SASFAA Offers New Learning Opportunity at the Annual Conference

Traditionally, Tuesday's lunch at the annual conference has been "on your own."  Thanks to our sponsors this year, we will be providing lunch to all conference attendees, and you will have a choice as to who you would like to join for our Lunch and Learn.

Developmental Partners (sponsors) have signed up to be a part of this special opportunity.  Prior to the conference, you will be notified of the host(s), location(s), and topic(s) offered by each partner.  You won’t want to miss this special opportunity.  We also want to make sure it’s a success by encouraging all attendees to take advantage of this new and beneficial opportunity, so please make plans to attend Tuesday's Lunch and Learn on February 9, 2016.

See you in Greensboro. Register today if you haven't already:  http://www.sasfaa.org/annualconference. 

Brenda McCafferty

Sponsorship Committee Chair

But do you recall...

But do you recall…the most famous fed reg of all?!?!

You may not remember the most famous one, but you are sure to learn more about the newest ones at the 2016 SASFAA Conference!  Register today to make sure you stay on the nice list!!!

For more information, please visit the SAFSAA Conference website!

Conference Charity - Fisher House

Conference Charity:

“Help Our Heroes in Their Time of Need”

    

SASFAA will collect donations during the conference to support a Zachary and Elizabeth Fisher House in Mississippi. Built in 1992, The Zachary and Elizabeth Fisher House is a compassionate-care facility, located on Keesler AFB (Biloxi, Mississippi) within walking distance of the hospital. The house provides a comfortable place to stay, serving patients and families from all branches of the military and veterans receiving active treatment at the Keesler Hospital and the Biloxi Veterans Administration Medical Campus. Guests must live outside a 50-mile radius of the hospital. Availability of rooms is provided on a space- available basis. Custom-built houses that are typically between 5,000-16,000 square feet, and feature 8 to 21 guest suites.

The intent was, and still is, to provide home-like accommodations. Operating costs are underwritten by nominal guest fees and by contributions to the non-profit Fisher House of Keesler, Inc., a Mississippi 501(C)3 tax-exempt corporation.

Our hope is that with enough donations, we can reduce or eliminate guest fees altogether in the future.

The Fisher House Foundation awards annual scholarships for military children. In 2014-2015, they awarded $1.2 million in scholarships.

Conference attendees will have the opportunity to provide support to the Fisher House in the following ways:

1.                  Each state will have a basket of goodies for a raffle.  Attendees can purchase tickets to place in the state basket collection box.  On Wednesday morning, at the closing session, the winning ticket will be pulled.  Tickets can be purchased for $1.00 each, $5.00 for six or $10.00 for twelve.  We will conduct a 50/50 raffle from the tickets purchased during the conference.

2.                  We are seeking items for a silent auction donated by SASFAA members.  Members can bid on these items throughout the conference, with the final bids concluding after the end of Tuesday’s concurrent sessions.  The winners will be announced on Wednesday morning.

3.                  The Local Arrangements Committee will have a booth in the vendor area where attendees can donate personal care items such as: shampoo, shavers, combs, lotions, soap, deodorant, etc. The items will be donated locally to the Fort Bragg: Womack Army Medical Center’s Fisher House. Representatives from Ft. Bragg and the Medical Center will be present.

4.                  SASFAA members not attending the conference can support the Fisher House Foundation online at: https://www.fisherhouse.org/ways-to-give/

 

Made your plans for Greensboro?

Did you know the first Super Bowl was held on January 15, 1967?  The Green Bay Packers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs: 35-10.  The 50^th Super Bowl will be played on Sunday, February 7, 2016 in the San Francisco Bay area.  Will your favorite NFL team be there this year?

SASFAA provides the “super bowl” of financial aid training and networking each year by sponsoring our annual conference.  To kick off the conference, SASFAA will host a Super Bowl viewing party complete with your favorite tailgate foods and big screens for viewing.  In the days to follow, over 50 concurrent sessions and 3 general sessions will be offered that will certainly meet our training needs.  Plus, you will have many other networking opportunities throughout the days in Greensboro.

Our conference will be held February 7-10, 2016 at The Sheraton Greensboro at Four Seasons and Koury Convention Center.  For agenda and registration information, please visit the SASFAA website.

We look forward to seeing you then!!

You got the moves? You got the song?

 

You got the moves?  You got the song?  Well, we’ve got the DJ and the time and place—Tuesday, February 9 in Greensboro.  It’s time for a Lip Sync Showdown—SASFAA Style! 

 

Check out some of the epic lip sync battles on Spike TV’s You Tube channel (https://www.youtube.com/user/LipSyncBattle) for inspiration and get your act together…literally.

 

Let us know you’re interested by filling out this form: http://goo.gl/forms/dtF4TVwjWh.  If you don’t have it all figured out yet, that’s okay.  Go ahead and let us know so we can make plans for your amazing performance.

Free Doughnuts!

Do you live near a Krispy Kreme? Did you get your free doughnuts yet? Check it out. http://krispykreme.com

This week in Washington...

Week of December 7

 

·       This week, both the U.S. House and U.S. Senate are in session for legislative business.

 

o   Both chambers may vote on an Omnibus Appropriations Act to provide discretionary funding for federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Education, and keep the federal government open past this Friday’s expiration of the current short-term Continuing Resolution (CR). Absent this action, both the House and Senate are expected to extend the CR until next Friday, December 18, to give negotiators additional time to reach a comprehensive budget agreement.

 

o   Both chambers may consider legislation to temporary extend a series of smaller tax provisions that expired earlier this year, including allowing teachers who spend their own money on classroom supplies to take a $250 deduction on their taxes. 

 

o   The Senate is expected to vote on, pass, and send to the President the Every Child Succeeds Act (S. 1177), which would replace the George W. Bush-era No Child Left Behind. Among the bill’s provisions, the legislation allows states and school districts to spend federal funds on: 1) college and career guidance and counseling programs, such as postsecondary education and career awareness and exploration activities, training counselors, and financial literary and federal financial aid awareness activities; and 2) enrollment in dual or concurrent enrollment programs and early college high school courses.

 

·       Today at 9:30 a.m., the Brookings Institution holds an event titled, “A Discussion of the Key Economic Issues in Election 2016,” to discuss some of the key issues on the economic agenda leading into the presidential campaign, including advancing social mobility and opportunity, increasing economic growth, and tax reform and fiscal policy. Participants include: Jared Bernstein, Senior Fellow, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities; Douglas Holtz-Eakin, President, American Action Forum; Glen Hubbard, Dean, Russell L. Carson Professor of Finance and Economics, Columbia Business School; and Neera Tanden, President, Center for American Progress.

 

·       Today at noon, the American Enterprise Institute holds an event entitled, “Shadow Financial Regulatory Committee Conference.” The Shadow Financial Regulatory Committee (SFRC) is a group of independent experts on the financial services industry who meet regularly to study and critique regulatory policies affecting this sector of the economy. SFRC members will present their adopted policy statements on a variety of current financial regulation issues including: new Federal Reserve capital requirements, the status of deposit insurance, government guarantees, and too-big-to-fail problems, and the application of corporate versus individual sanctions. Participants include: Franklin Edwards, Professor Emeritus and former Arthur F. Burns Chair of Free and Competitive Enterprise in Finance and Economics, Columbia University; Robert Eisenbeis, Vice Chairman and Chief Monetary Economist, Cumberland Advisors; Richard Herring, Jacob Safra Professor of International Banking and Co-director of the Wharton Financial Institutions Center, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania; Edward Kane, Finance Professor, Boston College; George Kaufman, Finance and Economics Professor, Loyola University Chicago; Albert Kyle, Charles E. Smith Chair Professor of Finance, University of Maryland; Erik Sirri, Director of Market Regulation, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; and Chester Spatt, Pamela R. and Kenneth B. Dunn Professor of Finance, Carnegie Mellon University.

·       Today at 1:00 p.m., Academic Impressions hosts a webinar entitled, “Understanding the Essentials of Direct Assessment,” where participants will learn about the role of assessment in competency-based education (CBE), accreditation in CBE programs, and accessing financial aid for CBE programs. The instructor for the webinar is Kate Kazin, Chief Academic Officer at College for America at Southern New Hampshire University.

 

·       Today at 3:00 p.m., the Federal Reserve releases its “Consumer Credit – G.19” report, which includes the amount of outstanding federal and private student loans. 

·        On Monday and Tuesday, all day, Academic Impressions hosts a two-day conference entitled, “Career Services: Measuring and Communicating Student Outcomes,” where attendees will learn how to collect student career data and demonstrate the impact that institutions have made on students’ employability and career success. The conference’s sessions include: Student Outcomes Goal Setting and Benchmarking; Establishing Partner Data Expectations and Needs; Sustainably Tracking and Analyzing Key Metrics; First Destination Collection and Reporting; and Using Data to Tell the Story. 

·       On Tuesday at 10:00 a.m., the House Financial Services Committee holds a hearing entitled, “Oversight of the Financial Stability Oversight Council.” Witnesses include: The Honorable Richard Cordray, Director, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; The Honorable Thomas Curry, Comptroller of the Currency, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency; The Honorable Martin Gruenberg, Chairman, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; The Honorable Timothy Massad, Chairman, Commodity Futures Trading Commission; The Honorable Debbie Matz, Chairwoman, National Credit Union Administration; The Honorable Melvin Watt, Director, Federal Housing Finance Agency; The Honorable Mary Jo White, Chair, Securities and Exchange Commission; and The Honorable Roy Woodall, Jr., Independent Member with Insurance Expertise, Financial Stability Oversight Council.

·       On Wednesday through Friday, all-day, the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) holds its 22^nd Higher Education Government Relations Conference titled, “Higher Education and the Public Good,” in Austin, TX. The conference, a partnership among AASCU, the American Association of Community Colleges, the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, is the premier annual professional development venue for government relations and public affairs professionals who work on behalf of public higher education institutions, systems, coordinating/ government boards, and policy organizations. The conference’s agenda includes sessions on: What the Presidential Campaign Means for Higher Education; State and Federal Free Community College Plans: The Good, the Bad, and the Unknown; Championing the Public Good of Higher Education in an Era of Polarization, Privatization, and Change; An Update on the Voluntary System of Accountability and Voluntary Framework of Accountability; and a Washington Update.

 

·       On Wednesday morning, the U.S. Supreme Court hears oral arguments in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, which challenges the university’s use of racial preferences in admissions decisions. This is the second time that Abigail Fisher’s case against the university has reached the Court. In 2013, the Supreme Court directed the lower court to scrutinize more closely the university’s justification for its use of race and compliance with Grutter v. Bollinger (2003) which held that schools can use race to achieve diversity in some cases. The lower court reaffirmed its previous ruling, and the Supreme Court agreed to take the case again, which surprised many observers who now anticipate a major decision changing the face of affirmative action in the country.

 

·       On Wednesday at 10:00 a.m., the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee meets to consider a number of legislative measures and nominations, including the reappointment of The Honorable Jessica Rosenworcel to the Federal Communications Commission.

 

 

Forwarded from SASFAA's Legislative Relations' Committee.

SASFAA Slate of Officers

SASFAA members:

I am very happy to announce the approved slate of candidates for the elections that will take place prior to and during the Annual SASFAA Conference/meeting, February 2016, Greensboro, NC.

The following individuals will be on the slate for the respective positions:

President-Elect:

·         Sharon Oliver (4 year public university, N.C. Central University – North Carolina)

Vice President:

·         Michael Morgan (4 year private college, Rhodes College – Tennessee)

Treasurer-Elect:

·         Jody Darby (2 year public college, Chattahoochee Technical College – Georgia)

·         Janet Nowicki (2 year public college, Guilford Technical Community College – North Carolina)

Secretary:

·         Wayne Kruger (4 year public college, St. Petersburg College – Florida)

Stay tuned for more information regarding the candidates and election process. We will be posting information about the candidates to the SASFAA website by December 26^th.  An announcement will be sent out once that has been done.  In the meantime, feel free to contact any of the candidates should you have questions for them.

I sincerely appreciate each candidate’s willingness to run for office and serve the SASFAA membership.   

Each of these individuals has stepped up to volunteer their time to serve our great regional association.  These individuals with families and lives outside of work alone have made, and will continue to make, sacrifices to serve SASFAA.  Members often join SASFAA at what I call Level One (self-serving) or Level Two (because of a friend or their job assignment).  In time, they become true believers--passionate about our association and our members--reaching Level Three (commitment and dedication).  Each of the individuals on this year’s ballot has achieved this third level:  Commitment & Dedication!   

I would like to thank the other members of the committee (below) for their work in developing this slate.  I feel that we have done our due diligence and am feel very pleased with the slate for our 2016 election.

·         Ms. Stephanie Miller– AL

·         Mr. Wayne Kruger – FL (and Ms. Joan Bailey who sat in for FL on our committee’s meeting/call)

·         Ms. Susan Smith – GA

·         Ms. Kristie Hughes – KY

·         Ms. Carrie Cooper – MS

·         Ms. Cathy Shell – NC

·         Mr. Kenneth Cole – SC

·         Ms. Celena Tulloss – TN

·         Mr. Tarik Boyd – VA 

Submitted By: Nathan R. Basford, Jr. Nominations and Elections Committee Chair

Remembering Pearl Harbor

May we always remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice at Pearl Harbor.

This week in Legislation...

From our Legislative Relations Committee. 

 

Week of November 30

 

·       This week, both the U.S. House and U.S. Senate are in session for legislative business. However, neither chamber is expected to consider student financial aid-related legislation.

·       Today at 8:30 a.m., the Federal Reserve holds an open meeting to discuss implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act amendments to the emergency lending authority under Section 13(3) of the Federal Reserve Act. The meeting will be broadcast live on the Federal Reserve website.

 

·       From Tuesday to Friday, all-day, the U.S. Department of Education hosts its annual Federal Student Aid (FSA) Training Conference for Financial Aid Professionals, the largest training program serving the financial aid community in the country, in Las Vegas, Nevada. This year’ssessions will focus on recent and anticipated regulatory changes and other important matters, including gainful employment, compliance with the Cleary Act, experimental sites, the FSA complaint system, challenges and appeals of cohort default rates, default management plans, third-party servicers, updates on assigning Perkins Loans to the Department, financial literacy, a servicing update, consumer disclosure requirements and tools, state authorization, cybersecurity initiatives and data protection, and income-driven repayment plans. For more information on the conference’s agenda, seehttp://fsaconferences.ed.gov/program15.html. NCHER staff will be in attendance at the conference and will provide periodic updates.

 

·       On Tuesday at 10:00 a.m., the Center for American Progress holds a discussion entitled, “Exploring the Geography of Student Debt,” which will present research that maps student debt concentration and distribution across income and geographies. Panelists include: Subira Gordon, Legislative Analyst, Connecticut African-American Affairs Commission; Natalie Higgins, Executive Director, Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts; Tom Israel, Executive Director, Montgomery County Education Association; Whitney Barkley, Legislative Policy Counsel, Center for Responsible Lending; Maggie Thompson, Campaign Manager, Higher Ed Not Debt; Kavya Vaghul, Research Analyst, Washington Center for Equitable Growth; and Rohit Chopra, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress. For details and to register, click here.

·       On Tuesday at 8:00 p.m., Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard gives a speech entitled, “Lower Neutral Rate and its Implications for Monetary Policy,” at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research Associates Meeting in Stanford, CA.

 

·       On Wednesday, all-day, the Federal Reserve and other federal banking regulators hold the sixth in a series of outreach meetings to review their regulations under the Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act of 1996. The law requires federal financial services regulators to review their regulations every 10 years. This meeting, held at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) in Washington, DC, includes opening remarks by Daniel Tarullo, Governor, Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve System; Martin Gruenberg, Chairman, FDIC; and Thomas Curry, Comptroller of the Currency; Office of the Comptroller of the Currency; and panel discussions on consumer protections, capital-related rules, application reporting, banking operations regulations, securities, money laundering, safety and soundness, and rules of procedure regulations.

 

·       On Wednesday at 12:00 p.m., Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen gives the keynote address at a luncheon hosted by the Economic Club of Washington where she will address the nation’s economic outlook.

·       On Wednesday at 2:00 p.m., the Federal Reserve releases its Beige Book. Eight times a year, the Fed releases its Beige Book, a summary of current economic conditions for the 12 Federal Reserve Districts based on anecdotal information gathered through reports from Bank and Branch Directors and interviews with key business contacts, economists, market experts, and other sources.

 

·       On Thursday at 10:00 a.m., the Joint Economic Committee holds a hearing entitled, “The Economic Outlook.” The sole witness will be Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.

 

·       On Thursday at 2:00 p.m., insideARM hosts a free webinar entitled, “Follow Up: Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Ruling’s Leading Risk Mitigation Approaches and Concerns.” Earlier this year, insideARM held the industry’s first conference focusing on first party collections and outsourcing. One of the most popular sessions covered the impacts of the latest FCC ruling on both in-house and outsourced operations. This follow up webinar will take a deeper dive into the arising best practices and concerns, focus on the FCC’s latest expansion of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, and help prepare strategy for consumer cell phone contact. Panelists include: John Bedard, Owner, Bedard Law Group; Mark Mallah, Corporate Counsel, LiveVox, Inc.; and Dusty Whitesell, Senior Vice President, LiveVox, Inc. 

Q&A - Revised Federal Perkins Loan Program

SASFAA Legislative Relations Committee wants to be certain you saw the revised Federal Perkins Loan Program Q&A available from IFAP. Check it out!

http://ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/112415RevisedFedPerkinsLoanPrgmQandAsAvailableonIFAPWebSiteNov2015.html.

Have a great holiday.

Save the date: NAOW 2016 - "Heroes: Save a Student, Save the World"

This week - Legislative Relations

 

 

 

 

Week of November 16

 

·       This week, both the U.S. House and U.S. Senate are in session for legislative business. However, neither chamber is expected to consider student financial aid-related legislation. 

 

o   The House is expected to consider H.R. 2583, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Process Reform Act, which requires the Commission to amend its rules to maximize opportunities for public participation and improve its rulemaking process, including setting minimum public comment periods, establishing deadlines for resolving petitions for declaratory rulings, and establishing procedures to allow a bipartisan majority of commissioners to place actions on the agenda. The bill also prohibits the FCC from categorizing inquiries or complaints under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) as wireline or wireless inquiries unless the inquiry or complaint originated from a wireline or wireless carrier. 

 

o   The House is also expected to move to create a conference committee to work out the differences between the House and Senate versions of the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

 

·       Today at 9:30 a.m., the U.S. Department of State holds a briefing to kick off International Education Week with the release of the 2015 Open Doors Report, which includes the latest statistics and trends on international and U.S. student mobility. Participants include: Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs Evan Ryanand Institute of International Education President and Chief Executive Officer Allan Goodman.

 

·       Today at noon, the Heritage Foundation hosts a discussion entitled, “Degrees and Double-Standards: Scoring the College Scorecard.” In September, the U.S. Department of Education introduced its new College Scorecard. This conversation will address several topics, including: Why a federal government tool of this sort needed; Why information on several well-regarded colleges are not included in the scorecard; and What factors may or may not be included in the scorecard’s design. Grove City College President Paul McNulty will discuss these and other topics with moderator Michael Costigan, Senior Advisor of Strategic Outreach at The Heritage Foundation. For details or to register,click here.

·       On Tuesday at 10:00 a.m., the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee holds a hearing entitled, “U.S. Department of Education: Information Security Review.” The hearing will examine information security at the Department of Education, with an emphasis on the Department’s efforts to secure the personally-identifiable information provided by federal student aid applicants and their parents. The hearing will also review the Department’s Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA) report, including recent findings on guaranty agencies and private collection agencies. Witnesses include:Greg Wilshusen, Director, Information Security Issues, U.S. Government Accountability Office;The Honorable Kathleen S. Tighe, Inspector General, U.S. Department of Education; andDanny Harris, Chief Information Officer, U.S. Department of Education.

 

·       On Tuesday at 10:15 a.m., the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology holds a hearing entitled, “Oversight of the Federal Communications Commission.” Witnesses include: The Honorable Tom Wheeler, Chairman, FCC; The Honorable Mignon Clyburn, Commissioner, FCC; The Honorable Jessica Rosenworcel, Commissioner, FCC; The Honorable Ajit Pai, Commissioner, FCC; andThe Honorable Michael O’Reilly, Commissioner, FCC.

 

·       On Tuesday at 1:30 p.m., the Brookings Institution and former Federal Reserve ChairmanBen Bernanke, now a distinguished fellow in residence at Brookings, host a half-day seminar entitled, “Are We Safer? A Look at the Financial System, Post-Crisis,” which will focus on lessons from history, the role of collateral in the financial system, liquidity in bond markets, and the shadow banking system. Panelists include: Daniel Tarullo, Governor, The Federal Reserve; Gary Gorton, Frederick Frank Class of 1954 Professor of Management and Professor of Finance, Yale School of Management; Betsy Graseck, Managing Director, Research Division, Morgan Stanley; Darrell Duffie, Dean Witter Distinguished Professor of Finance, Stanford University; Victoria Ivashina, Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School; Nellie Liang, Economist, The Federal Reserve; and Anil Kashyap, Edward Eagle Brown Professor of Economics and Finance, Booth School of Business, University of Chicago. To watch the live broadcast, click here.

·       On Tuesday at 2:00 p.m., NCHER holds its Monthly Membership Call, which will provide a summary of the November 5, 2015 Board of Directors meeting; a summary and updates on major items being worked on by our Committees, Caucuses, and Working Groups; and a Washington Update, including our next steps on TCPA reform and recent legislative and regulatory actions of the Congress, U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Department of Treasury, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and Federal Communications Commission. Note: The call-in number has been circulated to each organization’s primary point of contact.

·       On Tuesday at 2:00 p.m., insideARM hosts a webinar entitled, “A Frank Conversation with Industry Experts on Challenges and Best Practices.” Panelists, which will be announced at a later date, will talk through their best practices for increasing productivity and adherence while keeping an eye on the bottom line.

·       On Wednesday at 9:00 a.m., the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Government Operations and House Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training hold a joint hearing entitled, “Federal Student Aid: Performance-Based Organization Review.” Witnesses include: James Runcie, Chief Operating Officer, Federal Student Aid, U.S. Department of Education; Melissa Embrey-Arras, Director, Education, Workforce, and Income Security, U.S. Government Accountability Office; The Honorable Kathleen Tighe, Inspector General, U.S. Department of Education;Ben Miller, Senior Director, Postsecondary Education, Center for American Progress; andJustin Draeger, President, National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. The hearing will be broadcast live from theCommittee’s website.

·        On Wednesday at 9:45 a.m., the House Budget Committee holds a hearing entitled, “Does Biennial Budgeting Fit in a Rewrite of the Budget Process?” Witnesses include: Rep. Reid Ribble (R-WI); Rep. David Price (D-NC); Philip Joyce, Ph.D., Senior Associate Dean and Professor, University of Maryland School of Public Policy; Rudolph Penner, Ph.D., Institute Fellow, Urban Institute; and Alice Rivlin, Ph.D., Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution. 

·       On Wednesday at 10:00 a.m., the House Financial Services Committee holds a hearing entitled, “Examining the SEC’s Agenda, Operations, and FY 2017 Budget Request.” The Honorable Mary Jo White, Chair, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, will be the only witness.

 

·        On Wednesday at 1:00 p.m., the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) hosts the third of its Debt Collection Dialogues in Atlanta, GA. Representatives from the FTC, other federal and state law enforcement agencies, and the debt collection industry will discuss enforcement actions, consumer complaints, compliance issues, industry best practices, and how regulatory enforcement actions are investigated and pursued. Panelists include: Christopher Koegel, Assistant Director, Division of Financial Practices, FTC;Gregory Nodler, Senior Counsel for Enforcement Policy and Strategy, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB); Sam Olens, Attorney General, State of Georgia; Kenneth Lennon, Assistant Director, Community and Consumer Law Division, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency; Harvey Moore, President, The Moore Law Group, and President, National Association of Retail Collection Attorneys; Tim Bauer, President, insideARM, and Co-Executive Director, The Consumer Relations Consortium; Brett Soldevila, Chief Compliance Officer, Security Credit Services; Nick Jarman, President and Chief Operating Officer, Delta Outsource Group;Carri Grube Lybarker, Administrator, South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs; Olha Rybakoff, Senior Counsel, Tennessee Attorney General’s Office; and John Sours, Director, Consumer Protection Unit, Georgia Department of Law.

 

·       On Wednesday at 2:00 p.m., the Joint Economic Committee holds a hearing titled, “Millennial Voices on Advancing the American Dream.” Witnesses include: Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY);Jared Meyer, Fellow, Manhattan Institute for Policy Research; and Jen Mishory, Executive Director, Young Invincibles.

 

·       On Wednesday at 2:00 p.m., the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics hosts a Google+ Hangout entitled, “A Conversation on College Access.” This interactive session will provide an opportunity to hear from programs, models, organizations, or initiatives that are helping close the achievement gap, from cradle-to-career, for Hispanics students, and for discussing ways to continue moving the needle on progress for Latino students and families forward. Viewers can participate via the Web stream, or by sending questions in during or in advance of the event through Google+, Twitter, Facebook or email. For more information and to RSVP, click here.

·       On Wednesday at 2:00 p.m., the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Markets Committee releases the minutes of its two-day meeting held on October 27-28, 2015.

·       On Thursday at 2:00 p.m., the Federal Reserve Bank of New York releases its Q3 2015Household Debt and Credit Report, which offers an updated snapshot of household trends in borrowing and indebtedness, including data about mortgages, student loans, credit cards, auto loans, and delinquencies.

 

Shared by SASFAA Legislative Relations' Committee.

Conference Highlights & Agenda

Greetings SASFAA!

It is a beautiful, sunny weekend in Greensboro, NC, and I wish you all were here to bask in the wonderful weather! In fact, this is the kind of weather I have ordered for February 7-10, 2016 for our 53^rd Annual Conference. It is my pleasure to announce that the Conference Agenda is now available for your review on the SASFAA website (link below). Many thanks to the Conference Committee for securing all the sessions and speakers, and I appreciate, most especially, Brenda Brown as she prepared the agenda for posting as one of her committee duties. 

Our theme, Make An Impact! Advocacy, Education, and Inclusion, is evident in all aspects of the conference. We are dedicated to serving our entire association as well as the many students we assist. Topic-specific learning tracks have been created for this year's conference, as well.  Those tracks include Global Issues/Diversity, FA 101, Leadership, Compliance, Best Practices, and many more. 

Some highlights of speakers and activities from Conference 2016:

·        Major General Gerald W. Ketchum

·        Dr. Franklin D. Gilliam, Jr.,  UNC Greensboro Chancellor

·        Justin Draeger, NASFAA President

·        Wood Mason, David Bartnicki, and Jeff Baker from the Department of Education

·        Beth Akers from the Brookings Institute

·        Dan Mann, NASFAA Chair

·        Zachary and Elizabeth Fisher of Fisher House: Helping Military Families, our selected charity

·        SUPER BOWL SUNDAY Game and Tailgate Festivities

·        Over 60+ breakout sessions! Including User Groups, Green Zone, Safe Zones, and much more

·        Pre-Conference Sessions: Mid-Level Managers' Workshop and NASFAA University sessions on Cost of Attendance and Professional Judgement

·        Lunch and Learn with our Vendors/Sponsors

·        Lip Sync Contest

Make plans to join Amy Berrier (SASFAA President), the Conference Committee, the entire Executive Board, and all of your SASFAA colleagues in wonderful Greensboro, NC!  Brenda Burke, the original Conference Chair until an awesome job opportunity in Utah wrangled her away from SASFAA, plans to join in the fun as well!  She did a lot of the conference work before accepting her new role, and, for that, SASFAA is extremely grateful! 

Please visit http://www.sasfaa.org/annualconference to view the conference agenda and to register for the pre-conference workshops and full conference!

See you all in February 2016. If you have questions to which you can't find answers on the site, please contact me.

Janet Nowicki

SASFAA 2016 Conference Chair

jdnowicki@gtcc.edu