Good afternoon SASFAA,
The SASFAA Executive Board met November 16 -18 in Greensboro, NC. The following is a summary of some of the highlights from the meeting. This is not an all-inclusive list of everything that was discussed. You will be able to find more details about the meeting in the minutes, which will be posted to the SASFAA website following their approval at the February meeting.
· The Board approved slate of candidates for the office of President-Elect, Vice President, and Secretary. You will hear more about this from Past President Sandy Neel as we get closer to the beginning of the election process.
· The Board approved changes to the SASFAA Policy and Procedure Manual for our new blog, including converting the Newsletter Committee to the Communications and Outreach Committee. I hope you have been enjoying the blog so far. SASFAA appears to be only the 2nd financial aid association in the country to move to a blog format in place of a newsletter, so we are entering unchartered territory here. This update to our manual is going to provide some operational structure as we move forward determining the most effective way to use this format.
· The Board approved updates to the financial sections of the SASFAA Policy & Procedure Manual and Guide to Financial Management.
· The Board reviewed reports from the various SASFAA committees regarding their work so far and plans for the near future.
· The Board approved a site location for our the 2012 Transition Board Meeting
· The Board approved a location for Summer 2012 New Aid Officer’s Workshop. You will hear more about this from the SASFAA Vice President, Runan Pendergrast.
· The SASFAA Operational Calendar was updated.
· The Board approved the February 2012 Annual Conference Fee and we are happy to report that conference planning is well under way. It appears we have a great line up of speakers from the Department of Education, NASFAA, as well as aid officers companies from within and without the SASFAA region. This includes two pre-conference workshops. You will hear more about this from SASFAA Conference Chair, Shelley Park.
· The Board approved sending a letter to the House of Representative members and Senators in support of student financial aid. We are using the NASFAA templates as the guide for crafting our letter. This template can be found at http://www.nasfaa.org/advocacy/budget-2012/Act_Now_to_Prevent_Cuts_to_Pell_Grants.aspx.
· Issues related to the transition of moving SASFAA from ATAC to Wild Apricot for hosting our website were discussed, including some decisions made regarding the transfer and storage of data. This move will save SASFAA thousands of dollars and will occur at the beginning of the 2012-13 SASFAA year. There is a lot of work that has to take place between and then to make that transition happen.
· For various reasons SASFAA has not rotated between the 9 states for our annual conference for the past few years, and it appears this many continue for the foreseeable future. Every effort is being made to find central locations that provide the best opportunity for as many SASFAA members as possible to attend this very important training event. The Board realizes that one of the drawbacks of not rotating between all states is that each state will not have the opportunity to benefit from the charity project, as the charity is generally an organization from the host state. For that reason the board voted to create a state rotation for the purposes of the charity, beginning with the 2012 conference in North Carolina. A charity in North Carolina will be the recipient of our fund raising efforts at the 2012 conference. In 2013 it will be a charity in Georgia to coincide with our 50th anniversary conference. After that the charity will rotate to another state, even if that state is not hosting the conference. The state order will be determined at the February Board Meeting.
· The Board reviewed the Financial Aid Shopping Sheet that was created in collaborating between the Department of Education and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The board created a three page document outlining questions, concerns, and recommended adjustments to this proposed sheet. The document has been shared with NASFAA, who is working with the financial aid association leaders to collect information about this new initiative.
· Each of the 9 SASFAA states provided a report to the board of what is happening in their states and with their associations.
Have a great day and wonderful Thanksgiving!
Brad Barnett
SASFAA President
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