 1.0%
Federal Default fee collected on all loans guarantee after 7/1/2006.
PLUS eligibility for Graduate
Students
FASFAA Required
No direct disbursement to student
Counseling strongly recommended
In school status if student is enrolled at least ½
time
Disbursement rule changes
Loan disbursement for withdrawals on or after 7/1/06
School
must confirm “need for/acceptance of/need to repay” before crediting or
disbursing
Confirmation
No response to notice does not allow crediting or
disbursing
Foreign Schools
School must request direct
disbursement to student
Lender or Guarantor must verify
student’s enrollment
No direct disbursement of Parent or
Grad PLUS
Study Abroad Programs through Home Institution
Student may request Direct
Disbursement by lender
Not subject to school request or
approval
Lender or Guarantor must verify
student’s enrollment
No direct disbursement of Parent PLUS
or Grad PLUS
Consolidation Loans
No reconsolidation of consolidation loan
No in school consolidations
No joint spousal consolidations
Elimination of single holder rule for loan
application on or after 6/15/2006
False Certification Discharge
Based on borrower being victim of crime of identity
theft
Application in FFEL to lender or guarantor; in DL to
DL servicer
Copy of local, state or federal court verdict or
judgment required
Rehabilitation of Defaulted
Loans
Number of on-time payments reduced from 12 to 9
“On-time” now within 20 days of due date
Completed within 10 consecutive moths
Loan Discharge for 911
Spouses and parents
Spouse of eligible public servant
Parent of eligible victim
Includes part of loan consolidation loan
Department working on specific form
Pending Forms from DOE
Revised
Revised Consolidation Loan Application and Promissory
Note
Military Deferment
Identity Theft Discharge