NYSFAAA EXEC COUNCIL MEETING
MINUTES
September 10-11, 2007
Rochester, NY
(Official )
Council: Sharon Karwowski, Kerry Lubold, Andrea Mason, Heather McDonnell,
Sheryl Mihopolus, Judi Miladin, Nancy Teodecki, Angela Van Dekker,
Maria Barlaam , Ursula Bisconti, Earl Trethway, Tom Dalton, Lynn Chilson, Maria DeInnocentiis
Incoming Council:
Gina Soliz, Cindy Kohlman, Nancy Brewer, Curt Guame
State Chairs: Katrina Delgrosso, Anne Barton , Cathy Patella, Laura Worley, Kathy Michalski, Bill Mack, Christine Sears, Sean View
HESC liaison: Jennifer Dwire
Guest: Michael Woody
Meeting Called to Order, 12:58 PM – Heather
McDonnell
Heather nominated Maria DeInnocentiis incoming Region 6
representative to
begin
term effective Sept 10th. MOTION: T. Dalton/K.Lubold.
MOTION
APPROVED UNAMINOUSLY.
Secretary’s Report- Nancy Teodecki
Minutes of the June meeting, and the two July conference calls were distributed prior to meeting. Corrections of the June meeting received and distributed prior to meeting.
MOTION: To approve minutes of June, with
corrections, and the two July meetings. J. Miladin/ K. Lubold
MOtion approved
UNANIMOUSLY.
AGENDA ITEM: Transition to Executive Council
To assist incoming regional council representative the history of organization/ overview of council responsibilities was given by J. Miladin and C. Guame. Overview included posting regional reports and events to the web, review the Policy and Procedure Manual and Constitution, revenue sharing, regional training support, treasurer’s quarterly reports.
AGENDA ITEM: Parliamentary Procedure 101
Overview given by H. McDonnell to assist incoming council members. Highlights included to make or table a motion, important that you appoint a proxy if you cannot attend a meeting and inform Madame President, you may ask non-members to attend regional meetings, and any member can attend council meetings.
President’s Report: Heather McDonnell
RE: President’s Report – the First 100 days….
The first order of business was to reassure both the membership and committee chairs that NYSFAAA would continue business “as if” nothing had changed. I have changed some committee reporting.. I re-instated Wayne Harewood as co-chair of the College Goal Sunday project with NYSFAAA. The College Goal Sunday project now reports to the President. I created the Diversity Committee and for now, this committee will also report to the President. I asked Sharon Karwowski, Oscar Vasquez and Tanya Patterson-Stanley to co-chair this committee. I asked Adrienne King (Bank Street of Education) to co-chair membership with Clair Jacobi. Kathy Michalski of Niagara County Community College has also agreed to co-chair the High School Outreach committee with Linda Bridgewater. Dan Hunter (Buffalo State Emeriti) has agreed to co-chair the Mentoring committee with another retiree – tentatively Dick Oboyski (SUNY Cobleskill Emeriti).
On July 17th, I contacted Bill Cheetham, President of EASFAA, to join NYSFAAA in creating a SLATE Summit group. The original idea was that this committee would be ready to address any issues raised during the regulatory process and be a resource for our membership on matters related to SLATE. Bill asked John View (SUNY ESF) and Jim Murphy (CUNY Central) to join the summit as EASFAA representatives. I asked Tom Dalton (Excelsior College) and Pierre Alric (NelNet) to join as NYSFAAA representatives. On July 19th, a letter of introduction was sent to Associate Commissioner Frey under Bill’s and my signatures. We met with Mr. Frey and two legal SED staff members on August 9th. Bill Cheetham, Tom Dalton, Pierre Alric and I thought the meeting was very productive and we are working on information Mr. Frey requested. I am indebted (as are EASFAA and NYSFAAA) to the time, guidance and support we received throughout this process from John Austin and Cheryl Fisher of HESC. I am certain that the success of our meeting was due in part to their preparation of both Mr. Frey and the SLATE Summiteers.
Angela Van Dekker was appointed 1st Vice President and about a week later, Marilyn Faller resigned as Treasurer. I am grateful that Tom Dalton accepted the appointment to fill Marilyn’s term. The officer’s transition (including my own) took place quickly and with apparent ease. I urge Council and the regional membership to be patient with us as we scramble to learn the intricacies of our new (and perhaps, sudden) responsibilities.
I participated in several conference calls. Most recently, the Next Generation, Ethics and Development committees held conference call meetings. Saving the best for last, I attended “Higher Education” Day at the State Fair and worked the NYSFAAA table for a couple of hours.
Where are we going and how will we get there? I do not wish to minimize the events of the last 8 months but NYSFAAA must help our membership move forward. The only way we do this is to provide training, training and training at both the regional and state level. Our meetings and events must have substance. Both the Strategic Long Range Planning and Next Generation committees have reported that the membership wants training on all professional topics. These sessions must be offered in multi-media venues. I will ask the Communication committee to work closely with the Professional Development committee to introduce webinars and podcasts to our training options by the end of this fiscal year.
For the remaining 48 days, I will be doing the following:
Panelist on SLATE with Joe Frey at HESC’s Loan Symposium, Attend HESC’s Board of Trustee’s meeting, Attend our annual conference, Attend the EASFAA Council meeting, Panelist on SLATE and the NY AG with Janet Dodson, past chair of NASFAA at the NJSFAA annual conference
Our next scheduled Executive Council meetings are:
October 15th : 5:15 President’s Suite – if needed
December 13 and 14th – Marriott Courtyard Amherst (Buffalo)
February 7 and 8th – TBA
June 18 through 20th – TBA
President’s Committees:
Full draft of the Long Range Plan will be presented Tuesday morning at the conference.
Judi reviewed the Constitutional updates with council.
MOTION: present to members the recommended constitutional amendments as presented by the Governance Committee for the vote of the membership .
J. Miladin/M. Barlaam.
Discussion: timing of reviewing, many changes that must
be voted in whole,
retired members issues (since no longer categorized as
Associate Member, discussed future leadership role on council).
MOTION APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY.
MOTION: To charge the Governance Committee to look
at the retirement issue as discussed. T. Dalton/A. VanDekker
MOTION APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY.
Review of P&P Manual
Judi highlighted revisions. A. VanDekker questioned why the Diversity Committee is not included in P&P; it is a standing committee and there is no language in the manual. Floor turned over to S. Karwowski, member of the steering committee for the Diversity Committee. Sharon presented the language that was previously written by J. Warren which was not approved at the February meeting. Sharon gave the justification of the purpose of the committee (see ADDENDUM for full report)
Proposed language/procedures as follows:
Purpose: (A) To encourage and support the active involvement and professional development of members from under-represented groups in the Association, and to assist these members in growth toward leadership positions within the Association. (B) To collaborate with other standing committees to ensure that the Association’s outreach activities reflect the diverse membership and under-served communities. (C) To ensure that the Association reflects the diverse membership, geographic regions, institutions, and students we serve in all aspects of the governance and activities of said organization.
Duties:
1- Work with Region Chairs & Regional Membership Chairs to identify under-represented groups within the region.
2- Develop outreach strategies to inform target groups about NYSFAAA activities and membership benefits.
3- Review demographic make-up of all NYSFAAA committees and make recommendations to the President/Committee Chairs for potential committee appointees that will enhance diversity.
4- Collaborate with Government Relations Committee on diversity related issues.
5- Assist the Early Awareness and High School Relations Committees in identifying and reaching out to diverse and under-served communities.
6- Work with Conference Committee on developing diversity-related session.
Discussion :
In the ‘Purpose’ sections B & C- amend to:
(B) To collaborate with other
standing committees to assist the Association in reaching out to facilitate
diversity and representation from under-served communities.
(C ) To ensure that the Association makes every effort to reflect the diverse membership, geographic regions, institutions, and students we serve in all aspects of the governance and activities of said organization.
In Duties:
#3 amend to : Provide assistance and make recommendations to the President/Committee Chairs for potential committee appointees that will enhance diversity
#5 amend High School Relations to School Outreach
In Membership:
#2 Eight Regional Coordinators , appointed by the
Regions: amend appointed to selected
MOTON – To accept the language of the Diversity
Committee as amended.
S. Karwowski/ A. Van Dekker.
Further discussion on the language and how to achieve a balance on committees and leadership roles. Heather requested to set the gavel aside (turned over to the 1st VP) in order to expand and address the issues discussed: The Diversity Committee is a Standing Committee; it is time to utilize this committee and their role- assist with encouraging membership of our committees and future leadership positions to reflect the diversity of our membership.
MOTION VOTE: APPROVED-11, ABSTAINED- 1. MOTION CARRIES.
MOTION : The Policy and Procedures Manual as
presented by the Governance Committee, the Secretary, and amended by council be
accepted by council.
J. Miladin/E Trethway. MOTION APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY.
Co-chairs are available to attend regional meetings to inform members on ‘how to get involved and advocate as members and as constituents’. Session was given in some regions this past year and was received well. Question from council on position paper: if it could be received by council earlier than our scheduled visits with legislatures. Christine will recommend that committee presents it at an earlier date.
Secretary’s Committee:
Early Awareness- Anne Barton (see ADDENDUM)
Gear-Up- Cathy Patella (see ADDENDUM)
Webletter – Laura Worley
Ask regions that any updates within regions are needed. What do members wish to see in webletter? (idea suggested- clips of sessions at conference)
Adjourned for the day- 4:45 PM.
September 11
Call to order
8:38 AM –Heather McDonnell
Moment of silence called by Heather in recognition of this day in our history.
Treasurer’s Report- Tom Dalton
Reported
in Audit- letterhead does not have
‘Incorporated’ wording on it. Secretary Teodecki commented that our letterhead
in stock does have the “Inc” included. If any member does have old letterhead,
please destroy. Tom will contact
Regional Treasurer’s for either a meeting or a conference call to give guidance
on what is expected at a regional audit.
Balance report will be cleaned-up. An updated 2007/08 budget is needed since changes were made at council’s June meeting. Tom will contact Marilyn.
Question on W-9. Tom indicated that he like a ‘signed version’ in a PDF on webiste.
Ethics- reported by Sheryl Mihopolus for Howard
Leslie
Safe Harbor session at conference- will be an open forum/ interactive.
Discussion on Statement of Principles- Heather is sending the current document back to the Ethics Committee for their review and appropriate action- to review behavior that has taken place to-date and provide guidance and ‘recommended framework’. Ethics committee will forward to council first before going out to regions.
In speaking with lenders they are still checking on their level of support. Donations are usually received by the conference time so committees have an idea of funds available for their activities. Katrina will send out another e-mail to solicit support.
Finance- Tom Dalton
1st
Vice President’s Reports:
Encourage members to renew their membership and to update their membership section on volunteer efforts.
Angela has a separate e-mail set-up at her school so members can use that specifically for their membership questions/issues. (NYSFAAAmem@fordham.edu)
Awards Committee: reported by Angela Van Dekker for Kathy Flaherty
Award recipients names are needed
ASAP for the plaque order that is going out 9/30.
Question on the time frame of
service for the ‘Rising Star’ award. After some council discussion it was
decided to have a more flexible time frame. Heather will notify Awards
Committee.
Secretary’s Committees- Nancy Teodecki
College Goal Sunday- Ken Storms
Update on the history of this project and the partnership with NYSFAAA. Please ask for volunteers now for the CGS event scheduled for February 10th. May add additional sites this year if possible. Table will be present at the conference with information and to sign up to volunteer.
Question on focusing and how to reach out- the members of
the committee are working with the counselors and organizations in the site
areas to identify the ‘target’ student and family groups for 2008. Council
requested that website be updated with the 2008 date.
School Outreach- Kathy
Michalski
Tightening budget ; no lunches will be offered at workshops.
Question concerning lenders present at workshops. Decided by council : no lender tables since that promotes ‘loan activity’, all corporate sponsors to date will be acknowledged at each workshop, and no clothing can be worn that designates a lender’s employer.
Question on
the USDE and NCHELP outreach to school counselors and our concern that it might
interfere with NYSFAAA School Counselor workshops and the relationships we have
already established. Ken Storms clarified that for The National Training for Counselors and
Mentors for our state, the counselors will be directed to the NYSFAAA
website for our training workshops.
Communications/Website- reported by Nancy Teodecki
for Ideta Daniel
Plan
on bringing the website off-line for redesign and update approx 11/15; may be
down several days- to-one week depending on the extent of the redesign.
Targeting upgrades to membership sections and outreach, and some redesign of
navigation. Suggest that data that is several years old be archived.
MOTION:Archive documents and minutes older than
July 1, 2006 and annually archive prior-prior fiscal year. K.Lubold/ A.Van
Dekker. MOTION APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY.
MOTION: All training materials are restricted for members only. A. Van Dekker/
S. Mihopolus. MOTION
APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY.
2nd VP Committees- Maria Barlaam
Professional Development
Committee
Will focus on joint efforts with
EASFAA/ SUNYFAP to assist in reduction of costs.
Need feedback from Regions for topics. There will be EASFAA training in Nov/Dec time frame; topic is Counseling Students and Families- Tackling the Financial Issues. Tom Dalton and Wayne Harewood are trainers.
Spring training target date early March; suggestion SED regs on SLATE if released by then. Jim Briggs Tax Workshops- let Maria know if there is interest this year to offer these workshops.
So far, site bids for 2008- Cobleskill, Brockport, Potsdam.
Let committee chairs know if any of your staff is requesting a topic to add to
program.
Regional Reports- see ADDENDUM
Region 3 : Request for funds for Support Staff workshop .
MOTION: Region3 receive $1500 for support Staff Workshop to be held in
October.
S. Karwowski/M. Barlaam.
MOTION APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY.
State Fair- Sharon Karwowksi
Income exceeded expenses so scholarships were increased. Attendance that day approx.100,000. Had to be present for drawing so it brought back folks to booth. Was contacted multiple times by AC Office and they wanted a booth ‘under the tent’ but there wasn’t any space left. Sharon invited them to the 2008 planning meeting this November.
The AGO did request a list of schools that were attending. An individual was taking pictures of the literature that was displayed on our table.
Conference 2007 -Currently 35 tables for vendors. Will need 38 to break even. Please encourage members to visit the exhibit room.
On August 7th, President McDonnell sent to council an e-mail announcing Marilyn Faller’s resignation as Treasurer due to office staffing issues on her campus. Heather nominated Tom Dalton to fill the term of Treasurer effective immediately. Earl Trethway seconded the motion.
A vote was taken by e-mail resulting in 7 Ayes. Three council representatives were absent for the voting which took place on August 7th. The number of council members voting met quorum, therefore the vote was official. Heather announced to council and the membership on August 8th of Marilyn’s resignation and that Tom Dalton will complete Marilyn’s term as Treasurer.
REPORTS:
Region 1- Lynn Chilson
Kevin Ryan (UB) –Region 1 Chairman-incumbent
Lynn Chilson (Buffalo State)- Executive Council
representative- newbie
Brent McEnroe- Treasurer-incumbent
Rachel Barker- Secretary-newbie
meeting, followed by a buffet
luncheon. After meeting we played the
horses and the slot machines. Unfortunately, the attendance was poor.
· Region 3 held its June meeting at the Adams Mark in Buffalo on June 22. We had 32 members attend. We worked on Conference planning. As a reminder Region 3 will be hosting the conference at the Adams Mark Oct 21-24 2008.
Council Representative – Gina Soliz
Regional Chair – Sean View
Regional Secretary – Bonnie
Rooker
Regional Treasurer – Pat
Johnson
Executive Council Representative (New Officer – due to
resignation of Brenda
Wright) Earl Tretheway, Asst. Dean of Students &
Dir. Financial Aid, Columbia-
Greene Community College
Region Chairperson (New Officer)-Steve Dwire, Dir of
Fin. Aid, the College of
St. Rose
Secretary- Elizabeth Key, National Education, Account
Manager
Treasurer (New Officer)-Jim Vallee, M & T Bank,
Client Relationship Manager
2007 School Counselor Workshop – Scheduled to be held
November 13th at
Hudson Valley Community College. Ronni Jones is the region IV chair and
has
begun planning and soliciting volunteers. October
Regional meeting – Date TBA.
Roberta Daskin- Chair
Charlie Boland- Secretary
Kristen Carey- Membership
Ursula Bisconti- Council Representative
We agreed we can support a second site for College Goal Sunday in
Westchester (New Rochelle in addition to Yonkers).
Janice Hilbrink is working on the Guidance Counselor Workshop. We will
have one site instead of two, and serve breakfast not lunch, to save
money.
Agenda:
Updates, Exec Council, HESC, etc.
Best Practices - Preferred Lender Lists – School Panel
Leadership Training
Discussion - Getting Involved in
NYSFAAA
School Panel -Fordham, Monroe and
SVA
Some of the topics addressed:
How do you evaluate your
lenders?
How often do you evaluate your
lenders?
How did you choose your lenders?
Do you provide your lenders with
a “Report Card”?
Do you evaluate your guarantors?
How has SLATE changed the way you
choose your lenders? (If it has at all)
Executive
Council Representative New Officer:
Maria DeInnocentiis,
Marymount College Manhattan, Director of Financial Services
Co-Chair
(Active Member):
Anna Kopit, Aveda Institute
New York, Financial Aid Director
Co-Chair
(Active or Associate Member) :
Brian Ghanoo, Regional Director NSLP (National Student Loan
Program)
Secretary :
Shelley Worrell, CUNY Graduate Center, Federal Direct Loan
Coordinator
Treasurer New Officer :
Chris Constable, Edamerica, Account Representative
-Region VI Meeting Sept. 27 at Caliber Training Institute 7th
Ave
Panel of
lenders and schools-The 411
on Alternate Loans
How to
compare Alternate loans,
Interest Rates and Fees -Prime vs Libor; APR’s;
Difference between Marketing
agent for a loan and a lender having their own product;
Alternate Loan Consolidation and
back-end benefits.
- Revisit
Statement of Principles
-High School Guidance Counselor
co-chairs Mina Friedmann and Brian Ghanoo
- SUNY FIT on
Friday November 16th.
- We are also
hoping to have a support
staff workshop for Fall in early October.
Nancy Brewer will replace Sheryl Mihopulos as Executive Councilperson
Debra Evans will replace Nancy Brewer as Regional Chair
Diane Beltrani will replace Angie Esparza as Regional Treasurer
With this new team in place Region 7 is ready to go and we look forward to
another year of NYSFAAA activities!
No
report- We had not met between our June and September EC meetings.
Awards Committee –
Kathy Flaherty, submitted by Angela VanDekker
All regional awards are to be ordered from Lamont by the awards committee rather than by the regions. The committee also needs the award information for the program.
Ordering awards – Early order Sept. 5
Second order Sept. 30
Need the name, the organization and the date.
Regional awards will be presented at the luncheon rather than in the evening.
On August 19th and 13th the regions were notified about the Rising Star award.
Nominations for statewide awards closed August 1 and a conference call was scheduled for the first week in Sept.
Development Committee- Katrina Delgrosso
2007-08
NYSFAAA Development Committee:
Chairperson: Katrina
Delgrosso
NYSFAAA
Treasurer: Tom
Dalton, Excelsior College
NYSFAAA
Past-President: Anne Barton, NSLP
Upstate
Executive Council Rep (Region 1): Lynn
Chilson, Buffalo State College
Downstate Executive
Council Rep (Region 7): Sheryl Mihopulos, Adelphi University
(Nancy or Maria?)
Downstate
Vendor Rep: Jason Cook, Citibank
Next
Generation Committee Representative: Vacant
Next
Generation Committee Representative: Vacant
Heather asked if I would join Tanya Patterson-Stanley and Oscar
Vasquez to form a steering committee concerning itself with Diversity. I agreed
to do that. It is my intention to stay with the process until the Diversity Committee
is up and running.
For as
long as I have been involved with NYSFAAA (22 years) there have been
disenfranchised folks. Clock hour verses Credit, Community College verses
Graduate school, Upstate verses Downstate, old verses young, woman verses man
and on and on. I see this committee as an avenue to tackle these genuine
concerns. I see this committee as a lens to view ourselves and to address issues
as they occur.
Joan
Warren brought to this Executive Council a proposal to establish a Diversity
Committee. She was asked to come back to Council with wording. I was unable to
attend the meeting in which she presented the proposal. At that meeting it did not
pass the vote. Some of you at the table may wish to speak to the reasoning
behind that action.
As I
looked at Joan’s proposal I found it to be sound and worthy of us taking a
closer look. I sent the proposal to Tanya and Oscar and asked them for their
opinions. Oscar whole heartily agreed that it should be brought forth again.
Tanya and I have not connected but Heather has assured me that she also is in
agreement with the proposal.
I would like to make a motion that
we establish a Diversity Committee at the state level. The details of the
Diversity Committee are contained in the draft authored by Joan Warren.
Early Awareness- Anne Barton- Co- Chair
The
committee’s idea to raffle off IPOD Nanos at the NYS Fair was a huge success.
We drew a crowd at each drawing. It was a great way to get people to return to
the tent – we required that they be present at the drawing to win. Winners of
the drawings were:
Noon: Jacob Parsons – Red Creek
Central School
2 PM: Tyler Norton –
Bolivar-Richburg Central School
4 PM: Vincent Buttimer – Proctor
High School
I
will be contacting the school counselors at each of these schools to let them
know their student won and to let them know what NYSFAAA has to offer to them.
The
committee is now working on adding an Early Awareness power point presentation
to our website for members to use if they are approached about presenting on
Early Awareness. When it is added to the website I will go out with a notice to
the membership that it is available.
We
are also compiling a list of NYSFAAA resources available to our membership
which will include printed materials and electronic resources with their target
audience. When this project is completed it will be distributed to our
membership via the NYSFAAA listserve.
We
will also be ordering another supply of the “The Path to College Starts in
Middle School” brochure for distribution to middle school counselors this fall.
Report on 2006-2007 Year Activities
ü Presented at the NYGEAR Annual Conference on
Long Island. “It’s Never Too Early To
Start Planning for College.” Topics
included: why go to college, financial
aid myths, and how parents and students pay for college.
ü 8th grade students this year
received a school pouch and mood pencil.
ü Early awareness committee’s brochure: “The Path To College Starts in Middle
School” was placed in the school pouch.
ü NYGEAR Newsletter: “I’m Going to College” was sent to every
student in the spring.
ü College Quest Project: CICU, NYSFAAA, and the Albany City School
District sponsored a bus trip for students to visit colleges in the western
part of the state.
ü Sent (3) NYGEAR UP counselors to Novice
Training.
2007-2008 Proposed Activities
ü 12 month calendar is being developed for
all students.
·
January –
Course Selection
·
February –
Savings/529 Plans
·
March –
Handling your Money
·
April –
Identity Theft
·
May – Summer
Jobs
·
June –
Financial Aid (grants and scholarships)
·
July –
Financial Aid (loans and student employment)
·
August –
Opportunity Programs
·
September –
Why NYGREAR UP Activities?
·
October –
What is postsecondary education?
·
November –
Goal Setting
·
December –
Credit Cards
ü Spring Newsletter.
ü Will present at the annual conference.
ü School visits and site visits.
ü Novice Training.
Government Relations Committee:-reported
by Christine Sears, co-chair
Ø
Main
initiatives (2007-08)
o
Develop and
distribute NYS & Federal priority statements
o
Schedule trip
to Washington D.C.
o
Participate in
Legislative Forum in Albany in February of 2008
o
Provide
legislative training for elected officials as part of the forum
o
Provide
continuous updates to NYSFAAA members on pending legislative issues
o