“Life is like riding a bicycle. You don’t fall off unless you stop peddling.” – Claude Pepper

Trek Boldly Into New Frontiers

Greetings VASFAA,

As I sit here and write this, I wonder where the summer has gone. I know it was here because I can remember the heat and the recent unending rains and the students clamoring for summer school aid and, of course, that never-ending flurry of questions about ACG, SMART, and all those other HERA provisions. It has been a busy summer and time has flown by. I know, however, that the busy nature of this summer pales in comparison to the hectic and busy times that we're all going through with the beginning of our fall terms. I hope you will remember that we're in this together and you should feel empowered to call on your VASFAA colleagues when you need that word of encouragement, when you have that nagging question that you need help with, or when you just need some of that good old VASFAA camaraderie to boost your energy. There's a lot of strength and stamina to be drawn from the power of the group. As Mr. Spock of the starship Enterprise was heard to say about just a situation, "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one, or even the few." Now, he was either talking about the energy that we can draw from our fellow VASFAA members or he was referring to the impact of multiple family members and number in college on the EFC.

VASFAA's board and committees have been actively "trekking forward" on a journey that we hope will create an exciting year for all of us in VASFAA.

Thanks to work by the State Relations committee and our SCHEV liaison, we've already had a great training opportunity on HERA provisions conducted at Piedmont Virginia Community College by none other than Kay Jacks from the Department of Education.

I had the opportunity, along with Brad Barnett, Past President, and Barry Simmons, State Relations Co-chair, to meet with Dr. Tom Morris, Virginia's Secretary of Education, and with Dietra Trent, Deputy Secretary of Education for Virginia. During that meeting we were able to present VASFAA and its membership to the Secretary as an informational resource in his efforts to promote higher education in the Commonwealth. We were also to garner his pledge of support in our effort to get legislation introduced to establish a standing proclamation for Financial Aid Awareness Month in Virginia. We also agreed to help the Secretary try to come up with ways to help promote the message that education beyond high school, whatever form it might take, is an important part of the Commonwealth’s future.

The 2006-07 VASFAA Board had its first official board meeting on August 16th. In keeping with our theme to trek boldly into “new” frontiers, this meeting was conducted entirely by teleconference. We think it worked out well, providing us with the opportunity to get the work of VASFAA done with minimal impact on our busy office schedules and, at the same time, helping to save the association some money. There were some numb ears at the end of the call for those that didn't have hands-free phones, but it was a small sacrifice to make.

The Board voted to renew its contract with NASFAA and LearnStudentAid.org to garner a discount for any VASFAA members who wish to participate in LearnStudentAid.org training opportunities. See the Training page on the VASFAA web site for more details.

One other item that came out of that board meeting was the Board's response, on behalf of its membership, to the recent rounds of disparaging remarks made about the integrity of financial aid administrators by MyRichUncle (MRU). The VASFAA Board voted unanimously to end our business relationship with MRU until such time as MRU retracted its remarks about the profession and demonstrated that it had abandoned its current marketing strategy which seemed to involve enhancing their market share on the backs and reputations of the financial aid community. I drafted and sent a letter to the CEO of MyRichUncle detailing the action we were taking.

The next scheduled VASFAA Board meeting will be held at the Williamsburg Hospitality House on Sunday, October 15th, immediately preceding the fall training events for Experienced Aid, New Aid, and Support Staff.

VASFAA's committees have been busy planning and embanking on lots of exciting missions for the membership and the association:

• The Archives Committee (Holly Rison, Chair) is busy working on converting the association’s archival information into electronic and more permanent format.
  
  
• The Awards and Nominations Committee (Brad Barnett, Chair) is actively soliciting nominations for any of VASFAA's award categories and for candidates for the slate of candidates for the 2007 election during which we'll be voting for a new President-Elect, two Representatives-at-Large, a Secretary, and a Treasurer-Elect. If you have a nomination for an award or for a potential candidate for office, please contact Brad.
  
  
• The Awareness Committee (Robin White and Mary Gore, Co-Chairs) has already begun its planning for the 2007 Super Saturday events. The committee will also be actively involved along with State Relations in trying to secure the standing proclamation for Financial Aid Awareness Month in Virginia.
  
  
• The Budget and Finance Committee (Bobby Clemmer, Chair) is actively monitoring our expenditures and keeping us on track to maintain the balanced budget for 2006-07 that we established at the Transition Board Retreat. The committee is also monitoring the investment accounts for the Sue D Ross and Educational Endowment Funds.
  
  
• The Conference Committee (Vera Riddick, Chair) is well underway to planning a galactic conference event for 2007.
  
  
• The Diversity Committee (Hope Jackson, Chair) is working hard to set up sessions and activities that will emphasize the diverse nature of association. Ferengi, Klingons, and even Borg will be welcomed with open arms if they should choose to attend.
  
  
• The Electronic Services Committee (Daniel Hewitt and Jane Moore, Co-Chairs) has been hard at work getting updates made to the web site and working closely with the various committee chairs to assist them with the technology and web-based needs.
  
  
• The Experienced Aid Officers Training Committee (Ed Irish, Chair) has planned a great training opportunity for October 16 and 17 in Williamsburg. The training will cover ever important topics like needs analysis and professional judgment. This training event will be held in conjunction with all-day training sessions for Support Staff and New Aid Officers.
  
  
• The Federal Relations Committee (Marilynn King, Chair) is monitoring congressional activity in anticipation of some movement this year on reauthorization issues. There is also some work in progress to try to arrange for congressional visits in Washington, DC.
  
  
• The Membership Committee (Angela Long, Chair) is actively working to increase the VASFAA membership by sending periodic updates out to the listserv. I will be working closely with the committee during the year to try to figure out ways to reach out to non-members to encourage them to join and partake of the benefits of the association.
  
  
• The New Century Fund President's Council (Tom Morehouse, Chair) is ready to evaluate any submissions for the New Century Educational Endowment (Buddy) Awards.
  
  
• The Newsletter Committee (Gary Spoales, Chair) is working diligently to keep the VASFAA Voice Newsletter filled with interesting, relevant and fun articles. Everyone if strongly encouraged to share in this vital mission by submitting information to the Newsletter about the goings on at their institutions and companies that might be of interest to the membership.
  
  
• The Photography Committee (Gerene Carter, Chair) stands, camera at the ready, prepared to capture the excitement of the 2007 conference on film. Anyone taking photos at other VASFAA events or gatherings is also encouraged to share these photos with Gerene.
  
  
• The Public Relations Committee (Liza Bruce, Chair) has been hard at work promoting the exciting things that VASFAA is doing. The committee has already managed to get a news release accepted by NASFAA about our visits with the Virginia Secretary of Education and has submitted this information also to Higher Education Washington, Inc, an on-line higher education information web site.
  
  
• The Research Committee (Barry Simmons, Chair) is continuing its work on evaluating issues impacting aid and access in Virginia such as trying to determine the feasibility of a standardized financial aid application due date in the Commonwealth.
  
  
• The Secondary School Relations Committee (Pam Rambo, Chair) has already been actively setting up locations for the fall high school guidance training workshops.
  
  
• The Site Selection Committee (Pat Kelly, Chair) is actively evaluating potential sites for the 2008 VASFAA Conference. Our 3-year contract with the Hilton Oceanfront hotel ends with the 2007 conference.
  
  
• The State Relations Committee (Barry Simmons and Yvonne Hubbard, Co-Chairs) has already, as mentioned earlier managed, in conjunction with our SCHEV Liaison, to get us set up with HERA training from the Department of Education and has arranged for our meeting with the Virginia Secretary of Education. The committee continues to monitor legislative activities related to financial aid and higher education.
  
  
• The Strategic Planning Committee (Lefter Daku, Chair) is continuing its work to evaluate the effectiveness and completeness of the associations' standardized goals.
  
  
• The Support Staff Training Committee (Donna Taylor, Chair) has been working on setting up training opportunism for our support staffs. The first of these events will take place in Williamsburg in conjunction with the Experienced Aid Officer and New Aid Officer training.
  
  
• The Training Committee (Brenda Burke and Jolene Burke and Jeanne Holmes, Co-Chairs) has been hard at work getting ready, not only for the 2007 conference, but also setting up the New Aid Officers training for October in Williamsburg.
  
  
• The Vendor/Sponsor Committee (Biz Daniel, Chair) has been working with the various committee chairs to identify sponsorable items and is working, as we speak, with potential and confirmed vendors and sponsors to conduct the VASFAA Vendor/Sponsor lottery.