VASFAA Board of Directors
Meeting Minutes
January 31, 2007
I.
Call to order
Erik Melis called to order the
scheduled meeting of the Virginia Association of Student Financial Aid
Administrators (VASFAA) Board of Directors at 10:10 am on January 31, 2007
in Newport News, VA.
II.
Quorum
A quorum was established. The
following persons were present: Erik Melis, Pat Kelley, Brad Barnett, Jeanne
Holmes, Kerrie Roth, Zita Barree, Melissa Barnes, Michael Poma, Keith Wellings
and Lee Andes.
III.
Presentation of Agenda
The agenda was approved as presented.
IV.
Approval of minutes from last meeting
The minutes from the October 15, 2006 and the
December 11, 2006 meetings were approved as presented.
V.
Reports
a)
President – Erik Melis (report on
website): Erik noted that he attended the SASFAA Board meeting in Atlanta and the joint
NCASFAA/SCASFAA per invitation at the Grove Park Inn, NC in November. He commented that it was nice to experience
the “joint” conference and noted that VASFAA may want to experience something
similar in the future. He also attended
the VCAN conference in December and applauded the members of VASFAA that are
serving on the VCAN Board.
b)
President Elect – Pat Kelly (report on website): Sector Coordination – Pat
noted that she is seeking “Sector
Coordinators” and
topics for the Spring Conference and
will put our a request to the VASFAA
Listserve for topics. She also noted that
the Marriott-Newport News has been selected as
the conference site It has been noted that
our planned conference date for 2008 conflicts again with EASFAA but it was
decided that we will proceed with
the selected dates but that with future planning,
the site selection team should check
not only with SASFAA states but also with Tri-State
and EASFAA because
of their close proximity to us. The two
questions that we wanted more clarification are
still being addressed: RE: the cancellation
language
– it is now more lenient, thus acceptable (see contract
as will be signed); though the drayage
issue and storage
are still questionable – but it was
determined that if we use outside drayage –
it would certainly be more expensive
than in-house. Pat
also mentioned that Vera
is working on a location for a
Fall “Mini-Conference” and the Wyndham
was suggested as
a possible location. There was
much discussion on this, and it was suggested that
other sites be considered. This was topic was
tabled for a
later discussion. Strategic
Planning – Pat
noted that Lefter requested an increase
in the budget for this committee to cover the cost of an
in-person meeting. This was tabled
until after the treasurer’s report.
c)
Past President – Brad
Barnett (report on website): Brad presented new language to be voted on for Retirement Recognition (see the report for appropriate
language), JH motioned to accept
the changes, ZB seconded, and the motion carried
unanimously. Brad
also presented award
recipient nominations to be voted
on: Two additional recipients of the retirement award for
the 2006-07 – Phenie Golatt, Virginia Union University, and
Eugenia (Deanie)
Hickman, Virginia Wesleyan University; and
the New Professional Award: Paula Rafferty. KW motioned and
PK seconded, and the motion carried unanimously. It was
also suggested that we add
the listing of the recipients of the Retirement Award
to the P&P. MP motioned, ZB seconded
and it was
passed unanimously. There was
discussion on the election process and
vote count for the position of Representative-at-Large. It was
presented to change the current
policy to state that the candidates receiving the highest number of votes will be
elected to office. MP moved to change the P&P to reflect this under elections, ZB
seconded, and the motion carried unanimously. Finally,
there was a
recommend bylaw change for the definition of a
life member and the addition of a
non-discrimination policy for VASFAA. The slate
of candidates/offices
for the Spring 2007 election for the 2007-08 year
are:
President Elect: Brenda Burke
(JH motioned, MB seconded – carried);
Secretary: Joe Dobrota and Vera Riddick (ZB
motioned, KR seconded – carried);
Treasurer-Elect: (KW had to leave
the room) Angie Hawkins,
and Keith Wellings (MP motioned, PK
seconded, - carried); and Representative-at-Large-electing
2: Susanne Angheloni, Sheila Nelson-Hensley, and
Bill Wendle (KW motioned, PK seconded – carried).
d)
Secretary – Jeanne
Holmes: Archives (report on website): Jeanne noted that
Holly continues to work with the VASFAA Archives and
is continuing in her preparation of sorting the files to prepare them for scanning
for permanent recording. Jeanne
continues to work to update the
P&P with the goal of having all
completed by handoff at the transitional board
meeting.
e)
Treasurer – Kerri Roth: Kerri reported that
she is currently over-budget. The new
mileage rate
is $0.485. She also
reported that for some reason there is a
differential between her reporting and what
is showing in ATAC and she will work
to clarify. She is also
checking on the expenses for AV equipment rental
at the last
conference, but did note that the
two that were purchased in 2003 cost $2499 each. Kerri noted that
the Vendor/Sponsor report noted $79,750 but she is only reporting $78.500. She will research
to determine the difference. Discussion
on Board Liability
Insurance – it was noted that
it is not typical for a non-profit to have
a liability
policy. Kerri reported that the investment is dormant,
thus we are paying
a $10 monthly fee. She and KW have
been charged to complete a net worth report so that
VASFAA can identity all of the accounts,
and have
the information on the budget in a member protected area on the website.
f)
Treasurer Elect – Zita
Barree (report on website): Zita
and Kerri are
working together planning and preparing
for the year in transition of records and
responsibilities. The Budget and Finance Report is posted to the web site, as is the New Century and
Sue Ross funds. Zita noted that there are
3 applications
that will be presented to the Board for New Century funding requests. KW asked about the possibility of looking at additional investment opportunities for the Sue D. Ross CD
because of rate
increases. He also
noted that we currently have no diversification
because all
are in CDs. He asked
What leverage
is there to determine the best vehicles for investment management, and
EM noted that SASFAA has a
policy which provides guidance in
their P&P titled “Guide to Financial Management” and
has charge
KW to look into this and bring a proposal back
to the board, if necessary and appropriate.
g)
Professional
Development – Michael Poma (Conference, Experienced Aid, Support Staff and
Training reports are on the website): Conference
- Michael noted that the registration form and mini conference site should be
up and running by February, The hotel for the Spring 2007 (VA Beach Hilton)
will be handling the drayage expenses with no additional charges to VASFAA Project Discovery is the fund raising
recipient. JH noted that they were a
past recipient in the last 5+ years and suggested that this be considered in
the future as there are many other possible recipients that we can
support. Support Staff indicated that 3
sites may not be enough for their training as the need grows and to meet the
coverage need of the state, thus they have been very frugal in their spending
and ask that their budget not be cut. Training
noted their dilemma with the DOE and the federal update session and asked if
VASFAA would support the “add-on” of the regional Federal Workshop to the
Wednesday closing of VASFAA. The Board
agreed, and this will happen..
h)
Information Services – Angie
Hawkins, presented
by Erik Melis in her absence (Public
Relations and
Electronic Services report on website): Electronic
Services current focus is the conference mini-site. Newsletter
continues to solicit articles
for publication. Photography
had no report. Public Relations has
submitted draft letters to EM to
send to the presidents, supervisors, etc of membership as
thank you documents. They also noted that
they were continuing with the VASFAA Vignettes and
EM asked that
the Board members please submit a
Vignette (if they have not done so
previously). The PR committee asked the Board
if they wanted the VASFAA PR informational
brochure reprinted but it was
decided that this would be revisited
to the retreat – as it is not an
item for the current year..
i)
Outreach Services – Keith Wellings (Secondary School Relations,
Diversity, and Membership reports are on the website):
The Fall Financial
Aid workshops went well and
under-budget; membership to date is
337. Awareness
is finalizing the planning for Super Saturday events. JH
asked for clarification on levels of participation – who/how/what
– is there any distinction as to what
a lender can
do vs. that of a school person.
It was determined that for now, all
volunteerism is welcomed as a VASFAA member, but, we possibly need to have more policies in place
to govern this in the future and that it need to added
as a
discussion item at the Retreat. KW was
asked to have
a person available at each
Super Saturday
to take photos for PR purposes. Diversity still has
a question on the “blessing” of the
food and the appropriate manner
in which this is conducted thus EM has
charged KW to research a
“universal” blessing and then he, as
president will make the call as to
what is appropriate. .
j)
Organizational
Services – Melissa Barnes (Vendor/Sponsor Report on website; please post
Federal Relations, State Relations, and Research to website): Melissa noted
that she had not received a report from Research. Federal Relations indicated
that they are “watching” all legislation, and State Relations reported that SJR
334 is a Resolution on the Floor of the General Assembly to have February
declared as Financial Aid Awareness month.
S/V committee noted that they are still attempting to get “promised”
sponsorship funds from committed vendors..
k)
SCHEV Update – Lee Andes: Lee noted that
the VA General Assembly was in session and
had several
higher education related items on their plate
(see report) He was
very positive and said that
Higher Education looks good this
term!.
VI.
OLD BUSINESS
There was additional discussion on the
Marriott Contract and MP asked if we have an anticipated ceiling for the
maximum cost. PK and MP will work on
some numbers to see what they could possibly be. The vote on signing the contract was tabled
until after Monday with the additional information to be presented and EM will
request an email vote of the Board.
JEH and EM will work to determine where the
“job descriptions” are in order to help “market” VASFAA to its membership.
SASFAA 2008 – BB reported that the committee
has been set, and will meet during SASFAA 2007 in Nashville to begin the planning process. The
site hotel is the Hyatt
Capital City. We also discussed who will attend VASFAA for
the SASFAA Update at the Spring Conference – Brent (Pres) or Lisanne
(Pres-elect) – What does protocol dictate? We would like to invite Lisanne
because she will be the SASFAA president during VASFAA’s hosting of the
event. VASFAA will have a table at
SASFAA 2007 for PR on our Virginia 2008.
MP is coordinating the table and the volunteers.
Fall Mini Conference – There was much
discussion on this with no consensus or conclusion. The question was asked when
VASFAA will revisit the single vs. the double conference and/or the timing of a
single conference. No answers were
provided.
Fall workshops were discussed and it was
suggested that “if” there were any they would be drive in with no mandatory
over-nights.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:50pm.
Respectfully submitted: Jeanne Holmes, Secretary
VII. NEW
BUSINESS
Community College Transfer Scholarship – VASFAA was
asked do we have an opinion on this. A
student will graduate from the CC with a B or better – transfers to a 4 year
and would receive a scholarship to fund the difference in tuition between the
CC and the 4 year institution. The major
question was: who/where is this funding coming from? No opinion was noted.
Super Saturday and College Goal Sunday – Lee shared
that NASFAA is now willing to host this on a say other that Sunday and wanted
to know if VASFAA was interested. The
discussion was such that because of Virginia’s
Super Saturday Concept, we were already accomplishing the same mission and that
we would stick with what we have. It was
also noted that VASFAA’s 2006 Super Saturday Charlottesville event was
showcased in the NASFAA Poster Display in Seattle,
WA. Keith will contact Robin White for an article
to the VASFAA Voice.
Association/Board Insurance – See comments
referencing this in Section VI, paragraph two.
General Assembly visits/interactions – By consensus,
VASFAA decided that they were not getting “the bang for the buck” in this
effort any more, therefore decided that there will be no General Assembly visit
this year. The Board noted however, that
VASFAA will remain legislatively conscious on all issues that relate to higher
education in VA.
ECMC Foundation Training Partnership – ECMC offered
VASFAA the opportunity to partner with them on this effort. The Board said no, at present, and wanted to
first evaluate how this ECMC training effort will impact our current HS
Counselor workshops.
There was additional discussion on LCD projectors in
reference to insurance coverage, are they in working order, do we have enough,
and are we still spending too much in equipment rental at our conferences and
event. Kerri will examine the Spring
2006 conference bill and see if she can see how much was spent for AV rentals
and if we can get a breakdown on what was covered.
VIII. Adjournment
The meeting
was adjourned at 4:55 pm.
Respectfully
submitted: Jeanne Holmes – VASFAA Secretary