The University of Iowa

Faculty Senate

Charter Committee Annual Report to the Shared Governance Council

Committee: Financial Aid Advisory Committee
Report Year: 2023-2024

Committee Chair(s)	Carolyn Colvin (Department of Teaching and Learning) Nikki Tennessen (Higher Education & Student Affairs/Psych & Quant)
Committee Members	Katie Broton, Irene Lottini, Maxwell Lei Geng, Art Spisak, Alexandra Nica, Ronda Dietrich, Angela Lamb, Josh Studer, Aryanna Amin, Stephanie Gutierrez, Adrianna Kotchkoski, Advika Shah, Nikki Tennessen, Carolyn Colvin
Committee Charge	Committee Charge attached.
Current Year Meeting Dates	10/20/23, 11/10/23, 1/19/24, 2/23/24, 3/1/24, 4/19/24, 5/17/24
Please indicate the typical frequency of meetings (e.g., first Tuesday of month at 4 pm). If there are subcommittees, please indicate the frequency of those meetings, too.	For the last five years, the typical meeting schedule has been to hold seven meetings during the Academic Year: three Fall semester meetings, and four Spring semester meetings. Subcommittees are less frequently assigned. Typical meeting time has been every 3-4 weeks on Friday afternoons, depending on the members' availability.
Current Year Activities	As the committee meetings indicate, topics most often discussed in 2023-24 were FAFSA and 'new' changes/deadlines. The FAA office activities addressing changes and parent questions became supporting topics at each meeting. To complement FAFSA discussions, regular admissions updates occurred. The work of the FAA staff received high praise from committee members related to their effective handling of Financial Aid information to students and families.
Topics your committee will address during the coming year	FAFSA/financial aid/deadlines and program implementation will be prime topics. Increasing awareness of FA is always a topic.
Other issues of concern	Two UI student government members met in DC with Department of Education officials, lobbied the Iowa Congressional delegation, met with Big Ten student representatives, and shared FAFSA information. Students shared their experiences meeting with government officials and provided valuable insight to FAA committee members who value active student participation on the FAA committee.
What should we tell applicants for this committee regarding expectations of members (anticipated workload, existence of subcommittees, etc.)?	FAA members meet regularly to discuss local and national issues related to FA at Iowa. Because of committee make-up, active student engagement is an expectation and highly valued by the FAA members. FAA members value and take seriously the student feedback provided by student co-chair and student members.
Does your committee have a website? If so, what is the URL?	No FAA committee website. Members rely on FA websites.
Are agendas and minutes preserved from year to year and made available to new chairs and committee members? If so, what is your process for doing this?	Minutes are recorded at each meeting and made available to all FAA members and committee liaisons. At the end of each academic year, committee minutes are shared on the Shared Governance websites.
Recommendations, if any, to the shared governance groups.	FAA is an active engaged group of faculty, students, and staff who are committed to supporting the work of financial aid at the University of Iowa, and specifically, the work of the Financial Aid office, its director, and valuable staff.