Regional Meeting Minutes
Auburn Golf Country Club
May 6, 2005
Attendance: Anne
Barton, Cathy Bellomo Patella, Gerald Christie,
Sheila Cooley, Jackie Darquea, Tami Eiklor, Kathy Flaherty, Mark Humbert, Pat Johnson, Jan
Klotz, Scott Lewis, Abbey Linsner, Kevin Michaelson, Eileen Muhlig, Nancy Pawlak, Bonnie Rooker, Gina Soliz, Darcie Stephens, Sam Veeder,
Michael Woody
Welcome: Nancy Pawlak
Nancy
welcomed all to the meeting and thanked Jackie Darquea
and Bonnie Rooker for making the meeting
arrangements. Vince Scalise was given a Service Award
at the recent SUNYFAP Conference.
Executive Council:
Nancy for Sharon
The last meeting was held on April 7and 8 in Saratoga Springs. For the
NYSFAAA Fall Conference ground transportation will be available at users’ expense.
HESC will not have a general session at the conference, but instead has chosen
to have only a TAP/Student Loan concurrent session. NYSFAAA.org will be
registered as a domain name. NYSFAAA sponsor letters will be sent soon
providing many options for support. An on-line form is in development using the
shopping cart style. The form concludes with a billing statement for selected
sponsorship which will be returned to the State Treasurer with payment. The
Policy and Procedure Manual will be updated at the June Executive Meeting.
Notify Sharon
with any changes and/or questions.
Higher Education Day at the State Fair will be Friday, September 2.
Wristbands will be distributed as part of the Early Awareness campaign. A copy of the Executive Summary of the
NYSFAAA Reauthorization Position Paper was distributed. The legislative
committee is looking for feedback. There was no discussion at this time. The
next meeting will be held at the Turning Stone, June 15-17.
Treasurer’s Report: Abbey
Linsner
The current treasury balance is $2050.26. Since the last
report the LeMoyne meeting bill has been paid. Abbey
was successful in convincing the bank to waive the monthly activity fee for the
next 2 years. Executive Council has asked that the State Treasurer be an additional
signor on regional accounts.
State Update:
Gerald Christie
Jim Ross and Cory Biviano were
introduced at the recent SUNYFAP Conference. One hundred sixty-five schools
took advantage of the HESC Training Grant. HESC will again waive the 1%
insurance fee on loans.
Gina asked if HESC would consider allowing schools to choose
whether the drop-down box of preferred lenders be in a random or sorted order,
rather than having HESC make that determination.
Regional Business:
Support Staff Workshop
Committee: Gina Soliz
Gina has offered to co-chair this committee. She submitted a
proposal for the Workshop to be held at the Craftsman Inn in Fayetteville.
The agenda would be similar to past years. Included in the proposal is
an expected registration of 30-75; cost to each participant of $15; cost to the
region of @ $600; request for state sponsorship of @ $1000. A motion was made by Cathy Bellomo, seconded by Jackie Darquea
to accept the proposal.
Cathy asked if the membership application could distinguish
between regional and state volunteers when asking for membership involvement.
Allowing a new member to participate on the regional level might encourage
participation. Sam offered to follow up on this question with State Membership
Chair, Joan Warren. Cathy also suggested that volunteers be solicited from the
Novice Training.
Nancy
mentioned that any regional committee has access to the conference call line.
Check with Nancy
for details on the use of this line.
Guidance Counselor
Workshop Committee: Pat Johnson
There will be a meeting later this month in Syracuse for the State-wide committee.
Registration this year will be on-line. This committee is looking for regional
volunteers.
CAAN:
Nancy
indicated that although Eileen Muhlig will continue
with the media tasks, she may need help with other projects.
Training Committee: Kathy Flaherty
This committee will be meeting later this month to
discuss/plan topics for the next year’s meetings.
Mentoring Committee:
Tami Eiklor
This committee has had a slow start. Judi is currently
working with the State-wide committee to get things started.
June Meeting
The meeting is scheduled for June 24th to include
a business meeting, possible training and a farewell to Jan Klotz. Abbey presented several options for location
and program including the Bellhurst
Castle, Sherwood Inn, Ithaca
area, Aurora Inn and Steve Morgan as speaker. The
discussion that followed expressed concern about a late day meeting and
attendance, a room that could accommodate a maximum of 40 people might reduce
attendance and cost of the speaker. It was decided to table the speaker for the
time and see what was available for a business meeting and lunch. Watch you
email for the results.
Regional Election
Nancy
spoke for Annette Broski indicating that there had
been some issues getting an electronic ballot in motion. They are still working
on getting the election to move along.
Conference
Transportation
Nancy
presented options involving U.S. Air and JetBlue as
well as a shuttle from the airport to the conference. Questions about putting a
deposit on a bus now and surveying the membership for thoughts on air and bus
options were raised. Nancy
will continue to research the options.
Fall Meeting
Executive Council will meet September 23,24th, so
September 30 was suggested as a possible meeting date. This meeting would be
held at the Turning Stone and the training topic will be a tour of the
facility.
The business portion of the meeting was adjourned at 11:20
A.M.
Training:
New York’s
529 College Savings Program, UPromise
Presenter: Peter Dao, Relationship Manager, UPromise
The current annual increase in college costs is 6%, while
the cost of living increase is 2%. Section 529 of the tax code allows for
college savings plans. Each state can sponsor their own
program. The tax benefit in New
York State
allows for a write-off of up to $5000 for a single filer and up to $10,000 for
joint filers. The earnings are tax free. An unqualified withdrawal from these
accounts can result in tax liability, penalties and a recapture deduction. Some
of the account benefits include a low annual fee, minimal contribution
required, maximum account of $235,000 per beneficiary, however multiple
accounts can be set up. Investments are managed by VanGuard.
When person enrolls in UPromise rebates on purchases
can be directed to the 529 account.
Respectfully submitted,
Kathy Flaherty
Region 3
Secretary