TASFAA - Newsletters

Summer 2008

Online Publication

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TASFAA Committee Reports
Submitted for the May TASFAA Board Meeting, San Antonio, Texas

Finance
Fall Conference
TASFAA Congressional Update
Nominations & Elections
Regional Training
Scholarship
Site Selection
Newsletter

Finance Committee Report
Submitted by Rick Renshaw, Dallas County CCD, Chair

Members:

If you have looked at your quarterly reports from your retirement account lately you know the profits have been slim on your investments. The same is true of the TASFAA reserve fund. However, the association has truly been blessed with the skill and management of our ING representative Gary Rodgers. Gary has done a marvelous job over the years managing our investments. What he has done has made it much easier for the TASFAA board to be able to make the hard decisions in this troubled time in our profession. The finance committee is working on an updated investment mission statement to ensure that our association’s resources are working optimally to weather storms and to be in a position of strength whenever financial challenges occur.

Fall Conference Committee Report
Submitted by Joyce Fox, University of Texas - San Antonio, Chair, May 2008

The Fall Conference web page on the TASFAA website was updated and both Conference/Exhibitor announcements were posted to the members.

Current Conference Numbers

Conference Gift
The conference gift this year will be a jump drive. All conference materials will be provided as well as links to the evaluation website.

Session Topics
The deadline to submit a proposal was May 15. The sub-committee will meet in San Antonio, Tuesday, May 27 to review and make selections. Presenters will be notified and all electronic materials will be due in August for review and to ensure production time for the jump drives and posting to the TASFAA website. Requests will be made if needed to fill in gaps in the Agenda.

Board Member Reservations
Reservations were made for all Board Members, 10/6-10/10. During the Board Meeting, please review arrival, departure and any special requests.

TASFAA Congressional Update
Submitted by Jimmy Parker, Panhandle Plains Student Loan Center, and George Torres, TG

While the congress has extended the Higher Education Act through May 31, 2008, in March and April, Senator Kennedy and Representatives Hinojosa and Miller filed legislation (S 2815-Strengthening Student Aid For All Act/HR 5715-Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act) in the congress that would partially address the “liquidity problem” beginning to develop within the FFELP.

On April 31st and May 1st, the House and Senate approved a compromise version of HR 5715 which included parts of both the Kennedy/Miller legislation. The legislation was signed into law on May 5th.

Also, in a related action, the Federal Reserve Board decided to begin accepting federally insured student loan securities as collateral through its Term Securities Lending Facility. This policy change will provide immediate liquidity into the student loan lending arena.

The Senate amendment to H.R. 5715 makes the following changes to the bill as passed by the House:

Loan limits – The Senate amendment clarifies that the increased loan limits apply to loans first disbursed on or after July 1, 2008.

The bill raises annual federal loan limit for unsubsidized Stafford loans for dependent undergraduate students, or students whose parents can’t obtain federal parent loans because of poor credit, by $2,000. It also increases the aggregate amount an undergraduate dependent student may borrow under the unsubsidized Stafford loan program to $31,000. Further, the bill increases the annual federal loan limit for unsubsidized Stafford loans for independent undergraduate first and second year students, or students whose parents can’t obtain federal parent loans because of poor credit, by $2,000, from $4,000 to $6,000, and it increases the maximum annual amount for undergraduate independent students who have completed two years of study also by $2000, from $5000 to $7000. The aggregate amount of unsubsidized Stafford loans for an undergraduate independent student is increased to $57,500.
PLUS loans – The Senate amendment refines the House provision by providing that extenuating circumstances exist, and therefore an applicant does not lose PLUS loan eligibility if, during the period beginning January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2009, he or she is or was up to 180 days delinquent on mortgage loan or medical bill payments and was not more than 89 days delinquent on other debt.

The House also gives a parent borrower more time to begin repaying off federal PLUS loans. Currently, parent borrowers must begin repayment 60 days after disbursement of the loan; under the bill, parents would be able to defer repayment until six months after their children fails to carry at least one-half the normal full-time workload.
Lender-of-Last Resort – The Senate amendment provides that no lender-of-last-resort loans shall be made with interest rates, origination or default fees, or other terms and conditions that are more favorable to the borrower than the maximum applicable under the HEA for the type of loan involved. It also provides that (i) the authority of the Secretary to designate schools as eligible for lender-of-last resort loans, and any designation of a school, expires on June 29, 2009; (ii) each guaranty agency or lender serving as a lender of last resort is subject to the guaranty agency and lender prohibited inducement provisions contained in the HEA; and (ii) each guaranty agency and lender serving as a lender of last resort shall not advertise, market or otherwise promote lender of last resort loans (though guaranty agencies must ensure that schools have information about the availability of the lender-of-last resort program in the State. Finally, the Secretary is directed to disseminate information on the lender-of-last program, to make publicly available new or revised plans or agreements made by guaranty agencies and to provide reports on lender-of-last-resort activities.

The bill requires the Secretary of Education, upon request of a school and in accordance with standards developed by the Secretary, to designate the school as eligible for the lender of last resort program on an institution-wide basis, rather -than on a student-by-student basis, and clarifies that it will cover not only subsidized Stafford loans, but also unsubsidized Stafford loans and PLUS loans as well. It specifically excludes consolidation loans. The bill also clarifies that existing law gives the Secretary the authority to advance federal funds to guaranty agencies in the event that they do not have sufficient capital to originate new loans and appropriates such sums as may be necessary for carrying out the requirements of the lender of last resort program.
The Senate amendment provides that the authority of the Secretary to purchase, and to enter into forward purchase commitments to purchase, FFELP loans (other than consolidation loans) applies to loans made on or after October 1, 2003 and before July 1, 2009. It also provides that, rather than issuing emergency regulations pertaining to such purchases, the Secretary together with the Secretary of the Treasury and the Director of Office of Management & Budget (OMB) shall publish a Federal Register notice that establishes the terms of such purchases, an outline of the factors to be used in evaluating the price of such purchases, and a description of how the price meets the requirement that the purchase does not result in a net cost to the federal Government.

The bill establishes this temporary authority in the event that the Secretary determines there is inadequate availability of loan capital. The Secretary, in consultation with Treasury and OMB, must determine that the terms of the purchase are in the best interest of the United States and that any purchase cannot result in a net cost to the Federal Government. The bill provides that the Secretary shall require that the funds paid by the Secretary shall be used to ensure continued participation by the lender in the FFELP and to originate new FFELP loans to students. The Secretary is authorized to contract with the lender for continued servicing, provided that the cost of such servicing cannot exceed the cost the Federal Government would otherwise incur and that continued servicing is in the best interest of borrowers.
The Senate amendment makes a number of changes to the ACG and SMART grant programs which in essence spend the savings otherwise generated by the House bill.
The bill also contains, and the Senate amendment does not change, a sense of Congress statement that the Federal financial institutions, such as the Federal Financing Bank and the Federal Reserve, and the federally chartered entities such as the Federal Home Loan Banks, use their available authorities, if needed, to assist in ensuring that students and families have access to student loans for academic year 2008-2009, and the subsequent academic year if needed.

In addition to HR 5715, Congressman Paul Kanjorski and Senator John Kerry have filed legislation (HR 5723/S 2847 – The Emergency Student Loan Market Liquidity Act proposing to allow the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks to assist student loan lenders by enabling the Banks to:

temporarily (for 2 years) invest in student loan-related securities with their surplus funds;
accept student loans and student loan-related securities as collateral; and,
provide secured advances of funds to its members (savings & loan associations, cooperative banks, & mortgage lenders) to originate student loans or finance student loan-related securities.

The same two members have also filed HR 5914 – The Student Loan Access Act – that provides the Treasury Department’s Federal Financing Bank with the explicit authority to:

purchase loans guaranteed under Part B of the Higher Education Act;
make advances to eligible FFELP lenders for the purposes of originating or purchasing Federal loans; and,
invest in securities collateralized with student loans originated under part B of the Higher Education Act.

These provisions would exist only for the 2008-2009 academic year, but could be extended year to year.

Passage of HR 5914 would represent the quickest and most effective solution to the current student loan liquidity issue and TG is urging through a variety of ways the Texas Congressional Delegation to support the bill.

Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act
According to House and Senate Committee staff the conference committee report on the HEA reauthorization bill is complete and the sponsors are waiting for floor time to be made available for the bill to be placed on the House and Senate calendar. Unfortunately, both calendars are full with legislation that was scheduled to be dispensed with weeks ago.

Staff is still hopeful that the legislation can be passed before the Memorial Day recess.

State Legislative Update
The Feasibility Study for Restructuring Texas Student Financial Aid Programs mandated by the 80th Regular session of the Texas Legislature released its preliminary findings and recommendations.

Among the recommendations are to:

The final report will be submitted to the Texas higher Education Coordinating Board in July and the legislature in the fall. The 81st Regular Session of the Texas Legislature will take up and consider legislation in 2009.

Nominations & Elections Committee Report
Submitted by Terri Thompson, Chair, Weatherford College, May 21, 2008

Nominations began its activity on Feb. 5, 2008 with a notice on the TASFAA listserv to hopefully inspire financial aid officers around the state to think of their role in service to the organization. Research revealed that there would be the following positions available for the 2008-09 TASFAA year:

1 President-Elect
1 Secretary-Historian
5 At-Large Board members

On February 26, 2008 the nominations form on the TASFAA website was activated and a message went out on the listserv. The deadline for nominations was set at March 31, 2008.

As of April 1, 2008 we did not have a significant response to the call for nominations, so the deadline was extended to April 15. On April 16, 2008 a listserv notice was posted that nominations officially closed. As of that date, the N&E committee received two nominations for President-Elect, two for Secretary-Historian, and nine (9) for Board members. One At-large position was from the same institution as a currently seated member, so she withdrew from the election process, leaving eight (8) candidates for Board positions.

The nominee membership list was checked against Treasury records to confirm all nominees are paid members of TASFAA. Committee members called nominees to solicit confirmation of acceptance and commitment to the position nominated, and all accepted. To date, we have received four (4) biographies and three (3) photos, to be sent to ATAC closer to voting date. Nominees were given a deadline of May 23rd to provide biography/photo information to committee chair.

Information will be forwarded to Paula Gordon for posting to the voting website based on the timeline determined at the May board meeting.

Regional Training Committee Report
Submitted by Diana Martinez, Chair, University of Texas - San Antonio, June, 2008

From helping an alien from another planet put on a tennis shoe to developing counseling strategies, the 2007-08 Regional Training 11 trainers provided valuable tools for financial aid professionals across the state of Texas. More than 300 participants learned about generational characteristics and what to expect when working with very diverse populations. Training also included nuts and bolts on cost of attendance development, demystifying federal methodology, addressing students’ and families’ financial concerns, effective loan counseling and counseling strategies.

The end of the training included an opportunity to think about how we can be accountable for our interactions with students and families. Participants were encouraged to remember the Five Pillars of Success in Service Delivery: Smile, Greet the Student, Use Open Body Language, Make Eye Contact, and say Thank You. Gaining knowledge and following these very simple steps will ensure we are engaging students and families in a dialogue about their needs as it relates to financing their education.

The committee is looking forward to the next NASFAA decentralized topic. We hope that you will join your colleagues this fall in training at a location near you. More information to come soon!

Scholarship Committee Report
Submitted by DeCha Reid, Chair, Cedar Valley College, May 2008

The TASFAA Scholarship committee selected the NAOW Mack C. Adams scholarship recipients. Our goal was to award scholarships for applicants who had at least 2 years of financial aid experience.

We used the following criteria to select the recipients:

All applicants were notified on April 29, 2008 of the final decision for the scholarship fund. Based upon the approved budget of $15,000, we allocated 40% of our budget funds for NAOW.

The recipients are being asked to complete an Estimated Travel Expense Form to submit to the committee by May 5 so we can see if we can award additional applicants. At this time, we have allocated all the funds and awarded 14 scholarships.

Members

Site Selection Committee Report
Submitted by Marci Beasley, Chair, Texas Tech University, May 21-22, 2008

Members:

The Site Selection Committee met on April 8 for a site visit to the Double Tree Hotel in Austin. This site would be for the 2012 Fall Conference. Specifications have been mailed to the marketing group at the Double Tree and we are awaiting a draft of the contract. The Site Selection Committee met with St. Mary’s University on April 22 to extend a contract for the New Aid Officers Workshop for the next 2-3 years.

Patrick Rena is no longer with Sallie Mae. Therefore we have lost a member of our committee. The remaining three will complete this year and one more member will be added for next term.

Newsletter Committee Report
Submitted by Harold Whitis, Texas A&M Health Science Center, Chair

The Newsletter Committee has a great group of volunteers that include Mariko Gomez of Texas State, Shannon Crossland of Texas Tech, Melet Leafgreen of TCU, Chris Elam of Campus Door, Tanya Vittitow of PPSLC, and Debbie Whitis of Brazos Higher Education Service Corporation. Our charge is to provide articles to TASFAA members that are interesting and timely enough to be useful and informative.

Responsibilities have been divided so that everyone has a specific task to perform for each edition and usually someone on the committee to help. The newsletter articles in the past have usually fallen into these categories: President’s Letter, Committee Reports, a NASFAA column, and “Who is On the Move”. I have added Regulatory Issues, a TASFAA member focus, Professional Development, and Professional Judgment. We may not always have an article for every category and will change offerings every month as needed.

The TASFAA Times is to be “for” and “about” the members of TASFAA. The committee will try to support that mission.

The schedule for this year’s newsletter publication is on the TASFAA Website.

Here are my basic rules to live by in collecting articles and the standard by which they will be judged in determining if they will be included in the newsletter (unless we have limited articles to choose from):

Is the article relevant to TASFAA (for and about)
Is it timely
Is the author being given proper credit and do we have their permission
Is it original or has it been published before (sometimes this is okay)
Is the newsletter the proper outlet for the article

Try to include the following with every article:

Progress
The first newsletter was published on January 30, 2008 as scheduled.
The second newsletter was published on April 2, 2008. It was submitted on time to ATAC but delayed because of their work on other TASFAA requests.

The third newsletter is in progress. A “Call for Articles” has already been sent out and June 15th is the expected publication date.

At the February TASFAA Committee meeting, the Public Relations Committee became part of the Newsletter Committee.

Request & Concern
The TASFAA Board and Committee Chairs are truly those who understand the needs of the membership and have information that members want and need. When the call for articles is published on the listserv, I implore you to provide timely information to the membership via the newsletter. This means that you have to think ahead. If your committee has an upcoming event or has just completed one, share the information with the membership. When you have an event, take pictures and forward them to any committee member. The success of the newsletter depends on the efforts of many.

As always, any constructive criticism is welcomed!