DE ASFAA members (and other contributors) are to be congratulated on their successes and achievements this past year. Without their willingness to devote many hours to our activities, and their continued generosity when asked to help out, we could not have accomplished all that we did during 2006-07.

Many thanks to my committee members for their endless help and support: Debra McCain, Jennifer Grunden, Veronica Oney, Melissa Rakes, Cristine Layton and Beth Parker.

Also, many thanks to the guidance counselors and host high schools, the campuses of Delaware Technical & Community College, and to each of the following individuals who all played significant roles this past year:

Financial Aid Night Programs
From December through February, nine Financial Aid Night Programs were conducted in Delaware with multiple sites offered in each of the three counties. Six financial aid administrators provided information to approximately 550 students and parents, a slight increase from last year. In addition to these programs, financial aid administrators provided information at several of the College Night programs during October.

College Goal Sunday
College Goal Sunday 2007 (February 11) was a huge success! Three campuses of Delaware Tech served as hosts, one in each of Delaware’s three counties, and Debra McCain attended many of the planning meetings as the site coordinator. Approximately 200 individuals attended and received help with FAFSA completion, specific questions and general financial aid information. Again, I owe a huge ‘thanks’ to everyone who volunteered to staff each site and hope they will step forward again for our 2008 program. We will surely need more volunteers at each site, especially in Stanton where about 100 folks needed our help that afternoon!

Community Service
Cristine Layton and Beth Parker led the effort to collect school supplies for selected Boys and Girls Clubs throughout the entire state. As a result, these ladies conducted a survey of all the Clubs to determine how DE ASFAA might be able to provide a broader scope of activities/events in 2007-08. Not surprisingly, the survey results indicate that our help and expertise are needed throughout the year and for more than collecting school supplies. It is my hope that our community service project will continue throughout 2007-08 and beyond.

State Meetings
Two formal meetings were held during the year, one in September to review ACG and SMART requirements, and one during our annual Fall Conference. While there were no formal or organized meetings after that, there were certainly many email “meetings/conversations” that took place at various times.

Looking Ahead: 2007-08
As Delaware President, it is my goal to continue our support of the financial aid night programs and College Goal Sunday. I will look to committee members again for their assistance and guidance with those as well as a continuation of our community service project. Together, we will recruit additional volunteers to help with these activities, and I will also be asking for names to be place on the ballot in early 2008 for our next president. As the State Representative to EASFAA, I will serve as Delaware’s liaison and provide information as necessary to members.

DC Communication
Submitted by:  Precious Smith, DC President

The DC “State” Committee would like to thank everyone in TriState for their participation with all of our outreach events this year. We had a great time serving breakfast to the families at the Washington, DC Ronald McDonald House. The more than 80 lbs. of toiletries that we ‘spring cleaned’ from TriState were greatly appreciated by the staff and clients at the DC Covenant House. The Financial Aid Officer of UMBC also donated professional clothing and accessories to the young mothers at the agency who are looking forward to interviewing for summer and fall jobs this year. Still other TriStaters were able to provide car seats and strollers, in excellent condition I might add, for the agency’s responsible parenting programs.

The networking events at Stan’s Famous and the Bowie Baysox game were more examples of how the Committee and the Association are trying to provide no-pressure forums for exchange and knowledge gathering for a dedicated and selfless cadre of financial aid professionals in the area. We are planning to maintain these events for the pleasure and sanity of the membership, and we are always open to participation and suggestions from members. Please contact the Committee with your suggestions or concerns; we would love to hear from you. You can email us at psmith@ifsb.com with your thoughts.

Keep an eye out for exclusive District of Columbia programming this year as we try to help secondary school guidance counselors as well as their post-secondary school financial aid administrator counterparts wade through legislation, ACG/SMART, TAG LEAP and other topics of recent debate. Thank you to all of the volunteers, who give of themselves and their time, and thank you to all of the supervisors and directors who have graciously acknowledged the importance of encouraging staff to participate in the Association. Enjoy the last days of summer!

Maryland Moments
Submitted by:  Stephanie Bender, MD President

Greetings from the MD Committee.

I would first like to thank the members of my committee. Without their hard work, none of the events we hosted would have been possible:

Brittany Benton (CCBC), Diahann Greene (Citibank), Jerry McKeen (MHEC), Beth McSweeney (PNC), Karen Price (Edamerica), Pat Shoemaker (AACC)

We hosted the following events for 06-07:

The first event of 07-08 will be a community service project at the Maryland Food Bank on July 14.

I look forward to serving the TriState Association for 07-08. We will be continuing to host the events above while trying to establish new ones. I will be asking for new volunteers to join the committee as well as volunteers to step up and run for Maryland President for next year, as this will be my last year.