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
Dear
Members and Friends:
