MASFAP Early Awareness Committee Meeting

MASFAP Early Awareness Committee Meeting

Friday, September 23, 2011

In attendance: Dan Dick, Dena Winkler, Keith Broadus, Kim Howe, Katherine Coates, Jessie McCoy

Meeting Minutes

High School Counselor Workshops:

This is our 5th year offering workshops across the state of Missouri. We are adding a Springfield site this year, at Missouri State University. The dates/locations are:

Monday, Nov. 14th - St. Louis workshop at Saint Louis University

Thursday, Nov. 17th - Columbia workshop at Columbia College

Thursday, Nov. 17th - Springfield workshop at Missouri State University

Friday, Nov. 18th - Rolla workshop at Missouri University of Science and Technology

Friday, Nov. 18th - Kansas City workshop at the MCC- Business and Technology Center

Presentation materials available here:

http://www.fsa4counselors.ed.gov/clcf/NT4CMELibrary.html

Printing: NT4CM is not printing our materials this year, so it was decided that we would ask the counselors to print and bring their own materials. We thought about the possibility of counselors printing the supplies and not attending, but we thought the financial aid training, as well as networking opportunity will keep the counselors coming. We think the repetition is also beneficial, having these workshops every year. Colleen Brown (Chair of MASFAP Technology Committee) is working on posting the presentations to the masfap.org website. Kim indicated the state aid presentation has been created as well. Each site will provide certain handouts (such as draft 2012-13 FAFSA) and an agenda with presenter contact information as well.

Sections include:

9:00-9:20: Overview of Financial Aid Programs

9:20-9:40: Applying for Federal Financial Aid

9:40-10:10: Student Dependency Status

10:10- 10:25: Break

10:25-10:55: And the Number Is….

10:55-11:15: After the FAFSA

11:15-11:30: Searching For Scholarships

11:30-11:50: State and Institutional Aid

11:50-12:00: Conclusion

Each point person is responsible for securing presenters, typically 3-4 presenters (the more, the merrier!) are needed at each site. For presenters, it is preferred to have representation from multiple colleges in the area if possible. Other point person duties include:

-  Attending the workshop from 9-noon

-  Making sure each counselor signs in and out, as well as completes an evaluation

-  Making sure a laptop/projector is available at each site

-  Having all presentations on a jump drive or saved on the laptop (they are also available on the web if the room has internet access)

-  Bringing light refreshments (such as water and cookies) to the workshop

-  Serving as the contact for the workshop (your contact info will be listed on the registration form when the counselor registers online)

-  Sending an initial “Thanks for registering for the workshop, here are some additional details…” e-mail to the counselors after they register (mass e-mail to all counselors is fine)

-  Sending a follow up e-mail after the workshop to all counselors, thanking them and sending follow ups to any unanswered questions from the workshop (mass e-mail to all counselors is fine)

-  Returning e-mail/phone correspondence with the counselors as needed

Point people are:

St. Louis- Dan Dick

Columbia- Columbia College/ Colleen Brown

Springfield- Kim Howe

Rolla- Jessie McCoy

Kansas City- Katie Lewis

Please let the point people know if you are interested in presenting! We would love your help!

CEUs: We had an issue with counselors receiving Continuing Education Units for the 2010 workshops, so it was discussed assigning a CEU Coordinator. Julie/Lesley: Would you be able to look into this? Katherine is looking into the issue with the 2010 workshop CEUs with NACAC.

Online registration: Jessie has contacted NT4CM to verify they (FSA) will be able to host our online registration again this year. We will let you know when the registration is live. Until then, please feel free to encourage counselors to email with any questions about the workshops.

Advertising: Workshop save the dates went out on the Missouri Association of College Admissions Counseling (MOACAC) listserv and in Sept. DESE Guidance Digest. Other advertising efforts include:

·  Link on masfap.org to the online training registration

·  Rotating featurette added to dhe.mo.gov’s home page (as soon as the online training registration is available)

·  Article in the MDHE’s October issue of the Digest

·  Email message to 2012 non-FAO FAFSA Frenzy site coordinators

·  MDHE e-distribution message to guidance counselors(about 400 subscribe)

·  Promote at booth at the MSCA conference November 6-8 at Tan-Tar-A (flyer)

·  Distribute flyer to counselors who attend college fairs (BJ White from MDHE is bringing the flyer to Springfield college fair, we have also contacted Kansas City’s fair and may have booth at Columbia fair as well)

·  Postcard mailing if EAC budget allows

·  Reach out to your admissions office to spread the word! Please reach out to your admissions office and ask them to advertise the high school counselor workshop dates to the counselors they talk with. In addition, we will talk with Drew Griffin (President- MOACAC) to see if he can send a message to high school counselors as well.

FAFSA Frenzy- Sunday, February 12th

Program changes for 2012

·  49 sites this year, compared to 58 last year

·  In 38 counties (better distributed than last year)

·  MASFAP Scholarship- 8 $500 scholarships awarded across the state (instead of 4 $1000 scholarships)

·  Different event evaluations

·  Soliciting for volunteers soon- volunteer app should be up on MDHE website in 2-3 weeks

·  Site Coordinator Meeting- Wednesday, November 2, 2011

·  Site Coordinators- partnering with organizations in your area

We looked at Site Toolkit, as well as list of 2012 FAFSA Frenzy Sites (which can be found in Show Me To College database).

Upcoming Events:

Voices in Action, October 22nd from 11:30-1:30 in Kansas City- Camp Fire USA and the US Dept of Education are hosting the Voices in Action: Kansas City Youth Summit.The purpose of the summit is to empower a diverse set of 200 high-school youth that participate in out-of-school organizations to create youth-led strategies that address President Obama’s 2020 college completion rate. The youth will be discussion how they can communicate how accessible higher education is for everyone if you have the right tools and resources.During the lunch period, they are having several colleges and organizations come and have a booth for the youth to visit. They asked a representative from MASFAP to be present with some materials/ resources for the youth on tools available (FAFSA assistance, loans, grants, etc…). Dena Norris volunteered- THANK YOU! Julie Meyer is sending Dena some MDHE materials and the MASFAP tablecloth, and Katherine sent some FSA publications. Please let us know if you are interested in helping Dena at the Voices in Action Summit.

MSCA Conference at Tan-Tar-A in Lake Ozark, MO. November 6-8:

·  Exhibit with MDHE (double booth). Exhibit times are Sunday 12-5:30pm and Monday 7:30-11:30am.

·  Volunteers- BJ White and Lisa Wilson will be attending from MDHE- please let us know if you are interested in assisting them on behalf of our committee. Thanks!

College Fairs:

October 4 in Springfield- Katherine is inquiring about the cost of EAC attending.

October 13 in Kansas City- Jessie is inquiring about the cost of EAC attending.

October 24 in Columbia- please let us know if you are interested in staffing a table at this fair on behalf of EAC.

Dan is looking into any EAC participation in the St. Louis fair on October 17 from 8:30-11:30am at Harris-Stowe State University, as well as the NACAC fair on October 16.

Show Me to College Database:

Thanks to MDHE for entering college fairs, presentations, and FAFSA Frenzy dates in the Show Me to College database! We have a good amount of events now in order to promote Show Me to College, but we know there are more college events and financial aid nights happening that are not in the database! We decided we need to advertise the tool to the MASFAP membership at the upcoming conference and through an e-mail to the MASFAP membership. Julie and Jessie will mention this on Monday of the conference, during the committee update over lunch. Also, Dena is going to look at the database, to see what presentations need to be updated, as well as other improvements that could be made.

Revamping Reality Store materials:

We completed 7 Reality Stores this spring, and wanted to take a look at our materials to see what could be changed and improved. Here are some suggested updates we discussed:

·  Include tools and pictures with each station (such as grocery store flyers at the “Groceries” station- Aldi for the frugal option, Schnucks for the moderate option, Whole Foods for the elaborate option), to make the activities more realistic

·  Create a more formal survey to the students after the reality store is completed, to get input from the students

·  For those students who spent over their monthly budget, require them to make corrections to get them “out of the red”

·  List taxes for students- for example: if your income is $0-$35,000, assume 10% tax rate, etc.

·  Wheel of Fortune (student selects a “fortune” at random) - make students realize the consequences of their decision. For example, perhaps their fortune is “You broke your arm. Pay $X if you have health insurance and $XXX if you do not.”

·  Suggested changes to the income listed, as well as various costs to make them more realistic. Dan will share some changes he’s made to the materials.

It was discussed possibly adding these materials to the Show Me to College database, to make the materials accessible to anyone wanting to put on a Reality Store. Please let us know if you are interested in reviewing our current materials and updating them with the changes we discussed.

Revisit Lunch ‘n Learn presentations:

The “College: the Attainable Dream” presentation (available on the Show Me to College database) used to be the main focus of the EAC. This presentation talked about the importance of saving for college, ways to save, and how to pay for college. EAC would present to businesses and organizations during their lunch hour. The need for this presentation is still there, so we discussed whether we want to pursue this again. We decided that it would be good to try on a limited basis. Please let us know of any business/organization would find this presentation of interest. Also, Jessie will send out a letter that the committee could use to mail/email to any potential businesses/organizations.

Brainstorm with advisors from Missouri College Advising Corps (MCAC):

MCAC hires recent MU graduates to work in partner high schools and community colleges across Missouri to help Missouri students go to college. MCAC college advisers help students understand that they can complete a four-year college degree, find their “best fit” institution, and navigate the process of applying for admission and financial aid. Advisers are immersed in the school or community college and are available to guide students through the college planning and admission process. The Missouri College Advising Corps helps Missouri students who may not have otherwise gone to college.

We had previously discussed EAC doing a College for a Day program. Since “college tours” are already one of the things the MCAC advisors do, Katherine, Julie and Jessie met with MCAC head Beth Tankersley-Bankhead prior to the meeting about how EAC can assist with their college tours, rather than EAC doing their own College for a Day program.

So, after the EAC met from 10-2, we joined MCAC’s meeting and discussed how our groups can assist one another. It was a great meeting, and they really appreciated our assistance and resources. We discussed how EAC can possibly serve as a financial aid contact to MCAC for the state of Missouri. The MCAC advisors will all be in attendance at the 11/17 Columbia workshop which will provide them the training on college financial aid they are looking for. They also asked that we give a Reality Store demonstration after the workshop. After meeting with MCAC, EAC sent our contact information and Beth from MCAC sent us the contact info for the MCAC college advisers:

Meaghan Brougher, Van Horn High School,

Jeremy Ellis, Normandy High School,

Rebecca Fallon, Sullivan High School,

Brandon Guthrie, Soldan International Studies High School,

Shannon Julion, McCluer High School,

Brittani Lewis, Northeast High School,

Brittney McGinley, East High School,

Gerald McLemore II, Central High School,

Brittany Martensen, St. James High School,

Caitlin Mundschenk, Bayless High School and Hancock High School,

Jennifer Nadler, Potosi High School,

Erin O’Neil, St. Clair High School,

Trey Prothro, Southwest High School,

Kelly Sample, Salem High School,

Laura Schneider, Winnetonka High School,

Julie Scroggs, North Kansas City High School,

Tiffany Segers, Ruskin Senior High School,

Chelsea Sims, Grandview High School,

Alicia Smith, Jennings High School,

Khadija Tejan, Riverview Gardens High School,

Cherelle Washington, Paseo Academy,

Lindsey Webster, Ritenour High School,

Darius Whitaker, Gateway Institute of Technology,

Alechia Williams, McCluer South-Berkeley High School,

Next EAC Meeting

11/7/11 at 7:30am over breakfast at the MASFAP Conference. Thanks to all, for all you do!