Board of Directors

President Reports to the Members, WESTOP Board, and National Board

Saturday, November 1, 2008
San Diego, CA

1. Higher Education Opportunity Act Update:
1. COE attended the hearings the Department had regarding the changes due to HEOA.  A summary is being prepared and it will be provided to the TRiO community as soon as it is available.
2. COE has started meeting with Department of Education personnel to discuss the negotiated rule making process.  The Department hopes to begin the process in February/March, but COE believes the process might not start until June/July.  It will be very important for us to be aware of the proposed regulatory changes and to voice our opinions on what is feasible for our programs.
3. There has been a lot of concern over the changes that will be made to Talent Search.  Since the Department of Education is busy trying to figure out what needs to be done for the SSS competition, no mention has been made on this.  It is important for us to be informed on the changes and the implications on the program.

1. Appropriations: 
1. COE will be taking a different approach in the coming year when it comes to requesting additional funds for TRiO programs. The focus will be put on the importance of TRiO in regards to the Pell Grant program, since so much emphasis has been placed on Pell.
2. Since Congress did not pass an appropriations bill, a continuing resolution has passed and funding for TRiO is available until March 6, 2009.
3. COE is requesting that we provide stories of how funding issues have affected the way we work with our students as well as how services are being affected.  This information is needed so it can be forwarded to members of congress.

1. SSS Competition:
1. No deadline has been set yet.  The competition may happen in the Spring, but might not happen until the Fall.  A notification letter will be sent sometime next year.

1. Site Monitoring:
1. Site visits have started and feedback from the visits has been mixed.  There has not been a consistent trend in what the monitors have requested (documents) or how the visits have been conducted.  The Department’s goal is to visit all TRiO programs within the next two years.

1. CA SB 890, Early Commitment to College:
1. CA Governor signed into law program that will teach students and their parents, beginning in the sixth grade, how to go to college and how to pay for it.  This law creates a voluntary program for local school districts and will be piloted starting in the spring in several middle schools across the state and then taken to scale over the coming year.

Respectfully Submitted,

Tomasa Mauricio

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