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SDASFAA BOARD MEETING
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Al’s Oasis - Chamberlain, SD
DRAFT
CALL TO ORDER: President, Patti Klinkhammer called the meeting to order at 11:06 am.
Members present: Patti Klinkhammer, President; Denise Grayson, Past-President; Starla Russell, President-Elect; Becky Pribyl, Treasurer; Laura Olson, Secretary; Bob Prouty, Greg Binstock, Marlene Seeklander and Sharon Martin, Members at Large; Jean Rock, Associate Member at Large.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA: Patti called for a motion to accept the additions to the agenda. Starla made the motion, seconded by Sharon. No discussion followed. The motion passed.
WELCOME NEW MEMBERS: Patti introduced the new members and offered a word of welcome – Laura Olson as Secretary, Greg Binstock and Marlene Seeklander as Members at Large.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM NOVEMBER 4, 2009, BOARD MEETING: Patti asked for a review of the minutes. Bob made a motion to accept the minutes from the November 4, 2009, meeting. After no changes were found, Bob made a motion to approve the minutes as is, seconded by Patti. All members were in favor, and the motion passed.
OFFICER REPORTS
Secretary: Starla as past-secretary stated that she had shared the November 4, 2009 board meeting minutes, the April 2, 2009 business meeting minutes, the executive council calendar, the Policy & Procedure Manual and the Constitution with Laura in electronic format. Starla talked through sharing the files with Diane Francis at Great Lakes, who hosts the SDASFAA web pages, for web updates.
Treasurer: Becky distributed the year-end Balance Sheet and Asset Summary from January 1, 2009 through December 31, 2009, the Balance Sheet and Asset Statement from January 1, 2010 through February 22, 2010, the SDASFAA Historical Financial Record and the 2009 High School Counselor Workshop Totals.
Becky walked through the final numbers for 2009 and pointed out that under membership dues the Bank of North Dakota and Student Loans of North Dakota paid during the 2009 calendar year via direct deposit. The same thing happened in 2008 so those dues are being reported equally between years. For 2009, there was an increase in the expenses for Executive Board Meeting due to the board meeting in November. Normally the November meeting is held in conjunction with Decentralized Training and the schools are responsible for the travel expenses. There was also an increase in the expenses for the Support Staff Workshop. All expenses have been reported except for the room rental fee of $115.03. The workshop was over budget and Patti will address and clarify the budget with the 2010 workshop chair. Total income for 2009 was $18,038.45, total expenses were $15,921.56, $1,000 was transferred to savings with an ending balance in the checking account of $5,066.93 and carries forward as the beginning balance for 2010.
On the Balance Sheet, total income so far in 2010 is $8,688.10 and expenses as of February 22, 2010 of $666.28 with an ending balance of $13,088.75. The income does include the reimbursement from Tom Poloncic for the 2009 NASFAA Leadership Conference.
On the Asset Statement, the balance in the savings account as of the end of 2009 was $8,446.61. The Wells Fargo CD will mature in June 2010 and has a balance of $14,784.33. The US Bank CD will mature in October 2010 and has a balance of $3,537.00 and the Great Plains CD will mature on March 5, 2010 and has a balance of $10,458.30. Further discussion will take place under new business.
Becky went over the Historical Financial Record, which compares four years of financial data for SDASFAA. The question was raised when comparing the line items for the spring conference over the years. The expenses for the conference are more than the income received from the conference. Becky explained that the registration fees charged for the conference are set at a rate that covers the food costs for the conference. The rest of the expenses are covered by membership and sponsorship dues paid annually. It was again noted that the executive board meeting expenses was higher in 2009 because of SDASFAA covering mileage for that meeting. The printing and copying expense was from calendars distributed to the organization and the need to order more check blanks.
Becky also went over the 2009 High School Counselor Workshop totals. Income was $1,225, expenses were $1,375.09, total attendees from the 7 sites were 111, average cost per attendee was $10.45 and total cost per attendee was $12.39. Because of the delay in getting the workshop materials, printing had to be done at each site instead of a central location in the past. This meant each site had to submit the printing costs and be reimbursed. The Sioux Falls and Yankton sites had printing costs sponsored by the schools and did not submit any printing expenses to SDASFAA.
Past-President: Denise did not have a formal report, but would have items of discussion later in the agenda under new business.
President: Patti stated that due to personal reasons neither she nor Starla will be attending the NASFAA Leadership Conference next week in Washington DC. This will make the expenses appear much different on the books when comparing to past years and for future planning/budgeting. Sharon made a recommendation that the board consider sending four board members (Patti as past-president, Starla as president, a new president-elect and a new treasurer) to the 2011 Leadership Conference and work to set aside money in the budget now. After further discussion, it was decided the board could not make that kind of financial commitment at this time, but would discuss it at the fall board meeting when we would have a better idea of how we are sitting financially.
President-Elect: Starla reported she is already looking at ideas to discuss for next year. She feels her time as secretary helped to better prepare her and help her understand the president’s role through the Policy & Procedure manual, keeping up the calendar and knowing the by-laws. She has a goal to have a good understanding of everyone’s role on the board. She expressed that she is fully aware of the budget challenges ahead. She would like to identify ways to gain a new membership base by linking with others who crossover into the financial aid industry and how we can partner with others for training and professional development ideas. She is hoping this could have an impact on membership and sponsorship if we relook at the events and activities of the organization. She would like to explore new opportunities to stay solvent and viable without dipping into reserves. Starla also has experience as the RMASFAA secretary which will help us all understand what other state associations are changing and how they are being affected.
Sharon made a motion to approve all reports, Greg seconded the motion. All members were in favor, and the motion passed.
OLD BUSINESS
HSCW - Role of Site Coordinators/Missing payments: Becky reported that some site coordinators did not collect payments onsite for attendees who had not paid in advance of the workshop. Five high school counselors were identified as not paying. The board went through each of their names. Two never attended, never paid and were never given materials so no further action needed. For the other three, the board recommended that Becky send an invoice to the school business office to see if payment can be received that way. Patti handed out the summary of the HSCW evaluation forms. Some sites did experience weather issues. Rapid City offered a web-based session, which received good ratings, where they demonstrated the FAFSA4Caster and other federal websites. Starla shared it was a good test run and they had a great facility to hold this. Discussion took place on considering the availability of electronic materials for the workshop in the future, but there is the fear of counselors not attending. The HSCW Committee will be asked to consider introducing new locations for the workshop as well as considering a later start time and what the cost would be to provide lunch to attendees. The HSCW Committee will also be asked to look at working with Tom Cool to survey high school counselors about a later start time and going through lunch. Becky stated that Mitchell, Pierre and Rapid City had not yet turned in all of their income. Starla stated the HSCW Committee would also discuss cost/expenses to see if there is a way to make each site more uniform. They will also look at printed vs electronic materials as the printing of the materials and the timing of the workshops is a challenge.
NASFAA Leadership Conference 2009 & 2010: Patti discussed this in her President’s report. Starla recommended submitting a letter on behalf of SDASFAA to the South Dakota delegation beings there would not be anyone visiting their offices during the conference. Patti offered to write the letter identifying 2-3 items of importance for the state in relation to what is happening in current legislation such as Perkins, Direct Lending and LEAP. She will draft a letter and share it with the board for approval.
Electronic Vote for 2010 President: Denise discussed that when the board voted for Patti as the 2010 SDASFAA President following Tom Poloncic’s resignation it happened electronically after the November board meeting. Starla researched the electronic votes and has records showing unanimous support.
NEW BUSINESS
Approval of 2010 Budget Proposal: Patti presented a proposed budget for 2010 and walked through each line item and how she determined income and expenses. Most numbers this early on are guestimates and will need adjusting. Income from memberships and sponsorships were a little high and need to be adjusted based on current information from Becky’s treasurer records. Patti will be checking with Sharon Kienow, RMASFAA President, to see if there are plans for Decentralized Training in 2010 in order to determine expenses. RMASFAA Executive Board expenses were adjusted based on the availability of Patti and Starla to attend meetings and what expenses are covered by RMASFAA. Discussion did take place regarding College Goal Sunday and at what point will SDASFAA need to begin to plan for expenses incurred from this event. Jay Larsen will need to give the association an update on this process and timeline. Patti will work with Becky’s numbers and other research and send an update to proposed budget with new numbers by email to the board.
2010 Spring Conference Registration: Patti stated that the registration form should be coming to the list serve today. The 2010 conference is being held in Huron at the Crossroads Hotel and Convention Center March 22-24, 2010. March 7th is the cut off for reserving rooms at the conference rate. The executive board meeting will be held Monday morning the 22nd. Starla made a request to consider moving the board meeting to prevent a Sunday night hotel stay to keep expenses down for schools. With it being this close to the conference, the registrations ready to go out and the conference agenda being printed, the board felt it was a justified concern, but too late to implement for this year.
Becky raised a concern regarding the late payment fee which requires payment to be received to her no later than 15 days prior to the conference or a late fee is assessed. With registration not being available until the last week of February, that may be a challenge for schools to get checks sent that fast. Starla made a motion to extend the late fee payment deadline to March 19th. Further discussion was held and Becky recommended that the registration form include registration by meal instead of just by day. Patti amended the motion to extend the late fee payment deadline to March 17th to allow time for a meal count prior to weekend. Denise seconded the motion. All members were in favor, the motion passed.
2010 Volunteer Update: Patti reported that she had sent a notice to the list serve asking members to sign up to volunteer on committees for 2010. As of today, 15 people had volunteered. She will send out another email this week to remind people. It was recommended that the High School Counselor Workshop Committee include site coordinators so they can be a part of the location discussion.
2010 Membership Update & Sponsorship: Starla would like the association to look at ways to expand membership. This is something that RMASFAA is looking to do as well. She gave the example of software vendors and business office personnel. There is a strong feeling of helping others on campus to better understand financial aid and issues we deal with and the affect it has on other parts of campus. The Membership Committee will begin work on this at the spring conference. In preparation for the committee meeting, Starla will put together ideas to help the committee begin the process and she will present those ideas at the March 22nd board meeting in Huron.
Review of SDASFAA Directory: Patti had a printout of the SDASFAA Directory from the website. She noted that some individuals/school information was not current and needed updating. She passed around the list for the board members to review and make notes. Becky will use that list to update the online list with Diane at Great Lakes. Patti is going to talk to Diane about how the web is designed, how it gets updated, options for sorting the directories, etc… It was discussed that the Membership Committee is responsible for updating the information online.
CD’s Coming Due Soon: The Great Plains CD will mature March 5, 2010. Current balance is $10,458.30. Interest rate is currently 2.34%. Lengthy discussion was held regarding what to do with the Great Plains CD when it matures. Great Plains never became a member of SDASFAA when offered in 2008 when the CD was started. Starla offered to contact Great Plains to again offer a membership opportunity. Because Great Plains only has a few locations in northeast South Dakota, the board shared concerns with how a new treasurer coming on the board in 2011 will be able to access that CD. The board asked Becky to research the interest rates of rolling the CD over for 6 or 9 months or the moving the CD to the existing Wells Fargo or US Bank CDs. It was also recommended to look at First Premier Bank due to them being a member. They do not have an Aberdeen location. Bob mentioned it may be worth looking into organizations such as ING or others who are online investment firms, if the association is willing to look at non-member and non-brick and mortar financial institutions. Denise made a motion to roll the Great Plains CD over to a nine month CD, Sharon seconded the motion. All members were in favor of the 2011 Treasurer finding a new location for the CD at that time, motion passed.
Taxes 2009: Becky reported that SDASFAA’s annual gross receipts were $23,803 for 2009, which means we are not required to file the 990EZ tax return. She is able to take care of the 990N via postcard instead and has already filed that for free, which saved $400. Becky also reported that the Review Committee met in Madison in February and reviewed the books. No major findings were discovered. Committee members had a few questions and made suggestions. One question that came up was the differing mileage reimbursements for board members for different meetings. Example: A board member received a different amount in mileage reimbursement from the fall meeting to the summer meeting and the question is why. Discussion was held that some board members come from different locations depending on when/what day of the week the meeting is held (i.e. leaving from the office vs leaving from their home). The board decided that no new procedural changes were needed at this time.
Archiving Dated Secretarial Materials: Starla reported that she has looked at the procedures for archiving, but there are few instructions on what to do with archiving physical materials and records. She wondered if they are in electronic form somewhere or should they be. She found that not everything was currently on the website. Discussion was held about archives for secretary historical documents. Starla stated that in talking with Diane from Great Lakes, Diane volunteered to take all old materials, scan them and put them in PDF format for archiving on the web. The SDASFAA website currently holds historical archived treasurer records. The board felt it is important to have as many archives electronic and in one location as possible. The biggest question would be what should be available for viewing on the web. Sharon made a motion to provide Great Lakes with materials that need to be archived as read only. Bob seconded the motion. All members were in favor and motion passed. Starla will work to get old paper documents/files/materials to Diane for archiving with other SDASFAA records on the website. This would cut down on, if not eliminate, the need for passing boxes of documents back and forth each time a new secretary comes on the board. Further discussion surrounded the archiving of old SDASFAA pictures and whether or not Grant Uecker had those.
Selection of 2009 SDASFAA Award Recipients: Denise stated she had two nominations for the Outstanding Service Award. Recipients are nominated by the membership at large and voted on by the board. Denise handed out paper ballots and each board member placed their vote. The winner will be announced at the awards banquet at the spring conference. Denise also stated that nominations for the Douglas Steckler Award should be sent to her. She, Starla and Patti will then choose the recipient to again be announced at the awards event at the spring conference.
2011 Spring Conference Site: Denise reported that with the rotation of the location for the spring conference 2011 would be southeast South Dakota. She is currently looking at the Best Western Kelly Inn in Yankton which is connected to Minerva’s. They are willing to waive the room rent and there would be no charge for the standard audio visual equipment. Two possible dates would be April 4-6, 2011 and April 11-13, 2011 (Easter is April 24, 2011). Starla made a suggestion that due to the economy and budget cuts on campuses that we look at a central location for the next year or two, going outside of the “normal” rotation. Discussion was held and board members agreed that keeping the conference more centralized may encourage more schools to attend. Denise will contact the AmericInn and Cedar Shores in Chamberlain to see about available dates, room rates, meeting room charges, etc… She will communicate the options via email to board members.
ANNOUCEMENTS
RMASFAA Exchange: Becky gave a reminder that articles for the RMASFAA Exchange are due by March 2nd.
Sales Tax: Becky reminded the board that SDASFAA is not sales tax exempt.
Next Meeting: The next meeting will be held on Monday, March 22, 2010 from 8:00am – 12:00pm in Huron SD before the start of the spring conference.
Patti thanked the board members for their diligent work on a lengthy agenda and again welcomed new board members.
ADJOURN Starla made a motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Denise. No discussion followed. The motion passed and the meeting was adjourned at 3:20pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Laura Olson,
SDASFAA Secretary
South Dakota Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators
Site Development and Maintenance by SDASFAA