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VASFAA
SPRING CONFERENCE
COME JOIN YOUR FRIENDS & COLLEAGUES AS WE BEGIN TO
CELEBRATE 35 YEARS OF VASFAA AT THE VASFAA SPRING CONFERENCE!
MAY 11-14, 2003
RAMADA PLAZA RESORT OCEANFRONT
VIRGINIA BEACH, VA
SEE THE VASFAA WEBSITE FOR MORE INFO.
SEE YOU IN MAY!
NEW
CENTURY ENDOWMENT COMMITTEE
NEW CENTURY EDUCATIONAL ENDOWMENT FUND ENTERS 4th YEAR
The
innovative professional development program provides financial
assistance to members!
Are campus professional development funds limited
or non-existent?
Applications
are now being accepted for financial awards from the New
Century Educational Endowment Fund.
This fund was created three years ago with a $50,000
grant from the VASFAA general fund. The "Buddy
Awards", named after VASFAA Past President and Life
Member Buddy Johnston, offer support for the professional
development of VASFAA members and their sponsoring
institutions.
Past
recipients received awards to fund a study to improve
retention, pay tuition for the SASFAA summer workshop, and
fund a staff retreat to improve services through new
technologies. The
Fund has also committed to providing financial support to a
future experienced financial aid officers' summit.
An
application for a 2003-2004 award is posted on your VASFAA
home page (www.VASFAA.org)
under "Forms Bank".
Do you have a creative idea for a professional
development activity for which you or your staff could use
some funding? Awards can be granted for $50 to $1000 per
recipient. Applications may be made at any time and grants
awarded anytime throughout the year.
Applications
will be reviewed and recommended by the Funds' President’s
Council, which is appointed by the VASFAA Board of Directors.
The committee for 2003-2004 includes: Betty Diamond, Melissa
Ellyson, Vern Fairchilds, Mildred Jackson, Buddy Johnston
(Chair), Rod Moore and Barry Simmons.
Please
submit your application by April 1, 2003 to:
H. S. "Buddy" Johnston
USA Funds Services
4580 Mallard Point Way, Unit 3
Dublin, VA 24084
Phone number: 540-674-4801; Fax number 540-674-6265
Awards
will be announced at the 2003 Spring Conference at VA Beach!
Submitted
by H.S. Buddy Johnston
PUBLIC
RELATIONS COMMITTEE
The PR Committee is updating info and printing a pocket directory to be
included in packets at the Spring Conference, as well as sent
to HS Guidance offices, etc.
We need those schools who did not give us their info at
the Fall Conference, to send to my committee:
>
your school name
> contact
person
> contact
phone number
> web site
address, for the purpose of the populace of VA. to use in
getting info from all of us.
If you did not get the information in yet,
for the Pocket Directory, please do so by 2/15/03, thank you.
We need your contact person or DFA, school name,
website and phone number. Email to sarah.perry@tgsl.org
Submitted by Joanne Carreras, PR Committee
ADVANCED
TRAINING WORKSHOP COMMITTEE
The
Experienced Aid Officers Committee sponsored two sessions at
the VASFAA fall conference that was held in Roanoke last
month. Yvonne Hubbard from UVA and I presented the
sessions and we promised the participants that we would have
the notes from the sessions posted to VASFAA's web site.
Thanks to Erik Melis, that has been done and you can
find them at www.vasfaa.org under the What's New section (It's
the first bullet right now but that may change over time).
The sessions were titled Loaves and Fishes and a short
description of each session is below. Please check the
session notes out and if you have any questions, please let me
know!
Loaves and Fishes - Part I
Presenter: Yvonne Hubbard, UVA (with Zita Barree as
moderator)
Description: In these tough economic times, how can
directors and managers in a financial aid office take limited
resources and make them stretch? The presenters will
facilitate a discussion with the group - we want to hear from
you about what you have done differently in your offices
concerning physical space, office hours, processes, and
budgetary matters. A summary of responses will be
provided back to all participants after the conference.
Loaves and Fishes - Part II
Presenter: Zita Barree, VCU (with Yvonne Hubbard as
moderator)
Description: In these tough economic times, what can
directors and managers in a financial aid office do to
motivate employees, deal with less personnel but the same or
increased amount of work, and still maintain an acceptable
level of customer service? The presenters will
facilitate a discussion with the group - we want to hear from
you about what you have done differently in your offices
concerning personnel related issues. A summary of
responses will be provided back to all participants after the
conference.
Submitted
by Zita Baree, Advanced Training Workshop Committee
FEDERAL
RELATIONS UPDATE
Hello all! The Federal Relations
Committee is watching activities around the Federal Budget -
both of them, 03 and 04!
Please click on the links provided
below.
For folks who are interested in
looking at what NASFAA put out,
the web address
is: http://www.NASFAA.org/publications/2003/r04edbudgetart020403.html
The Department put a summary on their
website: http://www.ed.gov/offices/OUS/Budget04/04summary/section2d.html
The summary highlights info related to Pell Grant, IRS
match, proposed funding of
Pell, SEOG, Campus-based aid, Stafford, etc.; loan forgiveness
for math/science/special
ed teachers, tax benefits for students and their families.
While we are enduring another CR (Continuing
Resolution) of the 03 budget now
extended to February 20th, many on the Hill believe
that progress is being
made. President Bush's '04 budget certainly looks to
place emphasis on
Defense and Homeland Security but as Congressman Wu
addressed the Oregon Association last week he reminded
us that the closer we get to elections, the more focus
we are likely to see on Education. It will be up to
us to keep
Higher Ed in the limelight of "no child left behind".
Enjoy the reading!
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