NASFAA has posted minutes from the 2009 Annual Business Meeting held at the National Conference in San Antonio, TX on July 14. The minutes are available to members and require a NASFAA username and password to access.

During the meeting, outgoing National Chair Dave Gruen presented awards to NASFAA members and state and regional associations for their efforts over the 2008-09 academic year. Gruen thanked all members who had donated to his chosen charity for the year, Autism Speaks, and asked members to continue supporting the cause.

2008-09 National Chair Gruen then passed the gavel to National Chair-Elect Barry Simmons.

Simmons then shared a few thoughts about his leadership year with the group. He stated that NASFAA is poised to be a leader in advocacy and implementation for access to workforce development, through the ongoing NCI effort and the increased association focus on a comprehensive, coherent and focused public policy agenda geared toward innovation and creativity.

He went on to explain that in 2009-10 NASFAA will continue to explore ways to encourage diversity in our membership and in our vision, as evidenced by the renaming of the committee responsible for this critical endeavor as the Access, Diversity and Excellence Committee (formerly the Student Access and Diversity Committee).

Simmons also discussed the topic of professional certification for financial aid administrators, and reported that several committees would be examining the issue in 2009-10.

Posted 09/10/09 to www.NASFAA.org. Redistribution to non-NASFAA institutions is prohibited. Please submit Web site questions or comments to Web@NASFAA.org.