OCTOBER 2006

Virginia State Report
Erik Melis, VASFAA President

VASFAA Treks Boldly Forward

VASFAA's Board and committees have been actively "trekking forward" on a journey that we hope will create an exciting year for all of us in VASFAA.

Thanks to work by the State Relations committee and our SCHEV liaison, VASFAA has already had a great training opportunity on HERA provisions conducted at Piedmont Virginia Community College by none other than Kay Jacks from the Department of Education.

Erik Melis, VASFAA President, along with Brad Barnett, Past President, and Barry Simmons, State Relations Co-chair, had the opportunity to meet with Dr. Tom Morris, Virginia's Secretary of Education, and with Dietra Trent, Deputy Secretary of Education for Virginia. During that meeting, the group was able to present VASFAA and its membership to the Secretary as an informational resource in his efforts to promote higher education in the Commonwealth. The Secretary also pledged his support in VASFAA’s effort to get legislation introduced to establish a standing proclamation for Financial Aid Awareness Month in Virginia. VASFAA agreed to help the Secretary try to come up with ways to help promote the message that education beyond high school, whatever form it might take, is an important part of the Commonwealth’s future.

The 2006-07 VASFAA Board had its first official board meeting on August 16th. In keeping with our theme to trek boldly into “new” frontiers, this meeting was conducted entirely by teleconference. We think it worked out well, providing the Board with the opportunity to get the work of VASFAA done with minimal impact on busy office schedules and, at the same time, helping to save the association some money. There were some numb ears at the end of the call for those that didn't have hands-free phones but it was a small sacrifice to make.

The Board voted to renew its contract with NASFAA and LearnStudentAid.org to garner a discount for any VASFAA members who wish to participate in LearnStudentAid.org training opportunities. See the Training page on the VASFAA web site for more details.

One other item that came out of that board meeting was the Board's response, on behalf of its membership, to the recent rounds of disparaging remarks made about the integrity of financial aid administrators by MyRichUncle (MRU). The VASFAA Board voted unanimously to end our business relationship with MRU until such time as MRU retracted its remarks about the profession and demonstrated that it had abandoned its current marketing strategy which seemed to involve enhancing their market share on the backs and reputations of the financial aid community. Erik Melis, VASFAA President, drafted and sent a letter to the CEO of MyRichUncle detailing the action VASFAA was taking.

The next scheduled VASFAA Board meeting will be held at the Williamsburg Hospitality House on Sunday, October 15th, immediately preceding the fall training events for Experienced Aid, New Aid, and Support Staff.

VASFAA's committees have been busy planning and embarking on lots of exciting missions for the membership and the association:

  • The Archives Committee (Holly Rison, Chair) is busy working on converting the association’s archival information into electronic and more permanent format.

  • The Awards and Nominations Committee (Brad Barnett, Chair) is actively soliciting nominations for any of VASFAA's award categories and for the slate of candidates for the 2007 election, during which we'll be voting for a new President-Elect, two Representatives-at-Large, a Secretary, and a Treasurer-Elect.

  • The Awareness Committee (Robin White and Mary Gore, Co-Chairs) has already begun its planning for the 2007 Super Saturday events. The committee will also be actively involved along with State Relations in trying to secure the standing proclamation for Financial Aid Awareness Month in Virginia.

  • The Budget and Finance Committee (Bobby Clemmer, Chair) is actively monitoring our expenditures and keeping us on track to maintain the balanced budget for 2006-07 that was established at the Transition Board Retreat. The committee is also monitoring the investment accounts for the Sue D Ross and Educational Endowment Funds.

  • The Conference Committee (Vera Riddick, Chair) is well underway to planning a galactic conference event for 2007.

  • The Diversity Committee (Hope Jackson, Chair) is working hard to set up sessions and activities that will emphasize the diverse nature of association. Ferengi, Klingons, and even Borg will be welcomed with open arms if they should choose to attend.

  • The Electronic Services Committee (Daniel Hewitt and Jane Moore, Co-Chairs) has been hard at work getting updates made to the web site and working closely with the various committee chairs to assist them with their technology and web-based needs.

  • The Experienced Aid Officers Training Committee (Ed Irish, Chair) has planned a great training opportunity for October 16 and 17 in Williamsburg. The training will cover ever-important topics like needs analysis and professional judgment. This training event will be held in conjunction with all-day training sessions for Support Staff and New Aid Officers.

  • The Federal Relations Committee (Marilynn King, Chair) is monitoring congressional activity in anticipation of some movement this year on reauthorization issues. There is also some work in progress to try to arrange for congressional visits in Washington, DC.

  • The Membership Committee (Angela Long, Chair) is actively working to increase the VASFAA membership by sending periodic updates out to the listserv.

  • The New Century Fund President's Council (Tom Morehouse, Chair) is ready to evaluate any submissions for the New Century Educational Endowment (Buddy) Awards.

  • The Newsletter Committee (Gary Spoales, Chair) is working diligently to keep the VASFAA Voice Newsletter filled with interesting, relevant and fun articles.

  • The Photography Committee (Gerene Carter, Chair) stands, camera at the ready, prepared to capture the excitement of the 2007 conference on film.

  • The Public Relations Committee (Liza Bruce, Chair) has been hard at work promoting the exciting things that VASFAA is doing. The committee has already managed to get a news release accepted by NASFAA about our visits with the Virginia Secretary of Education and has submitted this information also to Higher Education Washington, Inc, an on-line higher education information web site.

  • The Research Committee (Barry Simmons, Chair) is continuing its work on evaluating issues impacting aid and access in Virginia such as trying to determine the feasibility of a standardized financial aid application due date in the Commonwealth.

  • The Secondary School Relations Committee (Pam Rambo, Chair) has already been actively setting up locations for the fall high school guidance training workshops.

  • The Site Selection Committee (Pat Kelly, Chair) is actively evaluating potential sites for the 2008 VASFAA Conference. Our 3-year contract with the Hilton Oceanfront hotel ends with the 2007 conference.

  • The State Relations Committee (Barry Simmons and Yvonne Hubbard, Co-Chairs) has already, as mentioned earlier, managed, in conjunction with our SCHEV Liaison, to get us set up with HERA training from the Department of Education and has arranged for our meeting with the Virginia Secretary of Education. The committee continues to monitor legislative activities related to financial aid and higher education.

  • The Strategic Planning Committee (Lefter Daku, Chair) is continuing its work to evaluate the effectiveness and completeness of the associations' standardized goals.

  • The Support Staff Training Committee (Donna Taylor, Chair) has been working on setting up training opportunities for our support staff. The first of these events will take place in Williamsburg in conjunction with the Experienced Aid Officer and New Aid Officer training.

  • The Training Committee (Brenda Burke and Jolene Burke and Jeanne Holmes, Co-Chairs) has been hard at work getting ready, not only for the 2007 conference, but also setting up the New Aid Officers training for October in Williamsburg.

  • The Vendor/Sponsor Committee (Biz Daniel, Chair) has been working with the various committee chairs to identify sponsorable items and is working, as we speak, with potential and confirmed vendors and sponsors to conduct the VASFAA Vendor/Sponsor lottery.

Thanks go out to all the board members, committee chairs and, especially, all the members that have stepped forward as volunteers on various VASFAA committees. None of the amazing tasks that are underway could be done without the selfless commitment of all of those who have agreed to give their time and resources to serve the association.

There are other exciting things still coming this fall besides those that already mentioned. The VASFAA President will be attending the SASFAA Board meeting in November in Orlando immediately after the Fall FSA Conference (formerly the EAC). Following that, he will be attending the joint NCASFAA/SCASFAA conference at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, NC. He will also be attending the 2006 Commonwealth College Access Network Conference (CCAN) in Richmond in December.

VASFAA is excited about what has already happened this year and we are looking forward to everything yet to come. As Captain Jean Luc Picard, of the Starship Enterprise, always said before departing on yet another trek, we are ready to go out and "Make it so!!"

AFC


PREVIOUS PAGE   ~   TABLE OF CONTENTS   ~   NEXT PAGE