Vendor/ Sponsor Article

Lester McKenzie, Chair

Are you the solution?

Preparations are being made to the 2017 TASFAA Conference under the leadership of Mr. Charles Harper, conference chair, and Ms. Karen Hauser, President. Last year we welcomed over 262 attendees to the conference.

Let me share with you what is on the mind of Financial Aid Administrators (at least this one and quite a few I have spoken to):

1)      Verification and C399s – does your company have a solution?

2)      Scholarship Applications – does your company have a solution?

3)      Financial Literacy – does your company have a solution?

4)      Direct Loan Reconciliation – does your company have a solution?

5)      Alternative Loan Processing – does your company have a solution?

6)      Call Center Assistance – does your company have a solution?

If you can answer yes to any of these questions, you should sign up now to participate as a vendor at the 2017 Annual TASFAA Conference. We have updated our vendor/sponsor and patron levels to include some options to make our conference a need-to-attend conference.

What is new? All items marked with an * are new!

Grand Patron Level ($5500 and above)

• Priority Exhibit Booth

• Conference Recognition in Program

• Web Banner Ad *

• Web-based ad on Conference Sponsorship Page *

• Conference Recognition at Opening Session *

• 2 Non Advertisement’s in President’s Blog *

• Access to Conference Attendee List PRIOR to Conference *

• Flyer Insert in Conference Packet *

• Sponsor Workshop at Conference *

Patron Level ($4000 to $5499)

• Exhibit Booth

• Conference Recognition in Program

• Web Banner Ad *

• Web-based ad on Conference Sponsorship Page *

• Conference Recognition at Opening Session *

• 1 Non Advertisement’s in President’s Blog *

• Access to Conference Attendee List PRIOR to Conference *

• Flyer Insert in Conference Packet *

• Sponsor Workshop at Conference *

Sponsor Level ($3000 to $3999)

• Exhibit Booth

• Conference Recognition in Program

• Web-based ad on Conference Sponsorship Page *

• Conference Recognition at Opening Session *

• Access to Conference Attendee List AFTER Conference *

• Sponsor Workshop at Conference *

Vendor Level ($2000 to $2999)

• Exhibit Booth

• Conference Recognition in Program

• Web-based ad on Conference Sponsorship Page *

• Conference Recognition at Opening Session *

Can you provide a solution? If so, please plan on attending our annual TASFAA Conference, Sunday, April 23 through Wednesday, April 26, 2017 at the Embassy Suites in Murfreesboro, TN. If you would like to be a vendor, please contact me soon!

Lester McKenzie (lmckenzie@tntech.edu)

                                        Fax 931-372-6309

                          Phone 931-372-3070

Happy New Year TASFAA!  I hope you had a wonderful holiday season. Now it is back to registration, bills due, freshman packaging for 17/18, 399 resolutions, and keeping the aid train on the tracks!

Here are a few goals your TASFAA board has been working on over the past few months:

• Policy and Procedures review and recommendations for revisions.

• The Awards committee is reviewing TASFAA members service award increments.

• Annual conference planning is underway.

• New face lift for the TASFAA website home page.

• New Volunteer page/form is being worked on.

• TASFAA’s first Tennessee State Hill visit is being planned for February.

Your sector representative is your liaison to the TASFAA board. They are available to accept recommendations and suggestions! The TASFAA website has their name and contact information.

What’s ahead? 

• TN FAFSA Frenzy Day is January 12^th. Remember, TN deadlines are 1/17/17 so this is a last push!

• TASFAA Elections for the 2017-2018 year will be opening the end of January.

• NASFAA credential deadline, for those who attended the TASFAA Fall Training, is January 30, 2017.

• SASFAA – forget the cold and head to Biloxi, MS!  Register now for the February 12-15, 2017 conference.

• TASFAA annual conference is April 23 – 26, 2017 at the Embassy Suites in Murfreesboro. Mark your calendar and watch for registration to open.

Stay warm out there!  Hope to see you at either the SASFAA or TASFAA conference (or both!) Remember – what you do matters!

Karen Hauser
TASFAA President 2016-17 

 

 

 

This is a SHORT membership survey and your TASFAA Board would like to hear from you by November 18th.    https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TASFAAMbrSurvey

We would like to hear what sessions and topics you are interested in. Please respond by November 30th and provide session topics that would interest you and your school. Let us know if you are aware of someone who is an expert on the topic and might be willing to present at the conference. You can send your suggestions to Charles Harper mailto:charles.harper@belmont.edu, 2016-17 TASFAA Conference Committee Chair.

The TASFAA Nominations Committee is soliciting names of individuals who may be interested in serving in one of several elected TASFAA positions.  If you would like to nominate someone for a particular office or wish to be considered yourself, please notify Richard Smelser, mailto:rwsmelser@pstcc.edu by December 9th. 

For those who attended the NASFAA credentialing sessions held in East, Middle and West Tennessee October 19-21, you are eligible to take the NASFAA Credentialing Test for Application Process for FREE!!  The FREE test is available for three months and expires January 30, 2017.  It is important that you follow the instructions sent to you via email from Tiffany Summers, mailto:tiffany.summers@lipscomb.edu TASFAA Training Chair 2016-17.

With the power of a personal phone call, Pellissippi State Community College is helping former students avoid defaulting on their student loans....More

State Programs Update

 

The Tennessee Promise application opened on August 1^st and application totals are ahead of the pace from the first two years of the program.  The application is available through the TSAC Student Portal and will close on November 1^st. 

 

Rule changes for the Tennessee Promise and Ned McWherter Scholars programs were approved by the TSAC Board on September 27^th.  Significant changes to the Tennessee Promise rule included removing the August 1 verification deadline, removing the requirement that transfer students do not have to complete their degree prior to reaching a terminating event, and eliminating the renewal application. 

 

For the Ned McWherter Scholars, the rules were amended to require enrollment within 16 months and a regain provision was added.  These changes mirror the HOPE Scholarship.  The retention of the award was simplified and a work requirement was removed from the institutional match.   

 

For 2015-16, TN Promise had 16,300 students at a cost of $15.2M.  About 54% of the students received an award from the program.  Lottery-funded programs, including TN Promise and TCAT Reconnect, totaled $324M with 120,000 recipients. 

 

TSAA had a record year with $80.1M paid to almost 45,000 recipients.  For the current year, TSAC expects to spend just over $91M.  The TSAC Board approved an over commitment ratio of 153% for the 2017-18 academic year.  This means almost 50,000 students could receive TSAA.  TSAC is truly appreciative for the commitment this administration has shown to the program. 

 

The Community College Reconnect Grant (CCRG) began this fall and $1.5M has been disbursed to the community colleges.  The CCRG provides a last dollar scholarship to independent students who have earned 30 hours or more towards their associate degree.  The program is a pilot project and will be re-evaluated after funds have been expended. 

 

The new legislative session will start in January.  We have received only one proposed piece of legislation of note thus far.  It establishes a new program for high school juniors enrolled in middle college programs. 

 

 

Tim Phelps

Tennessee Students Need You

Do you have one hour per month to help students in your community transition from high school to college? tnAchieves, local partnering organization to Gov. Haslam’s TN Promise, needs 9,000 mentors to work with high school students from the Class of 2017. Mentors remind students of important deadlines, serve as a trusted college resource and, most importantly, encourage students to reach their full potential. The time commitment is small, but the impact can be life changing for a first generation college student trying to navigate the college going process. Learn more or register at https://tnachieves.org/mentors/requirements/.

 

To see how many mentors are needed and how many have registered in your county, visit: https://tnachieves.org/mentors/mentor-recruitment-dashboard/.

TASFAA Members!  TSAC needs your support for Financial Aid Awareness and Outreach events.  This is YOUR opportunity to support students and shine for TASFAA.  It is easy!  Volunteer for high school financial aid nights, TN FAFSA Frenzy events, FAFSA completion workshops to just name a few opportunities.  Check out the wonderful materials available at https://www.tn.gov/assets/entities/gearuptn/attachments/TNFAFSAFrenzyToolkit2016.pdf  for our use.

Please log into the TASFAA website and update your profile to volunteer.     Set your personal goal for September 9, 2016 to add “volunteer” to your TASFAA profile!   You can also email Diane LeJeune at diane.LeJeune@tn.gov to offer your assistance. If you plan your own event, please let Diane LeJeune, your TASFAA sector representative or me know. We can all work together to support college goals for our students and future TN students!

Cherry Johnson

Financial Aid Awareness Chair

Cjohnson22@columbiastate.edu