Georgia State Report (GASFAA)
Freida J. Jones, President

GASFAA Spring Conference is scheduled for June 1-3, 2005, at Chateau Elan in Braselton, GA. Jill Rayner and her Program Committee are planning another great conference. Details to come!!

GASFAA Fall Conference at Brastown Valley Resort in Young Harris, GA was a big success! There were over 270 attendees with 35 vendors with displays and goodies. “Thank you” to Janet Sain, SASFAA President, for giving the SASFAA update. Many more thanks to all who participated, presented, sponsored and attended the Fall Conference. A very special “Thank you” to the GASFAA Board for all its hard work and support.

GASFAA conducted its NASFAA Decentralized Training November 11 and its New Staff Seminar on November 10. Thanks to David Bledsoe and the Professional Development Committee for planning and conducting these workshops.

The next GASFAA Executive Board Meeting is scheduled for January 14, 2005, in Macon, GA. The Board Meeting will be somewhat non-traditional in that only the Secretary, Treasurer, and Past President will actually make a verbal report. All other reports will be discussed only if there are issues needing clarification. All remaining time will be spent brainstorming and updating duties and/or responsibilities of the Board members.

The Past President, Lenora Jackson, chairs the Nominations and Elections Committee. The Board is looking forward to her presenting the next slate of candidates for review. One of the topics for discussion during the Board Meeting will be “how to get members more involved” in GASFAA activities. Hopefully, Nominations and Elections will become a welcomed responsibility, rather than a major challenge in the future.

Mississippi State Report (MASFAA)
Laura Diven-Brown, President

MASFAA’s Fall Training Workshop, featuring NASFAA’s Fall 2004 Workshop Series topic “Student Loan Issues”, was presented on Friday, November 12, 2004. It was held at the Mississippi State University – Meridian Campus and supported by 26 generous sponsors. The trainers were Lynita Davis of Northeast Mississippi Community College and Betty Yeatman of Mississippi State University. Vice President Lori Ball and the Training Committee were pleased to welcome 112 members that day—a good attendance for the fall event.

A couple of years ago, the association decided to hold only one conference a year in the spring, substituting a one-day training event for the former fall conference. This move was an acknowledgement of school budgetary constraints that were hindering involvement in MASFAA events. The result has been increased participation by school representatives.

The MASFAA Board met on November 11, the day before the fall workshop. An extensive review of the Policies & Procedures was conducted. The Board approved significant changes, including modification to conference sponsorship levels. Discussion centered on an area of emphasis for the MASFAA Board this year—fiscal accountability. In conjunction with budget preparation this year, revenue projections were carefully itemized in order to provide goals to the various committee chairs. Membership dues, program registration fees, web advertisements, and sponsorship figures have all been estimated, with increases anticipated in all areas for 2004-05.

MASFAA’s original 2004-2005 Legislative Chair, Michael Roberts, informed the President in October that he would be stepping down as Chair due to his resignation from TSAC. Ron Gambill of Edsouth, who brings a lot of expertise to this position, graciously agreed to assume the role and has already launched his first legislative update to the membership via the listserv.

High School Relations Committee Chair Donna O’Quinn and her committee have developed a cover letter and a brochure to promote the association to high school administrators and counselors. Local congressmen have agreed to write letters of support for MASFAA which will accompany the mailing of these materials. In addition, the committee is designing the template of an electronic newsletter that will be used in communicating with high school representatives regularly.

The Archives Committee, chaired by Louanne Langston, met in Jackson on October 12th to complete the review and categorization of historical documents. The committee plans to scan these materials onto a CD by February.

Next up for MASFAA—the association’s annual training event for new financial aid administrators, “Financial Aid 101”. The three-day event will center on a MASH theme. It will be held April 4-6, 2005. Also, the Conference Committee is already hard at work on the Annual Conference, which has moved to the month of May for the first time. The theme, “MASFAA in May”, features a festival atmosphere. To be held on the Mississippi coast in Biloxi, it will be a celebration of music, food, and the beach. The group is planning substantive sessions for the membership. No one will want to miss it!