Mississippi State Report
Soraya B. Welden, MASFAA President

With 54 attendees, Mississippi was well represented at the 2006 SASFAA Annual Conference. The SASFAA conference committee did an outstanding job in providing an excellent choice of sessions and speakers.

Vice President LaShanda Chamberlain and the training committee are planning for the 6th annual “Financial Aid 101” which will be held on April 3-5 at the Duncan Gray Center in Canton, MS. LaShanda states, “Over the course of three days, participants will receive tools to survive in the wonderful world of financial aid.” The registration fee is $150 for members and $170 for non-members (includes membership dues). This includes training materials, meals and lodging.

On December 10, 2005, the state presidents from Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana traveled to Sacramento, CA to attend the California Association’s fall conference. As guests of CASFAA, each president was provided the opportunity to thank the membership for the donation CASFAA made to each state association to assist financial aid administrators affected by Hurricane Katrina. The members were extremely interested to hear about how each state was doing and how CASFAA’s donation had assisted the members from each state.

As of March, $ 44,641 has been donated to MASFAA to assist students and financial aid professionals who have been affected by Hurricane Katrina. Linda Phillips and the Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund Committee have awarded 66 student scholarships at $200 each, totaling $13,200. Twelve MASFAA members have received funds to attend the MASFAA Fall Training Event, The Electronic Access Conference and the SASFAA Annual Conference. Due to the freeze of travel budgets at affected schools, these administrators would not have been able to attend these events without the donations provided to MASFAA.

Included in the donations is a training grant that was awarded from NASFAA in the amount of $8,770.00 to defray the expenses incurred in connection with providing this NASFAA training. The National Council of Higher Education Loan Programs (NCHELP) and the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority (KHEAA) provided funds for this special grant. Because of this generous gift, MASFAA was able to provide its fall training at no cost to MASFAA members.

Four officers attended the NASFAA Leadership Conference on March 5-7, 2006, in Washington, D.C. Those in attendance were Garry Jones, President Elect; LaShanda Chamberlain, Vice President; Nancy Gault, Member-at-Large; and Jackie Boone, Secretary. On March 7, the group visited with aids from Senator Lott’s and Senator Cochran’s offices. According to MASFAA President-Elect Garry Jones, “We expressed thanks for the positive moves that are contained in the budget reconciliation bill as it relates to helping our students.”

The conference committee is continuing its work on the annual conference scheduled for June 21-23 at the Marriott downtown in Jackson, MS. This year’s theme is, “You’re Hired, Financial Aid REALITY”. As part of the charity drive, MASFAA will sponsor a cookbook, MASFAA Recipes and Remembrances, which will include recipes from MASFAA members and pictures from past conferences and events. There will also be a silent auction that will benefit the charity. On Wednesday evening, attendees will hear from Bertice Berry, Ph. D., one of the most sought-after lecturers in the country.

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