CASFAA President's Highlights
 by Anafe Robinson, CASFAA President
There were several positions vacant when I assumed the role of CASFAA President after the conference. We held a special election in December 2019 and I am happy to announce our CASFAA President-Elect, Jesse Marquez.
The Executive Council is pleased to announce the appointments of Deborah Agee as the Vice-President of Federal Issues and Wendy Wang as the Treasurer-Elect.
Deborah has 30 years of experience in higher education finance. She has served as Executive Director of Financial Aid and Scholarships at University of California at Davis for the past 5 years. Deborah has served on the Federal Regulations Committee for several years. Most recently she served on NASFAA’s Rapid Response Network providing insight into how federal law and regulation may impact financial aid operations.
Wendy is the Director of Financial Aid & Scholarships at Gemological Institute of America (GIA). Prior to joining GIA, Wendy held positions at CSU San Marcos, College of the Canyons and LA Pierce College. Wendy has been active in CASFAA and has served as segmental representative. Her experience in financial aid and community involvement in finance has prepared her to take on the Treasurer-Elect role.
Please join the Executive Council in welcoming Jesse, Deborah, and Wendy to the team.
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New Chafee Grant SAP Law effective
January 1, 2020
SB 150 passed in the last state legislative cycle. It allows Chafee recipients to continue receiving their award for two years after initially not meeting Satisfactory Academic Progress standards. The student must create a plan before continuing to receive Chafee Grant after the first year where SAP is not met. If you are at a CCC, CSU (UC at request) then you must also provide information for on campus support services and how to complete an educational plan upon release of the first payment of the year. For additional guidance check out the site for John Burton Advocates for Youth.
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CASFAA Annual Conference Update
We, Thomas Le and Lori Prince, wanted to introduce ourselves as this year’s Conference Chairs. We are excited to announce that we have begun planning for this year’s conference in Santa Clara with the help of your Executive Council. More details to come as we put together a great program for you.
In the meantime, please save the dates October 23 – 26, 2020. We look forward to seeing you in Santa Clara!
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Attention Independent Segment!
The 2020 “Day in the Capitol” for the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities takes place February 25. If your institution is a member of AICCU you can register below.
AICCU’s annual student lobby day is an influential day for students and campus leaders to meet legislators and key influencers to discuss important policy issues that directly impact their higher education experience. Please contact Susan Reyes for more information. |
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Community College Update
by Christina Tangalakis, CASFAA Community College Rep
Thank you CASFAA for supporting me to serve as the Community College Segmental Representative for a second year. I hope to build on last year’s success with a year of experience under my belt. Special thanks to those who volunteered to be on the community college committee with me, including Vanessa Gibson of Antelope Valley College, James Griffin of Sierra College, Maureen Goldberg at Santa Barbara City College, and Kathy Medina from Chabot. There’s still room if you’d like to volunteer your time and expertise to CASFAA.
As a community, we have a lot to absorb and implement after a very active legislative session in 2019. Along with SB 150 highlighted earlier in this issue, I wanted to highlight a few state bills that passed last year and which directly impact our sector operations. They include:
- AB 2 - Expands access to the California College Promise
- AB 943 - Authorizes the use of funding from the CCC Student Equity and Achievement Program for emergency student financial assistance
- AB 1278 - Addresses housing and food insecurity and mental health by requiring CSU, CCC and UC campuses to include information about public services and programs
I’m looking forward to working through these challenges together. Best wishes for a happy and prosperous year!
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Free Web Based Training Opportunities
If you didn’t get a chance to check out our web based training opportunities last month, there are a new crop up for the month of February. Sessions are free and are produced by industry partners on topics ranging from financial aid compliance to professional development and personal improvement.
--Thalassa Naylor, CASFAA Training Chair
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UC Update
 by Nicole LeGrandeur, CASFAA UC Rep,
Tuition increase discussions top financial aid news for the UC system.
There are two items for UC Regents to review and vote upon that impacts students and UC aid programs: (1) whether or not to increase tuition; and (2) whether or not to implement cohort based tuition. If tuition increases are approved, we anticipate a fall 2020 implementation. How does this affect students and aid programs at UC?
The UC policy on undergraduate financial aid focuses on making the University accessible, and while counterintuitive, tuition increases provide greater access for low income students. Approximately 30% percent of mandatory UC systemwide tuition funds support student aid programs. These funds are distributed to each campus on the basis of need. Therefore, a systemwide tuition increase would generate a larger pool of aid dollars to distribute to our neediest populations. As the cost of living increases students have greater need. Without corresponding tuition increases, it becomes more challenging to cover the increased need with gift aid. This diminishes accessibility for high need groups.
Additionally, predictability of tuition and cost is important for our students and families. To address this, cohort based tuition has been proposed as an idea to create greater consistency. Cohort based tuition involves locking tuition for a designated period of time at the rate a student pays in their first year at UC. This model, in combination with Cal Grant, would provide a way for families to better predict costs while giving UC aid offices predictable financial aid funding to meet the need of students. While cohort tuition proposes locking a student’s tuition amount, it does not affect other budget items, such as housing, health insurance, etc.
The UC Regents convene March 19 for the vote.
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by Aprí Medina, CASFAA Newsletter Editor
In addition to hosting Financial Aid Awareness month, February is also known for Valentine’s Day. If you’re like me, it's a struggle to decide if and to whom to give a gift. While the day is mostly celebrated for romantic love, there is definitely space to celebrate your colleagues and have fun. Here are a few cost conscious gift giving ideas that will display care and thoughtfulness.
- Heart stuffed candy pockets - You can make these easily by drawing a series of heart cut outs from 8.5 x 11 paper. Staple two hearts at the lower point first and up half way each side. Place in some candy and staple the rest of the way around the edge. Write a sweet note or make it anonymous. Simple and sweet!
- Home baked goods - for the bakers out there, here is a recipe for the love bugs
- Valentine’s Day Cards - you can take these in a fancy direction or you can give a bit of nostalgia and pick up a box of classroom cards at your local Target…. see the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, complete with pizza smelling tatoos!
- Heart hand warmers - It is still chilly out there. Hand warmers are a thoughtful and useful gift in this cold weather. I’d suggest Etsy as a source to find quality handmade warmers or if you have a gift for sewing and don’t mind giving late, try this heart hand warmer tutorial
- Floral or Garden Items - A bouquet of carnations or flat of baby succulents can go a long way to saying “thanks teammate.” Leave a carnation or succulent on each colleague’s desk with a note of appreciation.
Whether you decide to give this Valentine’s or not, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” ~Maya Angelou
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