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Officers 2011-2012
President
Harold Whitis
Vice President
Shannon Followill
President Elect
Dana Mingo
Past President
Joseph Pettibon
Treasurer
Becky Wilson
Secretary
Daphne Hughes
Board Members
Mike Carranza
Laurie Coulter
Raul Lerma
Melet Leafgreen
Ed Turney
Cathleen Wright
Jason Young
  • Overall use of TASFAA Times in current format

-47% read it when they have time, but not often

-87% would not miss current newsletter

-81% would be fine or would like if we ceased newsletter and posted to FB instead

  • TASFAA Times components

-26% rated articles about regulatory issues highest

-24% rated either upcoming training event info or info about TASFAA’s history highest

-10% rated pictures of TASFAA members highest

-7% rated editorial/ opinion articles from colleagues highest

-5% rated articles from partners (guarantors, lenders, servicers, etc.) highest

-1.8% rated conference information highest

  • Facebook – current use

-77% have a personal Facebook account

-38% use it at least daily, 17% weekly, 17% monthly

-80% are able to access Facebook at work

  • TASFAA Facebook page

- 57% follow or like TASFAA on Facebook

- 70% did not know we have a Facebook page

- 51% would like to see a future TASFAA Facebook page (if it replaces the newsletter) updated monthly, 22%weekly, 12% every other week, 10% daily

  • Online site usage

- 49% use a combination of electronic sources (listservs, websites, etc.) regularly for work purposes

- 75% read NASFAA News almost every day

  • Conclusions

- While the TASFAA Times is a well-known publication among members, they do not consider it a critical source ofinformation to be anticipated or sought after.

- More than ¾ of those who responded would not miss the current TASFAA Times if we replaced it with a moretimely communication procedure.

- More than ¾ of respondents have access to Facebook at work and also have a personal Facebook account; overhalf of them use Facebook at least weekly.

- In order to satisfy membership, it appears we would not need to update the Facebook page more than (at most)once per week.

- Members do enjoy seeing regulatory updates/ information, as well as training event info and TASFAA history.

- It appears likely that articles from partners are not something survey respondents expect/ want to see fromTASFAA.

  • Melet Leafgreen suggested revamping the structure of the Communications Committee.
  • Dana Mingo suggested getting a proposal together to discuss changes to the communications committee at December’s meeting.
  • Joe Pettibon moved to discontinue the TASFAA Times newsletter until the communication committee comes back with a plan to restructure the committee. Harold seconded and motion was passed.

Nominations and Selection Committee

  • Carolyn Jones requested the board’s permission to destroy the voting information from this year. Joe moved to destroy the information and Harold seconded the motion and motion was passed.

Strategic Plan Template Discussion

  • Shannon Followill and Becky Wilson discussed updates to the template. The plan will be used as a road map for the next president.
  • New additions to it that include bullets from the president’s report that could be used as assessment point for each goal.
  • Shannon is going to update to instructions regarding goals in strategic plan based on recommendations by the board and send it out at a later date.

Partner’s Report

Kevin Campbell-Dept. of ED-FA Updates

  • Budgeting constraints are being placed on the funds the government appropriatesfor school funds and department of education operating budget.
  • Operating funds will be reduced.
  • Immediate effects include no continental breakfast at the FSA Conference in Orlando, FL.
  • Kevin asked the board and its members to provide feedback to congress of the importance and benefits of these conferences. Government conferences are under the microscope due to costs.
  • Travel and Training are two areas at risk of being reduced as well. Following the conference, a survey will be sent to all attendees to provide feedback to Department of education on benefits of training provided during the conference.
  • The only training required by Department of Education is the training that schools receive when they first enter the Title IV Programs. (Fundamentals of Federal Student Aid Workshop)
  • Two new changes to the workshop: Completion of a 20 hour online training with a score of 80% to attend the workshop. Upon completion, everybody (CEO, CFO) have to attend the workshop for the full five day time period.
  • New financial aid tool made available include the 13/14 EFC Formula Guide
  • Both 2 year and 3 year cohort default rate was announced. The department of education is trying to transition to from a 2 year to a 3 year cohort rate.
  • Nationally the 2 year cohort rate is 9.1% (higher than last year); the national 3 year rate is 13.4%
  • Texas has a 2 year cohort rate was 11.5% in 2010; our 3 year rate is 16.1%
  • The department is still urging institutions to report their pell allocations in a timely manner. This is important in ensuring students LEU information is updated.
  • Fiscal Year began on October 1st and there is no budget at this time for the fiscal year
  • The congress passed a 6-month stop gap spending measure to keep the department and the departments programs afloat. This will allow the department to remain in operation.
  • One of the points made in the 6-month stop gap spending measure is that the pell grant maximum for a zero EFC student will remain at $5550. Not sure where it will go in the future.
  • 13/14 Gen 12-11 Dear Colleague Letter: Verification Updates
  • Two new components added to verification: verifying identity and high school diploma.
  • The department is working on implementing custom verification where student may have a practically unique set of items to verify. Until then, verification rules are being established, that will put students in a certain group that will determine what needs to be verified
  • Financial Aid Shopping Sheet not a requirement for Title IV but something that the department urges schools to use. The department would like to be made aware that you are using it. 13/14 Gen 12-17 Dear Colleague Letter
  • Training initiatives for the Fall at FSA are under way. Four webinars have been done as of last week that covers four areas: Campus based issues, Return to title IV when using modules and clock hours, and Clock hour issues.
  • 13/14 Gen 12-18 Dear Colleague Letter: Declining Pell Grant
  • NSLDS was updated with a button (My student data download) that will allow the student to review their information using their interface.
  • FSA Conference will be held in Orlando, FL at the Peabody Hotel on November 30, 2012.
  • There is a link available on IFAP for more information regarding the conference. The sessions are planned but not yet developed.

New Business

  • Board reviewed contract for the third party book keeper signed by Tia Clary. At this time, the document has not been viewed by legal counsel.
  • Becky Wilson is going to amend the contract to detail responsibilities and how to process transactions and send out to the board.
  • The fee has been reduced to $250 monthly
  • The treasurer will be the liaison between the board and the bookkeeper. All payments will route through bookkeeper and anything that requires signature will go through the treasurer.
  • Joe Pettibon made a motion that the board commended Harold Whitis for his performance as President of TASFAA and it be officially recognized in the minutes. Melet seconded the motion. Motion passes.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:40 am.