OASFAA Executive Committee Meeting Minutes

Great Lakes Higher Education Corporation, Columbus, OH

January 26, 2007

Pamela Arrington

Mary Arter Bell*

Amy Baker*

Robin Belleville

Stacey Black

Doran Brock*

John Brown*

Mike Clouse

Don Chenelle

Bev Dalheim*

Deb Divers*

Joan Dornette*

Roger Eldridge*

Steve England

Carrie Euype*

Ann Marie Gruber

Greg Guzman*

Lee Harrell

Jennifer Hayes*

Pamela Hughes

Sherri Jianuzzi*

Angela Johnson*

Betsy Johnson*

Karen Kopp

Scott Lehman*

Marty Maliwesky*

Donna McCullough

Amanda McPherson

Kim Nash-Yore

Melony Ohalek*

Mayme Patthoff*

Mary Lynn Perri

Francis Robbins*

Marnie Roberts

Wendell Schick*

Michiale Schneider

Carmen Sears-Edwards*

Charles Shahid

Becky Shinaberry*

Doris Smith*

Stephanie Sutton*

Emily Swain*

LaToya Sykes

Karen Tijanich*

Lee Ann Timmerman*

Andrea Tracy*

Randy Ulses

Michele Wade*

Ralph Walker

Karen Wallace

Claudia Wenzel*

Cheryl Willard*

Connie Williams

*Present

Meeting called to order at 10:15 a.m.

I. Announcements and New Business Claudia Wenzel

College Goal Sunday check was received-Check received from Lumina. A final report of College Goal Sunday stats report is due in August. College Goal Sunday chairs will work with Tally to submit report.

Leadership Chair updates-Amy Wilkens will be stepping down as Leadership chair due to personal and professional reasons. Mike Clouse will be assuming his position as Leadership co-chair. Now employed at Great Lakes.

Lawrence Matthews- Surgery went well. Card and basket to be sent to Lawrence on behalf of OASFAA. Mary Arter Bell suggested that some OASFAA members help out at Bluffton. Claudia to officially offer any assistance to Bluffton University on behalf of OASFAA.

Policy Breakfast Update-(See OCAN report)

P&P Update-(See AG&P Report)

John Hammond stepping down as Entertainment Chair due to change in job.

Claudia thanked everyone for their work at conference

II. Old Business

P&P Update (See AG&P report)

III. Secretary’s Report Scott Lehman

Re-ordered and received the postcards with the OASFAA logo (spelled correctly) and delivered to Claudia. Motion to approve the Nov. 3 minutes. Mary Lynn Perri motioned to approve minutes. Seconded by Amy Baker. Minutes from November 3 meeting approved.

III. Treasurer’s Report Stephanie Sutton

Summary of activities:

§ All accounts reconciled with bank statements.

§ Received 2007 statement and bill from Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) for $130.00. Plan to cancel contract as parties providing music to OASFAA would be subject to the BMI licensing fee, not OASFAA. Investigating whether or not we need to pay current bill in lieu of contract cancellation.

Discussion: 2006 bill with BMI paid. Concern about entertainment piece of contract. Future entertainment pieces to be reviewed as needed. Stephanie to pursue cancelling contract.

IV. Regional Representatives Reports

A.) Northeast Stacey Black

No report at this time.

B.) Northwest Sherri Jianuzzi

Summary of activities:

Our second regional meeting was held on November 9, 2006 at Owens Community College Findlay Campus. There were 16 people in attendance. Susan Neppl from Great Lakes gave a presentation on Default Prevention Basics and Tools, Monica Miller from EdAmerica gave a presentation on Entrance/Exit Interview Tips, and Ken Butler from Chase Education Finance gave a presentation on Delivering Effective Presentations. The speakers were all given high marks on the evaluations.

Activities planned but not yet completed:

Needs Analysis Workshop for the Northwest Region is scheduled for February 1^st at BGSU-Firelands. I am still in the process of securing sites and topics for the March 30^th and April 17^th meetings.

C.) Southeast Amanda McPherson

I really do not have a report at this time, other than to remind folks about the Need Analysis Training in my region on Feb 16th at Franklin.

D.) Southwest Doran Brock

Summary of activities:

The first Southwest Regional Meeting was held on November 16th at The University of Cincinnati Raymond Walters College. We had Dee Delaney from OBR speak to us about the TEAP Grant.

Activities planned but not yet completed:

The next regional meeting will be February 8^th at Wilmington College in Wilmington Ohio. In that meeting we will be covering Need Analysis. Claudia to be in attendance.

Concerned about location of meetings. Attendance is consistently high at certain sites and low at other sites.

V. Executive Committee Reports

A.) VP for Training Emily Swain

Summary of activities:

Since the last Executive Committee Meeting, we held our first NASFAA Training session. The session was held as a Pre-Conference session to Winter Conference on December 12, 2006. We had 53 members in attendance.

Activities planned but not yet completed:

We are set to have our second session on February 2, 2007 at Franklin University.

I am in the process of confirming the details for the session at Franklin University as well as setting up the online registration with Paula from ATAC.

Recommended discussion items for the Executive Committee:

We’ve discussed leasing laptops and I’m looking for an update. The laptop that has been used for VP for Training isn’t capable of playing the CD with the NASFAA presentation. I’m in need of a laptop to use for the NASFAA Training on February 2^nd. I hope to discuss this during the meeting.

Recommended action items for the Executive Committee:

Leasing of a laptop for VP for Training. Laptop not able to play CD from NASFAA.

Mary Lynn to review possibility of leasing new laptops for all of OASFAA. Mary Arter Bell to assist Mary Lynn.

Amy Baker suggesting finding a place to donate old laptops if new ones are leased. May also trade old for new.

1.) Support Professional Committee Kim Nash-Yore

Summary of Activities:

Support Professional Workshops were held on November 16 and 17. They were a huge success. There were presentations on HERA, Customer Service, FAFSA/Needs Analysis, FERPA and Financial Aid Web Resources. Lunch and door prizes were provided. We showed “team spirit” by dressing in our favorite team colors (OSU or Michigan) for the big game! There was a lot more Red than Blue!!

Attendance:

North East – Lorain County Community College – 36

North West – Bowling Green State University – 22

South East – Great Lakes Higher Education, Columbus - 22

South West – Cedarville - 23

Evaluations:

Poor – 0

Fair – 2

Good – 142

Very Good – 326

Excellent – 333

Comments:

“This is the Best One Ever!”

“This was very beneficial, thank you!”

“I thought this year’s was much more informative than in the past.”

Topics Suggested for Next Year:

NSLDS

COD

FERPA again

Updates

Hand Calc

Stress Relief

Discussion Group

Loan Consolidation

SAP

ACG

Verification

Suggestions for Next Year:

Change time of workshop to 10am – 3pm.

Schedule one big presentation and one small presentation in the morning and afternoon sessions.

In the beginning, confirm with presenters that “all” presentations be on the OASFAA template.

Activities planned not yet completed:

Send Thank You Notes to all presenters and site coordinators. Need to wait for the OASFAA note cards to be reprinted.

Nomination process for the Support Staff Member of the Year Award will begin in February.

Recommended action items for the Executive Committee:

In the future, confirm sponsorship for the Support Professional Workshops. Although, we still had a budget, it would have been nice to have “goodies” like pens and pads of paper, etc.

Only had sponsorship for one site. Suggested maybe one sponsor for all the workshops. Or each site be sponsored or none.

Discussion about lenders that were not sponsors, implied that they were sponsors.

2.) Need Analysis Carmen Sears-Edwards

Summary of activities:

We conducted our Need Analysis sessions at winter conference on Thursday December 14^th. Three sessions were held covering the FAFSA 2007-08, federal updates pertaining to the EFC calculation, and four hand calculations. Approximately 250 attended.

Activities planned but not yet completed:

Regional training dates:

February 2nd, 2007 NEat Baldwin Wallace College

February 1st, 2007- NW at Bowling Green Firelands Campus

February 8^th, 2007- SW at Wilmington College

February 16^th, 2007 – SE at Franklin College

Need Analysis did a web training for OCAN. Had about 30 attendees.

Recommended action items for the Executive Committee:

That the Need Analysis committee be totally responsible for coordinating the regional trainings. The Need Analysis committee is responsible for conducting the trainings and paying for the expenses. Therefore we believe that it just makes sense that the committee selects the sites and dates along with input from the Regional Representatives.

Amy Baker to review this situation for 07-08. There seems to be some communication problems between Need Analysis Committee and Regional Representatives.

3.) NASFAA Training

(See VP for Training Report)

4.) Outreach Committee Bev Dalheim

Summary of activities:

November 28^th,29^th, and 30^th and December 1^st (2006) The Guidance Counselor Workshops were held at twelve locations around the state of Ohio. The workshops were quite successful and provided us with an opportunity to share the latest financial aid updates.

In addition, updated materials and recent presentations were posted as resources on the OASFAA web site.

Next meeting: February 22

5.) Early Awareness Committee Andrea Tracey

Summary of activities:

Held phone conference on 01/12/2007.

Activities planned but not yet completed:

Getting the registration website up. The presentation and speaker notes are completed, however, the registration page will more than likely have to be recreated. Letters to the targeted middle schools and college access organizations are ready to go as soon as the registration is made available.

Committee is ready to go and waiting for registration page to go live.

B) VP for Conferences Angela Johnson

Exhibitors were up from this winter from last winter conference. (See Corporate Support Report)

Over 500 attendees at conference. General information for spring conference is on the website. Angela e-mailed presentations to Paula to post to the web.

Summary of evaluations from Winter Conference are attached.

There will be a site tour on February 8. (Kings Island) Claudia Wenzel, Amy Baker, Angela Johnson, and Betsy Johnson to attend. Conference planning meeting on February 9.

Angela soliciting ideas for speakers and students groups for the spring conference. Also looking for student success stories. (Tying in “Connections” theme) Hoping to use a student group to kick off the conference. Possibly use the students to introduce speakers.

A couple of ideas were suggested. (OCAN, UC conservatory)

Vickie Crupper (MASFAA President-Elect) to be attending Spring Conference. MASFAA exchange person to be attendance. (Minnesota)

Jamie Malone contacted Claudia regarding DOE training in Ohio. DOE training at Raymond Walters. Training at Raymond Walters to be held the day before spring conference. Topics will be ACG, SMART, etc.

Angela will be sending out email soliciting ideas for topics for conference sessions.

1.) Corporate Development Karen Wallace

Summary of activities:

For Winter Conference 2006 we had 40 exhibitors and 20 sponsors; for a total dollar commitment of $42,100. There are still three vendors unpaid, but they have been contacted. We have received a number of positive comments from our associate members regarding the vending area and how well everything went. The hotel staff was exceptional.

For 2006-2007 General Corporate Sponsorship we have received commitments in the amount of $23,650 (total 19 sponsors) and received $21,650 in payments. There are four items that have not been selected for sponsorship (NASFAA Pre-conference and 3 Support Professional Training Meetings). Request for payment emails sent to 1 organization that owes for general sponsorship(College Goal Sunday) .

2.) Professional Development Pamela Arrington

No report at this time

3.) Conference

a.) Site Frances Robbins

Summary of activities:

Reviewed conference evaluations in preparation for spring conference planning meeting in February

Betsy will be involved in site visit on Feb. 8 and spring planning meeting on Feb 9^th.

b.) Program Lee Ann Timmerman

Costs for Winter 2006 program printing included:

Conference Postcards $149.00

Programs $1079.00

Rack Cards $188.00

Daily Signage $195.00

Clear Plastic Folders $381.50

Total: $1992.50

I would like to thank Betsy Johnson for all her help with gathering the ads and proofreading of the printed materials.

c.) Entertainment John Hammond

No report at this time.

d.) Registration Ann Marie Gruber

No report at this time.

4.) Leadership Mike Clouse

Summary of activities:

During Winter Conference a Leadership Reunion was held in which approximately 15 past Leadership participants attended. We discussed what occurred with the 05-06 Leadership Class and what worked and what didn’t in all past classes.

What worked:

1. Pre-Winter Conference Retreat

2. Have leadership class open to all OASFAA participants, no time limit

3. Have an application/ nomination process

What didn’t work

1. Leadership track that went all day. Need to spread out over 3 days just like the 05-06 class.

2. Not letting an associate member belong to leadership class (05-06).

The call was made at the reunion for those who would like to volunteer to be on the 07-08 Leadership Committee. The following people volunteered:

Matt Moore- Miami University

Jacalyn Heider- Lorain County Community College

Joy Jackson- Columbus State University

1. Activities planned but not yet completed:

· Involvement of Committee chairs

· Choosing a Leadership Committee

· Putting a call out for nominations for a Leadership Class for 07-08

· Meeting to discuss timeline and activities of Leadership Class

5.) New Member/Mentor Jennifer Hayes

Summary of activities:

The New Member/Mentor Committee had a successful Winter Conference. The mentor/mentee program went well with Robert Thomas, Eastland Career Center, won the prize of Free Spring Conference Registration.

New Member sessions were well attended and got some great feedback.

Activities planned but not yet completed:

Looking ahead to Spring Conference and developing the agenda. Looking to have a mentor/mentee reunion and also working more with the new members to get them involved.

Recommended action items for the Executive Committee:

We still need an update committee responsibilities and which ones you can sign up to join. New Member committee is willing to help if other committee members could give us the information on what their committee is doing and etc.

C. President-Elect Amy Baker

Summary of activities:

·Distributed Nomination form at conference and sent a reminder through the listserve regarding nomination forms. Deadline for nominations is February 1. Amy re-distributed nomination form.

Activities planned but not yet completed:

·Pull together ballot for the 2007-2008 year.

·MASFAA Site Co-chair selection

·Attending NASFAA leadership conference March 4-6

Recommended discussion items for the Executive Committee:

· MASFAA site chair selection –Michiale Schneider (and other volunteer from UD. Get from Amy) is a co-chair of local arrangement, we are looking for another person to attend.

· Need someone to attend the Indiana Conference April 15-17 at Casino Aztar in Evansville, IN (not sure that I can attend)

· NASFAA State Award Nominations due February 28, 2007- do we want to submit anything?

Claudia solicited ideas. Task Force, OASFAA’s relationship with KSU for CGS, and Leadership were ideas that were suggested. Wendell suggested the “Seasoned Professional” Track from conference. Outreach committee’s relationship with Guidance Counselors and distributed Federal and State information. Claudia suggested expanding the Outreach portion to Task Force, OCAN, OACAC to include access information.

- John Pierson (U.S. Department of Education) asked to identify OASFAA members to be represented (from all sectors) for a formal “Advisory Team” (that includes people from other entities) for moving the default management/prevention project objectives forward.

- MASFAA is doing a Leadership Retreat in Duluth, Minnesota. (June 19&20) MASFAA is looking for 2 OASFAA members to be nominated by February 20. Geared for potential MASFAA leaders. Several suggestions were discussed. (OASFAA members that are involved with MASFAA, Leadership Committee co-chairs, possible President-Elect Candidates) Amy to send an email for possible candidates.

- Transition meeting will be June 13-14 at Sawmill Creek (new exec members only)

1.) Nominations Committee

2.) Finance Committee

3.) Research

4.) College Goal Sunday Corporate Development Mary Arter Bell

Summary of activities:

· Continued work on implementation plan (Hope to start contacting companies in March 1)

· Provided CGS Corporate Development update during General Session at Winter Conference

· Michiale Schneider has joined committee

Activities planned but not yet completed:

· Committee Meeting – February 8

· Contact OASFAA Associate Members

· Begin contacting organizations - Spring

· Finalize follow-up phone script

· Develop follow-up correspondence

· Create invoice

D. Past President Mary Lynn Perri

1.) Association Governance Planning Michele Wade

P&P manual was all consolidated.

Steve and Michele will report on:

Reserve Fund: As specified in OAFSAA’s policy & procedures, our reserve is to be evaluated by AG&P this year. Per their review, we are on target for dollar amount in reserve fund.

Revocation/Refusal of Membership/Sponsorship:

Discussion: Majority of membership vote to revoke a membership? Also membership not tied to sponsorship?

There is nothing in the Constitution regarding student membership.

Michele and Steve to review P&P and Constitution. Then, Claudia to forward the P&P and Constitution and all exec members to review their section and update if appropriate. AG&P to house final copy of P&P.

Once reviewed, will decide on membership issues

2.) Membership Melony Ohalek

Melony distributed 3 styles of membership brochure. Melony will email the samples to exec committee. Looking for suggestions of what styles are preferred and what content needs to be added. Discussion about correct logo to be used for brochure.

New email will be sent to renew membership once Ann Marie finishes going thru conference registrations to see who paid membership dues.

477 members currently paid. More members expected as payments are made.

3.) Communication Michiale Schneider

Randy soliciting ideas for articles for Gazette.

4.) Regulatory Committee

a.) Federal Issues Martin Maliwesky

Summary of activities:

We met on January 11th to review the latest updates on the probable course the new congress with take relating to financial aid. We specifically discussed the new proposal introduced in the House of Representative to reduce student loan interest rates by half over the next several years and the impact it will have on borrowers, schools and lenders. We also reviewed other potential legislation such as the STAR act as well as further implementation of the HERA requirements.

Activities planned but not yet completed:

· We are working to obtain an up-to-date contact list of the current Ohio Federal Legislative Delegation that incorporates the changes resulting from the mid-term elections.

· We are aware of several workshops/training opportunities that will be available to the membership over the next several months by Great Lakes, USA Funds and others which will include sessions on federal updates. We strongly encourage the membership to take advantage of these training opportunities.

· We want to extent an offer to provide periodic updates at any of the upcoming regional meetings. Please let us know if you would like to add us to the meeting agendas.

Recommended discussion items for the Executive Committee:

· We would like to know if the Executive Committee is interested in providing periodic news flash updates regarding federal issues to the membership via the OASFAA listserv. There are a lot of organizations such as the CBA and NCHELP that provide daily news updates that most lenders and guarantors receive but probably not the schools. Would this be something the schools would be interested in receiving?

· With all the potential financial aid legislation that is currently floating around Washington should we solicit the membership for their views and attempt to create/adopt a policy position that OASFAA will take regarding these issues which we can pass on to our Ohio legislative delegation?

Discussion: Roger asked should OASFAA have an official position on potential legislation. Claudia endorsed that idea as long as it is general enough to represent entire membership.

Greg suggested putting a Q&A on the OASFAA website to get actual numbers and representation from the membership.

b.) State Issues Connie Williams

Summary of activities:

A. the November Executive Board meeting was held in the OBR conference room. OBR staff was introduced at the beginning of the meeting. It was beneficial to put faces with names and to visit with the OBR staff in their home.

B. Worked with Charles and the OBR staff as they prepared for presenting at the Winter OASFAA conference.

Activities planned, but not completed:

Will work with the spring conference committee and Mike Kinney, College Resource Coordinator for Ohio Rehabilitation Services Commission on an interest session and the Spring Conference.

Will send Charles Shahid a thank you note for participation at Winter Conference.

State issues will research potential changes to OBR.

c.) Reauthorization Issues

No report at this time.

d.) Task Force Wendell Schick/Don Chenelle

The following is draft recommendations waiting on approval from the Task Force for Early Awareness Committee. Wendell will send this draft recommendation to his committee for formal approval of draft recommendation next week.

TASK FORCE CHARGE:

The Task Force on Student Access and Early Awareness was charged by President Claudia Wenzel to determine and define OASFAA’s role in Student Access and Early Awareness.

The Governor’s Commission on Higher Education and the Economy set a goal of increasing the Ohio college matriculation rate by thirty percent. It was determined that the Task Force should consider:

1. What can OASFAA do to best support students’ needs in the college preparation, planning and selection process?

2. What role can and should OASFAA play in achieving the matriculation goal of the Governor’s Commission on Higher Education and the Economy, i.e. to increase the postsecondary matriculation rate in Ohio?

3. What can and should OASFAA provide to other agencies and organizations to empower them to improve the postsecondary matriculation rate?

4. How can OASFAA best interface with and support the activities of other interested agencies and organizations whose primary focus is college access?

5. What assistance would be most valuable to access agencies, Gear Up Programs, Trio Programs and other organizations with a stake in the college planning, preparation and matriculation process?

6. What can OASFAA realistically accomplish within its defined resources and limited volunteer base?

Wendell Schick and Donald Chenelle met to consider the charge and identify Task Force members who would represent the stake holders involved in access and early awareness. A diverse committee was essential to determine the need and properly define a role for OASFAA.

The first step in the process was to review OASFAA’s history to determine if OASFAA had previously established any principles of which the committee should be aware. The only previous discussion of OASFAA’s role in access and early awareness had occurred during Wendell Schick’s presidency. Wendell was faced with the potential loss of associate member financial support as a result of a potential change in federal regulations. Therefore, Wendell asked the Executive Committee to determine the core functions that OASFAA must maintain in the event that funding was drastically reduced in the future. The Executive Committee determined that ACCESS was a core function for OASFAA while EARLY AWARENESS was not a core function.

Guiding principles were defined against which to measure suggested roles for OASFAA. The guiding principles were applied in evaluating various options that were considered. The guiding principles also should be used to evaluate roles for OASFAA during the college selection continuum, namely aspiration, academic preparation, affordability, availability, academic planning and advancement. All activities should be evaluated on the basis that the specific activity is focused, targeted, consistent and sustainable.

What has emerged during our deliberations is a philosophy of access and early awareness, a road map not a blueprint for action. By establishing guiding principles, OASFAA will be able to position itself to react appropriately to changes in the future.

At the Task Force meeting, the representatives of the access programs stated their two most pressing needs were funding and staffing. Even when funding and human resources were initially available to initiate early awareness initiatives, continued funding and staffing to evaluate, maintain and improve the initiative were not readily available.

OASFAA member institutions are uniquely positioned to address both of these access and early awareness problems. The use of Federal Work-Study funds to pay student salaries to work in access and early awareness will address both of the primary needs by providing both staff and supplemental funding.

To be most effective, it was determined that OASFAA must:

· Define the population to be served;

· Be aware of trends and initiatives that occur in the state and nationally;

· Identify and support the activities, efforts and initiatives of the Ohio College Access Network;

· Identify and support the activities, efforts and initiatives of the TRIO and OACHE (Ohio Appalachian Center on Higher Education) Programs

· Identify and support initiatives to disseminate information to members of OACAC, OACRAO, and other professional organizations:

· Support the information needs and activities of the State of Ohio’s Hotline and College Access Portal, both of which are now operational:

· Continue to support College Goal Sunday;

· Establish a link within Ohio that ensures the continuous support of the aforementioned agencies;

· Stay focused and targeted in only those areas in which OASFAA can make a difference;

· Work diligently to provide continuity and sustainability in the areas of our strength.

If we examine the data on college matriculation since 1970, the increase in the college going population has occurred primarily among the students whose family income levels place the family in the highest income quartile. That quartile has seen an increase of 39.6 percent while the overall population has only experienced an 11.8 percent increase. Today, a student in the lowest income quartile is five times less likely to attend postsecondary education than a student in the highest income quartile.

Therefore, it is our recommendation that OASFAA focus its activities on improving the college matriculation rate of students in the lowest two income quartiles. It is in these two quartiles where there is the greatest potential to affect the matriculation rate and consequently the lives of the students. How can OASFAA maximize its efforts to affect the matriculation rate? Who are these students and how do we reach them.

Students, who enter postsecondary education in the next two decades, will increasingly look very different than previous students. They will be increasingly from minority groups, particularly Hispanic and from lower income families. As a result of the dramatic increase in the Hispanic college age population, it will be increasingly important that information and materials be provided in both English and Spanish.

OASFAA has neither the manpower nor the forum to reach these potential students on its own. It must do so in cooperation with other organizations whose primary purpose is college access. By matching college and university financial aid offices with individual access organizations, Trio Programs, the Gear Up Lighthouse sites, the Centers of Excellence OASFAA can cooperate with these professionals to provide the neediest students with the motivation, the information and the resources to make the dream of a college education a reality. Schools and access programs with existing relationships and/or written contracts should be matched, for example Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Scholarship Programs and the University of Northwestern Ohio and the Lima Access Program. In areas of the State in which we do not have functioning access programs, OASFAA should match colleges and universities with individual schools in which there is a high concentration of students in the lowest two quartiles of family income.

In addition to the matching of schools and programs, the use of Federal Work-Study to expand the volunteer base and funding of access programs, OASFAA should commit itself to assist the Ohio Board of Regents to maximize the benefits of the College Access Hotline and the College Access Portal, both of which are operational. OASFAA is in a unique position to help expand the volunteer base and funding of those needs by using Federal Work-Study funds from their institutions to enable students at the undergraduate and graduate levels to supplement programmatic staff, to expand program capabilities and provide direct contact with program clients, i.e. students, parents, counselors and other interested community and access partners.

OASFAA can further provide information & training support concerning the financial aid application process and funding opportunities to all the interested agencies. By doing this, it will not only increase the capacity and capability of these agencies, especially the Regional Centers of Excellence and OCAN, but it can provide correct information about financial aid through them to the students who have the need for the information reducing the concern for the non-availability of funding.

While the commitments envisioned by this Task Force Report are substantial, they are well within the capability, resources and volunteer base of OASFAA. The commitments envisioned in this report are focused, targeted, consistent and sustainable. OASFAA would need to commit itself to maintain at least four different functions. First, a group would need to focus on the message itself and delivery of the message. Group Two would have to focus on the matching program. Group Three would have to focus on follow-up and quality control. Finally, Group Four would have to concentrate on the gathering of statistical information and analysis to monitor the effectiveness of OASFAA’s Early Awareness and Access Initiatives.

Respectfully Submitted,

The Task Force on Access and Early Awareness

VI. Liaison Reports

A.) OBR Charles Shahid

No report at this time.

B.) Great Lakes Lee Harrell

Present by John Brown. Mike Clouse hired in an outreach committee for Great Lakes. Space available for committee meetings. Contact Lavenia (614) 755-7400, John, or Lee.

C.) OCAN Mayme Patthoff

OCAN is working collaboratively with OASFAA, OACAC and the TRIO Programs in Ohio to host a legislative breakfast on March 28, 2007. The TRIO Programs have been hosting this activity for the last two years and have extended the invitation to the other three organizations. The purpose of the breakfast is to educate the legislators on the work that these associations do to promote higher education in our state. A joint meeting of the associations was held on January 18^th to continue to plan the event. Reggie Wilkinson, President & CEO of OCAN is trying to get Governor Strickland to speak at the breakfast. Other speakers likely to be invited will be the Chairs of the House & Senate Education Committees. A student who has received services from the associations will also be asked to speak.

A subcommittee from the group is working on crafting a message to be included in the invitation to the legislators. Each association will probably be asked to provide information for packets for those that attend. The information will describe the work of the association. TRIO will invite all of their members. The other associations will be asked to select 2-4 members of their executive committee to attend the breakfast. OCAN staff members will also attend. Appropriate members from OBR will also be asked to attend. The group was asked to submit names to Mayme Patthoff of key education professionals that should be included on the invitation list. TRIO has a comprehensive invitation list they have used in the past as well.

The TRIO association was financially responsible for this event in past. With the collaborative effort this year, it is anticipated that the event may grow from 135 attendees to 250-300 attendees. In light of that, each organization was asked to review their budgets and determine an amount they might be able to contribute towards the event. It is anticipated that the event may cost between $5-6,000.

The location for the breakfast, potential speakers and the draft of the invitation should be ready at the end of the month for the committee.

All groups appear to be very excited about the opportunity to work collaboratively on this project and to have the opportunity to help educate the legislators about our work.

Submitted by,

MorraLee Holzapfel

Director-Outreach & Members Services

Discussion: Asking for a donation of approximately $1,000. Deb Divers motioned to send a $1,000 donation to the breakfast. Motion seconded by Amy Baker. Motion was approved.

Motion to adjourn by Deb Divers. Seconded Mary Lynn Perri. Meeting adjourned at 1:42 p.m.

Next meeting March 9 at Great Lakes