NJASFAA Executive Council Meeting Minutes
September 19, 2002
Attendees: Sue Barschow, David Sheridan, Maribeth Quinn, Ida Pabon, Helen Mikulak, Debra Wulff, Audrey Loera, Joe Roberto, Gisele Joachim, Kimber Decker, Carmen Panlilio, Derek Gatling, Joan Buttafuoco, Karen Weber, Larry Sharp, William Leach, Gloria Green, Dorothy Gilliard
Meeting called to order at 10:30 a.m. Quorum established.
Secretary’s Report: Ida
Meeting dates/time were posted to the calendar available via NJASFAA.org. Also on the website is the link via Executive Council for the meeting schedule and information. This will be updated with the new meeting dates, time and location with a link to Rutgers for directions.
Minutes from August 15, 2002 meeting accepted. Sue made motion, Audrey seconded. No minutes available from June Retreat.
Treasurer’s Report: Helen
$235,149.50 balance
The tax return was filed on July 26th. The processing charge was $1,325.00.
Checked with First Union on cost of accounts. They offered a free, interest bearing, business checking account with a threshold of a $5,000 minimum balance. There would be no monthly service fee, as long as we maintain the balance. The Money from Morgan Stanley was not moved.
Helen asked that we move to create a new business account/money market at First Union instead of a regular checking account. Audrey motioned and Karen seconded. Treasurer’s report was accepted.
No reports from Treasurer Elect, Vice President or President Elect.
Past President’s Report: Audrey
Audrey investigated whether Treasurer Elect can vote and as per by laws they can.
She also checked into Minority Award and the question on the endowment angle of the award. We shouldn’t worry about endowment now we just need to setup the scholarship that the Board of Directors found favorable.
Audrey asked to move to push the award forward. Sue motioned and Maribeth seconded, all in favor.
Awards and Recognition: Gisele
A plaque will be given to Dick Solomon at the Spring Conference.
Board of Directors: Audrey
Questioned what time the Board of Directors would be meeting on the first day of the Fall Conference.
Budget: Joe
If anyone needs additional funds they must contact Joe for an adjustment to their budgets.
Joe recommended that the future Fall Conference expense budget be increased.
Conference: Debra
The tentative agenda is on the web with directions to the Hotel. The registration form should be up on the website by Monday. An e-mail will be sent to the membership letting them know that the registration form is available on-line.
The agenda for the conference has been solidified. Novice training will be offered to attract new members. Some sessions will be offered twice. They are still looking for speakers. Larry Hartel from ACE will be one of the speakers.
We are still working on solidifying the entertainment. We are looking at a show of Impersonators and are looking for other entertainment for after dinner on Wednesday night.
All information for the sessions is needed by the end of September.
Joe queried attendees regarding hotel reservations already made by various members. There were only 71 rooms for Monday and Wednesday. Monday night rooms sold out in the first week. Joe will be looking to add more rooms. The deadline to add rooms to the contract is 9/27/02.
Will have to add $3,500.00 to the budget to cover the extra rooms.
Constitution/By-Laws: Audrey
Previously reported that Treasurer Elect is considered voting member for Executive Council.
Development: Kimber
Reported that he had to add to Platinum/Gold sponsorship. New Platinum member added for this year.
Technology/Electronic Initiatives: Larry
Mentioned that he scheduled a brainstorming meeting for October 11, 2002 at 11:00 a.m. to discuss how to enhance the website or other ways/things it can be used for. He sent out an invitation to the entire council and committee members.
Is setting up the listserv so the Secretary can contact Executive Council and Committee members directly for meetings. In the past a distribution list had to be set up by the Secretary in whatever vehicle she was using to contact everyone.
Jobs can now be posted on site. Larry’s thought is to charge a fee to generate revenue.
Larry posted e-mail yesterday to all, asking for names of all new chairs so that the list could be updated on-line. Once the update of chairs occurs, the chairs would have access to go in and update their list of committee members.
Federal Relations: Dave/Carmen
They spoke to the expiring provisions of Direct Loan disbursements. It was mentioned that a bill was introduced to extend provisions. NASFAA will report on loopholes to keep provisions going temporarily.
Dave mentioned that an e-mail was sent via the Federal Relations website regarding the proposal for loan forgiveness to teachers, CLASS ACT and Surviving Spouses Loan Forgiveness Act.
There are some good sessions set up for the conference that FRC will be moderating.
Membership: Ed (did not attend) No report
Mentoring: Norma (did not attend) No report
Minority and Cultural Concerns: Derek
He mentioned that they would be meeting with the scholarship committee to set the final details of the Minority Award.
Newsletter: Maribeth
The newsletter is set to go out the first week of October. Sue suggested that another printer be used. Kimber will get Maribeth all the advertisements to be included.
Sue has information from NASFAA and EASFAA to be included in this newsletter.
We will be looking to post the newsletter directly on the website starting with 2003. Maribeth passed around information she found on TASFAA.org. The TASFAA Times model is being looked at to setup for next year.
Larry suggested we put vendor ads on paper and comp them the web for the first year.
Nominations/Elections: No report
Non-Traditional Concerns: Joan/Bill
The committee is looking at different grants from other states for non-traditional monies. A packet will be put together to send to the State of what other states are offering.
A new member was added to the committee.
Professional Excellence: No report
Public Relations: Dorothy
Met with Leah Fletcher and gave her the plaque. Leah will be keeping her membership with NJASFAA and continue to participate.
Dorothy mentioned that she will be meeting with Sheila Menendez regarding Financial Aid Hotline.
Scholarships: Gloria
The committee hasn’t met yet. They will be meeting around the conference and they will then mail out the nominations form.
Speakers Bureau: Dave
Dave handed out a proposal, along with the motion to create a Speakers Bureau Committee. The Speaker’s Bureau would offer the service of covering High School nights in the various communities of New Jersey. This committee would maintain a list of members willing to participate in the program, to be posted on the NJASFAA website.
Audrey motioned, Karen and Joe seconded the creation of the committee.
State Relations: Karen
The NJClass Loan volume continues to increase. NJBEST will now have a managed fund with 12 different investment instruments. HESAA will update its “Going to College in New Jersey” brochure for the 2002-03 academic year.
Sunshine: No report
Sue mentioned that we received a thank you letter from Jackie Jackson to the membership for their well wishes during her illness.
Training and Professional Development: Maribeth
Novice training is going well. Third session is scheduled for October 16, 2002 at Raritan Community College. Maribeth asks that Executive Council/Committee members attend the luncheon and speak on the rewards of NJASFAA membership.
They have also setup a session for the Fall Conference entitled “Everyday Ethics in the Financial Aid Office”. The presenter for this sessions is coming from Kansas. The committee is already looking at spring verification training.
Wall of Honor: (Ad Hoc) No report
EASFAA Update: Sue
There will be a meeting October 27-29 in Burlington, VA, which Sue asked that Audrey or Dave attend.
State Update: Gisele
The NJCLASS Loans program is now accepting application from non-traditional schools. The contact person is Sharon Austin.
E-Administrator has been updated and rosters are available on-line.
Old Business: None
New Business:
Joe asked if we had thought about a date for the Spring Conference yet as he would like to start setting up reservations. It was agreed that we would be using the Pine Manor again and the date we are looking for is April 2, 2002.
Next meeting will be on October 17, 2002. Sue will be out of town and may not be able to attend. A reminder will be sent one week before the established meeting dates with a request for RSVP so that the quorum can be established.
Motion to adjourn made by Audrey, Dave seconded. Meeting ended at 1:00 p.m.