The purpose of OASFAA shall be: to foster and promote the professional preparation, effectiveness, recognition, and association of administrators and counselors of student financial aid in educational institutions beyond high school and individuals in public or private agencies or organizations concerned with student financial aid.

A Letter from your President...

June 28, 2010

Greetings OASFAA members!

It is that time of year for renewing your OASFAA Membership for the 2010-11 year. For a low yearly rate of $25 your membership dues allow you access to valuable training opportunities, the OASFAA newsletter, directory, employment opportunities, networking with your colleagues on a professional level, and access to our listservs.

Your membership dues help to support our association and our mission to provide financial aid training and support for Oregon financial aid folks. OASFAA has a well known history of being an association with a strong leadership and volunteer base that has allowed us to develop great training programs as well as a financially stable organization. Your membership allows you to stay connected to your financial aid community; join or renew today and keep our association alive and strong.

The summer drive-in workshop is scheduled for August 5, 2010, on the Portland State University campus. OASFAA is thankful to PSU Financial Aid Director, Philip Rogers, for hosting this venue for our training event. A quality agenda is planned with Marianna Deeken scheduled to do the federal update. Details of the summer program are available on the website.

Due to funding limits this year, OASFAA will not offer the Support Staff Workshop in the fall. Low attendance for the past couple of years and an increased workload for many financial aid offices seemed to indicate that an every other year approach may be a better timeline for this training program.

Recently, the U.S. Department of Education published a large number of new proposed rules in the Federal Register. The Department invites comments on the proposed rules on or before August 2nd, 2010. The scope of this Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) is very broad and likely to have a significant impact on every sector of higher education. The proposed rules can be found at:

PDF - http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-14107.pdf
Text - http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-14107.htm

The OASFAA Executive Council encourages folks to investigate the proposed rules, how they will impact your institution and your students, and to submit comments as individuals as well as on behalf of your institutions. Comments can be submitted online at www.regulations.gov. WASFAA has indicated they will be providing a summary of each of the 14 topics to the WASFAA listserv by the end of June - reason enough to make sure you're a WASFAA member as well!

Summer is a busy time for all of us, so take time to enjoy the sun and have fun. The start of fall will be upon us all too soon. Remember to renew your OASFAA membership today or become a new member and get involved! Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about OASFAA or suggestions on how we can assist you or your school's training needs.

Patti Brady-Glassman
OASFAA President 2010-11