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Tuesday, November 25, 2014

NCASFAA Conference Update



Good afternoon, SASFAA!
 
I had the pleasure of attending the fall 2014 NCASFAA Conference in the beautiful mountains of Asheville, North Carolina.  Susan Smith, GASFAA President, joined me in representing GASFAA for the State Presidents Travel Exchange sponsored by SASFAA and the 9 States.

Sunday began with a pre-conference New Aid Officers’ Workshop led by Chair Shawn Henderson from NCSEAA.  There were approximately 16 attendees at the workshop.  NCASFAA President Cathy Shell also showed appreciation to the 14 Professional Affiliates supporting NCASFAA at the fall conference during the opening luncheon. 

The conference officially opened with keynote Speaker Jones Loflin on Monday, November 10th.  Mr. Loflin has a gift of communication and combined with his wit and enthusiasm he presented us with a dynamic program to kick the conference off!  Mr. Loflin is a native of North Carolina.  Rodney Fair and Kori Smith, from the Office of the Inspector General, followed the keynote address with a general session on Mitigating Fraud Risks in Title IV Programs.  Monday ended with sector town halls, dinner on your own, and NCASFAA’s famous bingo!

Twenty sessions were offered to the 175 attendees on Tuesday, November 11th.  Just like SASFAA, NCASFAA is dedicated to offering great training to their members.  Susan Smith presented two sessions – one on Leadership and the other on Banner period-based budgeting.  I participated in a panel presentation on Satisfactory Academic Progress best practices.  We had a packed room and lots of good ideas were shared and questions were answered.

Tuesday evening culminated with the banquet and awards presentation.  I had the honor of delivering the SASFAA Update on behalf of SASFAA President Nathan Basford and shared a little about my upcoming year as President during 2015-2016.  Past President Rachel Cavenaugh recognized retirees and Elizabeth McDuffie, who will become NCSEAA’s next Executive Director, presented a retirement plaque to current Executive Director, Dr. Steve Brooks, who will retire on December 31st.  Steve has supported NCASFAA by serving as President and is a recipient of the Association’s highest honor, the Eleanor S. Morris Distinguished Service Award.  I was humbled to also assist in a presentation, along with NCASFAA President Cathy Shell, to honor Steve with the Steven E. Brooks Professional Development Scholarship.  The Scholarship will be available for a NCASFAA member to attend the SASFAA New Aid Officers’ Workshop in the summer. 

The Eleanor S. Morris Distinguished Service Award is the highest award given by the Association.  The award is named for Eleanor S. Morris, a financial aid administrator of national reputation who served the students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  This award is presented to a financial aid administrator who has made important contributions to the Association or to the student financial aid profession.  The recipient should have been involved in the Association in a variety of leadership roles and also have been involved in regional and national associations in a variety of roles.  Dr. Steve Brooks bestowed NCASFAA’s highest honor upon Lisanne Masterson, Director of Financial Aid at Blue Ridge Community College.  Congratulations to Lisanne on being honored with the Eleanor S. Morris Distinguished Service Award!

On Wednesday morning, Dr. Steve Brooks presented his last State of the State Update to NCASFAA members and received a standing ovation at the end.  We will miss you Steve!  We were also lucky enough to have David Bartnicki as our federal trainer for the conference and learned a lot during his federal update presentation.  He wowed everyone again with a famous song about financial aid – Lean on Me. 
It was an honor to represent President Basford and SASFAA at the NCASFAA Fall 2014 Conference.  NCASFAA, like all of our states, continues to put on a great training conference.  I look forward to continue serving all of you as President-Elect.  See you in Memphis!

SASFAA President-Elect

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