North Carolina State Report
Dana Kelly, NCASFAA President

I can’t believe how fast my time as President has flown. I have enjoyed this opportunity beyond measure.

To date, NCASFAA has had a very successful New Aid Officer Workshop and enjoyed record attendance at the 2005 Fall Conference in Charlotte, NC. NCASFAA successfully completed its first ever Leadership Symposium, held two Support Staff Workshops, and provided NASFAA Training across the state. We selected three recipients for our newly implemented Middle School Enrichment Scholarship and assigned each recipient a mentor from our membership—soon they will begin summer programs across the state! Guidance counselors across that state were notified of updated state post-secondary school information, and our membership assisted with FAFSA Day, which was met with huge participation. NCASFAA hosted the 2006 SASFAA Conference in Greensboro that included an awesome NCASFAA Commuter/Hospitality Suite. Spring took us to Wrightsville Beach for the annual 2006 Spring Conference at the SunSpree Resort where the Pre-Conference Workshop on tax form interpretation kicked everything off. The conference held its first “casino night” and kept everyone engaged and having fun till the last roll of the dice! Whew—it has been a busy year!!

As I have said many times before, NCASFAA is the outstanding organization it is because of its membership. I want to sincerely thank everyone in North Carolina for helping make this a successful year. Your support has enabled NCASFAA to continue to thrive and be an active part of the financial aid profession. Whether you served on the Board, a committee, helped out at SASFAA or attended one of NCASFAA’s many events, your participation made a difference. Thank you!

South Carolina State Report
Nancy T. Garmroth, SCASFAA President

The theme for the year was “Make A Difference”. Goals were

to promote and encourage active participation by all members; provide for professional development, training and knowledge about financial aid; and provide for and ensure the future financial stability of the Association.

A lot was accomplished. In addition to two great conferences and several training workshops, a planning calendar was posted on the web; a listserv was set up for the Executive Board; the diversity committee presented workshops that focused on the diversity of the students served; many updates were made to the policies and procedures manual and the ByLaws were updated; the Treasurer manuals were combined and updated; the high school counselors internship program was evaluated; a new membership and financial aid brochure were designed and printed; contributions were made to AASFAA, MASFAA, Dee Norton Lowcountry Children’s Center and Sea Haven, Inc.; a contract was signed for LearnStudentAid; we hosted “Paying for College” and published “Face the Facts”; contracts were signed for the fall 2007 and spring 2008 conferences; a site was selected for SASFAA in 2009; preparations began for the joint conference with NCASFAA in fall 2006; computer equipment for the Treasurer and a new camera for the Newsletter Editor were purchased; the Distinguished Service Award was presented to Mr. Bill Mackie, “Volunteers of the Year” were recognized and the first Student Success Scholarship was awarded.

The Executive Board and the many members who volunteered to serve on committees worked hard to achieve these accomplishments. The record-setting year will end with an all-time high in memberships, spring conference attendees and vendor support.

Captain Jackie Bell and her shipmates on the program committee did a fantastic job at the spring conference. The port of call – Myrtle Beach, SC. The theme – “Navigating the SCASFAA Waters”.

And speaking of fantastic – the dual slate of candidates presented at the spring conference was just that! FANTASTIC! Congratulations to Tabatha McAllister, President-Elect; Jeff Holliday, Vice-President; Tamy Garofano, Secretary and Caroline Thornton, Member-at-Large.