NJASFAA Executive Council Retreat Minutes

The Inn at Lambertville Station

June 9 - 10, 2005

Thursday, June 9, 2005

Attended: Jim Anderson, Lissa Anderson, Sharon Austin, Michael Bennett, Evelynne Blatt, Catherine Boscher-Murphy, Jo-Ann Craig, Vince Davis, Kimber Decker, Marilyn Faller, Stephanie Fitzsimmons, Gloria Green, Keith Green, Jean Hathaway, Adrienne Hynek, John Iacovelli, Gisele Joachim, Dennis Levy, Woodrow Lewis, Helen Mikulak, Reggie Page, Carmen Panlilio, Chris Pesotski, Maribeth Quinn, Elizabeth Riquez, Joe Roberto, David Sheridan, Mark Singer, Karen Weber, Richard Woodland, Debra Wulff

The meeting was called to order at 10:05 a.m. A quorum was established.

Motion to approve the May 13 Executive Council meeting minutes moved by Maribeth Quinn; seconded by Mark Singer. Minutes, as amended, were approved unanimously by a voice vote.

Officer Reports:

President: Carmen Panlilio

· Carmen would like to focus on leadership in the association.

Past President: Maribeth Quinn

· Maribeth enjoyed working with everyone and had a very rewarding year.

· The Conference Committee put together two excellent conferences, incorporating many of the goals outlined in the Long Range Strategic Plan.

· Electronic Initiatives succeeded in bringing us an updated and user-friendly Web site.

· The Government Relations Committee has been monitoring issues on both the federal and state levels. Reauthorization is on the horizon and the committee is keeping a close watch.

· The Mentoring Committee met monthly since the New Year in its High Five initiative. The committee met for lunch, visited the Rutgers University Office of Financial Aid, and toured a loan-processing center.

· Novice Training has developed a four-day, three-night training retreat scheduled for June 21 to 24 at Drew University.

· Training and Professional Development had a busy year. The Jim Briggs tax workshop, Verification by the Numbers, the NSLDS workshop and Support Staff workshop were all well attended.

· At the fall conference, NJASFAA voted to expand the rights of Associate members, allowing these members to vote and hold one Council Member at Large position. Sharon Austin is our first Associate member to hold office.

· The Audit Committee has been meeting and will present recommendations to the Board of Directors at its fall meeting. This will be an ongoing process.

· NJASFAA will participate in the College Goal Sunday program in 2006. Michael Bennett is Statewide Coordinator of this program.

· Last month New Jersey was the host state for the EASFAA Conference. The conference was held at Bally’s in Atlantic City May 15 through May 18. It was the largest-attended conference in EASFAA history.

Treasurer: Dennis Levy

· The NJASFAA Balance Sheet and Profit & Loss Statement are current as of June 9. All bills are paid to date.

· Our checking account is reconciled through May; our Morgan Stanley Dean Witter account is reconciled through March.

· Marilyn, Dennis, Helen, Carmen and Maribeth met this morning to discuss the Profit & Loss Statement and the adjustment of line items. Dennis will distribute a revised Profit & Loss Statement tomorrow.

· The Audit Committee retained Fylstra, Wright & Company to conduct our audit, and prepare our tax return for the upcoming and future years. Dennis anticipates that the audit will be conducted for the period May 1, 2004 to April 30, 2005. He will meet with this firm within the next two weeks to give them all our records. The firm will retain our records for two weeks. The auditors hope to start the audit in June or July.

· The NJASFAA tax returns will be prepared for the tax year ending April 30, 2005, by our current accounting firm. The IRS Form 990 has a deadline of September 15, 2005 and the NJ Form CRI 300R has a deadline of October 31, 2005.

· Dennis and Helen will coordinate the turnover of the books after they are returned from the auditors.

· Motion to approve the Treasurer’s Report moved by Mark Singer; seconded by Karen Weber. Treasurer’s Report was approved unanimously by a voice vote.

Treasurer-Elect: Helen Mikulak

· Helen notified us that our new travel reimbursement policy is effective July 1. Expenses for mileage and tolls for committee meetings and activities will be fully reimbursed by the association, at the standard federal rate, if the round trip is greater than 40 miles. Reimbursement will be made twice a year.

· She reminded committee chairs that they can download expenditure forms online, print them and submit to her with receipts.

Budget Update: Marilyn Faller

· Marilyn distributed a draft of the proposed 2005-2006 budget. It will be revised today so we will have a new budget tomorrow.

· She prepared the budgets from committee budget request forms. If no forms were submitted, she used the figure from last year. She asked committee chairs to review their proposed budgets and notify her of any budget increases.

· The Audit Committee and Endowment Fund Committee are new line items.

· Prior Year Revenue and Leadership Training will be added as new line items.

· We discussed whether College Goal Sunday should be a separate line item. We will ask Marcia Weston, Director of College Goal Sunday Operations for NASFAA, for guidance on this. We will table this discussion until the July meeting.

Profit & Loss Statement, Balance Sheet and Budget History: Keith Green

· Keith reviewed the history of our budget, Profit & Loss Statement and Balance Sheet.

· Our By-Laws require a balanced budget; budgeted revenues equal expenses. Our bottom-line budget must be balanced.

· Carmen would like all line items balanced at the end of the 2005-2006 year.

· We collect member dues in April for the upcoming year.

· Our assets are comprised of checking and savings accounts; a Morgan Stanley Dean Witter account; and fixed assets, such as our laptops.

· Our contingent liability reserve of $130,000 will cover payment of two conferences in full, if necessary.

· Opening Balance Equity was the amount we had in the bank in 1990.

· Retained Earnings represent our accumulation of profits.

College Goal Sunday: Michael Bennett

· Mike distributed information on the College Goal Sunday program. He encouraged everyone to read the document and provide feedback to him.

· The Lumina Foundation has approved our Planning Grant request for $6800. Mike has begun work on the three-year Implementation Grant, due August 1.

· Mike reviewed the College Goal Sunday Organizational Chart and notified us of the committees being formed. He is looking for volunteers for the committees.

· Cathleen Lewis at HESAA put together an RFP, to be reviewed by the Public Relations/Marketing Committee and then put out for bid.

· The Program Committee will determine the agenda and how many volunteers will be needed.

· ATAC has developed our College Goal Sunday Web site, which will be operational soon. Mike will update us as the site evolves.

· Mike will begin an e-mail campaign in July to keep members informed about the event and build momentum as it approaches.

· Three College Goal Sunday activities will take place at the NASFAA Conference.

· We have identified three sites for 2006. We hope to have six to twelve sites in 2007 and 2008.

· The next Steering Committee meeting will be held on July 21.

Leadership Institute: John Iacovelli

· College Goal Sunday is the first initiative for the Institute.

· Our goal in developing a Leadership Institute is to focus on leadership principles and promote personal development for our membership.

· The Institute would like to team with the Training Committee to establish workshops and/or training sessions during the year and at the fall conference. In addition, it would like to create informational pieces that promote and remind NJASFAA members about leadership principles.

· Books and materials on leadership will be shared with the NJASFAA community for personal growth and development.

Committee Discussions:

Awards and Recognition: Jean Hathaway

The committee would like to:

· Post information to our Web site to promote and emphasize NJASFAA milestones.

· Recognize members who are retiring.

Constitution and By-Laws: Richard Woodland

· Committee chairs may check with Richard or Catherine on issues of concern.

Development: Kimber Decker and Vince Davis

· NJASFAA received $66,800 from vendors in 2004-2005.

· Kimber and Vince will review sponsorship levels for next year.

The meeting was recessed at 4:05 p.m.

Friday, June 10, 2005

Attended: Jim Anderson, Lissa Anderson, Sharon Austin, Evelynne Blatt, Catherine Boscher-Murphy, Jo-Ann Craig, Marilyn Faller, Stephanie Fitzsimmons, Gloria Green, Jean Hathaway, Adrienne Hynek, John Iacovelli, Gisele Joachim, Dennis Levy, Woodrow Lewis, Reggie Page, Carmen Panlilio, Chris Pesotski, Maribeth Quinn, Elizabeth Riquez, David Sheridan, Mark Singer, Karen Weber, Debra Wulff

The meeting was called to order at 9:05 a.m.

Committee Discussions, continued:

Budget: Marilyn Faller

· Marilyn asked committee chairs again to review their proposed budgets and notify her of any budget increases.

· She will distribute the final budget to us prior to the July meeting.

Conference: Catherine Boscher-Murphy

· The first committee meeting will be held in the end of June.

· Catherine will contact current committee members and send a message to the NJASFAA list to invite all members to this meeting.

Government Relations: Chris Pesotski

· The first committee meeting will be held in July and will be a joint meeting of 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 committee members.

Graduate and Professional Concerns: Gisele Joachim

The committee will:

· Work with the EASFAA Graduate Concerns Committee.

· Develop a brochure for undergraduate students, providing them with information on financial aid at the graduate level. Topics will include types of aid and debt management. The committee hopes to complete the brochure by the end of the academic year.

Leadership: John Iacovelli

· John encouraged members to join the committee.

· He will post committee updates to our Web site.

Membership: Adrienne Hynek

· The committee would like to promote NJASFAA.

· A suggestion was made to send a postcard or letter to members reminding them to renew their membership.

· We discussed whether we should review all membership applications that are submitted to determine whether to accept or deny membership. Are we allowed to deny membership? The Membership Committee will put together a recommendation and bring it to Executive Council for further discussion.

Mentoring: Stephanie Fitzsimmons

The committee will:

· Recruit new members.

· Work with the Leadership Committee.

Multicultural Concerns: Woodrow Lewis

The committee will:

· Draft a mission statement.

· Encourage new members to join and would like to recruit five new members.

Newsletter/Magazine: Lissa Anderson

· The traditional fall conference issue will still be printed.

· There will be an end-of-the-year annual report-type magazine, which will include pictures and promote NJASFAA.

· There will also be use of the NJASFAA Web site to bring timely information to the membership.

· Lissa would like committee chairs to post updates to our Web site to keep members current with committee activities.

Non-Traditional Concerns: Elizabeth Riquez

· The committee will recruit new members.

· Maribeth will conduct ED Express training.

Novice Training (2004-2005): Jo-Ann Craig and Debra Wulff

· The committee is all set with Novice Training, scheduled for June 21 to 24 at Drew University.

· Twenty-eight people are registered.

· NJASFAA committee volunteer forms will be placed in each packet.

Novice Training (2005-2006): Gloria Green

· Gloria anticipates that Novice Training will be a series of one-day training sessions for four consecutive weeks.

· She will send an e-mail to this year’s Novice Training participants inviting them to next year’s program.

Public Relations: Mark Singer

· College Goal Sunday will be a major initiative. Mark will meet with the College Goal Sunday Public Relations Committee on June 14.

· The committee will revise our brochure and work with other committees to promote NJASFAA.

· We will decide whether to hold the Hotline before or after College Goal Sunday.

Scholarship: Debra Wulff

· Debra has received all of the materials from last year.

Speakers Bureau: David Sheridan

· David encouraged members to volunteer for the Speakers Bureau.

· The list on our Web site will be updated.

· David will work with ATAC to have the Speakers Bureau list and membership database connected on our Web site. An update to the membership list will update the Speakers Bureau list.

· The committee may conduct a training session at the fall conference to teach members how to do presentations.

Sunshine: Evelynne Blatt

The committee will:

· Send a welcome letter to new members.

· Send a letter of congratulations to members who change jobs.

· Develop a “new members” page on our Web site with instructions on how to use the site.

· Send a letter of congratulations to all Novice Training attendees and send a message to the NJASFAA list to identify and congratulate them.

Training and Professional Development: Sharon Austin and Jo-Ann Craig

· A Support Staff workshop will be held next year.

· Topics for other workshops will be determined.

EASFAA Update: Maribeth Quinn

· Maribeth will attend the EASFAA Executive Council Retreat to be held June 12 to 14. She will give us an update at our next meeting.

· She would like to post EASFAA updates to our Web site.

Old Business:

· Lissa advised us to be aware of scholarship scams.

· The FTC received a large number of complaints in 2004 regarding scholarship scams. Its Web site on this topic is www.ftc.gov/scholarshipscams.

· Marilyn will coordinate the gathering of our old records so we can determine what we have to archive and what kind of storage facility we need to hold these items.

New Business:

· John distributed information regarding an initiative for recruiting new professionals to a career in financial aid.

· Jim requested that we schedule future NJASFAA Fall Conferences so they are not in conflict with the Tri-States Conference.

· Carmen distributed the Executive Council meeting schedule for 2005-2006.

· Carmen recommended that the 2006-2007 Executive Council Retreat be held in July 2006.

Motion to adjourn moved by Maribeth Quinn; seconded by Mark Singer and unanimously approved at 11:45 p.m.