The Monthly Memo

INTRODUCTON

My name is Connie Hutchison and I have recently been appointed by Governor Doyle to be the Executive Secretary at HEAB. It is an honor to have been appointed and a pleasure to work with the knowledgeable and dedicated staff of this agency. I was also able to attend the October HEAB Board Meeting. The Board members who continue to serve, the recently appointed member, and the other attendants at the meeting were helpful and welcoming. My background is in K-12 educational systems, however I feel truly fortunate to be here working with Wisconsin’s incredible higher educational institutions. I am including a link to the Governor’s press release about my appointment to give you a bit more information about my background.

[Please follow this link to the Governor's Press Release in Adobe PDF format (26K).]

I look forward to meeting many of you in the near future, possibly at the WASFAA conference. In the meantime, please feel free to stop in or to contact me anytime by phone at (608) 264-6181 or by email at (connie.hutchison@heab.state.wi.us).

IMPORTANT: NOTIFICATION LIST CHANGE

The Department of Administration has asked all agencies to make additional, permanent budget cuts this fiscal year and next. The Higher Educational Aids Board is required to make a permanent budget cut of $10,100 this fiscal year (FY 04) and $10,600 in FY 05. For our small agency, on top of the cuts that have already been made, this requires us to look at every possible money-saving opportunity. Therefore, we will be reducing the number of notification lists in November. Rather than running the lists weekly, the notification lists for November will be run only on November 11th and November 25th.  On December 2nd we will resume running weekly notification lists.  We truly appreciate your help and cooperation as we try to streamline our processes. Please email or call me if you have questions and concerns.

UPCOMING DEADLINES AND EVENTS:

October 31st Reconciliation forms were due. These responses are critical as this information helps us project spending for the rest of the 03-04 academic year.

November 4th The Academic Excellence Scholarship notification list will be run.

November 11th Notification lists will be run.

November 14 WISSIS survey is due. This collection of financial aid data will be included as part of the February board report.

November 25th Notification lists will be run.

December 2nd The running of weekly notification lists resumes.

November 11th - November 18th The High School Counselor workshops will be held in various locations throughout the state. Check our website (http://heab.state.wi.us/workshop.html) for dates, times, locations and registration information. An internet based presentation is being held again this year on November 17th. Information for this session is also available on our webpage.

Voucher will not be run on November 28th because of the holiday.

UPDATES

	CURRENT	THIS TIME LAST YEAR
TUITION GRANT COMMITTED SPENT	111.43% 48.06%	115.89% 43.03%
TIP GRANT COMMITTED SPENT	125.31% 44.47%	118.85% 38.88%
WHEG-UW COMMITTED SPENT	132.68% 50.34%	124.74% 46.80%
WHEG-WTC COMMITTED SPENT	167.71% 53.26%	169.76% 51.19%

LEGISLATIVE MATTERS

Senate Bill 294 The Law Revision Committee voted to introduce the statutory language changes (as directed in the 1997 budget) that were submitted by our agency. The changes update the various program names to coincide with their actual working names. The numbering in the statute is also updated. Senate Bill 294 has been referred to the Senate Committee on Higher Education and Tourism. Members of this committee are: Senator Harsdorf, chairperson; Senators Schultz, Cowles, Breske, and Chvala. We will be monitoring the bill for public hearings and floor action, and will keep you apprised of its progress.

AB 342 relates to financial aid eligibility for students who have been convicted of possessing a controlled substance. The bill was recommended for passage by the Committee on Colleges and Universities. This bill is still in committee.

AB 422 relates to increasing the maximum award of the Indian Student Assistant grant. This bill is still in committee.

WEBSITE INFORMATION

Please check our website for the most current information, information about upcoming trainings, and other important notices. HEAB’s website showed almost 74,000 hits for September with an average of 2,474 hits per day. HEAB staff has begun work on adding to our current website to include a section specifically for students and parents.

Questions or concerns? Please contact me:

By phone:	(608) 264-6181
By Email:	connie.hutchison@heab.state.wi.us
By SnailMail:	HEAB P.O. Box 7885 Madison, WI 53707-7885