Dear TASFAA Members,
I hope your year has gotten off to a great start and you have found time to catch your breath, if only for a moment now that classes are well underway. It is a very exciting time for TASFAA as we are just a little over two months from our 50th Anniversary celebration and annual conference. Your conference committee has been working extremely hard to make this year’s conference one of the best in our 50 years as an association. The theme this year is Honoring the Past, Building the Future as we must not forget those that not only helped build TASFAA into the strong association that it is today but also made the way for us to continue the important work for our students for the next 50 years. The conference registration will be open online very soon, and I am truly looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible in April. I also want to take the time to keep the association informed about the ongoing work that TASFAA is doing as well as the recent results of our TASFAA Elections.
A TASFAA member meeting was held on February 13, 2017, at the SASFAA conference in Alexandria, Virginia. About 20 TASFAA members attended. After a welcome and introductions of attendees, Marian Dill, SASFAA Past President, delivered a SASFAA update. Celena Tulloss, SASFAA Vice President, shared information about the 2018 SASFAA New Aid Officers Workshop to be held June 3 – 8 at Wofford College. I would like to encourage any member with 3 years or less experience to attend. TASFAA is pleased to offer the Clyde Walker Professional Development Scholarship to a qualified member.
Our meeting continued with a discussion on TN legislation, specifically the Compete to Complete Act SB 2259 and HB 2114. Many of you were on the January 31 phone call with Tim Phelps and other members of TSAC discussing the bill. Let your institution’s administration know about this bill and the impact it may have on your students. If you have concerns about this bill, now is the time to speak with your Tennessee Legislator.
While at SASFAA Tiffany Summers, TASFAA President Elect from Lipscomb University, and Phyllis Faulkner from University of Tennessee Health Science Center joined Ron Gambill, TASFAA Legislative Chair, on Hill visits! They were able to meet with staff members from the offices of Congressman Cohen (D-TN) , Congressman Roe (R-TN), and Congressman Cooper (D-TN), as well as a member from the office of Virginia Foxx (R-NC). They spoke on behalf of our students and shared support and concerns with the Prosper Act. Thank you to those three for their advocacy!
To wrap up our meeting, Karen Hauser, TASFAA Past President and Nominations Chair, reported on our election results. 401 ballots were submitted, and 198 votes were cast (49%). Karen recognized the Nominations committee and the work done to provide a full slate of candidates. I would also like to express my gratitude to each TASFAA member who ran for office for their willingness to serve TASFAA. Congratulations to the 2018-2019 TASFAA elected officers:
President Elect: Joe Myers, Motlow Community College
Secretary: Kacee Hardy, Dyersburg Community College
Member at Large: Eric Farmer, TSAC
4-yr Public Sector: Jennifer Buckles, UT Chattanooga
4-yr Private Sector: Chanell Thomas, Vanderbilt University
Community College & 2-yr Sector: Holly Malone, North East State Community College
TCAT Sector: Cara Suhr, TCAT Nashville
Proprietary Sector: Mary Kidd, Nossi College of Art
I would like to congratulate Leah Louallen, TASFAA Conference Chair, on her election to the SASFAA Executive Board. Leah will be serving as Treasurer Elect for 2018-2019 and Treasurer for 2019-2020. Leah has served TASFAA in this same capacity in the past, so I know that SASFAA will truly benefit from her hard work and attention to detail.
I would also like to congratulate Marian Dill. Marian is a former TASFAA President, current SASFAA Past President, and Lee University Director of Financial Aid. The NASFAA membership elected Marian to serve as a Representative-at-Large for a two-year term beginning in the 2018-19 program year. The six National Representatives-at-Large are elected without regard to geographical location. This is a tribute to Marian's service to the profession as she was elected not just by TASFAA members but by institutional NASFAA members across the country.
Again, watch for our TASFAA conference registration to open soon. You won’t want to miss our 50th annual conference as it will definitely be one to remember. See you in April!
Charles Harper
TASFAA President
