TASFAA Board Meeting
October 5-6, 2009
Arlington Sheraton Hotel
Arlington, TX
Members and Committee Chairs Present: Rick Renshaw, Carolyn Jones, Lisa Blazer, David
Ximenez, Tia Clary, Ed Turney, Amy Hardesty, Lyn Wheeler, Mari Chapa, Jackie Stevens, Kay
Mooney, Enrique Garcia, Dana Mingo, Raul Lerma, Richard Silva, Lynn Barnes, Alan Ahmad,
Kathy Bassham, Marci Beasley, Shannon Crossland, Tomas Campos
Guests: Kim Alexander, Gary Rodgers, Mike Novak, Tana Savoy
Not Present: Jimmy Parker, Lea Davidson, Melissa Elliott, Laura Elizondo, Wes Vanderburg,
Linda Gonzalez-Hensgen, Terri Thompson, Rick Moreno
*************************************************************************************************************
Rick called the meeting to order at 1:10 p.m.
President’s Report
Rick Renshaw
Rick introduced Taina Savoit and asked everyone to introduce themselves. Rick did not have a
written report for us. He stated that it had been a privilege to work with each of us and stated that
we accomplished quite a few things – specifically the changes to the constitution. Legislation was
not a large issue this year even though we did squash a few items. The governor is still trying to
by-pass the legislature to add merit to the TEXAS Grant program. Legislative wise we were few
successful. Rick did talk to Michele Chen in Senator Cornyn’s Office. She would like to have
some information on what affect it would have on schools to make the transition to DL by the
deadline. Another item that he discussed with her was the Year Round Pell. He discussed that
Pell changes would not go into effect until 2012 and until then we would have to deal with the
Departments definition of acceleration in the bill. Rick encouraged us to write our congressmen
to get the bill changed and remove or change the definition of accelerated from the final
regulations. Linda Gonzales was working on getting some information to us on the changes to
the membership structure and dues but due to work issues she has been unable to get that
completed. Membership structure and dues was an issue that has not been completed and will
be something that we will need to continue to work on next year. Melisa Elliott has been sick all
year and we have not been able to do all that we wanted to do with membership this year. The
unfinished business that we have from this year will be something that Carolyn is equipped to
handle with the team that she has assembled for next year. Lisa will share information about the
Attorney General decision and we look forward to the change that may come from this. Hopefully
many that were unable to volunteer to work with us due to these constraints will be able to get
involved again with the association. Rick has enjoyed the year and it has been a challenging
year. He is proud of what all we have done and stated that we are in good shape as we move
forward.
Rick passed around envelopes with certificates for the committee chairs to pass on to their
committee members. Rick checked on several committee members that were not registered for
the conference to see if they are still participating in TASFAA.
Vice President’s Report
David Ximenez
David did not have a written report. He thanked Dana for making arrangements for today’s
meeting and dinner tonight. David asked Carolyn about the volunteer forms that he has been
receiving. He asked what else he needed to do with the information. Carolyn stated that he will
1
need to pass the information on to the new VP after one has been selected. David has a
spreadsheet of volunteers and will send the updated list to the new VP.
President-Elect
Carolyn Jones
Carolyn did not have a written report. She is working on the budget for next year and volunteer
list. Carolyn did send an email out welcoming the new members to the board. The board will
meet tomorrow from 3:30-4:45 tomorrow in this room.
Past President and Planning & Evaluation Committee Reports
Lisa Blazer
Lisa discussed an email notice that she had gotten from UT’s attorney that stated that they no
longer have to follow the Attorney General’s Code of Conduct. Lisa gave an overview of why UT
signed the Code of Conduct. UT no longer has to follow the Code of Conduct since TASFAA,
NASFAA, SWASFAA are not considered a lender. UT system will follow the federal guidelines.
She also discussed the Regional Training and gave an overview of what was discussed at the
last meeting. She will share the survey results with the new training committee. The new
committee will have to come up with curriculum, find locations, determine cost, focus on training
for front line staff, etc.
Lisa also discussed how we review presentations prior to presenting. Lisa volunteered to review
the presentations. She discussed the option to submit the presentations for program review and
the process is all on line. She served as a program reviewer and she answered 5 or 6 questions
to see if that might be a system that we could use and remove the burden from the committee. It
is a NASFAA website that was used. A suggestion was made to include the source of
information for the presentations – handbook, regulation, etc. Lisa thinks we need the review for
accuracy. This online source is more for the topic, theme or content. Rick asked who would be
responsible for this and Lisa stated that the committee would be responsible for the review. Lisa
suggested that the committee recruit directors to help review. Dana thinks a system is needed to
be sure that information is correct. Rick asked that Dana give Lisa’s information to Ann to use
next year. He suggested that Ann bring this to the January board and Rick asked if it could be
added into the website – ATAC may already have the information to utilize but we need to find out
what the cost may be for this service.
PAST PRESIDENT’S REPORT
October 2009
Attorney General Code of Conduct update:
UT System institutions received some great news regarding the Attorney General Code of Conduct. We
are no longer required to comply with the Texas Higher Education Fair Lending Practices Agreement (the
“Agreement”) entered into between UT Austin and the Texas Attorney General (the “AG”) that governed
our institution’s relationship with student loan lenders. Instead, we must only comply with the federal code
of conduct governing those relationships.
Based on the federal code of conduct, professional financial aid associations are no longer defined as
lenders, which mean we can accept reimbursement from TASFAA, SWASFAA and NASFAA for
participation on boards and committees. This is effective immediately. GREAT NEWS!
TASFAA Regional Training
Here is a brief summary of our discussion at the last board meeting regarding the direction we would like to
take with our TASFAA Regional Training, now that NASFAA has decided to “centralize” training through
webinars.
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

TASFAA will support NASFAA’s centralized process, but each school will participate
individually in the webinars
Charge for the Regional Training Committee for 2009-10 will be:
o Set up spring training sessions
o Identify topics/themes based on the survey that was conducted (Blazer will provide a
copy of the results to the new chair for 2009-10) – try to offer topics that NASFAA is not
offering in their webinars
o Develop a curriculum
o Create locations and dates for the training (8-10 sites)
o $25-30 cost – we still want to keep the cost low
o Continue to provide training for our front line/counselors and support staff
Future Idea for Conference Presentation Review:
I recently had an opportunity to serve as a program reviewer for the NASPA annual conference. In our
recent board meetings, we have discussed the fact that we would like to come up with a process that will
allow for a review of proposals to ensure presenters are staying on track with appropriate regulations and
providing the most up to date and accurate information. It was a great process to be a part of because I
volunteered to be a reviewer and then received 3 sessions to review online, submitted them and then the
conference committee will review the presentations. I have attached the review process, a copy of one of
the presentations and a screen print of what I had to complete. The ratings were strongly disagree,
disagree, agree and strongly agree and then I provided brief comments. This may be something to work
towards for the future.
Treasurer’s Report
Tia Clary
Tia reviewed the Budget vs. Actual and the Assets. She stated that Gary with ING will cover the
investments in a little while. Tia asked for authorization to liquidate the CD’s in the event funds
are needed. The Finance Committee gave her authorization to liquidate if needed. She reviewed
the bank accounts and the small amount of funds currently available. She discussed that about
$18000 was outstanding from the fall conference. She discussed the Fall Conference Fees. She
stated that the fiscal year ends on October 31st. Tia reviewed the Fall Conference expenses as
this will determine if we will need to liquidate the CD’s. Some investments were cashed out and
she has a check ready to deposit when she returns to the office. Rick asked if the Fall
Conference Fees reported had been collected and Tia confirmed that it has. He stated that this
would be close to what was budgeted.
TASFAA
Balance Sheet
As of October 5, 2009
Total
ASSETS
Current Assets
Bank Accounts
Certificates of Deposit
63,602.70
Checking
0.00
ING
330,416.70
Plains Capital Bank
5,092.56
Savings
0.00
Savings - Plains Capital Bank
Total Bank Accounts
785.67
$
399,897.63
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Monday, Oct 05, 2009 02:25:52 PM PDT GMT-7 - Cash Basis
TASFAA
Budget vs. Actuals: Fiscal Year 2009 - FY09 P&L
November 2008 - October 2009
Total
Budget
Actual
$ Over Budget
Income
ABC Workshop Fees
Fall Conference Fees-Current YR
Investment Revenue
Membership Dues
Miscellaneous
New Aid Officers Workshop Fees
Regional Training Fee
Total Income
4,445.00
6,500.00
-2,055.00
117,475.33
127,375.00
-9,899.67
1,345.76
1,500.00
-154.24
33,200.00
37,500.00
-4,300.00
483.99
0.00
483.99
29,825.00
41,450.00
-11,625.00
10,429.00
$
197,204.08
9,375.00
$
223,700.00
1,054.00
-$
26,495.92
Expenses
Administrative/Miscellaneous
10,077.31
Annual Report Printing
Awards
Awareness & Partnership Development
Board of Directors
Database Services
Fall Conference Committee
77.31
3,250.00
-3,250.00
-271.04
28.96
300.00
1,800.00
1,500.00
300.00
12,076.15
15,000.00
-2,923.85
250.00
-250.00
Communications Network
Constitution and Bylaws
10,000.00
400.00
750.00
-350.00
4,345.00
7,000.00
-2,655.00
2,534.18
3,000.00
-465.82
Fall Conference-Current Year
121,810.19
125,000.00
-3,189.81
Fall Conference-Prior Year
166,867.95
Finance Committee
High School Partnership Trng
Mack Adams Scholarship
Membership
Newsletter
Nominations & Elections
250.00
-250.00
387.79
4,000.00
-3,612.21
3,792.65
10,000.00
-6,207.35
0.00
750.00
-750.00
1,000.00
750.00
250.00
500.00
500.00
0.00
500.00
-500.00
1,250.00
-1,200.00
President's Advisory Council
President's Discretionary
50.00
Public Relations
Regional Training
13,146.47
Regional Training Committee
Scholarship Committee
Service Awards
Site Selection
166,867.95
0.00
0.00
18,000.00
-4,853.53
2,000.00
-2,000.00
500.00
-500.00
1,000.00
-1,000.00
57.75
750.00
-692.25
Stipend-Secretary
2,400.00
2,400.00
0.00
Stipend-Treasurer
4,200.00
4,200.00
0.00
Training Committee
2,441.65
3,000.00
-558.35
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Training-NAOW/ABC
29,256.37
28,000.00
1,256.37
Travel
0.00
Past President
0.00
0.00
President
4,144.21
2,250.00
1,894.21
President Elect
4,349.37
4,250.00
99.37
250.00
-250.00
Rookie of the Year (Trailblazer Award)
Total Travel
$
8,493.58
$
6,750.00
Total Expenses
$
385,666.00
$
252,650.00
Net Income
-$
188,461.92
-$
Uncategorized Expenses
$
1,743.58
$
133,016.00
-$
159,511.92
2,000.00
28,950.00
-2,000.00
Monday, Oct 05, 2009 02:45:20 PM PDT GMT-7 - Cash Basis
Secretary/Historian Report
Amy Hardesty
Presented the minutes and discussed the progress of updating the Time Capsule on the website.
Amy will continue to work on getting the information updated on the website.
Partners Reports
TGSLC
Kim Alexander
Kim discussed her report with the board. It contains a senate update that was provided by
George that was given to ATLE on a recent conference call. The Texas volume was up almost
4% at $3.6 billion despite significant losses to DL. The forecasted total for the year was $3.5.
Increases to enrollment and to limits played a part in the increases. National volume was up as
well at $6.7 billion which was an increase of 79% from the prior year. They had a goal of $9
billion. TG is committed to providing services including the subsidy which will be in place until
June 30th, 2010. There will be a significant change on the front end/origination of the loan
process. TG’s portfolio is about $26 billion and this will be a significant portion of their work in the
future. There are some opportunities for guarantors and they are looking at the options. TG has
one of the largest reserves which will be a benefit to them. Kim also discussed upcoming events
and training opportunities. Kathy asked if Kim could update the board on who is on The Council –
advisory group comprised of schools and lenders and it focused strictly on default prevention and
delinquency prevention aspects. TUG – TG Users Groups that is focused on operational systems
information and input based upon products and services. The Lender School Advisory
Committee is a mandated statute requirement that is comprised of 12 lenders and 15 schools.
The Advisory Committee for Community College Center that is a smaller group that is focused on
community college issues. There is also a National School Committee that is a smaller group of
9 schools that are of their national representative population. David asked what the Gulf Coast
Consortium Community College Forum. Kim stated that it is comprised of the Houston Gulf
Coast Area community college forum to discuss regulations, federal update, items that are
specific to community colleges. This is for schools in the area that can’t attend the central
meeting. This is the first year for the gulf coast. TASFAA’s February meeting will be held in
Austin so the board can help with the telethon. Kim stated that TG has a list of all schools in
Texas by sectors. Henry asked about the Symposium cost and what was covered. Kim stated
that the fee was $1000 and it includes all cost once in Austin. It does not include airfare. Richard
asked for the location of the telethon and it will be at TG.
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TG Guarantor Update
TASFAA BOARD MEETING
October 7, 2009
Arlington, Texas
TG completed the fiscal year ending September 20th with record loan volume. Texas volume was over
$3.6 billion and national volume was over $6.7 billion. Texas volume increased 4% despite the current
fiscal year losses to Direct. TG guaranteed twice as much national volume this fiscal year than last
again despite transitions to Direct from fiscal year 2008 customers.
We have begun the new fiscal year with a keen focus and direction from our Board. The Board
recently approved the FY 2010 budget which continues to provide for quality service attention for
customers and enhancements as well as new product development throughout the award year. We will
do this by continuing to provide quality service levels, tools and services that bring value to the market
and continue to subsidize the federal default fee through June 30, 2010. The schools that remain in
FFELP have service and tool needs that will be provided by the same level and quality of service they
have come to expect from TG. For those that have transitioned or will be transitioning to Direct, gap
service discussions are on- going related to how TG can assist them with tools and services not
provided for in Direct currently or not planned for at the same levels needed especially in the areas of
default aversion, financial literacy and training. The 2010 budget approved also provides for pursuit
of possible contract services not related to origination or guarantee functions that result from approval
of HR 3221 or changes resulting from what comes from the Senate. This contracting possibility would
have to be beneficial to the Texas market and be in line with TG’s public service mission.
Key upcoming events and meeting dates:
 TG Lender School Advisory – Round Rock, Nov. 10, 2009. New Member Orientation Nov.
9. The TG LSA Committees will meet at TG on November 10 th for the first meeting of the
new fiscal year.
 The Council for the Management of Education Finance will meet at TG on Oct. 30 th.
 TG User Group (TUG) will meet at TG on Nov. 5th
 TG Training Webinars
o Oct. 5th CDR
o Oct. 15th Getting familiar with Electronic Resources
o Oct. 21st Gulf Coast Consortium Community College Forum
 TG Board of Directors meeting Dec. 14th and 15th
 TG Financial Aid Leadership Symposium – TG Round Rock – February 8-12, 2010; TG will
appreciate the TASFAA Board’s assistance to help make this event a success; Flyers were
distributed to board members and several board members acknowledged the value and
success of the symposium.
 TG FAFSA Telethon dates are tentatively set for February 9 th and 10th.
 TG Conference-April 7-9. 2010 AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center (UT
Austin)
Senate Update Notes from George Torres:
The Senate HELP Committee mark-up of the “Investing in Students & Families Act” is tentatively
scheduled for October 7th, but on Oct.1st, the Committee staff (Democratic) is reportedly saying the markup may be delayed until the following week.
The deadline for a reconciliation bill to be reported from the HELP Committee to the Senate Budget
Committee is October 15th. However, this is a “soft” date. If the deadline is missed, the Budget Committee
has the authority to develop a reconciliation bill on its own. A decision to couple the student loan reform
bill with the health care reform bill has not been reached, but both bills are drafted as reconciliation bills at
this time.
There is an effort involving about 15 moderate Senate Democrats to develop alternative legislation that
would use the FFELP community proposal as a model. However, such legislation would have to achieve
6
far greater savings (as scored by the CBO) than the community proposal.
The Republican members of the HELP Committee – led by Lamar Alexander- are drafting a substitute bill
that will be offered when the Committee mark-up occurs.
The Committee has received over 60 letters requesting a delay in the July, 2010 DL transition
implementation date and/or a preservation of borrower and school-support services.
The House Subcommittee on Higher Education, Lifelong learning, & Competitiveness, chaired by Ruben
Hinojosa, will hold oversight hearings on October 14 th and in November on recently released GAO reports
that document problems associated with the federal student loan programs at proprietary schools (October
14th hearing) and HBCUs. TG has been requested to submit written testimony for the November hearing.
ING Investments
Gary Rodgers
Gary went over TASFAA’s investment status. We sold two small cap positions and turned that
into cash. $25000 should be withdrawn from the account today. This will leave about $7496.93
in cash in the account after the withdrawal. That will leave us in a moderately conservative
position and that does not include the CD’s, savings and checking accounts Tia went over. There
have been withdrawals of about $130,000 over the past 10 months. He needs to know if we will
need that amount of funds in the near future. At this rate, funds will only last about two years.
Gary went over the report with us. Gary discussed taking a position in the natural gas area and
stated that we want to hold it until February and then exit from this position. This should provide
an upswing by the end of the year. We invested about $4640 in natural gas. He is watching the
mid cap fund to see if we need to exit from it in the near future. Gary discussed each of the funds
that are within our portfolio and gave information on risk and return. Current rating of our portfolio
is a 4 on a scale of 1-10 as far risk goes so we are moderately conservative. Gary asked for
guidance on where we need to go and any upcoming withdrawals. Tia wanted to clarify if the
reports were as if the withdraw of $25000 was taken out and Gary confirmed. This will leave
about $74096 in the fund. Rick discussed with Gary that we may need about $20,000 next year.
We are working on making some arrangements but we may have some additional cash flows
needs. Carolyn is looking at a $15000 shortfall for next year and Rick cushioned it. Gary asked
when funds might be needed. Tia stated that next summer or early fall that the additional funds
might be needed. Carolyn stated that we have two additional CD’s that come due next year as
well. Gary said they are continuing to monitor the economic activities and that there might be a
smaller growth depending upon the incentives being offered by the government. Rick told Gary
that Joe Pettibon will be the President Elect and will be the head of the Finance Committee next
year.
ATLE
Amanda Dickinson
Amanda thanked the board for working with ATLE and their members. She thanked Rick for
representing TASFAA well. She gave an update on their memberships – 33 members. They
have been an active group with all the changes going on regarding lending. The ATLE
commitment is to continue to serve until the end. This year they made a donation TAKE for Link
Up Greater Houston. They sponsored about 30 kids to attend the training on setting goals. Also
gave to Ritz Historical Society in Lubbock Lincoln-Douglas Debate Society to help with
scholarships. They also contributed to mother/daughter program to encourage the girls to go to
school. They have seen mothers return to school as well from this program. They also had more
involvement from their members to reach out to elementary kids about planning for college. They
give a piggy bank (safe) and a certificate at the completion of their program. (Kindergarten to
College) She asked if the board knows of an area or opportunities that they could take this
program out to schools in our areas they want to continue to take this program out into the state.
Amanda will serve again this next year as president for ATLE. She stated that in their meeting
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tomorrow they will be discussing future plans for the organization. She is open to feedback and
wants to know if there is anything that they could do. Raul asked about partnering with TASFAA
and Rick suggested that the Early Awareness Committee might be able to help with the
Kindergarten to College program. Amanda will formalize the program and send it out to the
board. ATLE will have their board meeting tomorrow morning. Rick stated that he really
appreciates ATLE, their partnership and all that they have done.
ED
Mike Novak
A report was not provided. They will be providing an update at the conference.
ICUT
Carol McDonald
A report was not available.
Standing Committee Reports
Fall Conference
Dana Mingo
Rick asked Dana to give us an idea of other expenses for the conference. Tia gave an update on
cash that we have hand to cover the expenses – currently have about $5000 plus the additional
$25000 from the cash from the sale of investments which will give us about $30,000 in cash. Tia
also stated that there was about $18,000 outstanding from conference fees. That would give us
approximately $48,000 to cover additional conference fees. Rick stated that Dana has done a
good job staying within the budget. The issue that we have is on the room reservation. We are
about 100 room nights short and that will cost us about $11000. We also had an overflow
contract with the Hilton for 500 rooms and we only picked up 72 rooms. The deadline to reduce
the room block was a year ago. This will cost us about $55000. This needs to be factored into
the conference expenses as well. Jackie also discussed that she is going to need $3000 for pin
purchases. We have pulled $130000 out of reserves and will have to pull another $67000 from
reserves. Carolyn and Rick discussed that her budget will have a deficit. Taina suggested that
we work with the Hilton to see if we could negotiate to have board meetings there next year since
the conference penalties are going to have to be paid. Rick asked David to check on that and
that he work with Jim Ann Batenhorst as he begins checking on this. Dana asked about the
negotiation with the hotels so that someone could check on things being realistic as far as when
deadlines are to reduce the room block. 2010 will be in Galveston and the contract was for 900
rooms and they dropped those to 800 but lost some perks by doing this. 2011 will be back in
Arlington. Dana stated that one thing to keep in mind is if a lot of attendees will be local or
commuting then we need to make an adjustment to the room blocks. Carolyn asked if we could
get a report at the end of the conference to see how many attendees, how many rooms were
used, etc so that the selection committee as well as the conference committee will have access to
this information. Tia stated that we have approximately $48000 in cash. She asked that we
review of the expenses to see where we can cut back within our budget. Dana stated that she
needed to check on the rebate to see if that will allow for a smaller cost. Tia went down the line
items in the budget to see what our needs would be the rest of the year. Tia discussed the cost
for printing the annual report. Dana discussed any additional expenses for the conference –
increase in meals, cut back on AV, etc. Going to need $66000 for room expense and we have
about $48000. If Tia liquidates the CD’s, then we will probably meet this year’s budget. Lisa
asked if we needed to make cuts in our budget. Lyn stated that we need to start charging what it
costs. Tia stated that deficit years are normal but it can’t happen every year. David said that we
need to be more aware of our expenses so that we are not wasting funds. Rick discussed costs
that will be incurred the rest of the fiscal year. Tia discussed the membership application going
live in November that the funds coming in would cover expenses. We are looking at a $15,000
8
deficit for next year so we may need to give Gary information on what to do so that funds will be
available. Carolyn discussed that board meetings are already set but Lisa suggested making a
change to where the meetings are held if we could work out a deal with the Hilton. If David will
work with the Hilton to make some arrangements for the board meetings, that may help. Rick
asked that we review Carolyn’s budget tomorrow to see what we need to do. David asked about
having the NAOW moved to Arlington. David asked if there were any other training opportunities
to see if we can make some arrangements.
Rick checked on the rebate incentive from the convention center but we will not meet the
convention center requirement to get $7000 back but we can get $3/night per room back. He
asked Dana to check on it. Rick saw Don Buerher in the hall and he would be glad to help us
with the negotiations. Rick also stated that the 2011 contract is identical to this year’s contract.
Rick asked everyone to think about ways to cut costs for next year’s the budget. David
suggested TG/CB training and Lyn suggested SWASFAA training to be held in Arlington. Rick
stated that we will discuss this tomorrow.
Dana gave totals for the conference for attendance and food. (412 Wednesday, 425 Thursday,
385 Friday) She provided the conference agenda and seating arrangements for the meals. There
will be a raffle on Thursday to help the charity event and they will raffle off autographed footballs.
Rick asked if someone would be here from Big Brothers/Big Sisters to receive the gift and speak
about their organization. Dana said they would be here on Wednesday. Rick asked if she would
be back to pick up donations. Rick asked Dana to have the representative sit at a reserved table
at the front. She went over the activities for the conference – entertainment, president’s
reception, Thursday night event. Kathy asked how many vendors would be here and Dana stated
that 23 vendors will be here. Contact Dana if there are any room issues. Friday, Cynthia
Thornton may need a few more minutes for some additional information. James McMahan is
going to be present on Thursday to go over DL servicing. Rick told Dana that she had done a
wonderful job.
Finance
Carolyn Jones
Carolyn completed the report prior to last week when Tia cashed out some investments. Tia
contacted the finance committee to allow her to sell stock and liquidate some CD’s. They
approved her to close out two $15000 CD’s. Also the sale of stocks in the amount of $25000 was
made last week and it should be finalized today. Rick stated that additional expenses will be
coming in for the conference. Rick stated that about $18,000 still needed to be collected for the
fall conference and that the additional funds from the sale of the investments will help cover the
rest of the expenses. Raul asked about the counselor workshops and funds to help with
expenses. Tia stated that the expenses will be a new fiscal year and Lisa stated that a limit
would need to be set for the counselor workshop. Henry asked if funds had been used in the
past to help with meals and Carolyn stated that there were two locations that were helped with
meals through funds from TASFAA.
Finance Committee Report:
Carolyn Jones,
Rick Renshaw,
Lisa Blazer and
Tia Clary
August 28, 2009
The Finance Committee reviewed best practices based on information gathered at the NASFAA Leadership
Conference.
Based on the review of best practices the finance committee made the following changes to the way the
9
association conducts financial business.
Each month after the bank statement is received by Tia she will scan it and forward it to the
President for review (currently Rick Renshaw). On November 1 of each year she will change who that
information goes to for review as the new president takes office.
A spreadsheet was created of items that have to be renewed or paid on a somewhat regular basis
and this spreadsheet will be added to the Policy & Procedure manual as an “Appendix C – Finance
Calendar”. This will help insure that important renewals/changes are not skipped or forgotten. This is a
work in progress and will be adjusted as the need arises.
Finance Committee Budget
0809 – 250.00
No funds used – all meeting conducted via email.
0910 Budget Request
Stay at $250 just in case it is needed but probably will not be used.
TASFAA Finance Calendar
as of 07/28/2009
Item
Amount
Timeframe
Commercial Liability Coverage
$1,100
(approximately)
May
$1,700
(approximately)
September
Non-Profit Director Officer/Employment
Practices & Crime Coverage
1099-M Reports for Contract Labor
Monthly Credit Card Usage Fees
January
Varies
Annual Audit
Board Approves Audit Firm
President Signs Annual Audit Engagement
Letter
Audit Fee
File 990 as part of the annual audit
October
November
$2,000
(approximately)
State Periodic Report for Non-Profit For 802
In Policy and Procedures Manual
ATAC Services Contract
Review all outstanding conference contracts
Monthly
December/January
filed
2008
Every 4 years
$335.00 Monthly
October
10
ADA riders for adequate event liability coverage
April and September
Add and delete approved credit card holders
November
Send President Copy of Bank Statement
Monthly
CD Maturity Dated and Amounts
Bank/Maturity Date/Value
Chase 10/27/09 $15000
Chase 10/21/10 $7990.60
Chase 01/27/10 $10000
Chase 11/17/09 $15000
Wells 04/19/10 $15000
TASFAA Policy & Procedures Manual Appendix A
TASFAA Finance Calendar…………………………Created August 2009
The purpose of this calendar is to serve as a tool to help identify association expenditures as well as to
assure business forms and renewals are completed in a timely manner.
Membership, Mentoring, and Diversity
Melissa Elliott
A report was not available.
Lynn Barnes had not visited with Melissa. He plans to meet with the committee during the
conference. Rick discussed with Miki Roemer the option to continue to help with the association.
Rick talked about the Hall of Fame recipients and retirees. Rick suggested that Lynn get with
Amy to see if there has been a recommendation for life time membership in the past. The
membership committee must recommend to the board that they receive the life time membership.
It was suggested that the P&P be changed to allow an automatic life time membership. Rick
suggested that Lynn research the recipients and retirees and notify them of their benefits. The
conference fee for life time members is listed in the P&P as half cost for conference fees but the
website states it is free. Rick stated that this needs to be cleared up. He asked Tia if she knows
and she did not. Alan, Lynn, Tia and Carolyn need to get together and work out these issues.
Hall of Fame recipients get a life time waiver for the fall conference fee but it does not state
anything about membership. Tia stated that this was the first time she had heard of conference
fee being waived. Rick suggested that a letter go out to the Hall of Fame members to let them
know what is decided. Richard stated that the By-Laws states that life time membership is
granted to Hall of Fame recipients. (page 20) Rick stated that he must have looked at an older
copy. Kathy stated that the Hall of Fame is automatic but the retirees can come to the board to
ask for life time membership. She stated that conference fees should be 50%. Rick asked Kathy
to be sure that the website was reconciled regarding these issues.
Nominations & Elections
Caren Stewart
Karen reviewed the nomination and election process for this year. She went over the nomination
and election outcome. Joe Pettibon ran uncontested as President Elect. Those that were elected
to the board are: Enrique Garcia, Laurie Coulter, Mike Carranza, Sharon Mullins and Dana
Mingo. There may be a need for the additional nominees.
A motion was made to recognize that the outcome from the elections be
11
accepted was made by David. Raul seconded the motion. The motion carries.
Rick expressed disappointment in the turnout. Rick stated that the election process was not
normal this year since the information went out late. Numerous emails were sent to encourage
voting. Karen suggested that an email go out with information on who is listed as the voting
member at each institution so that institutions can update the contact information.
Rick asked about destroying the ballets and asked Karen to check on the time frame for this to
take place. He asked that she work with Alan to get that taken care of and that the by-laws be
checked to make sure the procedure is followed. Carolyn thanked her for stepping in at the last
minute.
Rick stated that Rick Moreno’s position would need to be filled. Rick will visit with Amanda Jurovic
to see if she would be willing to fill his position. He will bring a recommendation to the board after
visiting with Amanda.
08-09 Nominations and Elections Committee
Report to the Board
As Vice Chair for the Nominations and Elections Committee I assumed the role as Chair on July 17th. The
members of the committee are:
Michele Coburn
Laura Elizondo
Cecelia Jones
Caren Stewart
Below is a listing of activities that our committee completed during the nominations and elections process.
Nominations process
 Worked with Alan Ahamad to activate nominations form on the website
 Distributed email to TASFAA listserv members notifying them of availability of nomination form,
listing of open offices and instructions on how to complete nominations
 Sent out 2nd (of three) reminder emails to encourage nomination
 Contacted Nominations and Elections committee members for assistance in contacting members
for participation in the nominations process
 Contacted six TASFAA members to personally request nominations
 Contacted the five departing board members to solicit interest in being nominated for an additional
two years
 Received a total of eight nominations for the Board Members at Large and one nomination for
President Elect.
 Contacted committee members to solicit additional nominations
 Sent out final reminder for nomination to listserv
 Validated the list of nominations to determine that they were eligible to serve the TASFAA board
 After the close of nominations, presented the list of eligible nominations to the board for approval
as the 2009 candidate slate
Elections process
 Communicated candidate slate to membership and announced the elections dates
 Sent out three reminders to the membership about the elections, including a reminder to financial
aid administrators to verify who is assigned as the voting member for their institution
 Elections began on 9/18/09 and ended on 10/2/09
 The results of the election are as follows:

12
2009 General Election
Results to Date: October 1, 2009
Total Voters: 55
Candidate
Percentage
President-Elect
Joe Pettibon
Board Member [ Vote for 5 ]
Mike Carranza
Laurie Coulter
Enrique Garcia
Amanda Jurovic
Dana Mingo
Sharon Mullins
Peggy Rogers
Actual Count
100%
15.97%
17.11%
17.49%
12.93%
13.31%
13.69%
9.51%
Training/NAOW
49
42
45
46
34
35
36
25
Wesley Vanderburg
Wes discussed that 70 attendees for the ABC conference were here today. Wes thanked the
board for letting him serve as the committee chair this year. He has had a great committee to
work with this year. He said he worked to stay within the budget. He thanked the board for those
who presented and for the barbeque dinner at NAOW. There were 83 campers for NAOW. They
had estimated that there would be 90 attendees but were able to anticipate a smaller group due
to the current climate. He went over the revenue and expenses for NAOW. ABC expenses will
be coming in soon. Devon has some great ideas for next year and she will work with Carolyn.
Rick asked about the evaluations from NAOW. He asked Wes to have Devon to compile this
information into a report for the next board meeting including an evaluation of presenters.
Carolyn stated that Wes and Devon asked if presentations could be placed on the website. She
has contacted Alan to see if a presentation section can be added to training and regional training
sections of the website. Lisa asked if TASFAA conference presentations could also be placed on
the website. She also stated if they are placed on the website that it needs to be accurate before
it is placed on the website. Raul stated that NASFAA posts their presentation. Wes stated that
Alan was concerned with cost from ATAC. Lisa stated we might be able to save money for
printing by putting information on a jump drive. Rick stated that we need to look at all these ways
to cut costs. Rick thanked Wes for the job that he did and thanked his committee for all their hard
work.
Meeting adjourned for the evening at 4:19 p.m.
Meeting resumed on Wednesday morning at 8:40 a.m.
THECB Partner Report
Jane Caldwell
A report was not available.
13
Ad Hoc Reports
Awards
Jackie Stevens
Jackie went over her report and the quotes received for the pin purchase. She thinks that they
will be set for about three years if we go with the first quote of $3062. (Price quotes change
$2.55/pin to $3.60/pin) She did ask for a new quote on getting a smaller number of pins $2062
which is about a $1000 less for a lot less pins. The company needs 24 hours to search for a
better option. Rick asked if she charted out the membership to see how many pins might be
needed in the next few years. Jackie stated that she did not. She was basing her numbers on
recent history of the number of pins that have been awarded. Rick asked if we had taken into
account this cost during yesterday’s budget discussion. Tia stated that $1000 was not a big
difference in the scope of things. Jackie says that she will have pins for everyone who is
attending the conference. Jackie will have to mail some pins after the conference and when the
pin order is filled. Lisa suggested holding off the purchase until after November when dues start
coming in. Jackie stated that it will take 4-6 weeks to get the order and that there would not be a
dye cut cost in the future. Carolyn asked about charging a small fee for those who lost their pin
possibly charging $5. Jackie stated that she is going to have those who receive the pins this
year to initial that they received the pin. Rick stated that it would need to be added to the policy
and procedure manual. Lyn asked if it was an issue if we charged for the pins because there was
an issue when the cookbooks were sold. Lyn thought the issue was that it was used as a fund
raiser. Tia stated that she did not think it would be a problem with our tax exempt status. Tia
stated that the cookbook may have been an issue because they were sold outside the
membership. David asked if it was really worth it since it is not very much and there would be
work to track it, deposit it, etc. Jackie stated that she has had members tell her they did not get
their pins and she would give them a pin. Jackie says that since they are tracking it differently
that this probably won’t be an issue in the future. Jackie thinks the number of pins given away
each year will be larger because the database is being used to determine who is eligible. Rick
asked if everyone was alright in postponing the purchase of the pins until next year. Jackie does
have information for the past award winners – Hall of Fame, Star Financial Aid Advisor,
Trailblazer, etc that she will email to Amy. Jackie will be taking pictures tomorrow. There are
three retirees that will be honored tomorrow as well. Rick thanked Jackie for her work this year.
Communications Network
Alan Ahmad
Alan reported that he has been trying to keep up with all the needs and feels like he got the
information out on the website quickly. He wants to continue to update the information on the
website. He has been communicating with Rick and Carolyn to get information for the new
committees online. Alan stated that there is a lot of old information on the website and he will
need some information on what needs to be archived or removed from the website. Alan is
working on a calendar to show when information will need to be updated. His committee is
working hard and looking forward to next year. Rick asked if he has developed a relationship with
Paul and he stated that he is making a relationship. Alan stated that the NAOW wanted pictures
on the website and he wants the committee to know that there are costs to add this type of
information. Alan will work on getting costs for these types of requests together for the board.
Rick asked Tia where this type of cost is charged and Tia stated that it is charged directly to the
committee. Rick visited with him about the archive information updated and that Amy will be
working with past presidents to get that information updated. Alan would like to have an archive
site that will house older information from committees. Rick suggested that each committee
assign one person to work on the website information to have it updated and archived. Carolyn
will discuss this with the new board this afternoon. Alan also mentioned the TRAIN network and
Rick thinks it would be great to get it up and running. Rick asked if Alan has visited with Jim and
he has not been able to reach him. Rick will follow up with Jim. Each school can update TRAIN
with their involvement.
14
October 2009
To: Carolyn Jones and Rick Renshaw
From: Alan D. Ahmad, Chairperson, Communication Network Committee
Subject: TASFAA Website
Carolyn and Rick:
As you are aware, the primary function of this Committee has and continues to be as a liaison between
Committee Chairs/Vice-Chairs and ATAC to monitor active online forms and submit corrections to
information. However, I think there is much more we can do to make www.tasfaa.org a “user-friendly”
primary resource for the TASFAA community.
I believe the website to be under-utilized and encumbered with antiquated information. In many instances,
the most current information reported is years old. In an effort to update information and increase the
website’s usefulness, please consider:
 Website Survey: Recommendation - Create a (hardcopy) survey form to be distributed to
incoming committee Chairs asking for feedback regarding website usage and soliciting
recommendations. Chairs would be responsible for Committee response. Although an online
survey would be preferable, its creation at this time would incur expenses (ATAC) not in budget.
Recommended survey distribution: November 2009. Recommended survey return from
committees: January 2010.
 Committee representatives: Recommendation - Each Committee assign a member(s) the
responsibility of periodically reviewing all web pages/information relating to their specific
committee needs/activity/membership. All changes would be approved by Committee (and/or
Board) and submitted to Communications Network Committee for action.
Recommended as soon as possible.
 TRAINetwork: Recommendation - Review all aspects and functions of database. Reassign
administration, clean up of all (old) data and train all users. Currently, member usage seems to be
minimal (at best) and suggest we consider inactivating the network until it can be fully evaluated.
This may take some time (as we have already seen) and request assistance from board member(s)
(would appreciate your help, Rick).
Carolyn, you have also requested the creation of a calendar to assist Committees in planning and submitting
action items to me for timely processing. Instead, I would recommend adding to the information on each
committee page. Since the committee pages already have posted a summary of action items associated with
the respective month, we could simply add to the existing information. I believe this would be more
effective and eliminate the need for a hardcopy calendar or an online page (that would require additional
costs). I can have the proposed information (for each Committee’s review) to you and the Board in a
timely manner. There should be no expense associated with the action.
I thank the both of you for the opportunity to serve in this capacity. In the short time I have spent on this
Committee, I have strengthened old relationships and created new ones. As I look forward, I hope to be of
further service in the future.
See y’all soon!
Regards,
Alan
Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators
Communication Network
Alan D Ahmad, Chair
TASFAA Board Report - October 2009
July - October 2009 Activity:



2009 Fall Conference: Online information and registration.
o Status: Completed.
ABC Workshop Registration: Online agenda and active form.
o Status: Completed.
Nominations and Elections: Nominations and ballot for 2010 positions.
15






o Status: Completed.
Volunteer Form: Online form active.
o Status: Completed.
2009 Annual Report: Assist submission to ATAC (H. Whitis, Lead)
o Status: Anticipated complete wk of 10.05.09
TASFAA Times: Fall Issue: Format and online post.
o Status: Completed.
Finance Committee: Update: Membership script revision.
o Status: Completed.
Employment: Job announcements.
o Status: Current.
Website Updates/Revisions: Contact and other revisions submitted by users.
o Status: Current
Pending/Future Activity:




TRAINetwork: Review for future home, training and revisions. Pending.
High School Counselor Workshop: Online resources (R Lerma).
Communications: Website usage (see letter to board, Oct09).
Membership Committee: Application scheduled by 11.01.09 (L. Barnes).
Note: Membership expiration date has been extended to 11.30.09 to accommodate processing.
Constitution & By Laws
Kathy Bassham
Kathy discussed the year. It started out strong and then her world changed. In June the change
to the constitution for the associate membership and the change in the membership fees were
updated to allow for flexibility. The committee had a budget of $750 and only spent about $400.
Kathy stated that she has not gotten the information updated on the website but she will continue
to work on this to be sure that the P&P and Constitution and By-Laws agree with each other. She
will work with Shannon on getting the website updated. Kathy will also get information to Amy for
the Time Capsule. Rick thanked Kathy for her work this year. Kathy thanked the board for their
support and gift that was given in memory of her father to his scholarship program.
Early Awareness
Lea Davidson
Raul discussed contacting regions for help with the High School Counselor Training. Raul has
three regions that have not responded to the request as a host site. Lisa asked about funding
from TASFAA to help with the meal as she cannot cover the expense from her school budget.
Carolyn asked how many areas are asking for help. Raul stated only one region has asked for
help. Carolyn stated that we have to make it cost affective since we don’t charge for the training.
One of our missions for TASFAA is to provide training but we have to find a way to cover the
expense. Tia asked if we have to provide free training. Amy asked if a meal had to be a part of
the training. Lisa thought the training would last longer than 4 hours. Raul stated that the training
could be completed within 4 hours. Rick asked if we could adjust the schedule for half day.
Everyone agreed that training could be done in half a day. If the school does not have funds to
provide lunch, then the training could be adjusted to half a day. Raul stated that the training is
already on the website under resources. Carolyn stated that we are going to provide the training
without incurring any cost and Raul confirmed that was correct. Lisa stated that we would have to
add state information. Rick asked about trainer costs and Lisa stated that the school is
responsible for the training. An idea that might help with attendance if counselors say they have
to leave someone in the office, you might offer a session in the morning and one in the afternoon.
16
Rick reviewed Lea’s report. Carolyn asked Raul about the contract that needs to be signed and
Raul stated that he brought the contract with him. The contract is a statement that says as a
state organization we are using the information for training. Each site will need to submit a report
on the number of attendees, etc. Raul will email a copy of the report to the board. Carolyn asked
if he was working with someone regarding the state programs. Raul will check with Jan Caldwell
with the Coordinating Board to see what can be done.
Early Awareness / High School Training Committee
Annual Report
2008-2009
This year was an interesting year, with so many coming and going. The committee had most of their
meetings as conference calls.
The H.S. Counselor workbook was updated for the year, and it was decided by the recommendation of the
Committee and approval of the TASFAA Board that we would go from paper workbooks to CD’s.
We contacted the schools to see who would participate the year in holding the Workshops for us and had a
smaller list than the year before, but still had approximately 18 schools host the event for us.
We mailed out a total of approximately 1040.00 CD’s, with most of those being given out at the
Workshops.
We had good evaluations, and mostly positive on the new CD’s, some didn’t like them as much as the
workbook, I think that is just a matter of getting use to. The good part is that they can print it off if they
want.
We also recommended to the TASFAA Board that this upcoming year we participate in the NASFAA
program called NT4CM for our upcoming training. They furnish all materials, and each state adds their
part to it, they provide free registration and have a website that is very helpful for information, training
events, etc.
The training for this started in August. Since we don’t start our new Committee Chairs, I asked Raul
Lerma and Linda Gonzales to take over so they would not have to come in during the middle of it. They
are going to be the Committee Chairs this upcoming year. I do not feel that someone starting in the middle
is good, this way they will know exactly what is going on, and start scheduling the training for this next
year.
I want to thank everyone on the Committee and on the TASFAA Board for being so supportive of me with
all the things going on. Thank you all for the Prayers, concern, and thoughts sent to me during the time my
husband was in the hospital and recovering at home—he is doing ok, will only have 47% of his lung
capacity from now on, and won’t be able to work much—but he’s here and it’s all good. Also for the
thoughts during my mom’s heart surgery.
This is a wonderful family to have, and each and everyone make a much bigger difference than you
know.—So keep on keeping on!!
Respectfully submitted
Lea Davidson
Board Chairperson 2008-2009
Leadership and Diversity
Terri Thompson
A report was not available.
Legislative Issues
Jimmy Parker
A report was not available.
Carolyn is looking for members who would like to be on the Legislative Issues committee. She is
looking for someone to chair the committee. George has agreed to be on the committee but is
not going to chair the committee. She would like someone to communicate with the organization
regarding federal and state issues. Rick asked if the volunteer form listed this committee.
Carolyn stated that it did not have this on the form.
17
Rick asked George to send an update on the legislative issues. Heath care is pushing SAFRA
back which was expected. The house voted to approve their version. The senate is expected to
support the switch to DL and the lenders would be used to service DL and offer private loans.
They can use the reconciliation process to get around the 60 vote that is still in play. October 15th
is the deadline to get the vote approved. Kathy stated that there has been a lot of talk about this
bill in other areas and that there is a lot of support for SAFRA because they are hearing
simplification. Rick will be asking for information on the timeline to make the switch to DL and
year round Pell issue this afternoon. He encouraged us to read and act on it. Rick would like to
encourage the board to have conversations on the list serve. The membership relies on the
board to read and share the information with the association and to be a voice for the association.
Newsletter and Public Relations
Harold Whitis
Rick stated that Harold was having some printing issues and had hoped to have them for the
conference. He used ATAC to print the annual report which saved some money. Rick did notice
that retirees are to get a copy of the annual report and stated that we had not taken that into
account with the number that were printed.
President’s Advisory Council
Linda Gonzalez-Hensgen
A report was not provided.
Rick will be contacting Linda shortly to work with her on recommendations.
Regional Training
Marci Beasley
Marci went over the report that she submitted. She stated that with all the changes coming with
changes she was not sure how this would affect the committee. She thanked Lisa for her help.
She asked Lisa if she had anything to share. Lisa discussed that she made some
recommendations yesterday to the board and gave charge to the new chair. Lisa stated that we
would see smaller groups since lenders are not participating as they have in the past. She
discussed with Carolyn about taking the ABC training out on the road and they have discussed
this with Wes and Devon. Rick asked if we have an official break down of the regions in the
state. Lisa stated that TRAIN has a break down. Rick stated that Veronica asked about this
when she was trying to be fair when selecting scholarship recipients. Nominations and Elections,
Regional Training, Scholarship Committees have a need for this as well. Kathy stated that we
have used the CB/TG’s regional chart in the past. Lisa stated that some regions have had two
locations to help monitor the size of those attending. Lyn stated that Regional Rallies were held
in 6 locations in the past. Lisa stated that smaller groups help with participation at the training.
Rick stated that it might be good to have the regions set in the P&P manual. Lisa stated that she
had visited with Taina last night at dinner about having board member representatives from the
different regions.
I would first like to thank the wonderful committee of trainers this year. They are:
Wesley Vanderburg – ATI Enterprises
Paul Blake – Texas Tech University
Lea Davidson – Texas Tech University
Tanya Vittato – Panhandle Plains
Lisa Blazer – University of Texas – San Antonio
Cristen Alicea – University of Incarnate Word
Clarissa Peereboom – Regional Educating Lending
Diana Martinez – University of Texas – San Antonio
I extend a special thank you to Lisa Blazer for her guidance and assistance this year. Without her
assistance the training would have fallen short.
The training sites with their enrollment are as follows:
18
LOCATION
# Enroll
San Antonio
40
Corpus
Christi
17
Lubbock
45
Arlington
57
Harlingen
20
El Paso
22
Houston
33
As changes come down the pipe from NASFAA regarding training issues, it appears there are many
concerns. It is this committee’s recommendation that we continue to offer training as a deliverable, even
without the NASFAA Decentralized Training. We can continue to offer NAOW and ABC Workshops as
well as our conference. Thus, offering something that everyone will benefit from and still prove service to
our community justifying our membership fees.
Scholarship
Veronica Cano
A report was not available.
Rick stated the Veronica had done a marvelous job. She had to deal with less funding and she
and the committee worked up a review process. She did a great job responding to those who
questioned why they did not receive a scholarship. She was fair with the scoring process and
was able to explain the process very well to those with questions. The next board will have to
review the funding process for scholarships. Lisa stated that foundations are being formed to
help with fund scholarship programs to produce leaders within the organization. Taina discussed
that the fund raiser at SWASFAA would be to help fund the scholarship program.
Site Selection
John Wells
A report was not available.
Jim Ann is working on 2012.
SWASFAA Report
Lyn Wheeler/Taina Savoit
Lyn asked Taina to provide an update. Taina gave an update on the elections: President Elect is
Laura Capanetti from Oklahoma, Secretary – Darlene Ellinger, New Mexico, Texas Delegate AtLarge - Henry Garcia, Oklahoma Delegate At-Large - Andrew Hamintree. She also discussed the
FSA conference dates overlapped with the SWASFAA conference in New Orleans, LA for 2010.
FSA will be at the exact time in Orlando. SWASFAA is working to change their conference date
19
in New Orleans to the week before Christmas. Someone asked about late October but 3 of the 5
states already have conferences. Taina stated that they have had to renegotiate room blocks.
Someone asked about canceling the conference in New Orleans and moving it to Oklahoma but
the cost to cancel was large. Tulsa, OK will be the location for the next conference in 2011.
Kevin Campbell will give Taina a contact that she can visit with about this issue. Miki Romer
stated that she needs to write Bill directly to express these concerns. Conference this year is in
Albuquerque the week after FSA. Boot camp and mid level training are scheduled as well. They
are waiting on ATAC to have the information on the website registration and hotel. SWASFAA
has been busy trying to keep up with the federal changes. It appears that things are moving
quickly as many do not want to say anything about the proposals that are in progress in
Washington. Taina is looking forward to the training and learning. She also mentioned they are
working with their investments as well. SWASFAA decided to reduce vendor fees for their
conference as well. It was reduced from $3000 to $500. They hope this will help the participation
for the SWASFAA Conference. Rick asked how much the membership dues were and she
thought it was $150 and $200, which is the largest amount, and stated that there are three tiers.
He also asked what the registration fee for the conference was and Taina stated that it is $250.
The fee does not cover the cost. The fees cover the meals. They do not have any AV cost
because the local college is providing COWS. Rick asked about boot camp. Taina stated that
the mid level is $100 and boot camp cost is $150. Rick thanked Taina for coming. Carolyn asked
if the two additional fees are on top of the conference and Taina confirmed. They do not offer a
one day fee. Lyn stated that associate members pay a higher rate to come to the conference and
their dues were higher as well. The associate members were being charged in every direction.
The next board meeting is November 8-9 in San Antonio.
New business
Rick wants to discuss budget and dues tomorrow morning. The first issue that needs to be dealt
with is the membership dues so that Lynn can get started on getting the information out to the
membership. Carolyn stated that we had 214 members this year and that was about half the
schools in Texas. She mentioned three options to increase membership: increase the
membership, raise the dues or both. She stated that the way to grow is to raise participation
which would in turn raise revenue. Carolyn went on to state that we had just raised dues this
year. SWASFAA added something to their constitution that there would be a cost of living
increase each year. SWASFAA had 150 members. TASFAA membership dues had been $100
and were raised to $150 this year. Tia stated that she thought that lender changes may have
affected the overall membership numbers. Rick stated that he had talked to Linda and she stated
that PAC had looked at the possibility of a tier structure. The change to the constitution will allow
the board to make a change the dues. Lyn would like to get the PAC group together to discuss
this since they have not met. Rick set up a Facebook group last night that is a controlled group
so that they can have open discussions. Lyn stated that it has been years since PAC got
together. Kathy stated that she was president the last time PAC got together. Carolyn stated that
she thought 158 members were schools and the rest were associate members out of the 214.
Carolyn does not want to continue to raise the membership fee. Henry stated that he has already
planned his budget for the year and that if we want to make changes they need to be done in
February so that everyone can get the information while planning their budget. Carolyn stated
that we may then need to go ahead and let Lynn get the information on the website and work on
increasing the membership numbers while providing information on what the association has to
offer. Rick stated that if we increase the membership that would help with revenue. She stated
that Tia could provide Lynn a list of those who paid the fees last year. Tia has stats on associate
members 89 (06-07), 72 (07-08), 52 (08-09). Richard asked if a list of past membership was
available and if we could contact them. Tia stated that this list had been provided to PAC. Ed
stated that he would like to understand why schools are not participating. He stated that we
might need to call and ask why they are not participating or why it was not worth it. He thought
we might need to sale the services/training that we offer. Jackie stated that new people in
leadership may not know about TASFAA and how to participate. She suggested targeting
20
schools that have changes in leadership so that we can contact them to visit about what the
association has to offer them. Carolyn thinks gather information would be better if we give them a
call to ask. They probably would not fill that information out in a survey if they are not involved in
TASFAA. Carolyn asked if Tia would send the spreadsheet to her and Lynn. Tia stated that
voting membership has varied very little over the last three years. (172 06-07, 171 07-08, 168 0809) Carolyn asked Lynn to get a complete list of the colleges/universities from the CB. Ed and
Richard have agreed to help call if needed. Lynn stated that we could start planting seeds right
now if they need to plan for the expense. Lynn mentioned that some of the members are asking
about an invoice and stated that may be reason why they did not renew. He stated recruiting new
members would be another strategy. Rick discussed fees for other associations that are much
larger than TASFAA and their fees are much higher than ours. There may be room to make an
increase but we need to justify why the fees are going up. Jackie asked if there was a list of the
values that are offered by TASFAA. Rick stated TASFAA has a lot of deliverables and that the
committee will need to map the list out to share. Lyn stated that we have always had value that
has been supplemented by vendors which we don’t have any more. Lisa stated that we offer so
much more than other organizations. She thinks we need to figure out what our cost is so that we
can break even and use that to set our fees. Tia asked if we have ever marketed to schools that
don’t participate. Carolyn stated that PR did a presentation quite a few years ago and Lyn stated
that there was a published piece that went out to the presidents of schools as well. Alan
mentioned the website and that it is underused. The website would be a great tool for everyone
to use if it is current. Rick stated that it is going to cost more to be a part of the association
because we are not being subsidized by lenders anymore. Kathy discussed other training that
schools are doing and keeping that information updated on TRAIN. Rick stated that the general
consensus is that we leave the fees as is. Lyn voiced a concern that we are going to be in the
same boat next year. Lisa stated that if we don’t make this change now that it must be taken care
of by next February. Tia asked if another $20-25 would really hurt others budget. Lyn thinks we
need to be transparent and give the reasons why we are increasing. Ed thinks we could tell the
membership we are looking at the increase and give reasons why we are looking at an increase.
David is concerned that since we just raised it that it will cause problems and that we must tell
them why we need the increase. Henry asked what Carolyn used to create her budget. Carolyn
stated that her budget was based upon a $25 increase plus an increase in membership. Lisa
stated that we did not raise the fee for 10 years and we have lost many associate members. She
does not think the small increase would hurt anyone too badly. Rick stated that he agreed with
Ed that we need to let them know that there may be further increases. Kathy asked how many
members would not be expecting an increase after the constitutional vote went out this summer.
Rick stated mentioning this tomorrow at the business meeting. Ed would like to ask that whoever
has the talent write a letter that states the benefits. Rick thinks the letter might be after the
February meeting. Lisa suggested that a letter go out now to explain what is going on in the
association with lenders, higher costs, current economy, etc. Lyn stated that she has had
questions about increased value. She wants us to express that we have had the value all along
we just have not been paying it. Kathy asked if we could offer a comparison of what other
organizations charge. Carolyn asked if it could just be added to the membership application on
the website. Lisa thinks a letter would be the best option. Rick thinks he can handle the letter
this year and then Carolyn could send something out in February. David suggested just a bullet
point listing of the benefits. Henry stated that he agrees with Lyn that we need to discuss the
value we have always offered and that it was supplemented by other support from vendors. Tia
wants to be sure the letter is positive. David said he is uncomfortable with this decision because
we just increased the fee last year; we have not reached out to other schools that are not
participating, plus the other expenses we have had this year – i.e. additional hotel expense due to
room block not being reduced. Tia looked at the CB website and it listed 173 schools. Kathy
thought they did not list proprietary schools. Tia stated our membership was 168. David stated
that 400 schools were discussed yesterday. Tia stated that may include branches and that we
don’t get additional fees from branches. Carolyn thought we did. Lisa responded to David’s
concerns by stating that yes we have to cover a mistake but our fees don’t cover the expenses
that we currently have. She stated that we are not covering our expenses. She does understand
and respects his concerns but she does think raising dues is not solely related to this mistake.
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Carolyn also stated that several board members can now receive reimbursement for travel
expenses and that we can justify the increased cost because of increase cost of operations. She
went on to discuss that we are working on what the best fee structure is for the association. Raul
stated that it is very important that all board members go out with the same message and that the
new board also hear about that as well.
Henry motioned that we raise the fee by $25 for the next membership year. Raul
seconded the motion. Motion carries with one opposition.
Henry also mentioned that the list of past presidents left out I.Q. Vidaurri - TX A&M University
Kingsville. Rick will make an announcement at the meeting today. He asked that Henry visit with
Dana about the program. Years for the president’s are off after this point since he was left out.
Carolyn reminded the board of the meeting this afternoon from 3:30-4:45.
Raul and David thanked Rick for his work this year and how he represented TASFAA.
Unfinished Business
There was not any unfinished business.
There being no further business, Rick adjourned the meeting at 10:59 a.m.
TASFAA Board Meeting
October 28, 2009
Phone Conference
Members Present: Rick Renshaw, Carolyn Jones, Lisa Blazer, David Ximenez, Ed Turney,
Amy Hardesty, Amanda Jurovic, Lyn Wheeler, Enrique Garcia,
Committee Chair:
Not Present: Tia Clary, Kay Mooney, Mari Chapa, Richard Silva, Raul Lerma, Tomas Campos
***************************************************************************************************************
Rick called the meeting to order at 11:11 a.m.
Rick went over the negotiations. We had liability of $11000 to Sheraton and $55000 to Hilton.
JimAnn met with the Hilton at the end of the conference to begin negotiations. Rick and Don
Bueher met with Nancy Garner to work out the arrangements. The contract did not include 2011
which is very good. The cost for the NAOW is larger than what we spent this last year but cost
was probably going to go up next year. This contact would reduce our current liability to $15000
to the Hilton. Carolyn stated that we still had the obligation of $11000 to the Sheraton. She
further stated that we are out $26000 instead of $66000. A question as asked about the NAOW
cost if it included rooms. Rick stated that it did include room cost and then the food cost The
contracts are due in November so the new board will need to meet next month to discuss it.
Carolyn asked about the board approving the NAOW conference contract and stated that we
would not need to meet to approve contracts for board meetings. Lisa and David stated that they
have made the negotiations and signed contracts for the board meetings. Lyn stated it would be
a good idea to have the president sign the contracts for the board meetings. Lisa agreed. Rick
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stated this might need to be added to the P&P. November 30th is when the contract is due. Rick
will need Tia to write a check and overnight it to Rick so that he can get the payment to them
tomorrow. Rick discussed payment of $4500 down payment to hold the conference center for
2011. Rick stated that we might be able to renegotiate the contract and meet at the Sheraton and
give up the convention center. We would lose the $4500 that was made to the convention center
but we might be able to renegotiate the contracts for the conference, NAOW and board meetings.
Carolyn asked if the hotel was large enough to handle the numbers that we had. Rick stated that
it might be something we can look at to renegotiate with both hotels. The next board will need to
look at these options and JimAnn can use this as she negotiates. There is not a deadline at this
time and we can review 2010 before negotiating 2011.
Lisa made a motion to accept the proposal as presented. Lyn seconded the
motion. Motion passes.
Carolyn asked Rick to send her a copy of the contract when it is signed and he will do that.
Everyone thought the negotiations went really well and Rick stated that JimAnn and Don did an
excellent job.
As all of you are aware, it was announced in our last board meeting that
we were unable to meet the room block for the Arlington Hilton which left
an attrition penalty of almost $56,000 for the 2009 Conference. At the
board meeting, you authorized the treasurer to pull from reserves to cover
the liability as necessary.
I mentioned that a group of us would meet
with the Hilton sales manager to try and reduce the liability as much as
possible.
Many thanks go to JimAnn Batenhorst who set the stage for a successful
negotiation with the Hilton after her visit the last day of the
conference. Her discussions helped put some proposals on the table that
you will see in the attached offer from the Hilton.
Also, many thanks go
to Don Buehrer for his great help in fine tuning the negotiations during a
meeting that he and I had with Ms. Garner from the Hilton week before
last. I cannot express my sincere appreciation to both of these
colleagues for what they have done to help.
Here is the bottom line of the deal:
In lieu of paying the $56K
attrition liability outright, Hilton will accept $15K attrition cash
payment, plus contracts for the May 2010 and July 2010 board meetings
(minimum expenditure $3000 each) and the 2010 NAOW (minimum $35,000).
We must approved this agreement before the end of this week or lose the
settlement. I would like to call a special board meeting by conference call to
take action on this offer as quickly as possible. Please let me know which of
these times you would be available for the meeting;
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Attrition Settlement Proposal
Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators
2009 Annual Conference
Date:
October 23, 2009
To:
Mr. Ric Renshaw
President
Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators
Re:
TASFAA 2009 Conference Attrition
October 5-8, 2009
Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (TASFAA) signed a contract
on September 1, 2006 with the Hilton Arlington hotel for a block of rooms for October 58, 2009 at a rate of $129.00 plus tax. The agreed upon room block totaled 500 room
nights as follows:
Mon 10/5
50
Tues 10/6
150
Wed 10/7
150
Thur 10/8
150
Group failed to meet the above contracted room block and on September 17, 2009, an
invoice was submitted to TASFAA in the amount of $55,341.00 for attrition owed to the
Hilton. This amount was an estimate based on reservations confirmed as of September.
Unfortunately, the room block decreased even further after the original invoice was
submitted and a revised invoice was sent to the group’s representatives. The revised
invoice totaled $55,986.00.
On October 15, 2009, representatives of TASFAA, Don Buehrer and Ric Renshaw met
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with Nancy Garner, Senior Sales Manager of the Hilton Arlington to negotiate a proposal
to reimburse the Hilton for this attrition through future bookings and a partial payment of
the current amount owed.
The Hilton Arlington has reviewed the proposed actions for reimbursement and has
agreed to the following course of action to recover the lost revenue:
(1) TASFAA will submit a minimum payment of $15,000.00 in attrition fees to the
Hilton prior to
October 30, 2009.
(2) TASFAA will contract a board meeting for May 2010 and a second for July 2010,
each estimated at $3,000.00, to help compensate the monetary difference owed
the Hilton. Contracts must be signed prior to November 30, 2009.
(3) TASFAA will contract the Spring 2010 – New Aid Officers Workshop at the
Hilton Arlington for approximately 225 room nights and food and beverage
functions totaling a minimum of $35,000 or more in revenue. Contract must be
signed prior to November 30, 2009.
In lieu of full payment attrition totaling $55,986.00, the Hilton Arlington and TASFAA
agree to a reduction in attrition payment plus the commitment to the above future
bookings. Note 2010 proposed bookings will be subject to full attrition and cancellations
fees.
Mr. Renshaw, if you and the TASFAA board members are in agreement with these terms,
please sign this agreement and return to the Hilton Arlington. Full remittance in the
amount of $15,000 is due on or before October 30, 2009 along with the signed
agreement. Future proposed programs will need to be processed on or before November
30, 2009.
Your prompt attention to this matter is appreciated.
____________________________________
Nancy Garner
Date
Senior Sales Manager
Hilton Arlington Hotel
nancy.garner@ihrco.com
____________________________________
Mr. Ric Renshaw
Date
President, TASFAA
rrenshaw@dcccd.edu
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___________________________________
Cory Ruelas
Date
Director of Sales
Hilton Arlington Hotel
cc: Interstate Hotels and Resorts Corporation
Phone conference ended at 11:26 a.m.
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