CASFAA High School Relations Committee - 2003

Meeting minutes: May 19, 2003

Membership:

In attendance

Co-Chair Jim Myers (JM), Chapman University

Co-Chair Beryl Schantz (BS), EdFund

DaMarr Boyd (DB), All Student Loan Corp

Ellen Cunningham (EC), Chela Financial

Bryan Dickason (BD), CSAC

Cheryl Foster (CF), Azusa Pacific University

Alan-Michael Graves (AG), Pepperdine University

Sherri Hancock (SH), Skyline College

Ann Logan (AL), DeVry Institute- Pomona

Melissa Moser (MM), Orange Coast College

Dennis Schroeder (DS), Glendale College

Kim Tillman (KT), Citibank

Absent

Sandra Bollier (SB), Mt. San Antonio College

Peggy Crawford (PC), SWSSC

Walter Desmond (WD), Not Specified

Robin Johnson (RJ), Educaid/Wachovia

Shanon Little (SL), Chapman University

Gerald Lorenzetti (GL), Rio Hondo College

Betty Macias (BM), Heald Colleges- Salinas

Audren Morris (AM), Gavilan College

Pati Pineiro-Goodenberger (PPG), Occidental College

Guests

None

Meeting Location: Teleconference call between attending committee members

Discussion/Agenda Items:

GENERAL UPDATES

Jim gave a brief overview of committee activities for our new members. The committee’s two primary assignments this year are 1) create and present the High School Counselor Workshops, and 2) provide information at the NACAC/WACAC-sponsored college fairs in California. This second item was new for this year, and it appears that we will continue to do this for the coming years.

Jim also noted that our committee’s information is now available on the CASFAA website. To access our information, 1) go to 2) select the “Inside CASFAA” link on the left, then 3) select “Leadership” from the submenu. On the “Leadership” webpage you will see our committee listed. By clicking on our link you can currently get information on current members. We may eventually add our minutes to the website.

NEXT MEETING FOR COMMITTEE

Jim, with general consensus from the attending members, scheduled the following dates/time for our next in-person committee meeting:

Thursday, July 24th from 9am-3pm. This meeting will be held at Orange Coast College. Melissa Moser will secure parking and a meeting room for us. Jim and Melissa will assist with those flying in to John Wayne Airport.

WACAC/NACAC COLLEGE FAIRS

Committee members that attended the many college fairs across California reported on attendance and overall experiences they had at the various sites. Bryan reported that the bags we had expected to use at some sites did not arrive until May 8th, so he was only able to use them at the two fairs he attended (East Bay/St. Mary’s College and North Bay/Sonoma State University). But we will have enough for next year (65000 bags had been received).

Dennis reported that the Inland Empire college fair (held at the Ontario Convention Ctr) went well, but that we ran out of supplies about ½-way through the day.

Cheryl and Jim reported that the Orange County college fair (held at the Anaheim Convention Ctr) went very well. Cheryl is to be commended on coming through and doing the financial aid presentation at this site, as the site organizers had not lined up a presenter.

Beryl reported that she had run out of materials at her fair, but that there were almost 6000 students in attendance.

Kathy Tran (Orange Coast College) and Peggy attended the Los Angeles area fair (held at the Pasadena Center), and that they had plenty of materials.

Damarr did the Ventura/Tri-Country fair (held at Ventura Seaside Park), and supplemented her materials with ALL Student Loan information as needed. Business was steady at her table.

For next year: Dennis and Bryan will coordinate the supply chain and delivery of materials. Bryan has the names of contacts, and Jim will check with his Admissions Office staff member (who is quite involved with WACAC/NACAC) about sites, dates, and times for next year’s college fairs.

FUND DEVELOPMENT

Information appears in a draft publication that CASFAA provides to prospective sponsors. Information on our proposal will be included. This includes:

  • $1,100 Fee
  • One finished piece in each bag, plus one premium

Jim will be the contact person for interested sponsors for the HS counselor workshops.

Last year, there was talk of waiving/reducing the costs for sponsors who have members on our committee. The general consensus of our committee was that this would be appropriate, based on the work the committee members provide to the group. Jim will bring this suggestion to the CASFAA executive board for review.

Peggy sent Jim information regarding the paper-weight of items we will insert in the bags this year. After discussion among committee members, it was suggested that we go with 80-lb paper for inserts, as lighter stock paper is harder to handle.

CASFAA NEWSLETTER ARTICLES

Bryan, Jim, and Cheryl delivered information for the May/June issue (expected mailing date: June 6th). Information for the July/August issue will be due June 23rd.

TASK LIST

Jim sent an attachment to today’s email with an updated list of tasks and committee members who will be responsible for the various items.

Breakout sessions:

Cal Grant Verification information: The group agreed that this would be a very useful session for the HS counselor workshop, and that we should devote an hour to it. Cheryl had asked if a user guide exists for the GPA verification process. Bryan indicated that one does exist. Melissa asked if it would be possible to set up a “sandbox” type area to help in instructing HS counselors on how to upload GPA’s to CSAC. Bryan will explore this as a possibility. This approach would be similar to the way Cal Grant training was done this spring.

The other one-hour breakout session for the advanced track would cover FAFSA on the Web (FOTW) and using the PIN. Cheryl had indicated that HS counselors wanted to see more on FOTW, including more on 1) using PIN, 2) submitting corrections, and 3) going through the whole process from start to finish. Beryl agreed to develop this session. She’ll submit information for a “test” FOTW.

Jim will have Shanon call Cheryl about securing presenters for sessions.

In prior years only people from schools usually presented at the workshops, due mainly to the need to have people with a wider breadth of knowledge about colleges and the other segments. But this will be looked at again this year as work on securing presenters.

Beryl will sent out (as an email or email attachment) the calendar of dates for the workshops.

Cheryl recommends that for those of us (or others we know) who want to present at the workshops should attend a presentation to HS counselors. This is because the counselors tend to be much savvier on financial aid topics when compared to the parents and students we usually aim our presentations at during the year.

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