A Message from Your President

Presidents Acceptance Remarks
May 17th, 2011

First let me say thank you to the vendors who have supported the Conference this year. We have never been an Association that took vendor support for granted, although that may have been tempting when the marketing dollars were more plentiful, and we certainly understand even more that in today's economy you make decisions every year where to invest those marketing dollars. Thank you for being here and we look forward to seeing you next year in Baltimore.

One of my early experiences in this profession was when I was first introduced as Rich, the new Financial Aid Director to a group of about 75 International students at Columbia International University in November 1990. There must have been a communication gap as the next day one of those students, out of money and needing help, showed up in my office informing my staff that he wanted to speak with The Rich Financial Aid Director. I always considered my first name a challenge in this profession until I heard Bill Cheatham at his introduction at the Niagara Falls Conference. While confirming his name was in fact William, his nick name growing up was Willie..(Pat, that would make him Willie Cheatham). Rich has seemed pretty tame ever since. I have reviewed all of the past Presidents though and believe that my last name is the only one that is the same as that of a famous candy bar..

And speaking of those past Presidents I want to say thank you. This may be a "duh" moment but I am no Mike Bennett. Long before that Staten Island import Snookie became the face of New Jersey, Mike Bennett was representing his institution and this profession with grace and integrity and was the "face of New Jersey" to thousands of students he helped. Mike was instrumental in my early positive experience with EASFAA as I realized that this Association was an equal opportunity organization as Mike is one of three former Financial Aid Directors from the Community College sector that has served EASFAA as President. Bill Irwin is googeling that fact right now and will let us know if that is not accurate and I appreciate that desire for accuracy. That fact, along with the input of Rachel Lohman at a "Train the Trainers", from George Chin during a Neg Reg session in Washington, Susan Howard when she was President and I was the Tri-State Chair and rep to the Board that year, or from Chris Zuzack, Susie Allen and Bob Shorb's willingness to serve long after their Presidency was over to Bill Cheatham and Dino Koff who led us through one of our most challenging periods during the so called "sunshine act", to Irv Bodofsky who last year told me to "have a plan in place" as my training year unfolded. And from Larry Chambers who, when I asked how long should I speak, and when would I know when to stop, told me that when the lights go out it's time to quit. Neville, just a heads up but if the lights go out, Pat Shoemaker will say "amen" and I will be done. I also want to thank Barb Miller who looked me in the eye during a Tri-State event several years ago said simply "you're ready". That affirmation opened the door and the rest is history.

I am very honored to have been elected by the EASFAA members. While I do not know how many votes that was as there were three names on the ballot last year, I do understand the high calling that it is. My motives will always be right even if the message gets confused as it did when one loving husband sought to communicate with his wife as they were about to celebrate their 20th anniversary.

The Minnesota couple decided to vacation to Florida during the winter and planned to stay at the same hotel where they spent their honeymoon 20 years earlier. Because of hectic schedules, it was difficult to coordinate their travel so the husband left Minnesota and flew to Florida on Thursday. His wife would fly down the following day.

The husband checked into the hotel and found there was a computer in the room so he decided to send an email to his wife. However, ( and this is so me) he accidentally left out one letter in her email address and without realizing his error, sent the message out.

Somewhere in Houston, a widow had just returned home from her husbands funeral. He was a minister of many years who was called home to glory following a sudden heart attack. The widow decided to check her email as she was expecting messages from relatives and friends. After reading the first message she fainted.

The widow's son rushed into the room, found his mother lying on the floor, and saw the computer screen which read:

To: My loving wife

Subject: I've arrived

Date: May 16th, 2003

I know you're surprised to hear from me. They have computers in the room here now and you're allowed to send emails to your loved ones. I've just arrived and have been checked in. I see that everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing you then! Hope your journey is as uneventful as mine was.

P.S. Sure is hot down here.

In this "gotta get the info out as fast as I can" world we operate in, it is possible to either mis spell or mistype a word and if that is the case, and you can be sure it may be coming from me, I apologize in advance.

It looks to me like 2011-12 will turn out to be as challenging as the "sunshine" year was only in a different way. The challenges to the basic funding for programs we oversee are under the microscope and we will need a full court press to make our case in Washington. One of my two major initiatives will come from the Federal Relations and Leadership Development Committees to make this happen. While some of my predecessors came up through the development process as Treasure and have a deep and broad understanding of the financial side of the Association, I came up through Federal Relations, Training and Multicultural Diversity. Assisting the next generation of future Presidents to understand the task of educating Congress in what we do and the importance of our jobs is essential to securing future funding for the students we serve. While program integrity is essential to the discussion, as we heard from the panelists on Sunday afternoon, the conversation needs to be about investing today for the future and not about the money. EASFAA plans to be at the table with NASFAA and the other Regional Associations to put stories and faces to the numbers to provide the full picture of the impact of future decisions that Congress is debating.

The other major initiative will be to improve, and in some cases begin the communications on our campuses regarding the issues facing our institutions and the the Veterans receiving educational funding through the Chapter 33 GI Bill. When I went through college on the old GI Bill, it was a two way partnership between the VA and me. That has all changed and a third "partner", the institution, is now an integral part of the equation. The reality is that the third partner is anything but that, and an effort is underway to change that. Lead by a NACUBO/VA Issues Workgroup, three of us from the Financial Aid side, David Smedley from George Washington University, along with Detra Hooper and myself from Anne Arundel Community College, are working closely with those from the business side to resolve the daunting task and in some cases devastating consequences, of the VA's current working model. You are asking "why is this important to us in Financial Aid", well those students on our campuses who receive funding from this source need our office and the expertise we have developed through the management of Title IV funds to get to a good place so that they do not end up in collections with no further funding available and their educational pursuit tied up in red tape. Beginning August 1st, those students will no longer be receiving full funding if they are Out of State at your institution as the rules have changed and the VA will only pay up to the in state rate for your institution. There will be a gap in their funding that they will turn to us for help through loans or better yet, through your institution having a Yellow Ribbon Agreement in place to cover the gap. Some of you are aware of all this because your VA Certifying Official report to you or through your shop. For many others that person has little or no contact with you and you are "in the dark" when it comes to the issues, yet alone the solutions. This needs to change so hopefully you will see a different model evolve over the next few months. We are at that table and they are hear us. More on this one as the year unfolds.

Although the lights are still on I'm coming to a close. Thank you for the opportunity to serve you as President. May the communication be clear and a two way partnership with the results better service to all of the students coming to our respective institutions to pursue their educational goals.

As you may have guessed my focus for the year and the theme for next years conference in Baltimore is "Opening Doors, Changing Futures" as that is what this profession is about!

I am looking forward to serving EASFAA as your President for the next twelve months. If you have any concerns or issues you feel we should direct our attention towards please call or email me or any of the Council members. This will be a challenging year but we are in this profession to serve the students and open the doors for them to pursue their educational goals.

Considering it an honor to serve,
Rich Heath
EASFAA President, 2011-2012