Dear Membership,

In every difficult situation, there is opportunity to succeed. On June 6-7, the Executive Board met at the Wisp Resort in Western Maryland to begin a very difficult transition meeting.

As we began the meeting, we knew we had two critical items to discuss. First, we knew our leadership was changing. Second, we needed to discuss a Code of Conduct for the Executive Board so that the membership could be confident there is no conflict of interests. We succeeded.

As many of you already know, two of our elected officials, Rachel Brinkley, Chair, and Patricia Scott, Chair Elect, resigned their positions given the current environment in the financial aid world. Both Rachel and Patricia are dedicated financial aid professionals and intend to remain involved in our Association, albeit, in different capacities. The By-Laws allow the Executive Board to select replacements for these positions. I wish I could have videotaped the discussion. You can be assured that you have the most professional, humble, and dedicated Board serving this Association. After a lengthy and heartfelt discussion, we selected Ellie Gieman as Chair-Elect and Laura Boesler as Chair. Both Ellie and Laura have extensive experience on the Board and I am very confident they will serve the membership with utmost professionalism. I trust you will welcome both Ellie and Laura to their posts.

If you have any questions as to the process or the decision, please do not hesitate to contact anyone on the Executive Board.