Committee Reports
By Tanya Vittitow, Director of Business Development, PPSLC

President-Elect Report – Rick Renshaw
This year is moving by very quickly. By the time you are reading this, most all of us will be well under way in processing applications for 2008-09. The TASFAA fiscal year will be almost to the half-way mark. I am still working on filling the vice-chair positions on some of our committees. This has proved to be a real challenge since TASFAA has made the commitment to appoint only school representatives into the leadership roles of the association. I hope to be announcing the roster of vice chairs very soon.

TASFAA normally sends the President-Elect to the NASFAA Leadership Conference in the spring after the election. However, since I was privileged to attend the conference about three years ago as SWASFAA President-Elect, the information that I have is still fresh. After talking with our president, Lisa Blazer, I have decided to opt out of this conference and, instead, use the money budgeted for travel to the conference to fund a planning retreat for my committee chairs for 2008-09. Tentative plans are to hold that retreat in late summer or early fall before the fall conference. Since I am late getting the vice chair positions filled, this will help that group get a jump start on planning for next year.

Thank you so much for your support of the association and our activities. We have some great challenges ahead of us this year and beyond. I am confident that we will not shrink from our commitment to being the leaders in opening the doors to higher education for our students.

Finance Committee Report

• Rick Renshaw, Dallas County CCD, Chair
• Liza Blazer, UT San Antonio
• Kathy Bassham, Weatherford College
• Tia Clary, Lubbock Christian University
• David Ximenez, Tarrant County College

The Finance Committee has set the following goals and projects for this year.

1. Review and revise the Mission Statement for our ING investments
2. Review the Investment Policy in the Policy and Procedures of the Association
3. Prepare recommendations to the board on issues related to the changes in our membership structure that come out of the Planning and Evaluation Task Force.
4. Monitor the financial statements of the association to evaluation the effectiveness of our budget decisions.
5. Prepare a budget template for the 08-09 award year.

At the February board meeting, a deficit budget was presented to the board for approval for 2007-08. To my knowledge, this is the first time ever that the association has had to go into a budget cycle expecting a deficit. It was a very difficult decision that had to be made in this time of uncertainty. However, the goal of the finance committee is to be able to present a balanced budget for 2008-09 by implementing suggested changes from a president’s task force that is working to recommended necessary structure and operational changes to the board this year. This year’s budget will be presented to the membership by the president in late February or early March after her review.

Constitution and By-Laws Committee

• Rick Renshaw, Dallas County CCD, Chair
• Kathy Bassham, Weatherford College, Vice Chair

This year the C & BL committee will be examining a report from the Planning and Evaluation Task Force that addresses changes in the student loan industry and the impact those changes may have on our association. It is expected that a constitutional vote will have to occur sometime during this year to implement some of the recommended changes.

The committee will also be editing and proofing the C/BL and PnP for needed changes and corrections. We will also be checking with the Secretary of State to ensure that our charter on file with the state is up-to-date with all constitutional changes.

Regional Training Committee
The Regional Training Committee is conducting a total of 10 sessions across the state focusing on NASFAA's Decentralized Training - Counseling Students and Families: Tackling Financial Issues. We have already trained more than 150 financial aid professionals in Houston, Dallas, Plano, Corpus Christi, and San Antonio during late February and early March. Upcoming sites include Lubbock, San Angelo, El Paso, Waco and Harlingen. Training will be complete by the end of March.

Nominations and Elections Committee
Chair, Terri Thompson, Weatherford College, would like to acknowledge and thank her committee members, Desiree Kornrum-Byrne, University of the Incarnate Word; Vice-Chair, Penny Gammill, McMurray University; Michelle Bennett, San Angelo State University; and Caren Stewart, ATI Enterprises.

Now’s the time to support this committee as nominations are now open and available online; now’s the time to nominate a colleague and/or yourself
and serve your community.

Training Committee
2008 NAOW (New Aid Officer Workshop) will be May 19 - 22. Detailed information will be distributed on the TASFAA listserve as it becomes available on the TASFAA website. The Mack Adams Scholarship is available for those school's on a limited budget.

Site Selection Committee
Negotiations on a three-year contract with St. Mary's for the NAOW continue.

Planning of the 2012 TASFAA Fall Conference is currently on hold until industry changes develop fully.