Minutes Region 3 Meeting

May 4, 2007

Auburn, New York

 

Attendance:  Rachel Barker, Sheila Cooley, Jacqui Darquea, Diane Dixon, Dan Dunn, Debra Eddy, Kathy Flaherty, Mike Friedman, Renee Jakaub, Pat Johnson, Jan Klotz, Abbey Linsner, Joe Martinkovic, Judi Miladin, Jerome Moss, Eileen Muhlig, Tim O’Donnell, Ambrose Price, Shane Rauh, Michael Rivera, Darrin Rooker, Sherrie Sheppard, Gina Soliz, Darcie Stephens, Keith Stevenson, Karen Taylor, Nancy Teodecki, Marcelle Tyburski,  Sean View, Marc Woolf

 

Welcome: Nancy Teodecki

Nancy welcomed all and thanked Cayuga Community College for providing the refreshments. A citation of appreciation was presented by the region to Tom David, SUNY Morrisville, on the occasion of his retirement. Among his many credits are: Region 3 Past-Chair, presenter at the regional Guidance Counselor Workshops, one of the most requested presenters for high school financial aid nights, co-chair of the State novice training programs for many years, recipient of the 1995 NYSFAAA Service Award. Congratulations, Tom! A donation to the State scholarship fund was made in Tom’s name.

 

Executive Council Update: Nancy representing Sharon

            This is a trying time for the financial aid profession. Gina commented that she appreciated the daily updates and recommended that Nancy take back to Executive Council that they continue to provide regular updates to the membership on current issues.

           

Treasury Report: Abbey Linsner

            The current balance of the regional treasury is $3438.20

 

State Update:  Marc Woolf

            Marc passed out a copy of the current HESC update. Highlights include: HESC provides schools and borrowers with options when selecting a lender; annual loan symposium will be held September 19-20 at the Holiday Inn, Saratoga Springs; HESC has a dedicated phone line for financial aid professionals.

            Darcie thanked HESC for the Q and A they provide and suggested that NYSFAAA may wish to consider doing the same.

 

Lender/Guarantor Update:

            Shane Rauh has joined Dan Dunn at Student Capital. USA Funds webcast training will begin on May 29th.

 

Regional Business:

            Committees:

                        Guidance Counselor Workshop – Shane and Kate (con-chairs)

            A statewide meeting was held in March. The project is on hold until they receive further guidance from NYSFAAA concerning financial support. They are still looking for volunteers and the possibility of a new venue to replace the past venue at the State Fairgrounds. Suggestions were made to look into the Craftsman Inn, Embassy Suites and Carousel Center. Cost may affect this decision. No date has been set at this time.

 

Conference 2008:

            The theme has not yet been determined. The June regional meeting will be held at the conference site in Buffalo. If you plan to attend this meeting, please RSVP Bill Cheetham as soon as possible. The meeting will include the bus trip, business meeting, lunch and a tour of the facility.

 

Support Staff:

            The region does agree that this workshop was useful and should be held annually. The fall seems to be the best time for this workshop.

 

            Regional Elections:

New Regional Officers are:

Council Representative – Gina Soliz;

Regional Chair – Sean View;

Regional Secretary – Bonnie Rooker;

Regional Treasurer – Pat Johnson.

Thanks to all who ran.

 

            Future Meeting Dates:

                        September 28

                        October – no meeting (conference)

                        November 9

                        December 12 – Sherwood Inn (Jacqui will make contact)

                        January 18

                        February 29

                        March 28

                        April – no meeting

                        May 2

 

            New Business:

                        Ambrose provided an update on College Goal Sunday. Karen Taylor and Wayne will be attending the NASFAA pre-conference session on this program to collect data on what information parents want.

                        A question was raised on what schools are doing with preferred lender lists. Some schools will continue to publish the list with a statement that borrowers are free to choose any lender. Schools must provide on an annual basis the criteria they used to establish this list. A discussion followed. The general feeling was there are still a lot of questions that remain unanswered and as borrowers select from a huge list of lenders they may find they have bad loan experiences and aid offices will have an increased workload with a variety of loan certifications to be done. Alumni Offices are the latest target of the AG’s investigation.

 

Program:

“From the Inside Out” presented by Rachel Barker, Vice-President, Academic Finance

The presentation offered strategies for organizing your space, time, and life.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Kathy Flaherty

For Bonnie Rooker