Region 3 Regional Notes/Report

Notes/Report: DATE: December 12, 2005 - 12/12/05 Executive Council report to Region 3 12/12/05 Executive Council Meeting report to Region 3 NYSFAAA Executive Council met at the Holiday Inn in Binghamton December 8th and 9th Treasurer’s Report The Hotel bill for the Fall Conference has not been submitted yet. Sam once again cautioned everyone to look at what they are doing in the way of meetings. Our mission and purpose is not that of a social club. Our Tax exempt status is at risk when we don’t act properly. We can not collect funds and run them through our regional treasury for purely social functions. There was a major discussion concerning the solicitation of lenders for events outside of what they choose to sponsor. Some lenders are feeling strong armed into contributing more then what they are comfortable doing. The NYSFAAA president has received complaints from several lenders. This will addressed at next meeting. It appears to be a growing problem. Government Relations Jim Vallee and Beth Post reported that they are planning another trip to Washington D.C. in the Spring. Please contact Jim Vallee if you are interested in being part of the group. Right now the word on the street is that Re-Authorization will not happen until May effective for the 06/07 academic year. ESFAA will be joining with NYSFAAA so look for joint emails encouraging participation in legislative responses. Heather suggested that we bring students and have one day that we focus on. Jim was going to bring that back to NASFAA to see if they would take the point. Beth Post reported that February 1st is Student Day in Albany. Bill Cavin would be the contact person if you would like to know more about the day or the legislative training. February 13-14 in the Legislative Forum in Albany. This is where you learn how to do visits. Admissions, Financial Aid, Counselors, and students are all invited. Cost is $65.00 for the day. Contact Beth Post for additional information postb@union.edu Professional Development Maria Barlaam has asked that I find a place to hold a one day Intermediate Workshop. It would be a combined effort for Regions 1, 2, and 3. I have asked Steven Dodds in Region 2 to reach out to the schools there to see if they would be willing to host the one day workshop. I will let you know more as the dates get finalized. There will be several Advance Tax Workshops by Jim Briggs the week of February 20th. Right now Maria is looking at Buffalo, Albany, and a couple downstate. When the date and place has been confirmed Maria or I will let you know. NYSFAAA Awards Cindy Kohlman has resigned as Awards Committee Chair. She felt it was time for new folks to have the pleasure. Gear-UP Cathy Patella reported that there has been an agreement reached on in-kind support for the Gear-up partnership with HESC. She provided Council with the final proposal. She is proceeding with the contract. Early Awareness Nancy Teodecki reported on the bookmarks and wristbands. She requested permission to re-order the wristbands. Gear-up and State Fair Event both wanted wristbands so it was decided to order a large quantity. It was suggested that Higher Ed Day at the State Fair and Early Awareness combined their efforts to submit an entry to the NASFAAA Awards. Membership Report Current Membership 1224 Region 3 membership 183 Region 3 people that are currently unpaid include: Rose Patterson- Mohawk Valley Community College Mary Arnold- Oswego County BOCES Kimberley Slater-SUNY Cortland Beth Langhans-SUNY Cortland Karen Taylor-SUNY Cortland Serenity Beardslee- SUNY Oneonta Michael Pede- SUNY Upstate Medical Center Trade Mark/Service Mark NYSFAAA is going to use a Grad Student in Vermont that is working on Trade Mark/Service Marks for ESAFAA. Conference Currently we have contracts out for the next 3 years. It is the belief of the current Executive Council that we need to visit how NYSFAAA runs its conferences. There was a report authored by Irv Bodofsky a few years ago that will be revisited. In the mean time Executive Council voted to have the NYSFAAA President appoint two previous Conference Chairs to act as resource people for current conference committees. This was not a unanimous vote but majority prevailed. It was strongly recommended that the current Executive council person be part of the Conference Committee. A Culture change will need to take place. Higher Ed Day at the NY State Fair I reported that we had 19 tables rented this year. The cost per table was $579. We spent $611 on shirts and $87. on miscellaneous expenses. The bottom line was it cost us about $1,200 to participate. We gave away 650 wristbands. Cathy Patella, Judi Miladin, and I attended a planning meeting with the State Fair people. We will be getting a new proposal from them in January. We will be moving to a new location that hopefully will have more traffic. HESC UPDATE HESC Training Grant Initiative Renewed for 2006. HESC is offering grants ranging from $1,000 to $10,000 to eligible independent, public and business schools. Applications can be submitted to HESC from Dec. 1, 2005 to Jan. 28, 2006. HESC Administrative Workshops are going on now. HESC PLUS Credit Check Process will be available next Spring. HESC Loan Symposium-As a reminder, all sessions from HESC’s 2005 Loan Symposium have been posted on www.hesc.org. Mark your calendar for next year’s Loan Symposium, which will take place on September 21-22 at the Holiday Inn in Saratoga Springs. President’s Report The President reported on all of her activities since the last meeting. She also requested that we meet in April. She would like to devote the meeting to the overall committee structure. There is growing concern that our current committees are no longer meeting their mission. The way we do business has changed and we need to review what we are doing. Next meetings January 29, 30, 31 Albany April 17, 18 Lake Placid June 14, 15, 16 TBA Respectfully submitted by: Sharon Karwowski POSTED BY: Sharon Karwowski