Colorado

Politics and Goals
The mantra seems to have always been “getting the right student, the right amount of aid at the right time”. Most of us work for that goal. In working toward this goal, we have worked with an imperfect system and have tried to make our communication simpler and our delivery less complicated. In doing so, Congress, the Department of Education and even our own State Legislature continue to recognize this on the surface but seems to provide us with alternatives that work in the other direction. I looked back at our state reports for the last couple years and found that Colorado legislative issues have been a common theme. We have College Opportunity Fund (COF), Colorado’s College Responsibility Grant – which was a revamp of our state grant program and have just recently created our own version of the ‘TEACH grant’. Upcoming in November is a ballot initiative that could pump in $120 million dollars and create a Colorado Promise Scholarship. Again, on the surface this would provide a tremendous influx of support for our state students and we in the aid community over-whelmingly welcome the funds. However, the details behind the delivery of these funds are currently filled with stipulations that jeopardize our current grant funding and could potentially make some currently funded students ineligible. As aid administrators, we find ourselves in conflict and struggle with the influx of funds versus the ability to serve students who we see as needing the most help. So, while some of our systems maybe imperfect, we finds ourselves defending that many of the fundamental basics in the system are better than some of the newer developed concepts.

CAFAA News
We are quickly approaching our annual conference and are excited to try something new of our own. We will be attempting a track system that attempts to draw the traditional core financial aid staff, but we will also have a high level director’s track as well as a systems track. With all that has gone on the last few years, office management and our ability to play well with our systems friends in implementing new provisions has become increasing important. We want to bring all these players together and look for ways to highlight the topics and share methods of how best to reach implementation. With that, "Lights, CAFAA, Action" will be in beautiful Steamboat Springs October 1-3, 2008.

Our other focus this year has been on membership and participation. There has been many fiscal changes resulting in a membership increase, and we want to make sure that members get a bang for their buck. Training has been the key topic and we are working hard to provide at least one, if not two, Spring trainings in addition to our conference. We will also be looking at adding a late-year training that will look at the impacts of Reauthorization. On top of that, CAFAA recognized that life in the office has become busier and there is an impact of that on participation. There are a couple old ‘proverbs’ that might help us with this. One is that “many hands make light work” and another might be that “the sum is greater than the parts”. Many volunteers can actually make less work for any one person and lessen the anxiety of making the commitment to serve. This was more of a late blooming 2008 idea and we will see if we can’t push this concept for 2009.

Red Rocks Community College
Linda Crook has been appointed Director of Financial Aid, Recruitment, & Advising at Red Rocks Community College. In this newly created position, Linda will continue to oversee Financial Aid with the added responsibility for Recruitment and Advising.

Cindy Vadeboncoeur has been appointed Associate Director of Financial Aid and will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Financial Aid Office.

Kansas

Newman University
...welcomed Sarah Pipes as their new financial aid counselor beginning June 9, 2008. Sarah received her BS from Oklahoma Baptist University, and was a graduate student at Portland State University before coming to NU. She previously worked with international students at Portland State.

Emporia State University
Thad Davidson and his wife Katie became proud new parents of Ella Grace Davidson on June 16, 2008. Ella was 7 lbs 2 oz., and was 19 ½ inches long. Congratulations!

Johnson County Community College
...hired John Pappas as the Supervisor for our Advising Work group; they are the front-line folks for the financial aid office. John started with JCCC July 1, 2008. He was previously employed with Student Loan Xpress, Chase, USA Funds and worked at Pittsburg State and Emporia State during his early financial aid days.

Montana

Carroll College
Tina Wagner has joined the Financial Aid team at Carroll College in Helena, MT. Tina came to us from the Montana Guaranteed Student Loan Program. Welcome, Tina!

North Dakota

Larry Viterna returns to RMASFAA as a Senior Account Executive for Sallie Mae. Larry now has responsibilities in the region for North and South Dakota institutions, as well as outside in the states of Iowa and Missouri. His membership in RMASFAA first began in 1978, and he is happy to return to "the best region in the country." Larry works out of a home office in Kansas City, MO.

Citibank Introduces New Account Managers Ellen McClain and Jessica Sidla covering North Dakota. Please note their contact information.

South Dakota

Mount Marty College
The Financial Aid Office bid farewell to Patty Holmberg after 12 years as Financial Aid Clerk. Patty has moved to be closer to her family. Mount Marty College would like to announce that Cyndi Beers has joined the Financial Aid Staff as the new Financial Aid Administrative Assistant.

Western Dakota Tech
...welcomes Tera Krull as their new Financial Aid Assistant. Tera replaces Krista Tyler-Raye.

South Dakota State University
...welcomes Jackie Wilber as a Financial Aid Counselor. Jackie replaces Carrie Johnson.

Sallie Mae
Larry Viterna returns to RMASFAA as a Senior Account Executive with responsibilities in North Dakota and South Dakota.

RMASFAA 2008 Welcome from SDASFAA President – Cindy Swinson
It’s that time of year…you’re hunting for answers for those new and returning students on your campus…you’re hunting for numbers to enter on your FISAP…you’re hunting for a jacket as we approach the fall days. What else should you be hunting for? If you’re headed to South Dakota for the RMASFAA 2008 Conference in Sioux Falls on October 19-22, you should be hunting for a few things to check off on your “to do” list.

• Registration – If you haven’t registered, please do it today at www.rmasfaa.org.
• Hotel Reservation – Call the Sheraton Sioux Falls and Convention Center at 1-888-627-8088 or 1-605-331-0100.
• Airline – Call your travel agent and make airline reservations to the Sioux Falls Airport (FSD).
• Answers – What you will find when you attend the 2008 RMASFAA Conference!

Don’t delay on any of these, especially the hotel and airline reservations. The RMASFAA Conference is also “opening weekend” for pheasant hunting season in South Dakota. This is essentially a state holiday honoring hunters!

SDASFAA looks forward to hosting our RMASFAA friends in Sioux Falls, South Dakota! See you there!

Wyoming

University of Wyoming
Winter Hansen has been promoted to Office Associate, Sr. Taking her place as Office Assistant, Sr. is Erin Schreinert. Erin has her Masters in International Studies from UW, and previously served students in her role as a Graduate Assistant.

Financial Aid Specialist-Scholarships, Laura Barton, was married to Chris Barton on August 9, 2008. Congratulations!

News from the WYASFAA President – Bev Bell
Fall is in the air, and you can hear it in the wind in the Aspens in Wyoming's mountains.
Fall is in the air, and you can hear it in the excited voices of students on campus.
Fall is in the air, and you can hear it in the groans of the financial aid staff.

WyASFAA held their annual spring meeting in Cheyenne, Wyoming in April 2008. The membership approved funding to create and support a new WyASFAA website. Randy Thompson (Sheridan College) took on the charge to work with a contractor to develop the new site, and in the very near future WyASFAA will be premiering our new and improved resource for students, parents, high school counselors, and others.