Conference Committee Report
Brent Tener, Conference Chair

For those of you that attended, I hope you will agree with me that the 2005 SASFAA Conference held last month in Atlanta was a great time for learning and commiserating with other colleagues! Over 1000 folks registered from the conference—a record number.

An emphasis was placed on the conference theme“Directing and Producing Educational Opportunities” in many of the conference activities. The activities began on Sunday with the New Aid Officer’s Workshop coordinated by SASFAA Vice-President, Zita Barree, and the Multi-Cultural Leadership Symposium coordinated by SASFAA Diversity Chair, Dee Talley. Our opening session speaker, Chef Jon-Paul Hutchins, provided words of encouragement by saying that what we do makes a tremendous difference in the lives of the people we serve. The President’s Reception and the band “Party on the Moon” offered an opportunity to kick off the conference in grand style. I would like to say thanks to those who brought Bingo prizes and to all who participated. Bingo is now an official SASFAA tradition!

There were 49 concurrent sessions offered throughout the conference and the evaluations indicate they were very well received. Session handouts are still available on the SASFAA website. The sessions were divided into the following tracks: Department of Education, New Aid Officer’s, Technology, Financial Aid Practices, Issues and Trends, and Personal/Professional Development.

Our Tuesday night dinner had a different format this year, and I hope you enjoyed our homegrown talent. Many thanks to Ron Gambill and David Bartnicki for offering their humor to the group, and thanks to all of who participated in the Laugh-In production. Finally, on Wednesday, the Washington Update by Dallas Martin and the NASFAA Update by George Chin brought a unique national perspective to the financial aid profession and the prospects for reauthorization.

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 ex-officio members (a complete list is provided in the Conference section of the SASFAA website); the Local Arrangements Committee chaired by Lisa Mitchem and Todd Woodlee, and all those from Georgia who made us feel so welcome; all vendors and sponsors who contributed not just dollars but their time and talents; everyone who served as a speaker or moderator; all of our special guests, including those from NASFAA, other regional associations, and our general session speakers; the Department of Education for providing many excellent concurrent sessions, a Federal Update by Jeff Baker and Carney McCullough; and last but certainly not least, Janet Sain, our SASFAA President, for providing great leadership and vision all throughout the year.

Lisanne Masterson, Brevard College, will serve as your chairperson for the 2006 conference in Greensboro. Please plan on attending and helping in some way at the conference. Plans are already underway.

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