SASFAA President's Update

Submitted by Jeff Dennis, President

SASFAA is off to a great start.  The Executive Board will be meeting August 4^th and 5^th in Atlanta, Georgia.  As a member of SASFAA you are welcome to attend our meetings.  If you have something you would like for the board to review, please submit it to me by August 2^nd.  The Executive Board wants to serve its constituency.  My email is jdennis@swu.edu.

Make plans to attend the annual conference February 10-13, 2013 in Atlanta, Georgia to help celebrate SASFAA’s 50^th anniversary.  Our theme this year is “Celebrating Yesterday’s Achievements, Shaping Tomorrow’s Aspirations” or CYASTA.

I hope that the year is getting off to a great start in your office as we begin a new academic year.  Don’t let the volume of work that has to be completed in the next few weeks affect how you feel toward your profession.  We have highs and lows but we are helping students accomplish what they could not do without our assistance.

The outsourcing dilemma: Some considerations

Submitted by Chansone Durden, TG Account Executive Team Manager

In many organizations, when the topic of hiring an external service provider comes up, there are usually two schools of thought. On one hand, getting help from the outside is perceived as less than ideal; decision makers may cite cost, expertise limitations, and a lack of understanding of organizational culture as factors that discourage outsourcing. On the other hand, outsourcing may provide many advantages, including relief for overtaxed staff, reduced training and maintenance needs, and a resource to augment internal expertise.

So how do you determine which way to go in your situation?

1.      Define the need

The most important factor in making the decision whether to outsource is the business objective. What specific need is your organization trying to meet? Surprisingly, many organizations make outsourcing decisions without clearly defining their objective. This results in frustration, because different people will have different perspectives on the challenge that needs to be addressed, and that leads to different solutions. Once you clearly define your objective, it becomes easier to address it.

2.      Quantify the risk

Next, determine the risk that your organization will face if your objective is not met. This is a consideration that is often disregarded.  Is your business objective attempting to address an issue that is critical in nature? Will you incur financial loss, revocation of licenses or privileges, or experience a loss of business opportunities if you do not meet the business objective? What is the impact? Determine this in advance; this will give you an understanding of the importance of an effective solution. It may also open doors to consider less costly or less labor intensive options.

3.      Identify needs versus wants

After you have determined the business objective, and identified the risks involved in not meeting the objective, the next step is to outline all of the functions, features, and expectations for the solution. Once you have identified them, categorize them as “essential” versus “nice to have,” and rank them within these specific categories.  Your completed list now prioritizes all elements.

4.      Evaluate existing capabilities

Once you have defined the business need, evaluated the business risk, and identified the needs versus the wants, look at your existing resources to determine feasibility in addressing the business challenge internally. Some issues to consider include:

·        Do you have support from the highest levels of management to support addressing the business objective with existing resources?

·        Do you have existing staff to address the objective, and do they have the necessary expertise and time?

·        If not, will you be able to hire staff and provide a budget for them to address the need?

·        Will workflows need to be adjusted, and do you have the capability to adjust them with existing personnel?

·        If the function or activity has not been performed in your organization before, do you have best practices determined, or can you somehow acquire them?

·        Is your organization able to assume the risk associated with performing the function or activity, if there are errors or failures? This may include financial, market share, and reputation loss incurred due to errors or failures.

·        Have you projected demand growth for this function, product, or service, and are you reasonably prepared to address this growth?

5.      Determine approach

After taking each of the steps above, you should have enough information to make a decision. Determine whether you will attempt to address the business challenge using existing resources, or consider outsourcing instead. Even if you end up making the “wrong” decision, going through these steps will provide you with a way to identify where failures might have occurred. And if, ultimately, you choose to hire a service provider, your answers to many of these questions can help you evaluate your options in the marketplace, helping you ultimately to meet your business objective.

Chansone Durden is an account executive team manager with TG serving schools in SASFAA. You can reach Chansone at (800) 252-9743, ext. 6710, or by email at chansone.durden@tgslc.org. Additional information about TG can be found online at www.TG.org.

Wanted!

Dear SASFAA Friends,

Wanted:  Persons who have the desire and willingness to work hard for no pay while meeting new people and having fun in the process. 

For:  The most rewarding job you’ll ever have! Ok, well maybe that’s not totally true, but did I mention you will have fun, meet new people and it’s rewarding?

It is that time of year again for the Nominations and Elections Committee to solicit nominations for the SASFAA Officer positions that will be open next year.  If you or someone you know fits the bill, then consider running or nominate someone for one the open positions on the Board.

This year we are looking for President-Elect, Treasurer, and Vice President.

If you nominate someone, please be sure to have that person’s permission.  Nominees will need to be prepared to provide a biographical statement to the Nominations and Election Committee.  We will present a slate of candidates to the Board for approval in November. 

Please send your nominations to anyone on the committee.   Committee members are:

Brad Barnett, Chair – barnetbd@jmu.edu

Vickie Adams (Alabama) - vadams@jsu.edu

Allison Beaver (Florida) - abeaver@keiseruniversity.edu

Nancy Ferguson (Georgia) - nferg@uga.edu

Aaron Gabehart (Kentucky) - algabehart@campbellsville.edu

Seph Anderson (Mississippi) - seph@olemiss.edu

Kim Driggers (North Carolina) - driggers@sapc.edu

Allison Sullivan (South Carolina) - asullivan@uscupstate.edu

Lester McKenzie (Tennessee) - Lmckenzie@tntech.edu

Melissa Barnes (Virginia) - mjbarnes@nsu.edu

On behalf of the Nominations and Election Committee, I want to thank you in advance for assisting us in shaping SASFAA’s future!

Brad Barnett

SASFAA Past President

The 3-year cohort default rate comes with a silver lining — loan rehabilitation

by Chansone Durden, TG Account Executive Team Manager

This past February, the Department of Education (ED) released the first draft 3-year cohort default rates (CDRs). Meanwhile, official 3-year rates won't be available until September, and the first set of CDRs on which sanctions could be based won't be released until September 2014. Many schools are already worried about the increase in their CDRs, however, and for good reason. Trial 3-year data provided by ED indicates that all school sectors will experience a surge in rates, with some schools seeing a rate hike of up to 90 percent. That kind of increase could expose some schools to serious consequences, including a loss of eligibility for federal student aid.

The 3-year CDR doesn't bring all bad news, however. With the longer monitoring period, loan rehabilitation can have a positive impact on a school’s CDR. Remember that a borrower can rehabilitate, or bring a loan out of default, by making nine on-time monthly payments during a period of 10 consecutive months. The loan is then sold to a lender, and the default is removed from the borrower's credit history.

How does this help a school's CDR? If the borrower rehabilitates the loan before the end of the cohort default period, the borrower is not in default anymore and so not included in the school's CDR calculation. Even better, the borrower once again becomes eligible for federal aid after the sixth consecutive payment, meaning he or she could potentially return to school to complete a degree or certificate. (Keep in mind, however, that borrowers can renew eligibility only once.)

Helping borrowers and cutting default
Until the 3-year CDR was introduced, loan rehabilitation wasn't something that could feasibly affect a school's rate. Now, borrowers who default in the first year of repayment have time to meet rehabilitation requirements within the three-year CDR window,

How can schools use loan rehabilitation to help their borrowers and mitigate default? Here are some tips for integrating loan rehabilitation into your school's default prevention plan.

• Identify borrowers with defaulted loans — With each CDR notification, ED provides schools with the Loan Record Detail Report, or LRDR, an itemized listing of borrowers, including borrowers with defaulted loans. Download and use this information electronically.
• Develop a communication campaign — Use LRDR information to create a communication campaign for defaulted borrowers that outlines the process and the benefits of loan rehabilitation. Consider contacting borrowers via mail, email, and phone, with messages that reinforce each other. Some things to cover in your communications:
• Borrowers will need to establish a loan rehabilitation agreement with the guarantor or collection agency that holds the defaulted loans.
• Borrowers will need to stay in touch with their guarantor or collector throughout repayment, especially if they change their mailing address.
• Borrowers can benefit greatly from loan rehabilitation and from establishing healthy repayment habits. The removal of default from a borrower’s credit history can be invaluable — an improved credit record means easier access to credit later on if borrowers wish to borrow for a car or house mortgage.

You can also use LRDR information to help your default prevention efforts in other ways. For example, analyze the data on your defaulted borrowers, looking for common factors which may have predisposed borrowers to default. Do certain majors contribute a disproportionate number of borrowers in default? Did many borrowers withdraw without giving notice? How was their academic performance? You may be able to use this information to help current students who share such characteristics by offering academic and career support to students at greater risk of defaulting in the future.

Chansone Durden is an account executive team manager with TG serving schools in SASFAA. You can reach Chansone at (800) 252-9743, ext. 6710, or by email at chansone.durden@tgslc.org. Additional information about TG can be found online at www.TG.org.

Virginia State President's Report -- Margaret Murphy, VASFAA President

Greetings from the Commonwealth of Virginia!  On June 18, 2012, Melissa Barnes passed the president’s gavel to Margaret Murphy during the transition retreat held at the beautiful, rustic 4H Conference Center in Wakefield, Virginia.  Melissa finished her year by reporting on the successful annual conference held in Norfolk, Virginia May 20 thru 23, 2012.  Highlights of her year include a successfully Super Saturday outreach event at 63 locations across the state, two non-conference training events for VASFAA members, guidance counselor workshops at 11 sites, and the creation of the VASFAA Enrichment & Reinvestment Program or VERP. 

Our 2012-2013 Board includes:

            Margaret Murphy, President                        Tarik Boyd, Representative at Large

            Melissa Barnes, Past President                     Lisa Branson, Representative at Large

            Ashley Reich, President-Elect                        Brian DeYoung, Representative at Large

            Etta Feinauer, Secretary                                Paul Farrar, Representative at Large

            Lisa Tumer, Treasurer                                    Elizabeth “Biz” Daniel, Treasurer-Elect

Focusing on positioning students and professionals for success, VASFAA committees are moving forward on their goals for the year.  In addition to the Awareness Committee’s continued support of Super Saturday, we are increasing our grant request to further support our secondary school outreach.  Secondary School Relations plans to expand our training outreach from 11 to 24 sites for guidance counselor workshops.  If grant funding is not available, the Board supports the committee’s goals and urged the committee apply for VERP funding as a secondary funding source.

VERP funding will also be requested to fund non-conference training events for paid VASFAA members (all others would be charged a $35 registration fee).  Currently Training Committee has scheduled a day-long, training event for October 11, 2012 at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. Greg Martin will provide a fall federal update.   It is anticipated that a SCHEV representative will provide an update, and the committee will provide two or more concurrent sessions on hot topics.  A similar training event is planned in March elsewhere in the state.  The possibility of another NAOW day in the fall in addition to the one held in conjunction with our annual conference is being researched. 

Our membership committee will be sponsoring an early bird paid membership drive by offering a drawing for a conference registration to one lucky VASFAA member who has paid his or her membership dues by the end of August.  Current and past VASFAA members will receive information about that opportunity.  Of course, the other incentive for early payment is attending the fall training at no cost. 

Site Selection is already at work on our 2014 conference site.  The 2013 Conference Committee is already at work on our annual conference which will be held at the Hampton Roads Convention Center in Hampton, Virginia, May 12 thru 15, 2013.   

Tennessee State President's Report - Lester McKenzie, TASFAA President

It has been a pleasure working with the members of the SASFAA Board and especially my fellow state Presidents. Each one of you has taught me a lesson and your friendship will be cherished.

On behalf of TASFAA I would like to thank the SASFAA Board for the opportunity to be heard as a collective voice from the Great State of Tennessee.

Executive Board

The 2011/12 TASFAA Board has met three times and will meet twice after this report.

July 2011                    Transitional Retreat               Franklin, TN

November 2011          Board Meeting                       Murfreesboro, TN

February 2012            Mini Board/Conference         Cookeville, TN

April 2012                   Board/ Annual Conference     Franklin, TN

June 2012                  Transitional Retreat                TBD

The TASFAA Board includes the following volunteers:

Lester McKenzie, President, Tennessee Tech University

John Brandt, President Elect, Union University

Sandra Rockett, Past President, Dyersburg State Community College

Donna Price, Secretary,Austin Peay State University

Amy Collins, Treasurer, East Tennessee State University

Janie Burns, Member at Large, Bethel University

*Janie also serves as Sponsorship Chair

Richard Brand, Private Sector, Maryville College

Sandra Davidson, Proprietary Sector, South College

Leah Louallen, Public 2-Year Sector, Nashville State Community College

Celena Tulloss, Public 4-Year Sector, University of Tennessee

*Celena also serves as Conference Chair

Owetha Hunter, TTC Sector, TTC Whiteville

Jeff Gerkin, Association Governance, University of Tennessee

Sara Jackson, Awards, Chattanooga State Community College

Marian Huffman, Budget/Finance, Lee University

Ryan Smith, Electronic Services, Bryan College

Ron Gambill, Government Relations, EdSouth

Naomi Derryberry, Historical, TSAC

Sonja McMullen, Membership, Sallie Mae

Terri Parchment, Public Relations, TSAC

*Debbie Nuchols resigned in Nov 2011 but her service to TASFAA was appreciated

Joanie Walker, Site Selection, Middle Tennessee State University

Jane Pennington, State Programs, TSAC

Brenda DiSorbo, Training, Cleveland State University

Summer Judd, Diversity. Freed Hardeman University

Darolyn Porter, Special Appointee, TSAC

TASFAA is pleased to announce our officers for the 2012-2013 year:

President-Elect:  Ms. Ashley Bianchi, Rhodes College

Secretary:  Ms. Leah Louallen, Nashville State Community College

Member at Large:  Donna Price, Austin Peay State University

Private Sector Representative:  Eddie White, Trevecca Nazarene

Proprietary Sector Representative:  Jeanne Stewart, South College

Public 2 year Sector Representative:  Brenda Burney, Columbia State Community College

Public 4 year Sector Representative:  Celena Tulloss, University of Tennessee Knoxville

Technology Center Representative:  Gwen Fleming, Tennessee Technology Center Memphis

  

Regional Training

We held three workshops across the state using NASFAA’s presentation material on Satisfactory Academic Progress. Two trainers, Brent Tener of Vanderbilt University and Michelle Baird of Lincoln Memorial School of Law, expertly presented the material in all three locations. In addition to SAP, TASFAA also enlisted the services of two federal trainers, Wood Mason and Robert Berry, to cover changes in COD and the Direct Loan Reconciliation process.

Information about the sites:

Union University, Jackson, Tennessee:   November 9, 2011

            46 Attendees Registered, 43 Attended and Paid

Lipscomb University, Nashville, Tennessee:  November 14, 2011

            63 Registered, 57 Attended and Paid

South College, Knoxville, Tennessee:  November 15, 2011

            74 Registered, 71 Attended and Paid

Workshop fees were increased from $35 to $65 this year and registration numbers lowered slightly. In 2010, we had 210 register, 205 attended and paid compared to 2011 with 183 register, 171 attended and paid. The revenue generated in 2010 was $7175 compared to 2011 at $11,115. The costs for the workshop were largely paid for with support by the Tennessee Student Assistance Corp. Our thanks to that organization for proving once again they are solidly dedicated to our association and the profession of financial aid.

 Conference Planning

Under the expert guidance of Ms. Celena Tulloss, University of Tennessee, the conference committee met at Tennessee Tech University on February 2, 2012 to begin the planning for our annual conference in late April 2012.

The conference is heavily loaded with federal and state trainers with the following sessions being considered:

            Federal Update

            COD and DL Changes

            2012/13 Verification

            SAP – Year One Review

            NASFAA/ Washington Update

            TSAC/TELS Update

David Bartnicki and Wood Mason will be our federal trainers and Justin Draeger, NASFAA, will also be attending. The conference will be held at the Cool Springs Marriott in Franklin, Tennessee on April 22-25, 2012.

I am truly thankful for being given the opportunity to serve in this capacity and serve on the SAFSAA Board and look forward to our continued progress as 2012 closes.

Loan Repayment Options for Grads

BY TERRY SAVAGE savage@suntimes.com June 10, 2012 6:28PM

Student loan debt is becoming a national crisis — as well as a personal nightmare for college grads. There is now more student loan debt than credit-card debt outstanding. And the accomplishment of college is dwarfed by the insurmountable task of loan repayment. But it’s something you must deal with now, while you have options.

Sadly, your college degree didn’t come with a job guarantee. For many graduates, the idea of even thinking about starting to repay those student loans is a nightmare. But even if you don’t have an income, you must deal with your student loans within six months of graduation.

There are several helpful alternatives that will postpone the repayment process until you have the money to do it — albeit the interest will keep building.

To learn more about repayment options, you may read the entire article at the link below:

http://www.suntimes.com/business/savage/13097161-452/grads-have-options-for-dealing-with-student-loan-debt.html