State Report from South Carolina
Nancy T. Garmroth, SCASFAA President

The transitional board meeting was held on June 27 and 28 at The Whitney Hotel in Columbia. In addition to closing business conducted by the 2004-2005 Board, time was allowed for outgoing board members to work with the new, incoming board members.

The theme for the 2005-2006 Board is “Make A Difference,” and three goals were outlined: (1) promote and encourage active participation by all members. Create an environment that results in an increase number of volunteers and fosters the ;development of new leaders and networking; (2) provide for professional development, training and knowledge about financial aid by offering workshops, seminars, meetings and other training opportunities to meet the needs of the membership; and (3) provide for and ensure the future financial stability of the Association through careful and regular planning and evaluation.

Because there are several members on the Board who have never served previously, several areas were covered including a review of parliamentary procedures, the long range plan, policies & procedures, and budget preparation. A new planning calendar was reviewed and is now posted on the website. To promote better communication, a private listserv was established for Board communications. Finally, a new initiative to encourage participation was unveiled and discussed. This initiative involves each Board member having a small list of new members to contact and mentor. To also foster leadership development, new members will be used as Vice-Chairs on the counselor relations, diversity, program, newsletter and vendor/sponsor committees.

Vice President, Tabatha McAllister, is working diligently to set up training workshops. New Aid Officers training will be held September 26 & 27 at the Comfort Suites in Columbia. NASFAA Decentralized training will be held December 6 at the new Brookland Banquet and Conference Center in West Columbia. Two additional events that will focus on leadership development and developing future leaders will be held in January and March of 2006.

Treasurer, Kim Ellisor, begins her first year, and she held a budget meeting on July 19, 2005. The proposed budget will be presented at the Board meeting on October 9 for approval.

Member-at-Large, Jeff Holliday, has sent out the membership application and is working to develop a system to track statistics. He is also working to develop a membership brochure and to make contacts with new, potential members.

Past President, Betty Whalen, is chair of the nominations and elections committee. Because of a tie during the election this year, she and her committee will look at SCASFAA’s procedure for handling run-off elections.

Terria Williams, fall program chair, held her first meeting on July 15 and began making plans for the fall conference to be held in Charleston on October 10 & 11. To promote the “spirits” in Charleston, the program committee decided on a theme of “The Spirit of SCASFAA – Making a Difference”. We hope to support making a difference to our students, school, profession and ourselves, which is my theme for this year. We will offer training opportunities and sessions to provide the most up-to-date information about financial aid.

Other Committees: Jeff Dennis is chairing counselor relations and is already preparing for SCASFAA’s Paying for College Day to be held in February 2006. Em McNair, diversity chair, held her first meeting on July 20 and has initiated several activities for the upcoming year. A workshop on “Celebrating the Diversity of the Students We Serve” will be held on November 3 at Midlands Technical College. Tamy Garofano, vendor/sponsor chair, continues to do an outstanding job by securing sponsorships and by coordinating vendors/sponsors with the fall program committee and for other events.