SASFAA Annual Report 2004-2005 continued...

Agency Liaison
Elizabeth McDuffie served as a liaison on the board to represent each of the state agencies in our nine state regions. The agency liaison objective was to provide timely and relevant information to the SASFAA Board and the association members about legislative and processing issues that affect state agencies in the southeast, thereby supporting the organization’s objectives of strong communication, enhancing alliances between the sectors by the sharing of information, and keeping members informed of legislative issues on the state level that affect the profession. By focusing on state issues, the agency liaison avoided overlapping reports from the lender liaison and Department of Education liaison.

There was not a formal committee selected as agency representatives, but rather agency contacts. These individuals were identified as points of contact by the previous agency liaison and continued participation confirmed by the individual or a higher authority at the state agency. In some states, employee turnover required a new contact and the state agency appointed the person to serve in that capacity.

Reports were received from most states and shared with the board as well as the association via the newsletter. A major concern across all states is the issue of Reauthorization and IF it will happen this year and what impact it will have on state agencies and how they operate.

Conference Committee
The 2005 annual conference, under the leadership of Brent Tener as conference chair, was a resounding success! Held in Atlanta, Georgia at the Hyatt Regency, the Conference Committee succeeded in meeting its primary goals and objectives:

The Conference Committee, made up of representation from all nine states in conjunction with the ex-officio members, were able to offer four general sessions and 49 interest sessions of a wide variety that were appropriate for all levels of experience. Of the 1003 registrants, 969 were able to attend with 229 indicating they were first time attendees. It was the intent of the committee to offer as many activities as possible to encourage participation and networking. Thus an opportunity to experience the Atlanta area was offered on Monday afternoon with a planned trip to the Martin Luther King Center for those who wished to attend. Transportation was provided.

Providing the best communications was a major goal of the committee this year. Targeted e-mails were sent to first-time attendees welcoming them to SASFAA and trying to get them better acclimated to the conference ahead of time. They worked extremely hard to provide updated e-mail information to the conference attendees prior to the conference. From the evaluation forms, respondents rated the pre-conference information as being extremely helpful. They also instituted a “Daily News” that was produced each day, providing a review of the prior day’s activities along with previewing things to come. This provided a great way to communicate with attendees during the conference. Utilizing internet capabilities via the listserv, ATAC and conference evaluations has proven to an excellent communication vehicle.

The Local Arrangements Committee, under the leadership of Todd Woodlee and Lisa Mitchum, organized all the activities of the conference which were the responsibility of GASFAA. Included in those responsibilities were securing the Welcome Speaker, coordinating the GASFAA Hospitality suite, organizing the community service project which this year was the Atlanta area Ronald McDonald Houses, organizing the PC Lab and many other duties. All of these were performed in an extremely positive and efficient manner.

Some recommendations of the committee for next year’s consideration: