NYSFAAA EXEC COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES

SEPTEMBER 14-15, 2006

Adams Mark Hotel, Buffalo, NY

(official)

 

 

 

Present:  Sue Aldrich, Maria Barlaam, Dave Canaski, Carolyn Corcoran, Ideta Daniel, Katrina Delgrosso, Steve Dodds, Sharon Karwowski, Bill Mack, Heather McDonnell, Janet McGrath, Sheryl Mihopulos, Judi Miladin, Nancy Teodecki, Angela VanDekker, Joan Warren, Mike Williams, Brenda Wright

 

Unable To Attend:  Marilyn Faller

 

Member Guest:  Clair Jacobi

 

 

SECRETARY’S REPORT – Carolyn Corcoran

  • June 2006 meeting minutes were distributed beforehand via email and reviewed for changes/corrections.  Minutes updated accordingly.
  • MOTION:  To approve minutes of 6/14-6/16, 2006 meeting; Dodds/Aldrich.  Motion Approved.

 

TREASURER’S REPORT –

  • Marilyn had submitted Budget Overview for July 1 through September 13, 2006, Balance Sheet as of September 13, 2006 and Transaction Detail Report for July 1 through September 12, 2006 beforehand to Council via email.
  • Judi noted that Marilyn Faller, Sam Veeder, Dave Canaski and Judi Miladin had begun the audit process for this year’s audit
  • Dave made note that if anyone is mailing anything to Marilyn, one needs to use Marilyn’s New Jersey address (on website)

 

V.P. MEMBERSHIP REPORT – Joan Warren

  • Membership Statistics
    • Not available until overlap period ends 11/15/06
    • June 30, 2006 total membership – 1417

·         Up by 17% over previous year

·         Outstanding Payment Issues

            Masse email reminders sent for conference & membership payments due

            Executive Council members not paid – Joan reminded all here that all Council members and regional officers need to be paid members!

                        Novice Program – one unpaid membership

·         Database Issues/Upgrades

                        Issues

1.      Duplicate Records

2.      Duplicate Invoices

3.      Ineligible Members

 

Pending Upgrade

·         Unaffiliated institution block – Joan explained that the upgrade will block anyone not associated with an eligible institution from registering for membership on the website; they’ll be forced to make contact with Joan/VP Membership

·         Inactive Record Functionality

·         Duplicate Record/Invoice Block

·         Invoice Modifications

·         Registration Transfers

·         Partial Comp payments

 

Associate Member Applications/Removals – discussed in Executive Session

 

Membership Proposal from Region 6 – Joan submitted the proposal to the Membership Committee but only the Region 2 representative responded (the proposal involved membership for temporarily unemployed former members).

 

Discussion followed here.

 

MOTION:  Regional meetings will be open to non-members who are interested in membership and if interested in attending events, can be put on event waitlists and attend events on a space-available basis; Warren/Dodds.

Motion Approved; one abstained.

 

Other Items –

            Reminder to members to renew membership as access to state-wide and regional list serves ends 11/15/06 if not renewed!

            Joan mentioned her workload has decreased noticeably with credit card payment functionality; she provided data on payments made via credit card and regular check

            A Volunteer Interest List (for statewide committees) was distributed

 

 

V.P. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT – Maria Barlaam

o       EASFAA training coming up soon; fall workshops will be on Verification and are being held in Albany (Oct 11th at Citizens Bank), SUNY FIT (Oct 27th), Long Island location (Oct 27th) and SUNY Brockport (Oct 20th).  Maria working with Clint Hanson @Franklin Pierce in NH.  Clint willing to give Region 8 it’s own Verification workshop or we can attend Oct 26th at Middlebury

o       Jim Briggs Tax Workshops will be held Feb.13th on Long Island, Feb. 15th in NYC, Feb. 16th in the North Country, Feb. 20th at Lemoyne in Syracuse and Feb. 21st in Albany area

o       We need to start thinking of spring dates for EASFAA training; the topic is Leadership

o       Advanced workshops for the future that can be offered in any regions include Admission/Financial Aid Diversity in Michigan Cases offered by Heather McDonnell and/or the Admission Counselor Training in Financial Aid that was done in June in Region 1 (contact person is Kevin Ryan at U. Buffalo FAO)

 

PRESIDENT-ELECT REPORT/DISCUSSION – Dave Canaski

 

·         Distributed Committee Organization Chart

·         Set Dates for next Council Meetings:

§         Dec. 14-15, 2006 at Newburgh Courtyard @ Stewart Airport

§         Feb. 5-6, 2007  in Albany area

§         June 13-15, 2007 in TBD

§         Sept. 10-11, 2007 in TBD

§         Dec. 13-14, 2007 in TBD

 

·         Policy & Procedure Manual Revisions Discussion

 

MOTION: To amend Policy & Procedures Manual as indicated on handout* to be effective 11/9/2006; Canaski/Dodds.

 

*handout shows Proposed Revision to the description of The Statewide Committee Chairpersons in the P & P Manual to read:  “The Statewide Chairperson is responsible for the operation of the assigned committee and has the authority to appoint committee members, submit/expend the committee’s budget, and make decisions appropriate to the objectives of the committee.  All Statewide Chairs are appointed by the president, except those chair positions specifically delineated in the policies and procedures.  In the appointment of Statewide Chairs, the President is encouraged to consult with the appropriate Officer (the Officer responsible for the committee), and to consider geographic and sector diversity.  The President may appoint or remove a statewide chairperson at any time during the organizational year, and may create ad-hoc committees at any time. Each statewide chairperson reports directly to one of the statewide officers, and the President and Treasurer are ex-officio members of all the statewide committees.  All Statewide Chairs and committee members must be current members of NYSFAAA.

 

FRIENDLY AMENDMENT TO THE MOTION: Line that reads “In the appointment of Statewide Chairs, the President is encouraged to consult with the appropriate Officer” will be replaced with “the President will consult with the appropriate Officer”.

 

Discussion followed on the motion and friendly amendment.  Discussion included mentioning of the encouragement of gender and ethnic diversity, if not in this particular description of Statewide Committee Chairs and committee composition, perhaps to incorporate the encouragement of diversity in the organization in a general mission statement for the organization.

 

CALL TO QUESTION; Dodds.  Vote on Call to question was 3 opposed, all others in favor so discussion ended.

 

Vote on Motion with Friendly Amendment; 1 abstained; all others in favor.  MOTION APPROVED.

 

Angela clarified that she was told that we could accept theory of the P&P Document so that Dave could go forward to appoint committee chairs and that we’d revisit the full P&P at this September meeting.  Judi replied that we did agree at June meeting that we’d set aside time to go through the document that was passed at June meeting.  Joan offered she thinks diversity issue needs to be addressed in the mission statement.  Judi explained it’s Past President’s role and Long Range Planning Committee’s role to draft the mission statement and review it; she emphasized that the organization needs a mission statement soon.

 

We began to go through the most recent version of the P&P document for areas where Council members had issues/concerns; discussion.

 

MOTION:  To strike language on Development Committee’s purpose and replace it with “ to be responsible for the fundraising activities of the Association.”; McDonnell/Canaski.  Motion approved unanimously.

 

DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE REPORT -  Katrina Delgrosso

 

·         Have 43 vendors who have provided funding for 0607; $254,100 is pledged

·         Had to go out to vendors for second time for Conference ’06 as $400 per vendor sponsorship inadvertently didn’t get in the on-line sponsorship form.  Katrina emailed all vendors to let them know a new on-line sponsorship was available; has received 21 on-line sponsors for the Opening Night ceremony for Conference ’06; Conference will be a bit short as result of this.  There are no Platinum-level sponsors for Conference 200 (there are 9 Gold and 16 Silver).  Overall Katrina feels that Conference sponsorship is on par with prior years and will be okay

·         How regions will request funding from NYSFAAA is a subject of discussion for Development Committee; committee is recommending a simply, on-line way to request funds.  Discussion followed and it was suggested we talk to Marilyn to see which regions have submitted a budget and go from there

·         Development Committee has communicated list of which sponsors are valid for which events so need to encourage members to look at list on website under “Schools and Lender”

·         Katrina has created a handout of Committee’s recommendation for allowable activities by vendors for the list serve advertising and regional training; Council wee review this handout tonight and discuss tomorrow under Old Business

 

CONFERENCE 2007 UPDATE  - Clair Jacobi

 

  1. Bill Mack was asked to step down as Co-chair of Program Committee and other Co-chair (Christine Falzarano) got a new job with lender  so Clair is the new Co-chair of Program Committee and her new Co-chair is Ariv Tuluktar
  2. Clair, Tony and Jim (Conference Chairs) met with hotel representatives last month
  3. Steering Committee is to meet on 9/20 at Baruch; normally they would provide Council with a conference budget at Council’s December meeting but because vendor sponsorship of conferences seems to be weaker than in past, Clair asked if Council would consider raising conference registration fee by $25.  Dave asked if she/conference committee felt that the conference could be paid for with just registration fees, since there are 2 nights/dinners on your own.  Clair answered they’d consider that and said they will present a conference budget at Council’s December 2006 meeting
  4. Conference 2007 needs to know if upstate folks would want to take a dedicated bus to NYC and Clair asked Council representatives to take question back to regions and get responses as soon as possible

 

 

EARLY AWARENESS COMMITTEE REPORT – Nancy Teodecki

1.      distributed new middle-school brochure; it’s printed and delivered and was available for the State Fair and will be available for fall counselor workshops

2.      Regions doing joint counselor workshops for middle-school and high school counselors include Regions 2, 3, 4 and 8

3.      New committee co-chairs are Cathy Patella and Anne Barton

 

STATE FAIR UPDATE – Sharon Karwowski

  1. had 19 volunteers
  2. raffle winners were students from SUNY Albany and Fredonia; 320 entries
  3. Sallie Mae Fund folks there for first year; they spoke to over 800 students and had 300 people apply for their scholarships
  4. Sharon suggested that for next year may want to rent 2 tables vs. 1; have 1 on either end of Higher Education tent
  5. Sharon seeking interested member to Co-chair

 

NOVICE UPDATE – Bill Mack

  1. distributed written report
  2. 2007 Novice scheduled for June 3 – 9, 2007
  3. Bill acknowledged Heather, Maria and Mike Williams as Novice staff
  4. They will need a new small group leader
  5. this year’s session was full and had to turn away some interested folks who wanted to attend but there was no room

 

HESC UPDATE – Mike Williams

  1. homepage will be changing by mid to end of October; if schools have materials explaining to students how to link to HESC, this could be affected
  2. passed out new smaller brochure on all-inclusive information on aid
  3. Maria asked for HESC to do this new brochure in Spanish and Mike agreed
  4. Mike asked Council representatives to talk to him about interest in moderating at Conference 2006
  5. Mike mentioned that Conference ’06 Program Committee would like Council to decide who should walk in with regional banner for Opening Ceremony of Conference 2006; regions will decide who should carry banner in Closing Ceremony

 

First Day of Meeting adjourned here at 4:55 p.m. and Council went into Executive Session

 

PRESIDENT’S REPORT – Judi Miladin

  1. Travel – for NASFAA, State Fair Event (Channel 3 News), & HESC Board meeting next week
  2. Consulted with:  Conference 2006 Committee, School Counselor Committee, College Goal Sunday, CAAN, Novice, Government Relations, Professional Development, Development
  3. Wrote Comments for NPRM and for Independent testing for state; reviewed and signed Gear Up contracts and requests for payment
  4. Meeting with the Auditor
  5. Sent letter to Novices
  6. Learn Student Aid Contracts reviewed and signed
  7. Dealt with My Rich Uncle issues
  8. Accepted Tony Thompson’s resignation as Diversity Committee Chair; Judi mentioned here that Tony expressed frustration.  Discussion followed here.
    1. MOTION: That Diversity Committee be reconstituted and added to the responsibilities of 1st Vice President; Warren/McDonnell

                                                              i.      Discussion – Dave pointed out that there’s already a sub-committee for Diversity; Joan indicated that she wanted it as a standing committee and not a sub-committee.

 

Vote on Motion; Motion Approved with 1 opposed.

 

MOTION:  That Wayne Harewood be appointed Co-chair of Early Awareness Committee; Warren

 

Motion was withdrawn after discussion.

 

       9.  Turning Stone Contract and other future Conference Contracts

            Turning Stone recommends rather than canceling ’08 contract, postponing to 2011; Judi suggested that within 3 years of that (2008), if all issues can be settled by 2008, that we then contract with them with no penalties, if need to get out of contract.

MOTION: To authorize the President to sign a conference contract with Turning Stone for 2011; Canaski/Dodds; MOTION approved unanimously.

 

            Judi brought up that Adams Mark Hotel in Buffalo offered a same room rate for a 2012 conference as room rate for 2008 and 2010; discussion followed on whether we’ll stick with regions being responsible for Conference; Dave suggested that Council representatives take this issue back to regions and get member reactions so that a vote can be taken at December 2006 meeting.

 

COMMUNICATIONS UPDATE – Ideta Daniel

  1. Ideta has been learning the website with Paula from ATAC

 

 

REGIONAL REPORTS –

 

Region 1 – Janet McGrath; Region is thrilled with results of Admissions/Financial Aid Workshop; they had 114 admissions counselors attend; cost of $2876.  Region suggests it become a statewide project.  Dave asked if we could consider a subcommittee on training; discussion on providing training for not only

Admissions but also for bursar staff

Region 2 – Steve Dodds; John Smith is new Regional Chair; Steve announced that his school , formerly Rochester Business Institute will now be called Everest Institute and Steve will update Joan with information so that she can update school’s information in database

Region 3 – Sharon Karwowski; Support Staff Workshop will be 9/24 @ Craftmans’ Inn.  Summer training event planned in Geneva but trainer couldn’t get there so they still have training funds (appx. $2000); Sharon was bringing it up for discussion; Dave suggested that regions get budget requests to Marilyn if haven’t already.  Marilyn is planning to have a meeting with regional treasurers; issue of how regions will get funding needs to be discussed.  Sharon asked if “Ask the Expert” is being responded to; short discussion.  Bill Mack had volunteered and someone will check with Bill to see if he is still responding.

Region 4 – Brenda Wright; summer meeting was canceled

Region 5 – Heather McDonnell; 1st meeting will be October 13th; region will discuss holding regional meetings via the web, maybe Webcam; Rob Zasso of Dutchess CC is coordinating/working on this possibility.  Maria Barlaam and Rob Zasso will be Co-chairs of 2009 Conference in Saratoga that Region 5 will host

Region 6 – Angela VanDekker; summer meeting held June 22nd; big issue was trying to secure space for regional meetings/events

Region 7 – Sheryl Mihopolus;  officers met Sept. 6th to plan events for coming year; membership seems to like topics for training concerning schools’ best practices

 (conducting lots of panels with school representatives); 1st meeting will be October 6th; School counselor workshop will be at SUNY Farmingdale in November

Region 8 – Sue Aldrich; September 20 is first regional meeting; Support Staff workshop will be October 6th at Clarkson; Counselor workshops being planned for November at Jefferson Community College and in Lake Placid

 

 

DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS/SUMMARY

 

Discussion took place on Katrina’s committee’s handout which summarized their recommendations for allowable activity by vendors.  Council had opportunity to read/study recommendations overnight.

 

MOTION:  To accept recommendations of Development Committee with regard to allowable activity by vendors and to post to the website and to submit to next year’s Committee on Ethics for review and follow-up; Canaski/Dodds.

 

Discussion; Dave will ask co-chairs of Ethics Committee to come to December 2006 meeting.

 

Friendly Amendment to Motion: to change question mark on chart on 2nd page of Development Committee’s recommendations (vendor activity in question is listed as “Pay for Novice Training registration on behalf of school participant”)

To “No” ; Aldrich.

 

Call to Question; Approved.  Discussion Ended.

 

MOTION VOTE:  Motion approved with 2 ‘no’ votes.

 

 

REVIEW OF DRAFT OF FINANCIAL AID CONSULTANTS BROCHURE

      Sharon had distributed a draft of a brochure on Financial Aid Consultants that was written by a member and was designed as a caution piece for families.  Joan indicated that NASFAA has done a handout very similar.  Discussion followed.  Council wants to take our own caution on being negative and brushing all consultants with the same negative hue.  Sharon asked if Council members would email her with reactions/recommendations.  Heather suggested there are materials on this issue at Finaid.org that Region 5 used.  Consensus was that this draft brochure paints all with too negative a color and we need to be more careful if do put out a piece

 

 

NEW BUSINESS –

 

      1. Sharon mentioned that at meeting of school counselors at TCCC yesterday, school counselors mentioned that they have not received any information on ACG so Sharon asked if NYSFAAA could encourage NYSED to forward info to counselors; Heather suggested NYSFAAA get information right to counselor associations and NYSFAAA, per Judi, will contact directly the state counselor association

 

      2. In regard to Professional Development Committee taking on coordination of admission counselor training as done in Region 1:

MOTION:  To amend purpose of committee to read “and other higher education personnel”; Canaski/Aldrich.  MOTION Approved.

 

      3.  Joan asked about status of insurance for officers;  Marilyn is following up on this, per Judi.

 

 

MOTION:  To adjourn the meeting at 10:48 a.m.; Dodds/Canaski.  MOTION Approved.