Report from the Conference Committee
Zita Barree, Chair

For those of you that attended, I hope you will agree with me that the 2004 SASFAA Conference held last month in Birmingham, Alabama, was a success! Almost 800 people were there over the four days.

An emphasis was placed on the conference theme “Access – the Key to Brighter Futures” in many of the conference activities. This began with the Financial Aid workshop sponsored by the Diversity Committee on Saturday before the conference where many local high school students and their families received great information and assistance from our very own SASFAA members. And who will ever forget the inspiring words we heard from our Opening Session speaker Wintley Phipps? The President’s Reception at the Birmingham Museum of Art allowed us to get out of the hotel for a little while and enjoy some great food and art. On Monday, the trip to the Civil Rights museum was sobering for many but again was a natural addition to our conference theme.

There were over 40 concurrent sessions offered and I heard they were very well received. The six tracks provided were: Department of Education, Diversity, New Aid Officer’s, Seasoned Administrators/Management Issues, Technology, and Focused Interest.

Our Tuesday night banquet had a different format this year but based on the number of people who stayed to the very end, was a nice change of pace for our group. The Gadsden State Community College Show Band was outstanding and Mike Harvey, the hypnotist was quite entertaining. Finally, the Washington Update by Dallas Martin on Wednesday morning along with a look at where we are with Reauthorization helped all of us prepare for the future of our profession.

I would like to thank everyone who had a part in making this conference as great as it could be: all Conference Committee members, including the superb ex-officios (list is provided in the Conference section of the SASFAA website); the Local Arrangements Committee chaired by Mike Reynolds and all those from Alabama who made us feel so welcomed; all vendors and sponsors who contributed not just dollars but their time and talents; everyone who served as a speaker or moderator; all our special guests, including those from NASFAA, other regional associations, and our general session speakers; Veal Convention Services for putting together one of the best exhibit spaces that SASFAA has ever had; the Department of Education for providing many excellent concurrent sessions, a Federal Update by Jeff Baker, and let’s not forget the Feds in the House act from Tuesday night with our very own Dave, Greg and Yolanda; and last but certainly not least, Ron Day, our SASFAA President, for providing great leadership and vision all throughout the year.

Finally, on a personal note, I would like to thank my husband, Michael, for hanging in there with me all through the year, through all the late nights and weekend work and for offering his feedback and guidance when needed.

Brent Tener, Vanderbilt University, will serve as your conference chair for the 2005 conference in Atlanta – please plan on not just attending the conference but offering to help in some way. Plans are already underway.