Greetings to the Tri-State ASFAA members as you look forward to the beginning of a new academic year.

The Executive Board had their first meeting of 2006-2007 at the Hyatt Chesapeake Bay Spa and Resort in Cambridge, Maryland on June 7th – 8th. We welcomed four new Board members – Ken Robinson from Montgomery College as co-chair of the Federal Relations Committee, Sam Berhanu from American University as co-chair of the Long Range Planning Committee, Vicki Smith from Allegany College as chair of the Scholarships and Awards Committee, and Jennifer Bastos from Citizen's Bank as chair of the Community Service Committee.

Many of the Board members are continuing to serve in the same capacity as last year or have agreed to assume new responsibilities for the 06-07 session, so we have a great mix of "Board history" coupled with fresh, new ideas. We all live very busy lives, so please accept my sincerest "Thank You" to all who have committed to serving the Association from either a leadership position or as a volunteer serving on one of the various committees. Your work is greatly appreciated.

This year our goals are three fold—to focus on early awareness; to provide leadership to the members; and to enhance involvement by tapping into the wealth of knowledge and skills within the financial aid community.

Early Awareness is a very serious issue nationwide and we want to be an answer to the problem. Precious Smith, Stephanie Bender, and Chris Lodge (DC, Maryland, and Delaware State Presidents respectively) have committed to developing strategies to promote early awareness initiatives within each of their States. Jennifer Bastos is working closely with them to provide volunteer opportunities for the membership so that we all can be a part of this endeavor. If you have ideas on how we can meet the needs of your community, please do not hesitate to contact any of the members of the Board.
Coupled with Early Awareness, Ingrid Valentine and Ken Robinson are putting together a comprehensive program to have our voice heard on Capital Hill. Their committee represents the issues surrounding Higher Education. Their goal this year is to build off of the momentum from last year by continuing to put a "face" on financial aid and presenting more real life student examples to members of Congress. Last year they held a joint Symposium with the New York State FRC. The joining of forces was so successful, they plan to expand the effort to include other State Associations.

We have so much talent in each of our offices. Dave Manning, Vice Chair for the Conference Committee, is dedicated to tapping into that talent and is well on the way to putting together a solid Fall Conference filled with a wide range of sessions to meet the needs of all the membership. You can anticipate a superb program for the Conference to be held at the Hyatt Regency in Cambridge, Maryland in November. Couple that with the quality of work from PD&T, under the leadership of Angie Hovatter and Andrea Cipolla, and this should kick off a year of building leadership, mentoring, and training for the Association.

In closing, I want to encourage you to get involved in this Association in any way that you can. We have such a unique position in this world in that we shape and influence lives by providing access, affordability, and choice. What an awesome job we have! Education builds community, stabilizes economies, breaks down bias, and provides knowledge.

There's a proverb that says, "With knowledge comes understanding and with understanding comes wisdom.” Let's start building knowledge by encouraging every person, one at a time, to get an education.
I look forward to seeing all of you at the Fall Conference, and more importantly, working side by side with you this coming year.