2006-07 WASFAA Committee Chair/Officer Year-End Report
Committee Name/Officer:
Graduate Professional Issues Committee
Committee Chair/Co-Chair/Officer (Name/Place of
Employment/Address/Phone/Email):
Colleen MacDonald, (Chair)
Name Colleen R MacDonald
Title Director
Institution
Stanford University - Graduate School of
Business
Financial Aid Office
Address 518 Memorial Way
Stanford, CA 94305
Phone (650) 736-1758
Fax (650) 725-3328
Email macdonald_colleen@gsb.stanford.edu
Committee Members (Name/Place of Employment)
Jerome Thurman (Member), NextStudent
Name Jerome Thurman
Title School Relations Director
Institution NextStudent
216 E. Olive Ave
Address Ste 205
Burbank, CA 91502
Phone (213) 393-1950
Fax (818) 972-2150
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Email jthurman@nextstudent.com
Lindsay Ritchie (Member), California State University - San Marcos
Name Lindsay B Ritchie
Title Financial Aid Advisor
Institution CSU - San Marcos
Financial Aid and Scholarships
Address 333 S. Twin Oaks Valley Rd.
San Marcos, CA 92096-0001
Phone (760) 750-4853 Ext: 4853
Fax (760) 750-3047
Email lritchie@csusm.edu
Tyese Dunn (Member), Nevada State College
Name Tyese F Dunn
Title Financial Aid Advisor
Institution Nevada State College
Address
1125 Nevada State Drive
Henderson, NV 89015
Phone (702) 992-2152
Fax (702) 992-2151
Email Tyese_Dunn@nsc.nevada.edu
Goals:
WASFAA Graduate Professional Issues Committee Goals for 2006-07
1.
Bring issues of relevance to graduate and professional aid administrators and
students to the attention of the Association and the Executive Council.
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2.
Respond with endorsement of the Executive Council, to any State or Federal
Issues with a Graduate and Professional perspective.
3.
Advise other committees when Graduate and Professional concerns need to be
addressed and ensure Graduate and Professional representation on all appropriate
committees.
4.
Work with the Conference Committee to ensure interest sessions are presented
with graduate and professional aid administrators' needs in mind.
5.
Explore improvements to Membership Committee to collect better data about the
membership serving the graduate and professional community.
These goals align with Strategic Plan goals #1, to collaborate and coordinate with
conference committee in order to serve our members more applicable training and
professional development opportunities; #2, to communicate the public policy decisions;
and #7, to improve the methods of communication with membership.
In support of GPIC Goal #5, our Committee sent suggestions to Wendy Olson, the
Membership Committee Chair additional categories of questions to ask when collecting
membership information in order to further distinguish the membership.
Responsible for Grad/Professional Students
•
Not Specified
•
Yes (Frequent or Significant)
•
No -(Neither Frequent nor Significant)
Responsible for Health Professional Students
•
Not Specified
•
Yes (Frequent or Significant)
•
No -(Neither Frequent nor Significant)
Activities:
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Articles in every WASFAA Newsletter:
o GP Update
o Reflecting on Implementing the Grad PLUS
o And You Thought Consolidation Was Over
o uivalent Educational Finance at All Levels
Implementation of additional categories of questions to ask when collecting membership
information in order to further distinguish the graduate and professional membership
Approved Budget Breakdown and Actual Expenditures to Date:
Approved Budget $200
For conference calls
Actual Expenditures $0
Absorbed by member’s institution
Progress Toward Strategic Plan Goals/Activities:
1.
Bring issues of relevance to graduate and professional aid administrators and
students to the attention of the Association and the Executive Council.

Provided updates to relevant GP related research and issues, such as "Financing
the Future: Responses to the Rising Debt of Law Students" article from Equal
Justice Works
2.
Respond with endorsement of the Executive Council, to any State or Federal
Issues with a Graduate and Professional perspective.

Suggested letter regarding WASFAA support and advocate for a reduction in
interest rates for graduate and professional students, which parallel College
Student Relief Act of 2007 (H.R. 5). Also, to encourage Congress support loan
programs with reasonable interest rates and repayment terms that will allow for
success in our students chosen graduate or professional careers.

Recommended that WASFAA Federal Issues Committee advocating for the
following:
o Grad PLUS having a six-month grace period with in-school status,
o Support efforts to achieve the parity between the Federal Family
Education Loan (FFEL) and William Ford Direct Loan (DL) Programs by
equalizing the terms and conditions of student loans so that all borrowers
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no matter what loan delivery system (FFEL & DL) have the same loan
terms and conditions
3.
Advise other committees when Graduate and Professional concerns need to be
addressed and ensure Graduate and Professional representation on all appropriate
committees.

Discussed at Executive Council meetings concerns regarding difficulty capturing
who has GP related work.
4.
Work with the Conference Committee to ensure interest sessions are presented
with graduate and professional aid administrators' needs in mind.

Reviewed Conference Committee interest sessions which include the following
sessions that keep the graduate and professional aid administrators' needs in mind
o Working with Lenders/Lender Relations: Serving on Advisory Boards,
Building lender lists (why they make the grade), Working Relationships,
Etc.
o Loan Options: Alternative vs. PLUS, training the consumer
o Default management/Default Aversion/Intervention/Debt
Management/FICA Scores: Training Students
5.
Explore improvements to Membership Committee to collect better data about the
membership serving the graduate and professional community.

Suggested that the Membership Committee Chair additional categories of
questions to ask when collecting membership information in order to further
distinguish the graduate and professional membership. – This was adopted for the
2007-08 year.
Responsible for Grad/Professional Students
•
Not Specified
•
Yes (Frequent or Significant)
•
No -(Neither Frequent nor Significant)
Responsible for Health Professional Students
•
Not Specified
•
Yes (Frequent or Significant)
•
No -(Neither Frequent nor Significant)
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Suggestions for Committee Chair/Co-Chair or Officer Successor:
Since the WASFAA GPIC is a relatively new committee, I would scale back suggestion
for participation from each state and all the different segments such as Medical, Law,
Divinity, Business, Other Graduate, and an office which serves all students (from
undergraduate to PhDs). The new membership information should be useful to try to
search for volunteers.
More needs to be done to communicate with the membership. The new membership
information should be useful to try to target communications to relevant GP related
administrators.
Early in the WASFAA year, send recommended sessions for Conference Committee to
review. Also, request that Summer Institute faculty promote graduate and professional or
at least independent student examples.
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