South Carolina State Report
Betty Whalen, SCASFAA President 2004-05

The SCASFAA Spring Conference was held April 17-20 in Myrtle Beach at the Ocean Dunes Resort and Conference Center. Two-hundred SCASFAA members came to the beach and enjoyed the perfect combination of professional and personal development and serious fun.

From a scavenger hunt, which had groups following somewhat obtuse clues in search of "celebrities"… to a ‘special’ beauty contest featuring some of SCASFAA’s loveliest (?)… to a banquet at the historic Pine Lakes Country Club, followed by an evening of entertainment at the Alabama Theatre, SCASFAA’s evenings were full of fun and excitement.

Throughout the conference, members participated in a silent auction with all proceeds donated to the Horry County Shelter. SCASFAA presented the shelter with a donation in excess of $1300.

Our days were serious and productive as Steve Morgan from New Orleans presented two general sessions and created a heightened awareness among us that we are ‘wired’ differently and it is essential that we understand, appreciate and work well with all types of folks. We all now know a little more about why we are the way we are.....

Anthony Jones and Kathy Gause provided the federal update and presented other sessions; Wood Mason conducted a session on COD; Ron Bennett enlightened attendees on NSLDS and loan consolidation issues. SCASFAA sincerely appreciates each of the presenters from the US Department of Education.

In addition, representatives from SC agencies provided updates, several SCASFAA members presented a variety of interest sessions and we all learned from each other. Jennifer Jones-Gaddy, SCSLC, served as conference chair for “The One and Only SCASFAA". JJ and the conference committee are once again commended for an outstanding conference.

As is our tradition at the spring conference, SCASFAA elected officers for the 2005-06 year. Our association was fortunate to have been presented with an outstanding dual slate of candidates. Leading SCASFAA for the coming year will be:

President	Nancy Garmroth, Spartanburg Technical College
President-Elect	Kim Jenerette, USC Upstate
Vice President	Tabatha McAllister, York Technical College
Treasurer	Kim Ellisor, Francis Marion University
Member at Large	Jeff Holliday, Anderson College
Secretary	Marty Carney, Furman University (Marty will continue in the second year of his 2-year term as secretary.)

SCASFAA’s first Diversity Workshops were held in late February in Greenville and Columbia. We had more than 60 members in attendance. A Mid-level Management Institute was held in March with more than 40 attendees. Evaluations for both functions were excellent. Thanks to Bridget Blackwell and Elizabeth Milam-Lomas for organizing these activities.

Our transition meeting is scheduled for June 27-28 in Columbia. The 2004-05 Board and committee chairs will conclude its business for the year and turn the leadership over to Nancy Garmroth and the new Board and committee chairs. I look forward to handing Nancy the gavel and wearing the infamous SCASFAA “Has Been” black ribbon at our next conference in October in beautiful Charleston.