University Business - September 2007 - (Page 68)

show ﬂoor into a ghost town and made a review of NASFAA’s Statement of Ethical Principles two well-attended sessions. Around 3,100 people attended the conference, held this year in Washington, D.C. A new Code of Conduct for Institutional Financial Aid Professionals was adopted in May 2007, and is intended to clarify The Statement of Ethical Principles that has been eﬀective since April 1999. The sessions, which were held on the ﬁrst two days of the conference, consisted of practically a line-by-line review and discussion of the Code of Conduct. As part of the code advises against accepting gifts of more than “nominal value,” the gifts on the show ﬂoor ranged from pens to Slinkys. One exhibitor, Education Finance Partners, redesigned its booth so attendees could see all the key information but didn’t have to interact. The large panel at the back of the booth displayed a chart with a blind comparison of lender terms and fees. Viewers could lift a panel to see the company names. Founder Tamera Briones said the approach was proving popular. She said the company was beneﬁting from the move to a minimum of three lenders on a preferred lender list. “We are being selected because we have the best product,” she said. According to the company’s website, they reached an agreement with New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to “remove the appearance of any impropriety.” “It’s business as usual for us,” Briones said during the conference. “We haven’t had to modify our behavior.” The company is revising its Founder’s Promise program, through which it uses proceeds to assist students in their educational goals. Another company that is beneﬁting from the expanded lender lists is Graduate Leverage. President Dan Thibeault said the company was on 50 lists, with around half of the schools added after the scandal broke. “Financial aid oﬃcers have been unfairly characterized,” Thibeault oﬀered, adding that it was interesting “no one has quantiﬁed the cost to students.” He said market forces were already starting to change the industry and predicted there would be greater transparency and more open standards of certiﬁcation of loans in the future. The other news from the conference was the announcement of the retirement of NASFAA President Dallas Martin, eﬀective December 15. He said he has been planning to step down for the last year. During closing remarks, Martin encouraged aid oﬃcers to continue to help the neediest students ﬁnd means to ﬁnance their education. Of the 92 exhibitors on hand, last year’s rabble-rouser, MyRichUncle, was nowhere to be seen. 68 | September 2007 Dallas Martin (top) reminded NASFAA attendees that financial aid is a “people business” that creates opportunities for students. NACUBO in NOLA Providing good leadership is not easy, but recent challenges for higher education executives have been especially tough. NACUBO conference planners reﬂected the current state of aﬀairs with sessions that covered such topics as the new Sarbanes-Oxley guidelines and the fallout from the student loan scandals. Most immediate, though, was the ﬁrsthand recounting of leaders of Gulf Coast area colleges and universities devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in late summer 2005. The New Orleans area—and its higher education institutions—are still aﬀected two years later, noted members of a panel who participated in a session titled “Phoenix from the Ashes: Leading after Surviving Disaster.” Area higher education leaders who managed in the aftermath of the crisis had to make crucial and quick decisions that impacted everything including student safety, data recovery, and personnel. Marvalene Hughes, president of Dillard University, a private and historically black IHE located in New Orleans, recalled that every building on her campus, save for one, was devastated by ﬂood and wind. All of the university’s 2,200 students were evacuated to other areas. Recovery was daunting, said Hughes, who was less than two months on the job when Hurricane Katrina hit. Hughes, who had come to the city after serving as president of California State University, Stanislaus, was not accustomed to hurricane seasons and the potential wreckage. “There were people who didn’t think Dillard should rebuild after Hurricane Katrina,” she told NACUBO attendees. Some state oﬃcials thought it best that the university relocate outside New Orleans. Hughes was determined to keep Dillard in the city, given that the two had an intertwined history. Dillard had been a New Orleans institution since 1869, Hughes recalled. Her main focus was to stay and rebuild and to plead her case to all who were interested. She not only raised money but also chased down insurance universitybusiness.com http://universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - September 2007

University Business - September 2007
Contents
College Index
Company Index
Advisory Board
Editor's Note
People Watach
Sense of Place
Viewpoint
Human Resources
Money Matters
Financial Aid
Community Colleges
Una Fuerza to Reckon With
The Right Stuff
Making an Impact
Going VoIP
Training Your Staff to Protect SIS Data
Summer Conference Report
Business Technology
What's New
Calendar of Events
End Note

University Business - September 2007