MASFAA Executive Board Meeting at Fall Training
October 22, 2014
Members Present:
Carrie Cooper
Nicole Patrick
Greg Windham
Alex Washington
Albert Steven Taranto
Jennifer Rogers
Marilyn James
Laura Diven-Brown
Leslie Smith
Brenda McCafferty
Megan Smith
Leigh Ann Hussey
Stacey Walker
Bob Walker
April Washington
President
President Elect/Newsletter
Past- President/Nominations
Vice-President/Training
Treasurer
Director
Director
Director
Secretary
Site Selection
High School Relations
Conference
Electronic Services
State Representative
Diversity
Members Not Present:
Terry Bland
Joe Statuto
Audit and Finance Chair
Legislative Relations
The meeting was called to order by President, Carrie Cooper at 1:13 p.m. A quorum was established by
the President. The President called for reports from officers and committee chairs. She gave the
President’s report and said a work of thanks to everyone. The minutes from the MASFAA Executive
Board Transitional Meetings on July 11, 2014 were reviewed and filed. Leslie Smith reported that all
minutes for her term were posted to the MASFAA website and these were the first since 2005. Nicole
Patrick reported on the Magnolia News progress. Alex Washington noted corrections to the March 26,
2015, Executive Board Meeting after lunch at FA 101. Steven Taranto reported on the 2014-2015 budget
and noted how the miscellaneous income and prior year expenses were recorded. He also reported that
Katie Tompkins had resigned as Member-at-Large as she was no longer working the financial aid field
and therefore, he gave the report for membership.
Jennifer Rogers, Director, reported on request from the Board of Director’s meeting for changes to the
MASFAA by-laws concerning the Mission Statement, Vision Statement, Articles VI. And VIII. The
recommended changes were to:
VI. B. 3. Change “MASFAA Newsletter” to “The Magnolia News” which is a blog.
VI. E. 3. Change the wording in the Mission Statement to read:
The Mississippi Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, Inc. was founded to establish a
financial aid community that encourages the exchange of ideas and professional expertise to effectively
and ethically promote access to higher education by meeting the needs of our diverse constituents
(students, parents, and institutions).
And, in the Vision Statement to read:
Through the coordination of plans and programs pertinent to student financial aid, MASFAA serves the
interests and needs of diverse students, postsecondary educational institutions and their aid
administrators, and public and private agencies and organizations concerned with student financial aid.
Through these efforts, MASFAA has a profound impact on the lives of people who desire to achieve a
higher education but believe it is impossible due to financial constraints.
VI. B.3. Serve as Chairperson of the Communications Committee;
VI. E.3. Upon completion of each fiscal year, archive all Association records in accordance with the
Association’s Policies and Procedures Manual.
VI. F. 8. Upon the completion of the term of office, turn over to the new Treasurer, within 30 days after
the close of the fiscal year, all financial records of the Association;
VI. H.
1.
2.
3.
The Directors will:
Attend all Board of Directors meetings as called by the President;
Serve as the Planning Committee and be responsible for reviewing and recommending revisions
to the Constitution and By-Laws of the Association and the Association’s Policies and Procedures
Manual.
Perform a review, or cause a review to occur, of the MASFAA checking account and financial
records annually, within three months of the end of the fiscal year, evaluating liability and
insurance policies, evaluating employee dishonesty bond, and making recommendations to the
Board for investments and excess funds in the checking account.
VIII. Change title to read: Article VIII – Committees and Liaisons
VIII. C. Audit/Finance Committee to be moved to the Directors’ job descriptions and the Planning
Committee be moved from E to C to read:
Planning Committee: The Planning Committee is responsible for establishing a five-year plan to
be continuously built upon. The Planning Committee will systematically explore and work toward
future opportunities, while analyzing and avoiding threats to the organization. The Planning
Committee will make recommendations to the Board on issues as requested by the members, as
well as issues of immediate or long range concerns. The Planning Committee will review and
make recommendations to the Board for revisions to the Association’s Constitution, By-Laws, and
Policies and Procedures Manual. The Planning Committee is composed of the Directors and the
Immediate Past-President who serves as chair.
Eliminate Article VIII D. Diversity Committee
Other changes under Article VIII were changed to read as follows:
D.
Training Committee: The Training Committee is responsible for planning all aspects of the
education and training programs, events and professional development of the Association, except the
Annual Conference. Planning includes local arrangements and program content. The Vice-President
serves as Chair and will appoint a Co-chair to serve for as a non-voting member of the Board.
E.
Conference Committee: The Conference Committee will be responsible for planning all aspects
of the Annual Conference. Planning includes local arrangements and program content. The President
serves as Chair and will appoint the Conference Committee Co-chair during the President-Elect year to
serve as a non-voting member of the Board.
F.
Communications Committee: The Communications Committee is responsible for the
Association’s internal modes of communication, including the listserv, the “member’s only” pages of the
website, and any other mass communication method the Association adopts, such as a newsletter or
blog. The Communications Committee is also responsible for appropriately communicating the
Association’s image and purpose with external constituency groups, such as vendors/sponsors, high
school students and counselors, college students, other associations, etc. The Communications
Committee is chaired by the President-Elect, but will work closely with the all other Board and Association
members.
G.
Legislative Affairs Committee: The Legislative Affairs Committee will analyze both federal and
state legislative issues as they arise in order to keep the Association informed. The committee should
advise the MASFAA President and Board when the need arises for the Association to respond to federal
or state legislative issues. The Legislative Affairs Committee Chair is appointed by the President and
serves as a non-voting member of the Board.
H.
Vendor-Sponsor Committee: The Vendor/Sponsor Committee is responsible for nurturing
mutually beneficial working relationships with association vendors and/or sponsors. The Vendor/Sponsor
Committee will update the annual menu of vendor/sponsorship opportunities and serve as the liaison
between the association and all vendors and/or sponsors. The President will appoint the Vendor/Sponsor
Committee Chair, who will serve as a non-voting member of the Board.
I.
State Aid Liaison: The State Aid Liaison is responsible for maintaining an intimate working
relationship between the Association and the Mississippi Office of Student Financial Aid. The State Aid
Liaison should review proposed legislation/policies and provide feedback on the potential impact of such
legislation/policies to the Board of Directors. The State Aid Liaison should also coordinate lobbying
efforts in support of or opposition to proposed legislation under the direction and approval of the Board of
Directors. The President will appoint the State Aid Liaison, who will serve as a non-voting member of the
board.
J.
Site Selection Liaison: The Site Selection Liaison will research and recommend future conference
and training sites as instructed by the Board of Directors. The President will appoint the Site Selection
Liaison, who will serve as a non-voting member of the Board.
Note that the High Schools Relations Committee was eliminated under Article VIII. J.
It was the consensus of the Board to wait for approval on the By-Laws changes first, then begin working
on the recommended changes to the P & P.
President adjourned for a short break at 2:24.
President called meeting back to order at 2:36.
Stacey Walker presented report for Electronic Services. Nicole Patrick reported on the MASFAA blog and
encouraged all to use. The Vendor Sponsors report was given. A suggestion was made to meet with
Vendors and ask them how MASFAA could help them and how schools could help them.
Leigh Ann Hussey presented the Conference Committee report, Megan Smith presented the High School
Relations report. She stated that it had become difficult to promote public awareness about financial aid.
She made a suggestion about promoting media outreach through MASFAA. April Washington presented
a report on Diversity. She stated the Nicholas Lott and C.J. Rhodes were willing to speak to MASFAA or
blog.
Brenda McCafferty presented the Site Selection report. She reported that the PR Resort had waived
entire bill due to issues during the NASFAA Credential Training in October. The contract for the 2016
conference was also under review.
Bob Walker had no report for State Aid.
New Business: Steven Taranto presented an online credit payment processing proposal to allow
members another option for payment. The proposal included information about GoEMerchant and Paypal
with information concerning other costs from ATAC and data breach insurance. There were discussions
about concerns of data breaches and American Express. Greg Windham made a motion to go forward
with GoEMerchant and to include American Express. Alex Washington seconded the motion, Carrie
Cooper asked for discussion, there were none and the motion carried for MASFAA to go forward with an
online credit system.
Alex Washington asked if there would be interest in a 1 day NASFAA credential option at FA101. NO
decision made. Changes to the President’s Package for vendor sponsors were discussed next and a
decision was made to wait until the next year to review again. Future conference and training locations
were also discussed.
Steven asked about the procedure for invoicing for life-time members because Paula Gordon needed an
updated list for the web-site. Stacey said she would take care of it.
There was discussion about the NASFAA Leadership conference and the budget for sending the
President-elect and other board members. The P & P only provided for the President-elect and it would
need to be changed to allow for others. Carrie made a recommendation to allow Nicole and Steven (Alex
waived right to attend) to attend the conference with MASFAA paying the costs and to adjust budget lines
as needed. Greg made a motion to remove $700 from Vice-President line item to Treasurer in order to
cover conference costs. Laura seconded the motion. There was no discussion and the motion carried.
Directors will need to change P & P listing the priority of order to attend this conference if budget allows.
There was a discussion from Brenda McCafferty about bringing financial literacy to MS schools through a
tool offered by Inceptia. Carrie noted the benefit to all schools in MASFAA offering outreach to high
school students. Nicole mentioned that MASFAA should not co-brand and be supported of all companies
that offer this type of outreach to students about financial literacy.
Nicole Patrick discussed the Life-time Membership award vote at fall training the next day. There was a
slate of 6 to be voted for with the top 2 winning the vote. Steven moved to present the slate with a brief
bio about each candidate and the top 2 being selected. Alex seconded the motion. There was no
discussion and the motion carried.
Carrie Cooper adjourned the meeting at 4:26.