Movers and Shakers
Montana | Kansas | North Dakota | Colorado | Wyoming

Montana
Sandi Kiehnau has accepted the position of Director of Financial Aid and Veterans' Coordinator at the University of Great Falls. Prior to this promotion, Sandi was the assistant director and served as the acting director until the position was filled.

Carie Kelly, who was a work-study student in financial aid at the Helena College of Technology, has accepted a position with the Montana Guaranteed Student Loan Program. Carie will be a trainer for the new Scholarnet Loan Software. She has already started her training by helping HCT set up and start using Scholarnet. Carie was a true assistant to Victoria Glass, Financial Aid Director at HCT, for three years. She helped students complete the FAFSA, loan applications, and with scholarships applications. HCT wishes Carie well and are happy that they will be seeing her since she will still be a member of the financial aid family at MGSLP.

SHE'S BACK!! Janet Riis is back on board at Carroll College as the new Associate Director of Financial Aid. Janet took a year and a half leave from financial while she was the Institutional Researcher at Carroll. Janet began her new position on June 1st and said everything is coming back to her. Janet will be taking the place of Meg Foutch who will be leaving to Boston. Meg's last day with Carroll College will be June 28. Best wishes to Meg in this new endeavor in her life.

Several members of MASFAA recently made the trip to Colorado Springs for the RMASFAA Summer Institute. Student Assistance Foundation and the Montana Guaranteed Student Loan Program provided vans and drivers for the long trip. Members of this prestigious group were, D.J. Christenson, Val Curtin, Wayne Birdtail, Dana Freshly, Leah Habel, Kay Culp, Michael Kincaid, Tina Wagner, Sharon Heigh, Melina Hawkins, Leigh Addison, and Tammy McKee. Bernie Warwood and Keith Carparelli of the Student Assistance Foundation served on the entertainment committee. Mick Hanson, University of Montana, and Brenda Sebastian, MSU Great Falls, were both instructors for Neophyte groups. Brenda was also a vice-chair for the Summer Institute. Dawn Rucker, Montana State University, presented an overview of PowerPoint to both the Intervanced and Loan Pros and then presented on NSLDS and Pell Grants Online to the Neophyte groups. Judy Ransom, ASAP/Union Bank and Trust, also attended the Loan Professional section of Summer Institute. She had a great time and learned about blanket guarantee, the PLUS MPN, electronic etiquette (yes, it IS rude to leave your cell phone on in meetings, restaurants, and public places where it can be disruptive) and other legislative updates concerning the loan programs.

Kansas
Northeast Kansas Technical College has a new president. Shirley Antes will begin her new duties on July 9th.

Willow Dean has been promoted to the position of Assistant Financial Aid Officer at Wichita Area Technical College. She has been instrumental is the implementation of their new Financial Aid Management System, PowerFaids.

Wichita Area Technical College welcomes Belinda Bastow and Paula Lamprecht to their staff. Belinda was formerly a tax preparer and her expertise in that field has been a big plus for the financial aid office. Paula has an extensive background in training and customer service, which will be so helpful to the college.

Margaret Shady, after 13 years of service to students and their families, has taken another position within WATC. Her helpful, caring attitude will be missed, but will still be well used in her new role at the WATC-Schweiter Campus. Michelle Carson, while remaining as the Financial Aid Officer, has taken on added responsibilities. She has been promoted to Supervisor of Enrollment Services, which includes the Offices of Financial, Registrar/Enrollment, Admissions and Student Records.

At Southwestern College, Dena Allison has been promoted from Financial Aid Counselor to Assistant Director of Financial Aid. Juletta Gall has been promoted from Financial Aid Assistant to Financial Aid Clerk.

Newman University has a variety of changes. In February, Marla McClure became the Dean of Admissions and on July 1, Kelly Hartman will become the Director of Financial Aid. They also have two new counselors. Melissa Meares is the new Financial Aid/Admission Processing Counselor. Melissa just graduated from K-State and became engaged in May. The wedding is planned for February. Lesley O'Dell is a Financial Aid Counselor. Lesley recently graduated from Wichita State and is getting married on June 30th. Todd Martin has left Newman and moved on to become the Financial Aid Director at Mid-America Bible College in Oklahoma City.

Fred Schmidt, McPherson College, has been named Dean of Enrollment Management and Quality Assurance and will continue to be responsible for the Admission and Financial Aid offices. He will give additional attention to retention and quality on campus. Fred intends to remain active in our financial aid associations as long as they will have him. Carol Williams was named as the new Director of Financial Aid in April as reported in the last Exchange.

The Financial Aid Community is sad to lose Deanna Mann, Financial Aid Director at Garden City Community College. She won't be leaving the school, but will be taking on a new job as the Institutional/Research/Student Tracking Specialist. Sounds fun doesn't it? She will be missed.

Marilyn Haverly has taken on the responsibilities of Director of Student Financial Assistance at Pittsburg State University.

Janet Reese, Director of Financial Aid at Neosho County Community College is leaving the world of financial aid to become a full-time Mom. She and her family will be moving back to the Emporia area. Way to go!

Barton County Community College has two new staff. Toni Bryant, who has been at the school since February is the new Student Loan Specialist. Sherri Henry is the Scholarship Specialist and she has been with the school for about a year.

There are lots of happenings at Wichita State University that we have failed to tell you about sooner. Chi Lam is a new Financial Aid Counselor. Jason De Los Santos has been named Financial Aid Counselor-Loans. Kevin Crabtree is the new IT Coordinator. Sheelu Surender, previously Financial Aid Counselor-Loans, has taken over the duties of the Assistant Director for Scholarships. Celia Easley is the Scholarship Counselor and Suzanne Hamilton Meis is the Scholarship Secretary. Angie McNew is the new Assistant to the Director and Abbey Coburn is the new Office Assistant. Julie Greco will soon be leaving to complete her Internship in Sports Administration at Virginia Tech.

Deb Ellis from MidAmerica Nazarene University celebrated the marriage of her daughter, Angela to Joshua Campbell on May 26th.

North Dakota
Alice Hoffert accepted a new position as the Associate Director of Enrollment Management at the University of North Dakota. Alice served as the Director of Financial Aid at UND for the past five years.

Colorado
Congratulations to Mark and Susan Putman! They are the proud parents of Corbin Lawrence Putman. Corbin was born on April 30 and weighed 8lbs. 3oz. Mark is the Assistant Vice President and Regional Market Manager for U.S. Bank. Congratulations again to Mark and Susan.

Bel-Rea Institute would like to welcome their new Financial Aid Advisor, Dave Babin. Welcome aboard Dave and we hope to meet you at future CAFAA conferences.

Congratulations to Diane DeReyes, former Director of Financial Aid at Red Rocks Community College. Diane is now the Coordinator of Financial Aid for the Daniels Fund. Diane's new email address is ddereyes@danielsfund.org.

Audrey Osswald, Director of Financial Aid at the Pueblo Community College in Colorado will be chairing the Technology Initiatives Committee for NASFAA for the 2001-2002 year.

Tisha Chapman, formerly with Colorado Student Loan Program, is the new Director of Financial Aid at the Emily Griffith Opportunity School. Congratulations to Tisha! Tisha can be reached at her new email address, TishaChapman@dpsk12.org.

Wyoming
WyASFAA held its annual elections in April and May. Laurie Johnson from the University of Wyoming was elected Secretary and Pat Rankin from Western Wyoming Community College was elected President Elect.

Jacque Burns from Central Wyoming College took over as President of WyASFAA at the joint WyASFAA/NEASFAA Spring Conference in Gering Nebraska. Robyn DeVries will remain as Treasurer for this upcoming year.

Wyoming Student Loan Corporation's new Casper branch office is open and ready for students and parents. The new office is similar to the Laramie branch office of WSLC. It is used as a resource point for financial aid information and has facilities for students to complete the FAFSA on line, search for scholarships and much more. Katy Gasowski, Casper Branch Manager, is from a local credit union and formerly worked in the financial aid department at Casper College. Renee Hahn and Tina Cummings, Customer Support Administrators, both come to WSLC with college financial aid backgrounds.