Florida State Report
Ruth Strum, FASFAA President

SUMMER HAS ARRIVED IN FLORIDA! Our temperatures are in the 90’s! Waking up to a cool, refreshing morning is now a memory of the past!

FASFAA members are preparing to DROP ANCHOR WITH FASFAA at our Spring Conference next week. The conference will be held at Sanibel Harbour Resort and Spa, Ft. Myers, Florida, a favorite place of FASFAA members. We are really excited about the great response we’ve received from our members. For the first time, the Conference Committee has had to close registration. More than 500 people are registered to attend.

The Conference Co-Chairs, John Snow and Sharon Miller, and their committee have done a great job preparing a variety of activities that will educate and motivate our members. Under the direction of Kurt Wolf, the conference program chair, we are very fortunate to have Kay Jacks present the federal update. Kay is the General Manager for Federal Student Aid, U.S. Department of Education. Kurt has planned a number of new and interesting sessions for us.

The Executive Board, with the help of our members and sponsors, have accomplished a great deal this year. FASFAA hired a bookkeeper, have moved all of our electronic processes to a web-based platform, reached the endowment status for our scholarship fund, held four workshops for specialized sectors, along with our regular regional training that is held twice a year. The Fiscal Concerns committee worked very hard to prepare a newly adopted five-year plan. The CEU committee presented a new process for receiving continuing education unit credits.

This has been an exciting year for me as President of the Florida Association. The Executive Board has been outstanding! I want to thank the Florida members and sponsors who have volunteered this year. Let us commit ourselves to continue our CULTURE OF SERVICE!

Georgia State Report
Suzanne Pittman, GASFAA President

GASFAA’s Spring Conference was held May 17-19 at the Marriott Riverfront Resort in Savannah, Georgia. Pennie Strong, our Vice President for Programs, and her committee did an outstanding job in creating a strong program. We had a record attendance of 401 attendees, 59 of which were new members. Our membership is now 602. Highlights of the conference include:

• Federal Update provided by Dan Klock, U.S. Department of Education
• 30 Different Interest Sessions – PowerPoint presentations have been posted to the GASFAA website
• President’s Reception was an evening dessert Riverboat cruise
• State Update provided by the Education Policy Advisor from the Governor’s Office
• Keynote Speaker was Stephen Bargatze
• Unveiling of new website design to the membership
• Preconference Workshop on Tax Returns by Jim Briggs, the Tax Detective
• Several members were honored for their contributions to student aid: Bill Fron, Berry College, Betty Coen, Coastal Georgia Community College, Terry Faust, Kennesaw State University were awarded Honorary Membership. Donja Tripp, Georgia Southwestern State University, was awarded the Past President’s Award for Distinguished Service.

Elections for 2006-2007 were held. Below are the results:

We are pleased that GASFAA will have a strong Executive Board next year under the leadership of Jenelle Handcox, our current President-Elect. Our Transition Board Meeting will be held June 21 and 22 on Jekyll Island, Georgia.

Kentucky State Report
Shelley Park, KASFAA President

Spring Conference
KASFAA’s Spring Conference was held April 19-21, 2006 at the Lexington Holiday Inn North in Lexington, Kentucky. Terri Parchment and her program committee pulled off a “groovy” conference with 278 participants attending. The conference theme “Peace, Love and KASFAA” invited members to relive the seventies and there was even a visit from Elvis! Participants especially enjoyed the conference dress code: blue jeans, tee shirts and flip flops. KASFAA invited several guests to the conference. Opening the conference with a four hour College Board designed workshop on professional judgment was Susan Little from the University of Georgia and Julie Padgett from Emory University. This outstanding pair instructed over 120 KASFAA members on this valuable training. Representing the Department of Education was Kathy Makowski, whose sessions were at overflow capacity with information about the new grants programs with HERA. KASFAA was honored to have the “Sheriff” Dave Gelinas attending the conference as the NASFAA representative. SASFAA was well represented with President-Elect Brent Tener who gave the SASFAA update. KASFAA honored two members with Honorary Life Membership plagues – Rosemary Ewen and Dr. Joe McCormick. The Herb Vescio Distinguished Service Award was presented to Leslie Kaelin for her outstanding service to KASFAA and the financial aid community.

Election Results
The spring conference made history with the implementation of online voting. A big thanks to Heather Boutell and the staff from KHEAA – without their diligence KASFAA would still be voting by paper ballot. KASFAA newest elected officers are as follows: Bryan Erslan, President-Elect; Rick Wilson, Vice President; Secretary, Karyn Yates; Kathy Hodges, Two Year Public Representative; and Laura Geiser, Proprietary Representative. These new leaders will serve Kentucky well and will continue to promote KASFAA’s mission throughout the state.

Transition Meeting
President –Elect Runan Pendergrast conducted the KASFAA’s annual transition meeting on June 2, in Lexington, Kentucky. Runan’s theme for the transition meeting was “Trains” and how each member is a part of the train.
New board members and committee chairs were charged with encouraging member involvement and getting everyone on board the train of financial aid awareness in the state of Kentucky.