NJASFAA Board of Director’s Meeting Minutes
Princeton Theological Seminary
March 14, 2014
The meeting was called to order at 1:05 pm.
Attendees:
Jim Anderson, Evelynne Blatt, Catherine Boscher-Murphy, Ninfa Mueller, Christine
Peterson, Maribeth Quinn, Karen Sokol, Matt Spina, Karen Struthers, Doug Wilson, Debra Wulff,
A motion was made by Matt, seconded by Cathi, to approve the minutes from the April 11, 2013 Board of
Director’s meeting which was held at Il Forno Restaurant in Branchburg. All were in favor. The motion
was carried.
Treasurer’s Report:
Christine Peterson
Christine distributed the Balance Sheet and the Profit and Loss Statement. The 2012-13 audit has been
completed and there were no findings. All outstanding bills are paid. There are (only) two remaining fall
conference registration fees that are unpaid at this time. Doug and Karen acknowledged the hard work
put forth by Christine to collect on past due balances. Christine also suggested that others should be
selected to cover for the Treasurer during selected times at the conference(s) so that the Treasurer may
attend some sessions.
There was a general discussion about NJASFAA’s finances and the amount kept in the reserve. No
changes were recommended. A discussion was held about the duties of the Treasurer and the PastTreasurer. The Board would like to recommend that the Executive Council examine the specific tasks for
each position and the possibility of dividing the tasks more evenly. Additionally, it should be determined
if the functions performed in QuickBooks and Wells Fargo could be combined into one system.
President’s Report:
Doug Wilson
Doug provided a summary of the activities from the 2013-14 year. College Goal Sunday had a new
format this year. Instead of one dedicated Sunday, multiple dates were scheduled at each of the 9
locations. NJASFAA made a $2,100 contribution to College Goal Sunday this year.
The spring conference will be held on April 9, 2014 at the Pines Manor in Edison. There were 175-200
fall conference attendees. There are currently 421 NJASFAA members.
The Training Committee, now chaired by Carmen Ferrari, had a full agenda this year, and held a number
of trainings that have not been presented in the most recent history (Veteran’s Benefits, Professional
Development, and Student Loan Debt Management.) Pilar Sanchez and Tammi Hussey are co-chairs of
the 2-day Novice Training which is scheduled for June 5-6 at a hotel in Florham Park. A vote to
determine the price for the Novice Training will take place electronically next week among Executive
Council members. Doug also reminded everyone about the NJASFAA blog and invited everyone to
participate by writing a blog post.
President-Elect:
Jim Anderson
Jim reported that he is excited to assume the role of President next year. He has been busy filling some of
the committee chair positions; others will wait until the election results are available. Jim and Rabbi
Gedalya Green attended NASFAA’s Leadership Conference last week in Washington, DC.
The NJASFAA Executive Council retreat will take place on June 5-6, 2014, most likely at Centenary
College. A 2-year contract has been signed to hold the 2014 and 2015 fall conference at the Tropicana
Hotel in Atlantic City. The fall conference dates have been set for November 12-14, 2014. These dates
are one week later than the conference has been held in recent years.
Past-President Report: Karen Sokol
The election is still under way and will be closing on March 31, 2014. We have 1 person running for
President, 2 for Vice President, 1 for Secretary, 1 for Treasurer and 10 people running for the 4 Council
Member at Large positions. The winners will be announced at the spring conference. The recipients have
been chosen for the two Distinguished Service Awards; the Arthur Richmond and the Thomas C. Scott
awards. There were no changes to the Constitution and By-Laws this year.
EASFAA Update:
Karen Sokol
In July 2013, Karen attended the in-person EASFAA retreat held at the University of Vermont. A
conference call replaced the October 2013 meeting, and an in-person meeting was held at the end of
February in Washington, DC. The in-person EASFAA meeting is held in conjunction with EASFAA’s
annual visits to Capitol Hill. This event has grown to also include members from NASFAA, SASFAA,
and MASFAA (Midwest). Over 45 visits were scheduled throughout the day. A briefing document was
given to the legislative aides. This year, EASFAA launched their Facebook page and their blog, called
the EASFAA Connection. The EASFAA conference will be held on May 18-21 in Puerto Rico. This
year is the last of Karen’s two year term as EASFAA representative.
Old Business:
None
New Business:
Two new items were discussed.
1. Maribeth suggested that members of the NJASFAA Executive Council, perhaps the Government
Relations Committee Members, should visit federal congressional offices. This could either be
accomplished by attending EASFAA’s annual event in February, or a visit to the representative’s NJ
office.
2. Karen recommended that NJASFAA’s Novice Training event be examined during the next Strategic
Plan. NJASFAA should consider all options as far as structure, length of program, registration fees,
and presenters.
The current Strategic Plan will expire in 2015 and therefore a new one must be written in 2014-15. The
Board recommended to Jim Anderson (incoming President) to appoint a chair of this committee and to
include at least one Board member in the discussion. The last Strategic Planning process included one
exploratory session and 1 full-day planning session. It was also recommended that NJASFAA adopt a 3year plan instead of a 5-year plan. The new plan should be completed by the spring 2015 conference.
The meeting adjourned at 2:55 pm.
Respectively submitted,
Karen Sokol
NJASFAA Past-President 2013-14