Report from Kentucky (KASFAA)
Heather H. Boutell, President

The sun shines bright on our old Kentucky homes, as KASFAA begins another year. As the Spring Conference ended in Louisville in April, now Past President Ron McMakin passed the gavel to President Heather Boutell. Heather passed out crayons to all members in attendance and asked KASFAA members to color outside the lines this year! Heather encouraged new ideas, volunteerism, and creativity for her year as President.

To wrap up the previous year, the 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 KASFAA Executive Boards met June 28 and 29 at Cumberland Falls State Resort Park for the annual Transition Meeting. The theme of the meeting, “Working Out the Bugs to Ensure a Smooth Transition”, focused on bug themes for each important topic. Participants spent time getting to know one another, and attending workshops on topics such as parliamentary procedure, travel guidelines, how to conduct effective meetings, goal-setting and actual transition time. Twenty-eight members attended, and participants were invited to share their feedback with our current President-Elect for next year’s workshop. The meeting concluded with the final Board meeting of the 03-04 year.

The first Board meeting of 2004-2005 was held in Owensboro, KY, on July 29 and 30. Thirty members were attendance, where the theme of the meeting was "Coming together is the beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success." (attributed to Henry Ford) President Boutell shared her 2004-2005 goals:

• Remember KASFAA’s student focus and mission by inviting a student to every Board meeting and KASFAA Conference. The student will share his or her story about how financial aid made a difference, and receive a $100 scholarship to assist with college in 04-05.
• Increase KASFAA volunteerism for 04-05. Create an on-line volunteer form, and quickly plug in committee volunteers to committee assignments. Ensure all volunteers have been assigned to a committee by follow-up. Request Committee Chairs to have more active committees and to utilize members for new and creative ideas and goals.
• Bring more awareness of KASFAA to legislators. Invite the Governor and Senators to our conferences. Offer to work with legislators on financial aid training and/or success stories thanks to federal and state aid.
• Review all policies and procedures in 04-05 and update as necessary.
• Review KASFAA’s activities and consider submitting any of our current or new activities for a NASFAA state award.

The meeting began with Bernice Ayer, Director at Owensboro Community and Technical College, and Terry Kelley, student, to share with us a little about what financial aid has done for her. Terry shared her story about being a single parent working in retail, and desiring more out of life. She told the Board about her three children, all who have attended college due to financial aid. Terry will be featured in our newsletter as a success story, and was presented with a $100 check co-payable to her and to OCTC for her expenses next year.

The tone and cooperative attitude of the new Board was evident. All committees had a representative, and all committee chairs or representatives presented a report with goals for 04-05. Board members were challenged to bring operational calendars to the next meeting in October 2005.

Policies and procedures were updated from past Board votes at this meeting. More work needs to be done to the document, and all Board members, as well as the Long Range Planning Committee, make this one of the most important topics of the year.

College Goal Sunday
KASFAA will again conduct College Goal Sunday in Kentucky in late February. Much discussion occurred at the Board meeting regarding funding for this event. The event costs KASFAA $50,000 at a bare minimum. Since Lumina has agreed to fund the project at $25,000 next year, more fundraising will need to occur. The Board voted to contact our other vendors and sponsors to find out if they were interested in assisting with the project.

Training Events
KASFAA will participate in NASFAA Training this fall. Chris Tolson of Campbellsville University will present in Frankfort at KHEAA’s Training Room on November 18. High School Counselor Training dates have been set all across Kentucky for the month of November. The new theme for 04-05, “Avenues to Achievement”, will allow financial aid professionals, ACT and KHEAA to share financial aid initiatives that are pertinent to secondary school guidance counselors. A Support Staff Workshop will be held in December, but dates have not yet been set.

Fall Program
The fall theme, “Take A Leading Role in KASFAA”, was set at the Program Committee meeting. The conference will be held October 20-22 in Owensboro, KY, at the Executive Inn Rivermont. The theme will center on the movies, and will include the President’s Reception, “A Night at the Movies with KASFAA” and our very own “KASFAA Idol”, a take-off on American Idol. The Thursday banquet will be dressy and be “KASFAA on the Red Carpet”. A hypnotist and a local college choir will entertain us in the Showroom Lounge. The Committee is thrilled to welcome Jeff Baker to the Fall Conference. Jeff will be our keynote speaker, and will conduct a “Q&A with Jeff” session ! Kathie Makowski has also agreed to come as another federal presenter, although Jeff will deliver the Federal Update. Kathie will conduct a pre-conference session on “Basic Electronic Services of the Department of Education”. This session will be held in the computer lab that will be in one of the conference session rooms. The Conference Committee has planned twenty-three concurrent sessions to offer to KASFAA members.

Finances
KASFAA decided this year to attempt to increase our reserve by an additional $2500. The reserve currently is about 20% of the operating budget. This year’s Chair believes that if possible, KASFAA should work to increase the reserve in case of a fiscal emergency.

NASFAA Update
Sixteen Kentuckians registered for the NASFAA conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota. President Boutell attended to represent KASFAA, and attended the Leadership Stories session and implementing College Goal Sunday. It was an honor to represent the state at this conference. One evening, Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky and Mississippi State Presidents all got together for dinner. The night was enjoyable and allowed us to network, get to know one another, and eat some great Italian.

Volunteerism
KASFAA members volunteered on-line this year at our website. Members were invited to select three choices for committee participation, and each committee was described in detail on the web. As soon as members hit submit, the form came to President Boutell, and President Boutell sent a follow-up e-mail. This year’s committees each have several members, and most have balanced representation from the various sectors. The two-year community colleges and lenders have volunteered at a huge rate, and everyone has been plugged into a committee role.