WASFAA Fall 2016 Newsletter by WASFAA

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A L A S K A * A R I Z O N A * CA L I F O R N I A * N E VA D A * O R E G O N * I D A H O * PA C I F I C I S L A N D S * WA S H I N G T O N

Mike Johnson WASFAA President Director of Student Financial Aid & Scholarships, Portland State University

Greetings WASFAA members! Now that November is here, those of us at schools have spent a month watching 2017-18 ISIRs arrive – hoping that not too many have those pesky 399 Comment Codes that will require us to review and potentially resolve conflicting information from the past or in the future. Sounds a little like science fiction, doesn’t it? The Twilight Zone comes to my mind. We’ll no doubt look back at 2017-18 as having been a unique award year in many ways. I can already imagine the Powerpoint slide I’ll create for it for my history of financial aid presentations. I spent much of October attending state financial aid conferences, where I got to meet quite a few of you and learn more about how your state associations operate. In Washington, I was impressed by the amount of state aid available to students, and with how high school counselors are such an important part of WFAA’s outreach efforts. In Idaho, the skill with which IASFAA leadership handled some significant web and other challenges to put on such a great conference was inspiring. In Nevada, the way NAFAA focused their conference sessions on federal guidance and best practices for aid offices provided essential information that could benefit all members. Great job everyone! I’m looking forward to seeing what CASFAA has in store for their members at their conference in early November.

IN THIS ISSUE President’s Letter ............................................... 1 Social Media ..................................................... 2 Executive Council .............................................. 2 Note From the Editor ........................................... 3 Editorial Policy ................................................... 3 Announcements .................................................. 4 WASFAA State Reports

AASFAA Report .............................................. 5

ALASFAA Report ............................................. 6

Your WASFAA Executive Council and committee chairs will meet November 14-15 at the Handlery Hotel San Diego. As a reminder, all WASFAA members are invited to attend. Whether you attend or not, you are always encouraged to let us know about issues that are important to you, and give us your ideas for how to make WASFAA what you want it to be. Your state presidents are the ideal conduits for presenting that information to the EC. At the November meeting, we plan to spend a significant amount of time fleshing out the details of WASFAA’s Strategic Plan for 2016-2020. That effort, along with the start of a NASFAA “Thought Force” that I mentioned briefly last month, make this an exciting time to be part of WASFAA leadership.

CASFAA Report .............................................. 7

OASFAA Report .............................................. 8

PacFAA Report ................................................ 8

WFAA Report ................................................. 9

I have a few more details to report about the new NASFAA initiative. NASFAA leadership recently asked each of the six regions to select four members to represent their associations on the “Thought Force”. Our first meeting is scheduled for February 6, 2017, at the NASFAA offices in Washington, D.C. The WASFAA Executive Council recently approved President-Elect Helen Faith, Treasurer/Treasurer-Elect Mindy Bergeron, and Vice President Nicole McMillin to join me on our “Thought Force” team. Meetings over the next two to three years will provide the opportunity for a national discussion that will explore what a more defined and intentional national-regional-state association alignment might look like. We will be asking for your thoughts on this topic frequently along the way.

WASFAA Volunteer Corner ................................13

WASFAA 2017 Annual Conference .................. 10 Quiet Summer–Not for WASFAA FRC ............... 11 Training Committee Update ..............................12 7 Ideas to Boost your SAP ................................14 My Frugal Lifestyle .............................................15 Guiding First–Generation Students ....................16 A Refresher on Refunds ......................................17 Calendar of Events ........................................... 17 Financial Aid Management Strategies ......... 18

I always like to use my monthly Highlights to promote upcoming WASFAA events. The Training Committee is still adding dates and locations to their Fall Training in PriorPrior Year topics, which will include the opportunity to earn a NASFAA Professional Judgment credential. See the WASFAA website (www.wasfaa.org) for information about training in your state. The Conference Committee is in the thick of planning for a great conference to be held at the Seattle Westin April 9 – 11, 2017. More information will be available soon. Lastly, the Sister Dale Brown Summer Institute faculty is well on the way to being ready for the next week-long event for beginning and intermediate financial aid administrators to be held June 5 – 9, 2017, on the University of Nevada-Reno campus. While I was at the NAFAA Conference, Site Selection Chair Leonard Walker from UNR gave me a tour of the brand new building where we’ll hold the event, and it is absolutely stunning! We’ll be providing a lot more information in the spring, of course, but be sure to save those dates now! Thanks again for your interest in and support of WASFAA! Without it WASFAA couldn’t be the kind of association that meets your professional needs and helps you reach your professional goals. Until next time…. W E S T E R N

A S S O C I A T I O N

O F

S T U D E N T

F I N A N C I A L

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A D M I N I S T R A T O R S

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WASFAA 2016 FALL NEWSLETTER

A L A S K A * A R I Z O N A * CA L I F O R N I A * N E VA D A * O R E G O N * I D A H O * PA C I F I C I S L A N D S * WA S H I N G T O N

SOCIAL MEDIA

WASFAA Executive Council President G. Michael Johnson Portland State University g.michael.johnson@pdx.edu President-Elect Helen Y Faith Lane Community College faithh@lanecc.edu Past President Barbara Bickett DeVry, Inc bbickett@devrygroup.com Vice-President Nicole N McMillin College of Western Idaho nicolemcmillin@cwidaho.cc Treasurer Mindy Bergeron John F. Kennedy University bergeron@jfku.edu Secretary Ashley J Coleman University of Oregon ashleyjo@uoregon.edu EDAC Chair Dewayne J Barnes California College of the Arts dbarnes@cca.edu Segmental Rep at Large

Jannine M Oyama Honolulu Community College jannine@hawaii.edu

Associate Rep Ron Lee at Large Inceptia ronl@inceptia.org AK President Shauna M Grant University of Alaska - Anchorage smgrant@uaa.alaska.edu AZ President Mary Frances Causey Prescott College causey@prescott.edu CA President Scott Cline California College of the Arts scline2@cca.edu ID President Dwight R Berreth Northwest Nazarene University dberreth@nnu.edu NV President Peter T Miller Truckee Meadows Community College pmiller@tmcc.edu OR President Jennifer S Knight Linfield College jknight@linfield.edu PacFAA President Shawn Domingo Chaminade University of Honolulu shawn.domingo@chaminade.edu WA President Kelley S Christianson Central Washington University christiansonk@cwu.edu

Note from the Editor David Downing Communications Chair Assistant Director of Communications Washington State University

Fall is a time for change and is my favorite time of the

year! The leaves are changing colors, the weather is cooling off, and winter is just around the corner. I am also a huge fan of Halloween. I love going to haunted houses, dressing up, and attending Halloween parties. This year my kids went dressed up Superman and Batman! This year the biggest change for all of us was the FAFSA rolling out in October! Like most of you this brought some unique challenges to our office this year. However, we are embracing this change and are excited to help students and families complete the FAFSA earlier. Our outreach events are stacking up and going out to different events at the university and in the community are a great break away from the office.

For this Fall Newsletter we changing things up a bit and are piloting a digital version of the newsletter through Issuu.com. Our goal is to make the Newsletter user friendly, where you can take it with you while on the go! The Communications Committee has plans to bring you a new and improved newsletter in 2017. In the meantime, we’d love to hear from you. Please let us know how you like the change to digital! As always if you have any ideas, feedback, want to volunteer on the Communications Committee, or have an article you would like to submit email me at communications@wasfaa.org or david.downing@wsu.edu. If you are not doing so already, please follow us on Facebook and Twitter and join our group on LinkedIn!

WASFAA Editorial Staff

Shauna Grant

Nicholas Dehaan

Sun Ow

Christina Padilla

Ashley Coleman

Copy Editor

Editorial Policy WASFAA welcomes all views and invites submissions of articles, essays, photographs or information of general interest to all members. Submissions should be brief and should not advertise specific products or services. Submissions may be edited. It may not be possible to publish all articles submitted. Opinions expressed in the WASFAA Newsletter are those of the authors and not necessarily of WASFAA, its members or the institutions represented by the authors. Email items for publication to communications@wasfaa.org.

Newsletter Advertising Rates Newsletter Ad Dimensions and Cost: Dimensions

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Full page - 7 ½” x 10” $1000 Half page - 7 ½” x 4 ¾” (horizontal only) $750 Quarter page - 3 ½” x 4 ¾” $500

Preferred format is high resolution quality PDF Ads (PDF’s) should be emailed to Sun Ow, Fund Development Chair, Sow@glhec.org WASFAA 2016 FALL NEWSLETTER

A N N O U N C E M E N T S Amanda Stone was hired in August 2016 as the newest Financial Aid Counselor with a Scholarships focus at the University of Oregon. Amanda joins us from West Hills College in Lemoore, California. Amanda enjoys spending time with her husband, Michael, and young son, Malcolm Eugene, and is currently working on her Masterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s of Student Affairs in Higher Education with Colorado State University Online. Welcome, Amanda!

Save The Date! 2017 WASFAA Sister Dale Brown Summer Institute

June 5-9, 2017 University of Nevada Reno Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced Tracks available with access to NASFAA Credentials

More information will be available in December!

WASFAA 2016 FALL NEWSLETTER

WA S FA A S TAT E R E P O R T S AASFAA Repor t Mary Frances Causey AASFAA President Associate Dean, Enrollment Services Director of Financial Aid Prescott College AASFAA is doing a few things differently this year. Instead of one event in the Fall, we are offering three “drive-in” events hosted by Arizona schools, where we will have an approved NASFAA U trainer teach one of three programs (Direct Loan, Verification and Student Eligibility) to our membership at a very reduced rate. We have drive-in’s scheduled for Tucson, Flagstaff and Mesa to ensure we reach as many of our membership as possible. Also as part of our commitment to providing professional development for the Financial Aid Administrators of Arizona, we are offering a scholarship again this year for one lucky guy or gal to attend next years’ WASFAA Summer Institute. Our Spring Symposium will be held in the Central AZ area on Friday, April 28th. We have had a lot of changes to our board make-up this year as some longstanding members rotate out and new ones join in. In recognizing the constant change to board

membership,we’ve spend the last year building up ourTreasurer-Elect role to be much more involved in the day to day bookkeeping and financial management.We found this to be beneficial to both the Treasurer and Treasurer-Elect,as well as to the association as a whole. We’ve added an ethnic diversity Rep-At-Large to our board and hope to benefit from his outreach to our schools to learn how we can better serve all of our membership. In September we sponsored a webinar for our membership conducted by Bruce Honer of Federal Student Aid, providing a Federal Update including information about prior-prior year and verification changes. As always, AASFAA is extremely grateful to Bruce for his cooperation and availability!! We hope everyone is having another exciting year in the world of student financial aid, where things are always changing and the answer is always, “it depends.”

The path to successful loan repayment can be full of questions. Inceptia has answers. You can trust us to be there with the knowledge

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WASFAA 2016 FALL NEWSLETTER

WA S FA A S TAT E R E P O R T S ALASFAA Repor t Shauna Grant ALASFAA President Associate Director University of Alaska-Anchorage

Greetings from Alaska! October brings many things to our state, with a mixed bag of weather, the northern lights and the steady creep of the snow line down the mountains here in Southcentral. The economic and academic climate here is an interesting mix as well with local elections on bond initiatives and word from the Legislature on the budget. For the University of Alaska system we have been told to tighten our belts even further despite the deep cuts and layoffs of this year. It is anticipated we should plan for an additional $16-32 million dollar cut in funding from the state for FY2018. Strategic planning is ongoing to best utilize our resources and provide the best service to the state of Alaska with austere means. While this does not impact Alaska’s private institutions as much, the adjustment to the Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) for Alaska’s residents might. The Alaska Permanent Fund sets aside a certain share of oil revenues to continue benefiting current and all future generations of Alaskans. Those dividends, based on investment revenue from the earnings reserve account, come once each year. They are used for a variety of purposes, anything from a way for Alaskans to stock the freezer, buy fuel oil for the winter months ahead, or purchase big ticket items as a family. Of relevance to Alaska’s students and schools is the fact it is often used as a means for families to save for a child’s higher education. Many students use the PFD to pay down a payment plan for college, take some extra coursework or defray the cost of living to reduce loan debt. The PFD check scheduled to pay on October 6 would have been approximately $2052.00 for every eligible resident of Alaska. Due to the adjustment that figure has been reduced to $1022.00, a significant decrease for the many who rely on it for an influx of assistance each year. It is this climate where financial aid administrators can make the most impact, where we shine. While we cannot always pull a rabbit out of a hat, we are relied upon more heavily when economic developments require further assistance to our students. Our state organization is looking at a fall webinar for state administrators and is currently helping with the planning of our joint conference in the spring. We are also working with our state commission on post-secondary education to help streamline the state scholarship and grant certification and delivery process for students and schools. Discussions are ongoing on ways to eliminate barriers for student success, how to leverage assistance so it best meets the needs of our students and how to use institutional resources to encourage even greater success rates.

WASFAA 2016 FALL NEWSLETTER

One would think our students would be discouraged, but I look at the shinning faces of my student employees and see nothing but enthusiasm and a desire to achieve. It warms my heart to know while things may be unsettled in our purview, our students still have the ability to attend and achieve. That is what makes our occupation so rewarding.

WA S FA A S TAT E R E P O R T S CASFAA Repor t Scott Cline

CASFAA Presient Assoc. Vice President of Enrollment California College of the Arts

With three-quarters of 2016 in the books, it has been a busy fall semester for most of us in California. With the launch of early FASFA on October 1 everyone has been very busy not only with the start of a new academic year, but already communicating and working on the next academic year.

ing a fresh new perspective on what the upcoming members of our profession need to become the next group of successful leaders. The 2017 EC has already kicked off their year ahead with a transition meeting a few days ago in San Diego, CA.

CASAA Conference - Building Tomorrow

The 2016 EC has accomplished a great deal over the past year for our members and I cannot thank them enough for their dedication and work that has contributed a great deal for the students that we serve. It had been a joy serving next to them over the past year, and I could not have wished to have a better group to work with.

We are only a few short days away from the start of our state conference with a tag line of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Building Tomorrow.â&#x20AC;? We are expecting nearly 800 financial aid professionals to attend in Anaheim, CA between November 6th and 8th. We have pre-conference sessions that include WASFAA delivering the NASFAA training that will qualify the people who attend for the NASFAA certifications in Verification and Professional Judgement. Our opening session will be the screening documentary No Greater Odds that follows the story of five community college students at the College of Southern Nevada. This great story truly highlights the important connection between educational institutions and their communities. The conference will feature over 55 breakout sessions presented by great colleagues that will focus on federal updates, state changes with the implementation early FAFSA, building better financial aid leaders and truly building tomorrow for both us and your students. I am extremely honored to work with a great team that puts this conference on for our members and looking forward to spending the time in Anaheim. If you will be be there, be sure to say hello.

Conclusion It has been a great honor for me to serve as CASFAA President and sitting on the WASFAA EC representing California has given me great respect and appreciation for the work that all of our states do for our profession. I am looking forward to finishing out my year representing California in WASFAA. Finally, on a personal note, Erica and I welcomed Harper Cline to the world in early September, so the past two months have been a great adventure, joy, and many, many diaper changes.

Transition to the 2017 Executive Council With the conference comes the passing of the CASFAA leadership from one year to the next. The incoming-president of CASFAA is Daniel Reed from San Diego Christian College. Daniel has served many years in a multitude of different roles at CASFAA and I am looking forward to supporting him as pastpresident as he focuses on advocacy and building upon a stronger CASFAA in the next year. Joining Daniel is a dynamic group mixed of some seasoned CASFAA leaders and new faces. This will certainly keep us heading in the right direction while bring-

WASFAA 2016 FALL NEWSLETTER

WA S FA A S TAT E R E P O R T S OASFAA Repor t Jennifer Knight OASFAA President Associate Director of Financial Aid Linfield College

It kind of feels like we had to “party like it’s 1999” on September 30, 2016 – due to the October 1, 2016 launch of the early 2017-2018 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). I recall wondering what was going to happen at the stroke of midnight, then and now!? The earth did not end. Hence, we continue forward and away we go – the 20172018 FAFSA train has left the station. If that wasn’t all the fun we could handle, we still had to deal with yet another year of Sequestration and loan fee changes, to name one other big October 1, 2016 changes. OASFAA members have been busy gearing up for the early FAFSA and Prior-Prior-Year (PPY) and their 2017-2018 academic year financial aid set up. On August 4, 2016 OASFAA held our one-day Summer Drive-In Workshop with the theme of “Operation: Outreach!” If you check out our Facebook page you can see where we “went live” in several of our break-out sessions. We invited high school counselors and mentors to join us. The focus was

on training our members and individuals in public or private agencies or organizations concerned with student financial aid, specifically with goal of outreach, given the changes to federal and state financial aid related to the 2017-2018 FAFSA changes and use of PPY, as well as state applications for undocumented students and the tuition waiver, Oregon Promise, for recent high school graduates attending Oregon Community Colleges. We all want to deliver similar messaging as we offer our financial aid nights, and other outreach across the state for the 2017-2018 school year. OASFAA continues to provide training to high school counselors and mentors this fall. Other training opportunities that are coming up include our Financial Aid 101/201 Workshop at Chemeketa Community College on Friday, October 28, 2016, and our 49th Annual OASFAA Conference being held on the gorgeous Oregon coast at the Salishan Spa and Golf Resort February 1-3, 2017.

PacFAA Repor t Shawn Domingo Associate Director of Financial Aid Chaminade Univesity Honolulu

Financial Aid Nights are underway and the Pacific Financial Aid Association (PACFAA)has approximately 47 sites confirmed this year with more joining every day. These outreach events are a great way for various financial aid counselors from local colleges and universities to help students and families complete their FAFSA. If you are interested in volunteering, please email us at exec@pacfaa.org. We are excited to be offering the WASFAA Fall training “Moving through the Maze: Early FAFSA and Prior Prior Year” on November 4th. Registration for this training includes a full day of instructions by a NASFAA- Credentialed WASFAA colleague on Professional Judgment and other related early FAFSA and PPY Topics. Participants will have the opportunity to take and pass the NASFAA Credential exam for Professional Judg-

WASFAA 2016 FALL NEWSLETTER

ment. You will be saving hundreds of dollars by enrolling in this course! Only $55 for WASFAA members or $105 for NonMembers! Enroll today! Save the Date! The PACFAA annual conference will be held from March 13 - 14, 2017 at the Ala Moana Hotel. We are planning a range of training topics and will update the website with registration information and sessions topics.

PACFAA Annual Conference March 13 -14, 2017 at the Ala Moana Hotel

WA S FA A S TAT E R E P O R T S WFAA Repor t Kelley Christianson WFAA President Interim Director Student Financial Services Central Washington University

Fall is here! The leaves are turning colors and falling lazily, the pumpkin spice latte is back, and students can file the 2017-2018 FAFSA now! The Washington Association of Financial Aid Administrators (WFAA) held its annual conference October 12-14 in beautiful downtown Spokane at the Hotel RL at the Park which is on the Spokane River. As of October 6, we had 150 registered participants from institutions of higher education across the state along with high school counselors and vendor sponsors. Our conference theme, “Don’t Park Your Spark” encouraged participants to re-charge their inner light for assisting students and their families with positive energy fueled by accurate and timely information on the administration of student aid. The keynote address featured Joe Albert of Gonzaga University who’s remarks fit nicely with the conference theme. WFAA also welcomed special guests: Dan Mann, 2015 -16 NASFAA National Chair and Director of the Office of Student Financial Aid at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; and Mike Johnson, 2016-17 WASFAA President and Director of the Office of Student Financial Aid & Scholarships at Portland State University. Both gentlemen contributed to our robust agenda with breakout sessions and general session updates from their respective posts as association leaders. WFAA membership greatly appreciates their participation in our annual conference!

The WFAA annual conference included an agenda with a variety of presenters from the U.S. Department of Education, the Washington Student Achievement Council, as well as school financial aid administrators and vendor partners. Thank you to Conference Chair, Sarah Austin (who planned her own wedding while planning the WFAA conference), the conference committee, volunteers and participants who were all part of making another successful WFAA conference! As your campuses were all busy completing the FISAP, Washington schools were also busy completing the Washington Student Achievement Council’s Unit Record Report which was due October 14 and required for all schools that participate in the State Need Grant program. The information is used to evaluate state financial aid programs, to support budget requests for state financial aid programs, and to improve service to students. Yay! WFAA will be soliciting nominations later this fall for winter elections. WFAA Colleagues, consider running for association leadership! Opportunities include: President-Elect, VP Training, Treasurer-Elect, VP Ethnic Awareness, and Secretary.

Get involved!

Enjoy the rest of fall and I would like to conclude with a Haiku:

The FISAP is done. So is the Unit Record. Now early FAFSA.

WASFAA 2016 FALL NEWSLETTER

WASFAA 2017 Annual Conference Kay Soltis 2017 Conference Chair

This year’s conference will be held in the circular towers of the Seattle Westin Hotel on April 9–11. Block those dates out on your calendar right now as you will not want to miss the program we have planned for you. One might ask why Seattle, but one need only say Seattle, Washington and everyone know where you are speaking of no matter where you live. It’s the place where the Space Needle resides (built for the World’s Fair in 1962 and now stands as our iconic back drop for Seattle). It’s the home of Mariners (baseball team), Seahawks (football team) and the Sounders (soccer team), just a few of our outstanding professional athletic teams. Then of course we must not forget about our open air market place, Pike Place Market, where one can see fish fly and local farmers and artisan display their wares. Seattle also has an outstanding reputation for its cultural offerings; the ballet, music, films, museums (art, history to name a few). Home of some industry giants like Boeing (just in case you have been living in a foreign country – they make airplanes), Microsoft, Nordstrom (yes, we have some outstanding shopping here in Seattle – just in case you have the need), and of course Starbucks (coffee drinker’s heaven). Great restaurants (run by an amazing array of chefs) and a wide variety

WASFAA 2016 FALL NEWSLETTER

of cultural flavors and too many tastes to describe not to mention you won’t be here long enough to try everything, but you can try! Look for some future information from the Conference Committee to help you make your selections as we get closer to the Conference. Did you know Seattle has its own U.S. Department of Education, Region 10 with an outstanding group of professionals (training officers, program reviewers, eligibility analysts and others) who we have invited to present at our conference. The Program Committee, chaired by Ron Lee is working on a number of sessions that we know you will be interested in, such as Cash Management, closing down your Perkins Loan Program, Gainful Employment, Early FAFSA and the Implementation (panel discussion) Process. Stay tuned for more information in upcoming communications from the Conference Committee. Questions and/or suggestions for sessions, please contact Kay Soltis at soltiskw@plu.edu or 253-535-8725. This year’s conference will be exciting and in a great location so come early and enjoy Seattle!

Quiet Summer–Not for WASFAA FRC Tami Sato WASFAA FRC Chair Marshall B. Ketchum University

With all the focus on the national presidential elections, legislative action from Washington DC was expected to be very sparse and for sure no passing of a reauthorization bill. I thought with no action I might have to cancel some of the monthly Federal Relations conference calls. Not so. The WASFAA council knows, as they had to review, discuss and approve the responses and letters FRC developed. In June the proposed “borrower defense” rule (NPRM) was released which might have wide spread affect for all higher education institutions. WASFAA was one of the 10,700 responses and comments submitted. In July a second NPRM was released on new state authorization rules for online or distance learning programs and also state authorization of branch locations in foreign countries. The proposed rules included a rather long list of new disclosures schools would have to provide students and prospective students. WASFAA also sent a response to this NPRM. Discussion on some of these topics started with the program integrity negotiated rulemaking sessions four years ago. But the deadline to comment was a short 30-45 days. This required ap-

proval by the WASFAA council by electronic voting since the next in person meeting isn’t until November. The Department of Education will be releasing the final rules before November 1, 2016. This would allow the rules to go into effect by July 1, 2017. There were some “message” bills introduced to set some groundwork for the Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. We responded to one introduced by Suzanne Bonamici, U.S. Representative from the 1st District of Oregon. H.R, 5962 (The SIMPLE Act) would auto-enroll borrowers who are severely delinquent, in an income-driven repayment plan (IDR) to lower the monthly repayment amount. The bill would also call for the IRS and the Department to interface their systems to recertify borrowers who are in IDR plans which would address the problem of 57% of these borrowers failing to fulfill recertification requirements annually. WASFAA sent a letter of support. If you believe these are good ideas and you are in Representative Bonamici’s district, send a letter of support. You can find the WASFAA letters at the WASFAA website (About WASFAA>Federal Issues).

https://www.wasfaa.org/docs/toc_about.html#fedissues WASFAA 2016 FALL NEWSLETTER

Training Committee Update Sarah Everitt

Thalassa Naylor

Training Committee Co-Chair Director of Financial Aid Operations Gonzaga University

Training Committee Co-Chair Director of Business Development Sallie Mae

An exciting training committee update from your WASFAA Training co-chairs: The WASFAA Training Committee has been busy at work putting together some timely and relevant fall training for our financial aid colleagues. With the introduction of Early FAFSA and Prior-Prior Year (PPY), the dynamics of processing aid are changing. Whether these changes will make our work easier or harder is still unknown. WASFAA is pleased to present a day of training to help you understand and execute on these new timelines.

For your registration fee, you will receive:

• A full day of instruction by a NASFAA-

Credentialed WASFAA colleague on PJ and other related early FAFSA and PPY topics (NASFAA charges $299 to participate in a webinar training for each credential course)

• Practical application of the new rules using

case studies

• Printed study guide for professional

Moving Through the Maze: Early FAFSA and Prior-Prior Year

judgement. (a $218 value)

• Conflicting Information & PPY • Mapping the Course • NASFAA U Professional Judgment

• Two chances to take and pass the NASFAA

(PJ) Course

Credential exam (a $99 value) and the NASFAA Credential for Professional Judgement upon successful completion of the exam.

• Opportunities to learn the rules and process es on early FAFSA and PPY, and how to clear conflicting information

• Professional Judgement (PJ) & Prior-Prior Year (PPY)

• Network with other financial aid professionals

and share best practices

Cost is $55 for WASFAA Members, and $105 for non-WASFAA Members (which will include a membership to WASFAA). Don’t miss out on this opportunity! Get quality training on the most timely topics of the day and save hundreds!

Keep your eyes open for WASFAA announcements and information from your individual state associations to promote the dates and locations specific to your area.

WASFA A T R A I N I N G

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O P P O R T U N I T I E S

WASFAA Volunteer Corner Pat Peppin Volunteer Development Chair Financial Aid Director Mesa Community College

I would like to encourage you to volunteer for one or more of the following committees:

Awards & Scholarships Annual Conference (held in Seattle,WA) Electronic Services Ethnic Diversity Federal Regulations Fund Development Jerry R Simms Management & Leadership Institute (held in Reno, NV) Membership Communications Sister Dale Brown Summer Institute Training Volunteer Development We NEED volunteers from every state, every sector, and vendors. If you are a member of WASFAA we need you.

SSOCIA TIO RN A

TE ES

AT O

Thank you and I hope to hear from you. Looking forward to working with you this year.

DMINISTR

Choose a committee, fill out the volunteer form, and then we will connect you with the committee of your choice.

DA AI

For more information on the committees please visit our web page, http://wasfaa.org/docs/forms/memVolunteer.html

DENT FINA TU NC S F I O

Volunteering for WASFAA is a great experience, you make new friends, you contribute your talents, and you assist WASFAA in meeting the needs of the association. You really do make a difference.

Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have time? Yes, you do. There are some committees that involve very little of your time. If you just want to moderate at a session at one of the conferences, that takes 5 minutes of your time. The majority of the meetings are done over the phone and on-line.

Need More Information? Contact Pat Peppin, WASFAA Volunteer Development Chair at volunteer@wasfaa.org or

480.461.7456. WASFAA 2016 FALL NEWSLETTER

7 Ideas to Boost Your SAP Communication Strategy Dianne Fulmer Director of School Partnerships Financial Aid TV

Want to beef up your Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) communication strategy for students? Consider one or more of these tips for students on Financial Aid Warning or Financial Aid Probation:

1. Send notification via more than one method (i.e., email, snail mail, and notifications in your student information system) to notify students on Financial Aid Warning or who are disqualified for financial aid because they failed to meet SAP. This emphasizes that the school wants the student to understand this important information. 2. During the first 2 weeks of the enrollment period, remind them of the student success services on campus. Highlight tutoring, learning communities, disability resources, library hours, and more. 3. Monitor if these students drop classes and re-direct them to academic counseling. Intervention is key. You want to ensure that they don’t falter again, so point them in the direction of someone who may be able to help them keep the course load they need to maintain SAP. 4. Consider adding a Financial Literacy Component to a SAP Academic Plan. You have an excellent opportunity to

WASFAA 2016 FALL NEWSLETTER

provide students with a series of recommendations and pertinent information by personalizing academic plans for students on Financial Aid Probation. Suggest completion of the Department of Education’s Financial Awareness Counseling Tool on studentloans.gov, an online financial literacy workshop, or completing a GPA or budget calculator.

5. Prior to midterms, cheer them on. Congratulate them on their success thus far. Summarize student success services that can help them prepare for mid-terms and gently remind them of the consequences of failure. This is also a great opportunity to remind students to make an appointment with your office if they have any questions or concerns regarding their current progress towards reestablishing SAP standards. 6. Remind them they are on home stretch prior to finals. Inspire them to maintain their academic progress. Consider an inspirational message from your institution’s President, a Dean, or the Director of Financial Aid. It’s also another great opportunity to recap the student success services. 7. Congratulate those who make it. When you run SAP again, make certain that you “high five” those students who succeeded. Let them know that the financial aid team supports their educational goals.

My Frugal Lifestyle Sean McGivney KHEAA

The term ‘frugal’ often projects negative imagery: the classic nerd who, while seemingly well-off, wouldn’t possibly consider trading up from her (or his, more often?) 15 yearold, 200K miles-driven ‘economy’ (at one point, anyway) car. A coupon user (on a date, no less!). Frumpy dress. A cheapskate. One dictionary definition uses less than flattering words to describe it: meager, scanty, etc. But there is another definition (really!) that is far more positive, if not admirable, and in my opinion should be far more prevalent. This definition includes the words economical, not wasteful, prudently saving (prudently!). I’m not sure I would use any of those words to describe myself, but frugal? Yes, please! How did I get here? It all started in childhood, growing up in a household with very modest resources. My older sisters and I all learned at a young age that our requests were typically responded to with “We can’t afford it” or “We’ll see” (inevitably we never actually ‘saw’ anything), and thus, we didn’t ask for much. I had no idea until I was an adult that girl shirts buttoned on the opposite side of boy shirts (did anyone know I was wearing my sisters’ old clothes?!). As a teenaged music lover, and wanting clothes that were out of the price range of my parents, I was informed that I’d have to work to earn money to spend on myself, and so I did. I worked part time, mostly on weekends and summers, and I spent everything I made on records (you may know this format as “vinyl”, a term which existed but was seldom used when I grew up – you either had “records” or “tapes”), posters, records, clothes, records, fast food, and…more records. I really got comfortable with my relative independence, so much so that I had a real challenging time adjusting once I moved out during college. I learned some very hard lessons about budgeting, wastefulness, hunger, saving, and overextending oneself. Even though I had more income, my expenses grew faster, and so I had to find the proper balance between my old (childhood) lifestyle and my new one (adulthood – that one is still a stretch, even as I approach 50).

One of the things my mother taught me (which I resisted like a stubborn mule, but grew to appreciate) was the wisdom of heading straight to the clearance rack while clothes shopping. You will most often strike out, either finding nothing that fits or completely fantastical “clearance” prices, but when you do find some things, it can be very satisfying. I don’t particularly enjoy shopping, but great deals make it far more pleasurable. Retail prices are for suckers! Will I ever win an award for best dressed? I don’t think so, and I couldn’t care less. As long as I stay married and employed, my clothes are sufficient. Things I do like to spend more money on are unique experiences that create lasting memories: concerts, good food, and travel. $50 is better spent on a concert ticket from years ago that I still think fondly about today, rather than a shirt that I forgot I had, or seldom get to wear. Our family spends more on food than ever, as we realize the importance of taking good care of ourselves and fueling up with things we can identify and pronounce (Aside: Netflix had a ton of informative food documentaries, and I urge you to check them out!). I will splurge to stay in a Disney resort when visiting a park, because we’d all rather spend more time on the rides than waiting in line for them (that’s why we go, after all!). I would prefer to camp in a National Park than stay at a hotel, however. That both saves money and makes the experience more genuine (for me, anyway). Is there anyone out there who thinks like I do, at least a little bit? Or, am I completely out of my gourd? Can you relate to any of these? Do you have money saving tips to share? Memories of bad financial decisions (Columbia House record club, anyone?) that you can smile about today, at least for the lesson learned? Please let me know at smcgivney@kheaa.com.

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Guiding First-Generation Students to Success David Wuthrich Student Connections, a division of USA Funds

There has been much research conducted lately on firsteducation. Many low-income, first-generation students feel generation college students. It’s important to understand the like it is pointless to think about the future. They also may unique struggles faced by this group of students to deterbe dealing with low self-esteem, a lack of a successful role mine the best way to support them as they pursue success model and a fear of authority. in school and beyond.

First-generation college students, by the numbers Let’s start out by understanding more about this group of students through some statistics:

• Data from the National Center for Education Statistics shows that 30 percent of enrolled college students are the first in their family to pursue a higher education degree. • That data also shows that 24 percent of students are

both first-generation and low-income students.

• Overall, 25 percent of first-generation students go on

to earn a bachelor degree within six years, as compared to 68 percent of non-first-generation students. However, for students that are low-income and first-generation, that number plummets to just 11 percent.

• According to 2012 U.S. Department of Education data,

while about 25 percent of white and Asian American students are first-generation college students, 41 percent of black students and 61 percent of Hispanics fall into that category.

• National Center for Education Statistics data shows that

only 11 percent of low-income, first-generation students graduate within six years of starting.

Unique barriers to overcome Transitioning to college can be a challenge for any student, but this is especially difficult for first-generation students without an experienced relative to go to for help. These students often miss out on insider knowledge of campus resources, non-academic skills and tips that could help them in their first year in college. In some cases, they may also need to overcome a lack of support from family members who don’t see the value in a college education. There are further considerations when it comes to first-generation students who are also from low-income households. Often working more than 20 hours a week, these students may be dealing with worrying about meeting their everyday needs in addition to the pressures of pursuing a higher

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How higher education professionals can help

The good news is that there are things you as higher education professionals can do to help these students succeed. Like many aspects of making students successful, it requires educating them early and checking in with them periodically. Here are some ideas:

• Become a regular presence in area high schools. Getting first-generation students thinking about college early is important. • Hold workshops to educate parents of potential

first-generation students on what their child may experience in the transition from high school and college and some tips to help them support the student through that time.

• Form a committee at your institution to work on ways of supporting first-generation students. This will get various departments involved and engaged. • Train your academic advisors on the challenges faced by first-generation students. This will help them to better serve the unique needs of those students. • Some institutions offer summer “bridge” programs for

incoming first-generation students to provide them with a little advanced knowledge of what to expect in college. During this program, students can learn about support services available through the school, meet faculty and interact with other first-generation students.

• Encourage first-generation students to take advantage of support services by assuring them that using these services is normal and asking for help is a sign of strength. • Work one-on-one with

first-generation students during freshman orientation.

IDEAS?

A Refresher on Refunds Heather Tapia Senior Marketing Associate Great Lakes Educational Loan Services, Inc.

Since school is back in session for 2016, we want to provide you with a refresher on refund processing, including useful tips on how to process refunds for each loan type. The process for handling refunds varies depending on the loan type. Here’s a breakdown of what you need to know for each one.

Processing Direct Loan Refunds

• Any Direct Loan cash refunds must be made electroni cally via the U.S. Department of Education’s Grant Management System (G5) website. Federal Student Aid does not accept paper checks. • If you are returning cash as a result of refunds made to

borrower accounts, a corresponding downward disburse ment adjustment must be reported to the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) System, and not through the loan servicer.

• Direct Loan disbursements, disbursement adjustments,

and refunds of cash, should be reported or submitted in whole dollar amounts only. The use of pennies in Direct Loan processing will impact a school’s ability to success fully complete its monthly reconciliation because its Net Drawdowns may not match the Net Disburse ments reported to the COD System.

• If you have questions, you can call Direct Loan School Relations (Origination & Servicing) at (800) 848-0978. Processing Private Loan Refunds Check with your Private Loan Processing system for refunds on their system. If the loan was certified on ScholarNet, than Private loan refunds can be processed through ScholarNet®, Great Lakes’ electronic, online application and loan processing tool that allows you to exchange and manage student loan data with other institutions. ScholarNet automatically calculates values for fields based on changes you’ve made, making it easier for you to accurately cancel or reduce a disbursement. For more details, refer to our ScholarNet Support materials on Support Central. Using Central Disbursement Service (CDS) also simplifies the return of any disbursed funds by accepting the funds from schools, and then returning them to the appropriate lenders. You can find out more about this process via our CDS Support materials on Support Central, including sample timelines of the CDS disbursement process with and without adjustments.

CALENDAR of EVENTS November 14-15: WASFAA Executive Council Meeting, San Diego, CA November 17-18: NASFAA Board of Directors Meeting, New Orleans, LA November 29-December 2: FSA Conference-Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, GA April 9 -11 2017: WASFAA Annual Conference-Westin Hotel, Seattle Washington June 5-9, 2017: WASFAA Sister Dale Brown Summer Institute, University of Nevada Reno WASFAA 2016 FALL NEWSLETTER

Getting Some Relief: Financial Aid Management Strategies to Maximize Resources

Ron Lee

Pat Robles-Friebert

Strategic Business Directors Inceptia

In an era of change fueled by increased competition, financial pressures, and the role of “student” becoming synonymous with “customer,” the pressure on staff in the financial aid office is building. More than ever, it is critical for

schools to find new innovative ways to gain a competitive advantage. As budgets tighten, many institutions need to reduce expenses. In addition, as higher education institutions move to be more customer-centric, they must also relieve their staff of tedious administrative tasks so they can better focus on students and improving the customer service experience. These needs have inspired a growing shift in perspective to the benefits of outsourcing core financial aid processes. A 2016 NASFAA Benchmarking Report shows 39 percent of financial aid offices outsource their delinquency/default management activities and 16 percent are exploring outsourcing verification.

The return on investment for outsourcing financial aid processes is best seen in the people. Employees have higher satisfaction because they are not being stretched too thin, leading to greater student engagement and overall increased satisfaction with the process. If your office is “feeling the pain,” consider a holistic approach to researching options that meet your institution’s goals and objectives:

✔ Does the potential partner understand

and follow all third-party institutional requirements and responsibilities?

✔ Does the potential partner meet

security requirements?

✔ What, if any, set up or support will be

required from your institution’s IT Department?

✔ What reporting options are available? ✔ What personnel training and quality

control methods are used?

✔ What is the pricing model? Outsourcing time-consuming financial aid tasks can be an effective strategy to reducing stress in the financial aid office and improving the financial aid experience for your students, your staff, and your school.

Outsourcing is a means for financial aid offices to gain efficiency that leads to greater student engagement and higher employee satisfaction. By outsourcing specific duties, financial aid staff have the freedom to spend more time with students. Moreover, outsourcing key processes like verification can improve the speed and efficiency of packaging student aid, increasing the likelihood of enrollment.

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Stress Relief!