Training and Workshops

FERPA Fundamentals
Tuesday, November 19, 2019 @ 2:00
Presenter:  Rebecca Flake

This webinar will provide a refresher on the basics of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, known as FERPA. In this time of heightened attention on student data privacy, we will review the FERPA requirements relating to student data privacy and the required institutional policies to protect student educational records. We will address who can access student records, when those records can be shared, and the exceptions for the release of student records subject to FERPA.

Rebecca Flake focuses on federal student financial aid matters.  She has been in the financial aid industry since 1990 in the capacities of a financial aid advisor, financial aid director and compliance auditor.
Rebecca has extensive experience in the following areas:

• Compliance reviews.
• Review and analysis of program review and compliance audit findings.
• Preparation of program review responses and appeals.
• Review of policies and procedures.
• Technical questions.
• Regulatory research.

Rebecca’s extensive, well-rounded industry experience has proved very effective in assisting both public and private institutions with complex and varying compliance matters.  Her proactive identification of compliance concerns has allowed institutions to make essential improvements to policies and procedures in advance of a federal review or compliance audit.  Her unique understanding of the “auditor perspective” allows her to provide an efficient evaluation of audit and program review findings, appropriate responses and potential resolution.

Register Now for FERPA Fundamentals

Recruiting and Retaining International Students
Tuesday, December 3, 2019
Presenters:  Kathy Blaisdell, Mount Holyoke College; Emma Henderson

Every institution works hard to recruit a diverse global student population. Yet, while the Migration Policy Institute notes that close to 25% of all international students (1.1 million) choose to study in the United States, the percentage of the total global population has steadily declined. They estimate that 2016-17 showed the slowest rate of growth since 2009-10.  Competition for the best and brightest students has never been steeper.  What can you do to retain the students you admit?
In this session we will discuss the challenges that international students face, financially and socially, when they come for studies in the United States. How can institutions assessing each family’s financial strength when the FAFSA is not available to them? How can they make an apples-to-apples comparisons when each country’s economy can be so disparate?  Moreover, what services should your campus provide to ensure that students who come to your campus, can stay on your campus.

Kathy Blaisdell has served as the director of Student Financial Services at Mount Holyoke College since 2004. Over her 34 years working in enrollment, she has worked in both admission and financial aid offices, focused on improving office technology and services for students and staff. Since 2010 she has been a member of the Financial Aid Standards and Services Advisory Committee of the College Board’s CSS/Financial Aid Assembly, currently serving as chair.

Registration Coming Soon!

Diversity 101
Tuesday, December 10, 2019 @ 2:00
Presenter:  Tirrany Thurmond

This interactive introductory session explores the complexities of identity and culture, and its implications on our work and lives. Participants will examine their own identities, examine various stereotypes and biases, and define the various terms associated power, privilege, and identity.

Tirrany Thurmond, M.Ed., NCC, LGPC, is a student affairs leader, and diversity and inclusion educator, with a resume that spans over nearly a decade in large and small university settings.  Her professional tenure consists of assisting university leadership on matters of diversity and inclusion, creating equitable programs and access for historically underserved populations, and consulting organizations on matters of social equality.
Tirrany is a national board-certified counselor and a Licensed Graduate Professional Counselor (LGPC) in the state of Maryland. Her areas of interests are trauma and race-based stress, destigmatizing mental illness in communities of color, and mental health advocacy.
Paying homage to her ancestral roots and honoring the nickname “firstborn” given to her by her father, the evolution of her work in education and mental health led to the creation of Idaltu Counseling & Consulting, LLC.  Idaltu’s practices entail person-centered healing, community advocacy, and leadership training.
Currently serving as the Coordinator for Inclusive Excellence for Anne Arundel Community College’s Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Access and Leadership (IDEAL) Office, Tirrany’s leadership entails the execution of culturally responsive teaching and learning for faculty, facilitating the Institute for Professional Development’s inclusion and equity trainings, and planning cultural programming for the College’s 55,000 enrolled students.
In February of 2018, Tirrany’s love for culture and history led her to give her first TEDxTalk titled Tracing Your Roots: Resiliency and Self-Discovery through Ancestry Research. Her family’s story inspired her to not only share, but to encourage others to spend time researching their family’s lineage.
Tirrany Thurmond earned a bachelor’s degree in behavior analysis from Savannah State University and a master’s in counselor education with an emphasis in clinical-mental health from Georgia Southern University. She is a member of the Maryland Equity and Inclusion Leadership 2019 cohort. Her credentials and affiliations include being an Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) Qualified Administrator, a certified Safe Zone facilitator, a member of NASPA, American Counseling Association, and the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE).  She is a committed member of the Washington Regional Taskforce against Campus Prejudice (WRTF) and Maryland Community College’s Diversity Roundtable.

Registration Coming Soon!