President’s Message
By Kathy Bassham

This year has already been an exciting voyage of discovery for me. At times, I feel like I am walking a tightrope and other times like I am about to be shot out of a cannon as I observe the many changes that are headed our way. If you will recall, one of our initiatives this year is to focus our resources on partnerships. I believe we experienced a first earlier this month when the ATLE Board and the TASFAA Board both met at TG Headquarters in Round Rock. What a wonderful experience we shared as we renewed our commitment to both associations and our industry at the joint luncheon!

The Fall Decentralized Training activities were completed in grand style with larger numbers participating this year. Many thanks to Matt Dufrene and his committee for their hard work in accomplishing this training activity – even under adverse weather conditions. This morning I received my notification, via the list serve, about The Greatest Show in Texas. Lisa Blazer and her committee have done an outstanding job of developing a curriculum to help all of us negotiate so many aspects of our jobs. Some days I’m not sure if I am juggling those new programs or taming those lions. At any rate, I encourage you to review the information that is available for the Spring Regional Training and plan to attend one of the eleven sessions around our state. Don’t forget that our training initiatives will not end with the spring training activities. Be on the lookout for information about the New Aid Officers Workshop later this spring.

Another initiative this year is to focus on outreach. Most of our committees are focusing on this facet of the initiative in one form or another. Remember to check the website frequently to find out what all of your colleagues are doing. Here are highlights for a few of the committees:

Public Relations (Anne Walker, Chair): Did you know that February has been designated as Financial Aid Awareness Month? A proclamation from the Governor’s Office should be available in the very near future. Activities around the state include the many financial aid workshops that many of you are conducting. Also, let’s not forget that many of you are participating in College Goal Sunday. This committee is also working on the submission of a project for another NASFAA State Award.

President’s Advisory Council (PAC) for Planning and Evaluation (June Hagler, Chair): There have been two strategic planning meetings with the Board and with this group, comprised primarily of past TASFAA presidents, over the last several months. An in-depth review of the mission and vision statements for TASFAA as well as a long hard look at our core values has occurred. We are also working on an in-depth review of the associational strategic plan and the development of a disaster recovery plan. Be watching for more information from this group in the near future.

Early Awareness Committee (Debra LaGrone, Chair): I had a unique experience this year as I moved from the arena of conducting financial aid awareness nights (and days) at high schools to several sessions at a middle school in Lake Worth, TX. I have to tell you that those middle school students have a whole lot more energy! The materials developed and provided by this committee are available on the TASFAA website and they are awesome. You should go to the website and review this information if you haven’t already. It is located under the “Resource” section. The power point is available in English for the students and in both English and Spanish for the parents. Kudos to this committee for their cutting edge information.

The Board voted in October to focus resources on legislative issues. I thought I knew what that meant until the legislature actually returned to session. Thankfully, our association has the collective resource of George Torres/Jimmy Parker to help understand and respond to some of the items coming out of the Governor’s Office, the 80th Texas Legislature and issues that are coming from the federal side. Here is a brief listing of some of the items that are being addressed:

• A letter was sent from your Board to the members of the House Higher Education Committee and Senate Subcommittee on Higher Education endorsing the findings and recommendations included in Ready, willing, and unable: How financial barriers obstruct bachelor degree attainment in Texas.
  
  
• A group of your colleagues met with staff from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, TG and David Young from Gov. Perry’s staff to discuss in open dialogue the Governor’s Higher Education Agenda for the 80th Texas Legislature and its impact on financial aid in our state. (I recommend that you review this document on the Governor’s website if you have not seen it.)
  
  
• Planning for the annual Toast of Texas is well under way. This event occurs every spring in Washington, DC as several of us meet with legislators on the federal level. We will meet with some individuals, have financial aid training sessions with legislative staff and host a luncheon for these individuals. By the way, this activity is part of the project that is being submitted to NASFAA for a state award.

Several things have occurred during the brief amount of time that I have been writing this message to all of you. It seems that I need to switch hats from being the TASFAA President back to the Director of Financial Aid. I am sure that you all understand that the show, The Greatest Show in Texas, must go on!