January 16, 2003
Executive Council Meeting Minutes
In attendance: Sue Barschow, Joan Buttafuoco, Kimber Decker, Dorothy Gillman, Gloria Green, Gisele Joachim, Helen Mikulak, James Owens, Ida Pabon, Carmen Panlilio, Maribeth Quinn, Larry Sharp, Dave Sheridan, Karen Weber.
The meeting was called to order at 10:25 a.m.
The quorum was established.
Officer Reports:
Secretary (Ida) – requested approval of minutes from December meeting. Minutes accepted with two minor corrections.
Treasurer (Helen) – All expenses for the Fall Conference are paid for. We received $61,000 from sponsors. Our assets now total $278,016.57. We received $6,000 from ASAP/Union Bank for scholarships. Maribeth motioned to accept, Ida seconded. Treasurer’s report accepted.
Committee Reports:
Awards and Recognition
(Gisele) – HESAA would like to add the Speaker’s Bureau to the section of the
HESAA website that is under development for H.S.
Counselors. The deadline for submitting
the Speakers Bureau Project for a NASFAA state award
is February 21, 2003. Gisele will work with the committee to submit the application by this date.
Development (Kimber) - The vendors need to know the actual Spring Conference date. April 3rd is the date we are tentatively posting to the calendar.
Electronic Initiatives (Larry) – Maribeth, Kimber and Larry will be reviewing the information to be posted on the website regarding our Newsletter. Larry will host another meeting to discuss changes to the NJASFAA.org website. ATAC has given us estimates of the cost for setting up the newsletter. The committee is looking to add more functionality in navigation for the High School Counselor’s. This will need to be voted on.
Dave requested that committee’s clean up all old information still posted out on the website.
The Speaker’s Bureau will be setup with a different color to stand out for easy access. The response to the information being added to the website has been positive.
Federal Relations (Dave) – In their December meeting the committee put together a Reauthorization wish list. It has been posted to the website. They also sent out an e-mail recently, to the financial aid community, regarding the HR12 Amendments regarding single disbursements of student loans and 30 delay for FTFTF, that Senator Buck McKeon is backing. Congressman Rob Andrews has signed on also.
Pell funding for 2003-04 was requested to be increased, but the White House is pushing for no increase. Senator Ted Kennedy and others are pushing for a $4,500 maximum. There is a strong possibility that no increase will occur.
Membership – Dave mentioned that Carla Bender, who is now at Hope College in Michigan, requested that her school be listed.
Newsletter (Maribeth) – The committee will be meeting next week, they need articles by next Thursday for the next newsletter. Maribeth has pictures from the Fall Conference they can use. She requested that the Scholarship Committee submit an article, as well as, all other committees.
Non-Traditional Concerns (Joan) – The committee will be meeting next week. Joan attended the Fall Conference new members reception and picked up one new member. Joan was contacted by Steve Tessitore regarding another Vocational School in New Jersey, who is in need of assistance regarding setting up Policy and Procedures for administering the programs they may qualify for.
Public Relations (Dorothy) – They are looking for volunteers for coverage of the Hotline on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. For the Book Drive this year the committee is focusing on the Charter School Robert Treat Academy School in Newark as the recipient.
Scholarships (Gloria) – The committee will be meeting next week. Due to the generosity of Nelnet this year the Executive Council voted to offer six - $2,000 scholarships. One to be awarded to each of the sectors.
Gloria mentioned that at the inception of the scholarship, each school was only allowed to nominate one individual and every nominee received a savings bond. The Executive Council decided to permit up to three nominations per institution and to eliminate the savings bonds.
There was a lengthy discussion about whom the Scholarship applications would be mailed to. The Executive Council agreed a hard copy would be mailed to each Director of Financial Aid and an e-mail would be sent to the membership once the application was posted to the NJASFAA website. The nominations deadline will be March 3, 2003.
Nelnet will be acknowledged for their generous contribution in the scholarship letter. Gloria will be writing an article for the newsletter regarding the scholarship information and its availability on the web.
Training and Professional Development (Maribeth) – Spring Verification Training is scheduled for April 30th and will take place at Raritan Valley CC. Gloria and Dave will be conducting the training. The NASFAA/EASFAA spring training has not selected at site yet. Support Staff Training will be posted to the website.
EASFAA Update (Sue) – There is a meeting scheduled for February 15th weekend. Audrey Loera is tentatively scheduled to attend.
Speaker’s Bureau (Dave) – Dave received call from a consultant offering his services to Atlantic/Cape County for which we currently do not have coverage listed. Dave explained that membership to the Speaker’s Bureau is incumbent on membership to NJASFAA, which is limited to NJ Financial Aid Administrators.
State Update (Gisele) – Received comments regarding concerns with communication from HESAA to the community. HESAA is thinking about an Ask HESAA column in the newsletter. Earlier in the week the WTC Board met regarding regulations set to go to the HESAA Board for approval at their February meeting. They need to be able to get up and running so that scholarships can be offered/distributed.
Unfortunately, the Hoffman
LaRoche fund has been exhausted. This
fund has been the major source of assistance for NJ family members of WTC
victims to date. Students are currently
being assisted by the Governor’s Executive order to waive tuition at State
Institutions and many private and county colleges in the state have voluntarily
waived tuition as well.
The State budget outlook is difficult. HESAA is hoping for funding to cover awards at current levels.
Letters are being sent to all Directors regarding re-certification for access to the State System for all employees.
New Business – Dave handed out a draft of the position we are taking regarding free financial aid information, as opposed to, consultant based information. Everyone received a copy it was reviewed and discussed. Dave will be rewriting it more objectively and it will be printed on official letterhead.
Motion to adjourn called, Dave/Ida. Meeting ended at 11:55 a.m.