Conference Agenda
	November 17-19, 2004 The Westin Waltham-Boston
	Tentative Agenda Wednesday, November 17th 7:30 - 9:30 Continental Breakfast in New York City 8:00 - 12:15 Registration 8:00 - 12:00 Exhibitor Area Open 9:30 - 10:30 Concurrent Sessions: "Comparing Apples to Apples" when Evaluating Alternative Loans Belmont Room Presenters: Julie Menendez, Bank of America Elayne Peloquin, MGH Institute of Health Professions Session focuses on the fact that schools are constantly facing raising tuition and students increasing the amount they have to take out in private loans. What types of things should we be aware of when recommending and evaluating alternative loans? The first half of the presentation will explain what Alternative loans are, questions to ask and things to be aware of. The second half of the presentation will be how MGH specifically is handling the increase in need and what steps they have taken to control it. Microsoft Power Point 2003 Fundamentals Wellesley Room Presenter: Joe Lahoud, American Student Assistance This course introduces the basics of Microsoft PowerPoint 2003. The learner is guided through the steps for creating a new presentation and how to manage slides. Participants learn how to work with AutoShapes, WordArt, Clip Art and graphics. How to set up a presentation for printing, and how to create headers and footers are covered. Finally, this course teaches the most frequently used aspects of PowerPoint with some useful hints and tips. Loan Demons - and How to Exorcise them! Cambridge Room Presenter: Allene Begley Curto Defaults are not the only Demons of Loans. Does your head spin (like Linda Blair in the Exorcist) when you think of aggregate limits, loan pro-ration, disability discharges, bankruptcies, and other challenging statuses? How does your institution monitor them? How do you resolve them? This session will be an overview of the requirements and challenges with a description of the procedures at Springfield College. Whether you have demons to vanquish or good procedures to share, please join us for this discussion. Just the Facts! Masfaa Presents Nasfaa's Core Training Lincoln Room Presenters: Sue Stano, Holyoke Community College Dan Barkowitz, MIT Later this winter, MASFAA will present the NASFAA CORE Training Seminars locally. This workshop series is designed for novice aid professionals as a way to learn about core financial aid concepts from experienced financial aid professionals. Come learn about the workshop series and see a sample presentation from the training series. FERPA Emerson Room Presenter: Marc Vernon In America, individuals do not live behind a curtain of privacy. Privacy is more like a veil in that one knows the fabric is there and yet others can see through it with relative ease, the fabric obscuring very little. One thread in American's veil of privacy is FERPA, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. FERPA affords individuals certain rights in certain information collected about them or their minor children as such relates to their attendance at an educational institution. GLBA (the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act), Sarbanes-Oxley, and the new California Data Security Disclosure law - these are just some of the regulations that apply to the financial services industry. Institutions found to be noncompliant with these rules are subject to liability suits and regulatory enforcement measures ranging from corrective action to fines or other penalties. 10:30 - 11:00 BREAK 11:00 - 12:00 Concurrent Sessions: Identity Theft: "When Bad Things Happen to Your Good Name" Belmont Room Presenter: Jennifer Wallace, Student Loan Xpress Session focuses on the facts surrounding identity theft and how it is committed. Session will also identify what students need to know in order to protect themselves and what to do if it DOES happen. Writing an Effective RFP Wellesley Room Presenter: Nancy MacNeil, American Student Assistance Whether you're a DL school thinking of returning to FFELP, or you're looking for a new document imaging software to install in your office, writing an effective RFP is the best way to ensure you get the products and services you require. This session will walk through the process of organizing your requirements in a way that will generate the most effective proposals to meet your needs. Portals, Portals, Portals Cambridge Room Presenter: Nicholas Zinser, M. Seamus Harreys, Northeastern University Aid professionals hear a lot about web portals – but what do they really do? What is a web portal, and what are institutions doing with them to better serve students? What does it mean for the aid office (and, by extension, office staff) to be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year in a virtual environment? This session will provide various examples of student services being offered via a personalized web experience. We will also discuss connecting non-institutional web resources to an existing internal website or web portal. Know Your Flows Lincoln Room Presenters: Gretchen Bonfardine, Tara Condon, American Student Assistance Do you ever wonder why you send certain loan applications or certifications to the lender while others are sent to the guarantor or servicer? Why do you receive funds from many different institutions while another school receives all of their funds from just one place? This session will bring to light the available loan processing flows, and the vocabulary used by your lenders, guarantors, and servicers surrounding those flows. It will help you to understand your current loan processes and provide you with the tools to take control and streamline your processing. Customer Service in Financial Aid: Principles & Best Practices Emerson Room Presenter: Donna Kendall, Bentley College Are you tired of working in the office that students love to hate? Learn from a panel of school and higher education representatives what customer service challenges they faced and how they leveraged technology and implemented creative solutions to solve their problems. Whether you are from a large or small school, public or private, you'll learn the 10 keys to good customer service that will work on your campus. Time will be allotted for you to ask questions and share best practices and your own success stories. This topic is borrowed from a NASFAA session at last summer's conference in Minneapolis. 12:15 - 2:15 Bon Voyage Lunch in Florida Speaker: Hope Milhap, Humorist Business Meeting  2:15 - 4:00 Registration 2:15 - 6:00 Exhibitor Area Open 2:30 - 3:30 Concurrent Sessions: Guidance Counselors: Their Critical Role in Financial Aid Belmont Room Presenter: Paul Lynskey, MEFA Recent research clearly documents the important role of high school counselors in assisting, and even influencing, families in the preliminary stages of exploring financial aid. This session will give FAOs a rare opportunity to interact with guidance counselors and to learn about what financial aid initiatives work, and don't work, in impacting and assisting applicants and parents. Financial aid resources that assist counselors will also be explored. The structure of this session will allow for a significant amount of interaction between presenters and participants. What’s out there for me? FFELP’s and Direct Loan Program’s Products & Services Wellesley Room Presenters: Caroline Menedez, Nancy MacNeil, American Student Assistance: The Lender Consortium What are the different options available to members of the financial aid community?  What are the differences between the FFEL Program and the Direct Loan Program?  This session will take a comprehensive look at the products and services currently available to schools and borrowers. We will discuss the different loan programs, disbursement services, outreach programs, industry trainings, customer service, and benefits to the borrower.  We will also discuss the technology that is on the horizon and how you can use it to stay informed.  You Can Take Your Financial Aid to Another Country Cambridge Room Presenter: Yvonne Gittens, MIT The session will look at how aid administrator deal with contractual and consortium agreements for students who want to study away from their home institution. The session will use materials and information provided by the Department of Education and NASFAA. We will look at how to put together an agreement and provide you will tools to assist others on your campus with understanding the process. Life of the Loan Lincoln Room Presenter: Jason Kahn, CLC For those new to the FFELP industry or just need a refresher course, this session walks through the entire life of the loan. Beginning with the application phase and ending with Payment in Full, we will cover every phase of the loan to bring better understanding to help both your current and past students. This session brings laughter and energy into an otherwise boring subject. Through interaction and discussion, we will also cover the "players" of FFELP and the responsibilities of each in administering the loans.  College Financial Planning: A plan for paying for the net cost – One Institution’s Experience Emerson Room Presenter: M. Seamus Harreys, Annette Macmullin, Gail Holt, Northeastern University Every year, parents and students are focused on how to pay for the net cost of the bill— a payment plan?, which parent loan?, or a student loan? or a combination of loan and payment plan? etc. Also, increasing, parents are also focused on beyond the first year--how can the family develop a plan to pay the net cost to graduation. This session will review one institution’s on-going experience with financial planning—student/parent experiences, the institution’s current tools and future technology enhancements (online Financial Planning) and the institution’s goal to move to a financial plan to graduation for every new student. 3:30 - 4:00 BREAK 4:00 - 5:00 Concurrent Sessions: Guarantor Update (session designed for Vendors) Belmont Room Presenter: Scott Prince, MEFA Last year at the Associate member roundtable, it was suggested that there be a session with updates from a number of Guarantee agencies with updates on technology, products, etc. geared specifically to the lender representatives. This would be an interesting session if held while the exhibits were closed to allow venders to attend the session. Potential speakers may include (but are not limited to) ASA, CSLF, USA Group, etc. CEED “Maximum Mentoring”: For the Novice to the Leader Wellesley Room Presenter: Lester Lee Jr., Northeastern University We have all been lost in our own world at one point or another. Let's not forget our first steps as we climb that ladder to reach our ultimate goal in our financial aid careers. Can mentoring really make a difference? Join us in a presentation on the best practices: right, wrong, or indifferent in mentoring our colleagues or being mentored. There will also be an opportunity for you to share your experiences. Financial Planning Cambridge Room Presenters: Beth Feinberg, Karen Boutin, Northeastern University Going over the increasing costs of higher education and the increasing loan debt that is being borrowed. Using tools that we have for students and families to borrow what they need and determine the long run cost over time. Networking Lincoln Room Presenters: Joe Lahoud, American Student Assistance Pamela Walker, Salem State College A session on Networking techniques - working a room. This session will provide some tips on working a room filled with new faces. Campus Based Allocation Formula – A Look Inside Emerson Room Presenters: Bernie Pekala, Boston College Eileen O’Leary, Stonehill College M. Seamus Harreys, Northeastern University Congress is looking closely at whether or not to change the long-standing, current formula for allocating campus based funds to higher education institutions. This session explores the history of the current formula, who it benefits and who it doesn't, and examines the possibility of change and what it might mean to your school. 5:00 - 6:00 Cocktail Reception New Member Welcome! 6:00 - 12:00 Dinner in New Orleans Dancing to DJ Thursday, November 18th 7:30 - 9:30 Breakfast in Mexico 7:30 - 12:00 Registration 8:00 - 12:00 Exhibitor Area Open 8:30 - 9:30 General Session Federal, EASFAA and AICUM Updates 9:30 - 10:30 Concurrent Sessions: Bringing XML Into Focus Belmont Room Presenter: Shawn Monk, American Student Assistance Are you tired of trying to figure out what the XML hype is all about? This session will guide you through the hype and get you to the truth. In a hands-on development session, you'll build your own XML document, explore how to trouble-shoot COD XML and even take a look at the upcoming XML ISIR. Our goal is to give you not only an understanding of what XML is, but to also provide that flash of inspiration that will let you see how XML can help your students and your office work together. College Goal Sunday Comes to Massachusetts Wellesley Room Presenters: Gail Holt, Northeastern University Sherri Culp, Brandeis University NASFAA has teamed up with the Lumina Foundation for Education to bring the nationwide program, College Goal Sunday, to 35 states and the District of Columbia by the end of 2007. Come to this informative session and learn how Massachusetts will join in the effort. Learn the details and how you can be involved. On February 13, 2005 MASFAA will instittue this volunteer service of outreach to Massachusetts students and families at a location near you. Building Morale In and Out of the Financial Aid Office Cambridge Room Presenters: Annie Cushman-Kosar, Beth Feinberg, Karen Boutin, Northeastern University This presentation would involve 1/2 hour of discussing various things offices can do to connect with their students and not have the financial aid office be such a scary place. We will discuss how we have done pumpkin painting that students could vote on, holiday cookie baking, and other ideas that we would like to do or other schools can do. 1/2 hour on discussing how to build morale within the staff. We have set up committees to work on various topics in the office, we have a kickoff every year to get ready for the new incoming class and any changes that may have taken place. We also are developing ways to help new staff feel included such as welcome packets, new training surveys, etc. This presentation would help to foster ideas about building morale and long lasting relationships with the student and staff both as important communities. The Art of Communication Lincoln Room Presenters: Anthony Erwin, Stonehill College Cathy Kedski, Bridgewater State College This session will help you acquire communication skills and techniques by reviewing basic information about communication; learning how to effectively communicate through listening, public speaking and report writing; and learning how to manage communication with others using relevant technology. Predictive Modeling: Blending Information with Intuition to Make Informed Decisions Emerson Room Presenters: Anne Sturtevant, Jim Slattery, Julie Shields-Rutyna, The College Board Highlighting the power of using predictive modeling to maintain effective awarding policies, participants will work together with the presenters in a case-study approach to the uses of econometric analysis. Dealing With Difficult Customers: Livermore Room Presenter: Steve Wynne, Academic Management Services Your goal on campus is to have consistently high levels of customer service, but you don't always have consistently positive interactions with students and families. How can you learn to turn those less than positive interactions into positive ones; and what new skills can you discover. This course of discovery focuses on: *Understanding who our true customers are and what they expect of us *How to communicate with a purpose *A review of the most often forgotten skills -- listening and questioning *Why? We usually focus on the person - not their behavior. *Key skills to reaching your business goals *We are the force of change -- how we act is key 10:30 - 11:00 BREAK 11:00 - 12:15 Concurrent Sessions: Direct Loan Meeting Belmont Room Presenter: Janice Dorian, Mansfield Beauty School, Member of the Executive Council of the NDSLC This meeting of Direct Loan schools will provide attendees with an overview of recent activities of the National Direct Student Loan Coalition including an update on reauthorization proposals concerning student loans, and an opportunity to provide your input on issues that the Coalition will address during this academic year to help make Direct Lending an even stronger program that fully meets your needs. All Direct Loan schools are welcome, even if not dues-paying members of the Coalition. Etiquette: A Life Skill Wellesley Room Presenters: Ken Hayes, MIT Linda Blakita, International Food Service Executive Association Whether in business or in "real life," knowing the right thing to do or say can make all the difference. Come to learn or to simply brush up on these important life skills and gain some pointers in a variety of areas as far ranging as knowing just which glass on the table at lunch at the conference is yours, or exactly what that pesky R.S.V.P. means and requires. The presenters have planned a lively and enlightening session and cordially invite you to attend. Using Technology as a Change Agent Livermore Room Presenter: Nicholas Zinser, Northeastern University Using three examples (an aid software system, a work study system, and a portal system), this session will describe how one institution used new technology to enhance student service, compliance, and efficiency. We will address the philosophical approaches to implementing new technology as part of an overall business process redesign, while asking three fundamental questions: What is best for the student? What is best for the institution? What is best for the aid office? The Art of Time Management Lincoln Room Presenters: Anthony Erwin, Stonehill College Cathy Kedski, Bridgewater State College This session will allow you to examine your own time management skills. We will teach you how to better organize your desk, your day and your life, and provide you with a list of resources for additional reference. The Gay Family Goes to College Emerson Room Presenter: Heather McDonnell, Sarah Lawrence College Approximately, 8 million children have same gendered parents in loving and committed relationships. These children are soon to be enrolling at colleges and universities. This session will focus on the demography of the gay family and will discuss ways in which financial aid offices can begin to have an open and honest communication with gay families applying for financial aid. After all, over 250,000 students from gay families have already graduated from college! The Next Generation: Understanding the “Rude and Impatient” Cambridge Room Presenter: Jason Kahn, CLC Do you remember when you were a child and you called every adult Mr. or Mrs.?  How about tying up the phone lines for hours because there was no call waiting?  These are memories of the past and no longer hold true for this generation.  If your students don't seem to understand, if they don't read what you give them, are impatient or just plain rude, then maybe it's time to understand them. 12:15 - 1:45 Lunch in Hollywood Network with Your Colleagues! 2:00 - 4:00 Registration 2:00 - 4:00 Exhibitor Area Open 2:00 - 3:15 Concurrent Sessions: Associate Member Round Table Belmont Room Presenter: Scott Prince, MEFA Join other Associate Members of MASFAA for a spirited roundtable discussion regarding MASFAA's associate membership. Topics to be discussed will include MASFAA sponsorship, advertising structure, conference, and training opportunities. Bring your ideas and comments in this second annual event for Associate Members! Tips and Tools for the New Financial Aid Administrator Wellesley Room Presenter: Pamela Walker, Salem State College This session is geared to the new financial aid administrator who wants ideas on how to sort through all the confusion that comes with learning the financial aid process, tips on dealing with students and parents, the tools available to administrators and where to go for it. There will be a panel of four seasoned FA administrators (2 from the private sector and 2 from the state sector) who will offer their own tips and ideas. The main idea is to (hopefully) create conversation between the audience and the panel. A brief overview using a powerpoint presentation will begin the session. The Art of Personnel Management Lincoln Room Presenters: Anthony Erwin, Stonehill College Cathy Kedski, Bridgewater State College This session will allow you to test your knowledge of and practices for managing personnel. You will learn the key elements to maintain satisfied staff any you will be given tools you can apply in your own office. The Fundamentals of Choosing a Good Wine Cambridge Room Presenter: Daniel Barkowitz, MIT And no, we don't mean whine! Has this happened to you? You are out at a business dinner, and the waiter comes by to ask what kind of wine you would like with dinner. What do you say? What is the difference between a Cabernet and a Pinot? What is a good match for a cream-based soup? Pasta? Steak? Dessert? At this exciting session, you will be given basic fundamental background on wine selection, and food pairing. Some tasting will be included. The College Savings Options: More than Meets the Eye Emerson Room Presenter: Deborah Glenn-Long, CSLF Prepaid tuition plans and college savings accounts (also known as "529 plans"), Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, trust funds, savings bonds and the list goes on. Do you know the pros and cons of different college savings options? How does the federal need analysis system treat these savings? How can schools consider these investments when awarding limited institutional financial aid? This session promises to answer all of these questions and more. Participants will also receive a handy desk reference to take back to their offices. Helping Students Help Themselves Livermore Room Presenter: Daniel Brent, Citibank In dealing with students we want to be helpful and customer-centered, but "doing it for them" is time-consuming and encourages dependency. This session examines what the Financial Aid Office professional can do to reduce the need for wasteful hand-holding. 3:15 - 3:45 BREAK 3:45 - 5:00 General Session Speaker: Darren Lacriox, Humorist 5:00 - 6:00 Cocktail Reception 6:00 - 11:00 Captain's Dinner in Hawaii Hula Dancers Dancing with Nick and the Nice Guys! Friday, November 19th 7:30 - 9:30 Breakfast in Boston 8:00 - 10:30 Exhibitor Area Open 9:30 - 10:30 Concurrent Sessions: Developing a Technology Plan Belmont Room Presenter: Nancy MacNeil, American Student Assistance Understanding your students is only part of the equation. In this session, we'll work to develop a plan for addressing the issues raised by the millennial student generation. We'll explore the technologies available and help you devise the best plan for implementation to ensure that every technology serves as a complement to your existing processes. In addition to connecting you to the technologies you need, this session will also demonstrate a suggested approach to developing the buy-in from your staff to really make these changes work. Who Moved My Cheese Wellesley Room Presenter: Jolene Mitchell, Colby Sawyer College How do you recognize change before it happens to you and your office? How easily do you adapt to the change? This session will talk about recognizing change and how it affects our rofessional life. Financial Aid Trivial Pursuit Cambridge Room Presenters: Kathleen Roebuck, AFC Mary Jenkins, Cape Cod Community College Anne Playe, USAF Sue Stano, Holyoke Community College Test your knowledge with a team of financial aid professionals in Masfaa’s own Trivial Pursuit game. If you are new, you’ll learn from the experts. If you are an expert, strut your stuff. Questions, answers and prizes provided. Creativity Counts! Learn to Color Outside the Lines Lincoln Room Presenter: Deborah Glenn-Long, CSLF Do you sometimes feel stuck in a bureaucratic rut? Do you wish you could jump-start your brain in order to see old problems from a new perspective? Have you heard complaints that your office is dull and boring? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then "creativity camp" may be just what the doctor ordered. This session is packed with innovative ideas, puzzling exercises and just a bit of magic to energize even the most burned out professional. 10:45 - 12:00 General Sessions The Fish! Philosophy Imagine a workplace where everyone chooses to bring energy, passion and a positive attitude with them each day. An environment in which people are truly connected to their work, to their colleagues and to their customers. Impossible? Not at all. Fish! Is a tool to help lead people toward that environment. Join us for an exploration of what we call the Fish! Philosophy and learn how to make your office a more productive and enjoyable place to be! Road Map to Diversity This is an interactive session, which will illustrate the changing face of higher education. Attendees will break down into groups to follow along the path of diversity utilizing statistics from 1970 to the present, which are relevant to both institutions of higher education and financial aid professionals. The session will be fun and informative. 12:00 Vendor Raffle 12:30 Conference Adjourns

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