North Carolina State Report
Rance Jackson, NCASFAA President

This seems to be a good opportunity for us to reflect on our success and view the newly approved federal programs (ACG and SMART) as well as the future funding from the North Carolina Education Lottery program as positive opportunities for those we are compelled to serve. In many cases we are faced with unknown factors as it relates to the aforementioned funding opportunities, but this will provide deserving needy students with the resources they need to keep higher education accessible. Many would agree that the increased paperwork and complex rules and regulations can cause stressful times for many of us, but as in the past our profession will overcome the challenges and create an avenue for those we serve to gain access to higher education.

During NCASFAA’s Executive Board initial meeting for 2006-2007, we were able to approve some of the goals and objectives we have set out to accomplish. The theme for this year is Building On Our Success For The Future. With our continued development of our own NCASFAA Leadership Conference as an annual event, the implementation of ATAC as our web provider, the adoption of a Financial Management Guide to ensure good stewardship of our financial resources, and the continued financial support for the Middle School Enrichment Scholarship Program, the Executive Board recognizes the importance of meeting the needs of our membership and those we serve. Training continues to be a very important part of what we offer in NCASFAA and we are grateful to our State Agency for partnering with NCASFAA by providing additional training opportunities to our membership and assisting with NASFAA Fall training.

NCASFAA is excited about the upcoming North Carolina/South Carolina joint conference in November at the Grove Park Inn. The Program Chairs of the respective states have been working very hard to provide both memberships with sessions and speakers who will enlighten us and answer many of the questions we deal with in our daily activities. This experience may provide other regional associations with an opportunity to consider joint conferences with their neighboring states. With the future possibilities of reduced financial support from our vendors and sponsors, this concept could very well become an appealing alternative.

The Executive Board agreed to officially adopt the California Community College Student Financial Aid Administrators Association as our sister association. Their President will be in attendance at our SC/NC Joint Conference and the CCCSFAAA Executive Board has agreed to invite a member of NCASFAA to attend their Fall Conference, which is held in December. This venture is another opportunity for our profession to share ideas, issues and related subjects that impact our associations. Both North Carolina and California have a large population of Community Colleges and through this effort we may be able to find ways to assist each other in meeting some of the challenges this sector of our associations face.

NCASFAA looks forward to serving SASFAA this year and hopefully solidify the partnerships within the region and gain additional insights into our profession.

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