Region 1 Meeting Minutes – May 24, 2007
Attendance:
AFC Rachel Barker & Kristin Carey
Bank of
Citibank
EdAmerica Holly Zaglaniczny
HSBC Sherrie Shepard
Key Bank Jerome Moss
M&T Bank Kathleen Armstrong
NSLP Anne Barton
NYS-HESC Jack Rafferty & Marc Woolf
Olean Business Institute Valerie Goodwin
St Bonaventure Mary Jo Brockel & Gail Quinn
Student Capital Katrina Delgrosso & Dan Dunn
SUNY Fredonia Amy Biers, Daniel Tramuta, & Megan Zaffalon
University at
Welcome & Introductions – Kevin Ryan
Thank you to Mary Jo Brockel and St. Bonaventure University
for organizing and hosting today’s meeting.
A reminder went out about the retirement party for
Summer Outing –
This summer’s outing will be held at St. Columban Center (
Treasurer’s Report – Brent McEnroe
Balance:
$2,673.56
Deposits:
$0
Total: $0
Payments:
Check image fee $2.00 (04/09/2007)
Check #508 $200.00
Check #507 $184.00 Sodexho Inc. (Region 1 Meeting
Check image fee $2.00 (5/8/07)
Total: $388.00
Ending Balance as of
05/08/2007:
$2,285.56
Novice Training
Novice Training will be held at SUNY Cobleskill from June 3, 2007 – June 8, 2007.
Committee Updates
Admissions Advisor Workshop – The workshop will be held on June 28, 2007 at Classics V. So far 60 participants (11 schools) have signed up. The next organizational meeting is June 4, 2007. Please check with your Admissions Offices to make sure they know about the workshop. Another e-mail will be sent in the near future as a reminder. There is no fee for this workshop.
Support Staff Workshop - The workshop will be held on June 14, 2007 on the Miss Buffalo Boat. Registration information has been sent out. There is a full agenda including: Federal and State updates, Survivor Challenge, Time Management, and Networking.
Elections - The ballot has been submitted for the regional elections. The electronic version will be sent out in early June.
HESC Update – Jack
Rafferty
HESC Update-May 2007
NYS Attorney General
(AG) Clarification on Student Lending Issues
As a result of productive conversations with the New York State AG’s Office, HESC recently released a Q+A document that addresses many of the recent questions received from schools and lenders around the state. If more information becomes available, HESC will post additional updates on www.hesc.org.
HESC’s
e-MPN/Preferred Lender List Update
With all of the recent discussions regarding preferred lender lists, HESC wants to remind school colleagues of the following:
-HESC’s e-MPN process provides borrowers with the ability to select any HESC originating lender, including a school’s preferred lender(s)
-Under www.hesc.org’s “Paying for College” link, NYS students and families can also access HESC’s “Student Loan Lender Directory”. The directory contains a complete list of HESC’s participating lenders, which can be searched by lender name or lender code.
-HESC has received recent inquires from schools looking for instructions on how to edit their school’s preferred lender list, or to change the list from “static” to “random”. For questions regarding preferred lender list options, schools should contact HESC’s Priority Services Unit at:
1-518-408-3731/ priorityservices@hesc.org
Hold the Date Reminder-HESC
Annual Loan Symposium
Remember to mark your calendars for the 3rd Annual HESC Loan Symposium, which will be held from September 19-20 at the Holiday Inn Saratoga Springs. The reserved block of rooms for the HESC event are now open @ $130 night and can be reserved by calling the hotel directly at (518) 584-4550. Registration details and program information will be forwarded prior to the event. School and lender partners will have an opportunity to submit Loan Symposium session proposals on a relevant student loan topic of general interest to the NYSFAAA membership. HESC Loan Symposium session proposal forms will be posted on www.hesc.org before the end of the month.
2005-06 Academic Year TAP Close-out
The 2005-06 Academic Year TAP
Roster is available for viewing, printing and downloading.
Certifications after May 15,
2007 must be communicated to TAP Certification by fax at (518) 486-7679, or by
telephone at (518) 473-3762. HescWeb no
longer allows submission of certification data and electronic batch files
should no longer be submitted.
The 2005-06 academic Year will
be closed-out on June 15, 2007.
If you have any questions
concerning the certification process, contact John DeFazio at (518) 474-3608.
New Annual Loan
Limits and Origination Fee
For loans first disbursed on or after July 1, 2007, the
Higher Education Reconciliation Act of 2005 (HERA) provided for new
HESC has also updated its systems to allow for processing the increased graduate and professional students annual loan limits, which have been increased from $18,500 to $20,500 effective for loans first disbursed on or after July 1, 2007.
Loans can be sent to HESC for guarantee with the new loan
limit increases prior to July 1st as long as the first disbursement
of the loan is scheduled to occur after July 1st.
The origination fee for loans first disbursed on or after July 1, 2007 was
reduced to 1.5 percent through the HERA. HESC has updated its systems to
guarantee that any loan records received prior to July 1, with a first
disbursement date of July 1, 2007 or after, will have a 1.5 percent origination
fee.
-For a complete list of HESC loan processing updates- review HESC Bulletin 2007-005
@ www.hesc.org’s College Administrators “What’s New” link.
.
New HESC Toll Free
Number for Financial Aid Professionals-Reminder
HESC recently unveiled a new, dedicated telephone number which is for financial aid professionals use only. However, some aid administrators have continued to use the general toll free number for students and families.
Therefore, as a reminder, attached
is new number which should streamline your communications with HESC via
a simplified voice response menu:
1-866-431-HESC (1-866-431-4372).
NYGEAR UP Conference
Update
HESC NYGEAR UP program staff, including 89 statewide project and state partners, held its annual conference on March 26-28 in L.I. NYSFAAA, who is a valued state NY GEAR UP partner, also participated in the 3 day event.
During the conference, one Gear UP Partner unveiled a Public
Service Announcement (PSA) that promoted available GEAR UP services for
students. The PSA also credited HESC and the U.S. Department of Education as
additional resources for financial aid and academic enrichment services.
.
School, Lender, and
Guarantor News
Anne Barton (NSLP) handed out the schedule for Learning Links. This is NSLP’s Professional Development Series of webcasts. She reminded everyone that the times on the handout are in Central Time.
USA Funds handed out the schedule for their Convenient Webcast Training.
Bank of America announced that they have signed an acceptance of the AG’s Code of Conduct.
Current Events Group Discussion
Dan Tramuta asked if any schools were looking to move to Direct Lending. Discussions followed as to what schools are saying about “preferred lenders” (“recommended lenders”, “suggested lenders”) and what schools are disclosing. All agreed it is will be difficult to adhere to the Code of Conduct/Slate Bill/etc. and provide good, quality service to students and parents.
Training – Rachel Barker and Kristen Carey from AFC
The team from AFC hosted a game of Jeopardy in which all participated and ended the meeting in a fun way.