MASFAP Executive Board

MASFAP Executive Board

Meeting Minutes

9/21/16

MOHELA Facility

Columbia, MO

Members Present: Angela Karlin, Amy Hager,Gena Boling, Dan Dick, Samantha Matchefts, Sarah Bright, Kathy Elsea,Melissa Findley, Leroy Wade, Mya Walker Lawrence, Jamie Davis, Crystal Bruntz, Matthew Kearney,Kim Howe, Mariah Hibbard, Kerry Hallahan, Dena Norris, Jennifer Haynes, Brice Baumgardner, Ginny Burns, and Alexandria Miller.

Members not present: Kristen Gibbs, Mya Walker Lawrence, Kelly Fleming, and Will Shaffner

I. Welcome/Introductions/Announcements

The fall 2016 MASFAP Executive Board meeting was called to order at 10:10 am at the MOHELA facility in Columbia, Missouri by MASFAP President Angela Karlin.

II. Approval of the Executive Board Minutes

The minutes from the June 22, 2016 board meeting and business meeting were approvedwith one correction to the Delegates section reflecting that Kathy Elsea alone reported for the Delegates.

III. Report of Officers and Committee Chairs

President’s Report

President Angela Karlin thanked MASFAP members serving on the MASFAA program planning committee for successfully promoting the conference. 81 MASFAP members are scheduled to attend the 2016 MASFAAconference in Kansas City, with half attending the Missouri dinner event there. The $200 scholarship incentive for MASFAP attendees is still available. Brice shared that he hopes MASFAA board members recognize the contributions of MASFAP to this year’s regional conference.

Angela requested that Missouri State University be permitted to send staff to the 2016 MASFAP conference with a Director’s discount, even though the Director is unable to attend as a result of a schedule conflict related to the move of the annual conference from November to December this year. At 10:21am a motion carried to approve this extenuating circumstance and permit Missouri State’s Associate Director’s attendance at the MASFAP conference as meeting the discount criteria.

With regards to switching financial management institutions, Angela and the Budget and Finance Committee determined we are not required to do an RFP. Also, MDHE requested Angela present about Early FAFSA and school priority date information at the Missouri School Counselors conference.

Kerry Hallahan recently solicited life-time membership recommendations and there was discussion about a nominee who might meet both membership criteria. Life-time member recipients receive a reduced fee for conferences, a certificate, and access to the MASFAP Monitor. Between now and the fall conference, additional research will be conducted by the Awards committee so that a clearly defined description of the life-time membership versus the retiree membership exists.

President Elect Report

President-Elect Amy Hager attended NASFAA’s state president’s event and presented at the national conference. Amy has also sent several announcements to MASFAP about the regional conference. With regards to next year’s 50th anniversary conference, a plan is being developed, and help will be solicited soon. The board positions for next year are being filled and facilities for 2017 board meetings coordinated.

Past President Report

Past President Gena Boling recently sought nominations for the Associate member Delegate position. Voting is currently open. Also, Missouri award nominations have been solicited.

With regards to MASFAP Policy and Procedure (P&P) manual review, the following revisions were requested: Delegates should conduct a quarterly review of the association’s financials for auditing purposes (#4 under section 2.5.8). Motion carried at 10:45am. In addition, Nominations and Elections P&P section updated to include “and have been notified of and agree to abide by rules of elections as described in MASFAP Constitution and P&P (section 4.1, number 5a) and electronic voting ballots shall remain open for only 15 days rather than 30 days (section 4.1, 8a). Motions carried at 10:49am.

Furthermore, it has been suggested the P&P must clearly define if NASFAA and MASFAA board meetings and conference expenses will be covered for the President and for the President-Elect, or incoming President when the President cannot attend and a substitute must represent MASFAP. For the NASFAA conference, when the President is unable to attend, the Executive Board will approve the President’s recommended proxy with a preference to send another member based on the hierarchy of board positions (under the B&F committee section), and will cover the same expenses that would have been covered for the MASFAP President. Motion carried at 11:10am. With regards to the MASFAA conference, additional research of prior budgets and minutes will be conducted, so that the P&P clearly identifies which position shall be granted reimbursement proceeding forward.

In instances where the Bob Berger Newcomer award recipient cannot attend the MASFAA Summer Leadership Institute, it was suggested the P&P must include revised language to indicate “if available”, since this workshop is not offered by MASFAA every year, and again to clearly define appropriate substitute attendees (under B&F committee section). No vote occurred.

Vice President Report

Vice President Dan Dick’s “Twelve Days of MASFAP” poem received multiple kudos for creativity. He shared that the mini conference site is up. Already over 20 MASFAP members are registering for the December 2016 conference. As an additional incentive, the first 48 registrations receive a $100 discount on their 2017 MASFAP membership renewal. The discount will be adjusted on the back end, since it cannot be reflected on the webpage. The keynote speaker is lined up, but a contract is still under development, and Zora Mulligan, new MDHE Commissioner, will speak on day one of the conference.

Treasurer Report

Treasurer Dena Norris shared that the following four banks are being interviewed as potential financial institutions for MASFAP association funds: Central Bank, Callaway Bank, Commerce Bank, and UMB. After being interviewed by the Budget and Finance Committee,a recommendation will be made to the board for approval to switch to one of these financial institutions. Unfortunately, in the meantime, US Bank is unable to correct the account ownership details.

Approximately 30 MASFAP member institutions requested the $200 reimbursement for the MASFAA conference, which is under budget. A final plea to attend and take advantage of the scholarship will be made with an extended cutoff date of October 1st. MASFAA scholar recipients can anticipate reimbursement later this fall.

It was recommended that the $200 discount be provided to each individual MASFAA conference attendee, rather than one discount per school, and/or that the discount opportunity be extended to promote additional MASFAP attendance. However, during the April 14, 2016 MASFAP executive board conference call,meeting minutes and an approved motionindicated that “if an institution decides not to attend the MASFAA conference, the unused $200 from that institution will go back into the Purdy Scholarship fund to reallocate to those attending and the reallocated $200 will supplement the reimbursement to those institutions attending, therefore increasing the award to over $200 per institution.” As voted on in April, the reallocation of the $18,000 MASFAA scholarship funds will include an increased MASFAA scholarship reimbursement pernon-associate memberas confirmed by the B&F committee and divided equally up to the cost of registration per institution. Motion approved at 11:59am.

Delegates Report

Kathy Elsea shared that the Delegates reviewed the second quarter financials and made blog posts.

Awards Report

Awards Committee Chair Kerry Hallahan indicated that a new committee member request came through for Lana DeJanes from State Fair Community College. A motion carried at 12:51pm to add her to the committee. For plaques to be presented at the December 2016 conference, names must be submitted to Kerry this October.

Communications Report

Communications Committee Chair Melissa Findley reported that each month a MASFAP update is issued to the membership. The October MASFAP Monitor will include MASFAA highlights and pictures, as well as a MASFAP conference agenda with finalized sessions.

Corporate Support/Associate Member Concerns Report

Corporate Support/Associate Member Concerns Committee Chair Ginny Burns shared that the corporate support form is on the MASFAP mini conference site, and Angela has been sending personal thank you letters to donors for their support. There is concern from outside vendors that the December conference dates conflict with the holiday season and some have indicated they will be present at the October MASFAA conference in Kansas City instead of this year’s MASFAP conference.

Early Awareness Report

Chair Alex Miller reported that the Early Awareness Committee sent a survey to high school counselors which provided direction for upcoming workshops. Five high school counselor workshops will be hosted this year: in Columbia, Rolla, Kansas City, St. Joseph, and St. Louis. Springfield, Missouri will not be a location for an event this year, as Ozark Technical College is conducting asimilar counselor workshop independent of MASFAP. Early FAFSA, prior-prior year income tax information, FSAID, homeless youth designation, and verification will be highlighted. The location of the Kansas City workshop requested clarification of the insurance coverage by MASFAP for a workshop at their site. It was confirmed that MASFAP has insurance that protects participants, but typically if an incident occurs, the institution’s insurance is applied first, followed by the MASFAP insurance. The Site Chair, Kim Howe, will provide additional clarification and proof of insurance for development of a contract.

In addition, data was solicited from each MASFAP institution about priority deadline and award letter plans effective 2017-2018. Concerns related to sharing survey results with the high school counselors was discussed. It was recommended that when shared with others a disclaimer indicating “best estimate and subject to change” be emphasized and that only a range of dates be shared during presentations. President Karlin also requested that the Early Awareness Committee only share the results internally with MASFAP members, no others, since plans under Prior-Prior Year are still tentative for most schools. It was also recommended that the results be aggregated and shared in percentiles with the association, versus school by school.

One of the fifteen 2016-2017 FAFSA Frenzy scholarship awards has not been accepted. Kim Howe recommended Alex Miller contact MDHE to confirm how to proceed and if a runner up was identified.

Ex-Officio Report

With regards to state aid programs, Ex-Offico Leroy Wade shared that supplemental funds have been requested for Bright Flight and that spring Bright Flight awards may be delayed due to a funding shortage. He requested that during the next Hill Day MASFAP continue to support funding for the top 3% Bright Flight students, which is currently a score of 31 or higher. With every high school junior now taking the ACT exam, the Bright Flight candidate pool continues to grow, requiring additional financial support.

Over the next year and a half, MDHE will receive technical assistance from an outside agency that will help review the state’s financial aid programs. This will include consensus of the goals for state aid and revamped design of programs that meet those goals. MDHE is planning upgrades to FAMOUS that will permit pulling in FAFSAs in October versus January. In addition, although the “soft” deadline for state aid is now February 1st, it is possible that adequate funding will be available to those who complete a FAFSA between then and April 1st, the prior deadline. It was emphasized that the earlier date was selected to ensure there is adequate funding for Access Missouri students.

100 sites will host a FAFSA Frenzy this October. In past MASFAP has funded approximately 8 to 15 $500 FAFSA Frenzy scholarships. It was discussed that the FAFSA Frenzy scholarship does not necessarily impact attendance at the events, may not be the best use of funds, and is not a requirement of the association. In 2016, the association had to ask MOHELA for assistance with covering the scholarship costs. The current FAFSA Frenzy poster advertises that there still is a scholarship opportunity, so the amount and number of awards should be determined in December 2016 during the approval of the 2017 budget. It was recommended that MASFAP’s Build America funds be used to fund a very limited number of FAFSA Frenzy scholarships this year and that effective 2017 the scholarship award be dissolved. It was agreed that effective 2017, the FAFSA Frenzy scholarship will no longer be available.

The state’s Complete College America, 15 to finish, program is gearing up. MDHE is considering that there may be some connections that can be made between students taking an increased credit hour load of 15 being eligible for additional state aid as an incentive.

Membership Report

Membership Committee Chair Jennifer Haynes shared that there are currently 92 members and that members will be asked to confirm their list of participants soon.

Newcomer Report

Newcomer Committee Chair Jamie Davis shared that feedback has been solicited for this year’s newcomer plans. In addition, outreach to new members is being conducted.

Professional Development Report

Professional Development Committee Chair Crystal Bruntz reported that there were 28 attendees at yesterday’s MASFAP Town Hall meeting and that this fall’s R2T4 and SAP NASFAA credentialing workshops have been promoted. The professional development budget will be at least $3,000 below budget. Because of this stewardship, a motion carried at 2:00pm to transfer the unused Purdy funds to offset December MASFAP conference expenses, specifically to provide the $100 MASFAP membership renewal discount to every institution that renews and pays for 2017 MASFAP membership while registering for the December MASFAP conference, rather than only the first 48 registrations. The Technology Committee will contact ATAC about needing to reduce the fee listed online by $100, so that the correct chargesare reflected on invoices.

Research Report

Research Committee Chair Matthew Kearney shared that a salary survey related to financial aid positions, titles, and pay is being developed, and that aggregate data will be provided.

Site Chair Report

Site Chair Kim Howe is helping develop plans for next year’s 50th anniversary celebration.

Technology Report

Technology Committee Chair Mariah Hibbard continues to work on web updates related to items like elections.

New Business

The next board meeting at the2016 conferencewill begin promptly 9:00am on December 12th, so the board can attend the Newcomer lunch that afternoon. December board reports are due November 23rd, along with a brief summary of 2016 accomplishments. Furthermore, board members should bring to the December meeting directions and sample materials to train their 2017 predecessor.

The September 21, 2016 meeting adjourned at 2:13pm.