Long-Range Plan

Organizational Structure

EXECUTIVE BOARD

OBJECTIVES:

• Assess the purpose and need for each committee when making committee chair/liaison appointments.
• Consider whether all committee chairs should be in attendance at all executive board meetings, keeping in mind the need to develop future leadership for the association yet maintaining the ability to conduct business at the lowest, most reasonable cost.
• Select an appropriate mix of returning and new committee chairs to ensure the continuity of executive board business and the development of future leadership.
• Ensure that committee chair appointments, to the extent possible, reflect the sector, gender, and ethnicity representative of the association.

OBJECTIVES:

• Review the terms and composition of office for elected officers at least once every five years.

COMMITTEES

OBJECTIVES:

• Appoint committee members, to the extent possible, that reflect the sector, gender, and ethnicity representative of the association.
• Ensure that standing committees with broadly defined responsibilities include one representative from each sector.
• Ensure that other committees, unless otherwise specified in the By-Laws, function with the fewest number of members sufficient to accomplish the goals of that committee.
• Ensure that the committee chair, if responsible for making his/her committee appointments, makes every effort to select an appropriate mix of returning and new members to assure the continuity of committee business and development of future leadership.
• Consider alternatives to on-site meetings whenever possible to keep costs at the most reasonable level. Such alternatives include conference calls, electronic mail, and arranging committee meetings in conjunction with other meetings where some committee members would normally be in attendance.
• Ensure that committee meetings are held at such times and locations that keep travel and hotel costs to a reasonable level.
• Ensure that each committee provides a written annual summary of its activities so this information may be included in the president's annual report.

MEMBERSHIP

OBJECTIVES:

• Review membership categories and aggressively seek to increase membership in under-represented areas.
• Undertake a review of the membership categories for appropriateness at least once every five years.
• Review membership structure at least once every five years to determine if membership should be individual, institutional, or on some other basis.
• Explore additional membership categories such as associate (non-voting) membership for former aid administrators, students, guidance counselors, or others.

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

OBJECTIVES:

• Establish a procedure to ensure that the By-Laws and policies and procedures are accurate and complete and that the association is in compliance with these rules.
• Review the By-Laws and policies and procedures annually to ensure that they continue to further the mission of the association and its financial integrity.
• Ensure that officers and committee chairs are responsible for the review and updating of all policies under their purview.
• The secretary shall be responsible for reviewing and updating, as appropriate, all other policies and procedures.
• Ensure that any recommendations for policies and procedures changes be approved by the KASFAA Executive Board.
• Once every five years, obtain copies of policies and procedures from other state associations in the SASFAA region, as well as from other regional associations, to identify areas of potential weaknesses in KASFAA's policies and procedures.

COMMUNICATION/COLLABORATION

The KASFAA membership includes many sectors of the student aid community. Services to these sectors are provided through representation on the executive board, committees of the association, special sessions at the conferences, membership services, and networking.

OBJECTIVES:

• Work with all sectors of KASFAA's financial aid community to ensure representation and participation in all associational programs and activities.
• Provide membership services so the needs and interests of all sectors are addressed fairly and equitably.
• Serve as a link with and between various sectors of the association.
• Promote mentorship opportunities for all sectors of the financial aid community.
• Provide training workshops for secondary school personnel, as well as other interested personnel from state and higher education agencies.

KASFAA has used a variety of mechanisms to disseminate information and data --newsletters, membership directories, bulletins, guides and brochures, and other publications -- needed by all sectors of the association's membership to perform their duties and responsibilities more effectively.

OBJECTIVES:

• Provide timely information useful to all sectors of the membership.
• Provide an updated Master Calendar each year.
• Address a full range of issues, ranging from policies to daily operations.
• Provide a means for networking between and among all sectors of the membership.
• Enhance the use of new and emerging technologies (i.e., internet, etc.) as a more timely and cost-efficient means of communicating with the membership.

As a professional association, KASFAA has the responsibility to inform members of legislative issues affecting the operation or administration of student financial aid and the delivery of funds to students attending post-secondary institutions. In fulfilling its communication responsibility to the membership, KASFAA should outline and delineate alternative approaches for addressing the issues and concerns affecting the student financial aid profession. Whenever reasonable consensus exists on issues, the association has the responsibility to advocate support for these positions on behalf of the membership.

OBJECTIVES:

• Apprise members of legislative issues affecting the profession.
• Educate members of alternative approaches.
• Advocate involvement on issues affecting the profession.
• Advocate positions when a reasonable consensus exists.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

OBJECTIVES:

• Determine the training/professional development needs of members, recognizing categorical distinctions among members such as experience, institutional type, and level of responsibility.
• Improve and enhance the association conferences on the basis of systematic reviews and evaluation of previous conferences, as well as current needs of members.
• Present programs and sessions possessing both vitality and relevance for all members.
• Provide a diversity of topics recognizing both the need for regulatory and technical knowledge, as well as the need for skills in management and human relations.
• Encourage participation in professional development activities by experienced members who are capable of motivating and teaching others, and who represent the diversity of the membership.
• Offer periodic opportunities for experienced aid administrators to grow in leadership, management, and other advanced functions of aid administration.
• Provide special attention to new technologies as both an object of training efforts and as a vehicle for presenting other topics for training, discussion, and advancement.

FINANCES

OBJECTIVES:

• Determine the appropriateness of fees assessed for dues, workshops, conferences, and ancillary services at least once every five years.
• Provide for the establishment, maintenance, investment, and monitoring of a sufficient associational reserve fund.
• Review all risks and liabilities affecting cash management and contractual obligations during the annual audit.
• Determine the appropriate cash balance to be brought forward annually.

SERVICE

OBJECTIVES:

• Provide information on programs or services that would likely benefit the students served by association members.
• Encourage an attitude of customer service toward students and families that would facilitate involvement in higher education.
• Emphasize the continual development of new ideas and the improvement of current processes to ensure the effective and efficient delivery of financial assistance.
• Endorse, when appropriate, programs, services, policies, and regulations that would benefit the institutions of the association and/or the students served by the association.