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Volume 14, Number 6 Plan to Join Us - 2005 Fall Seminars Although the dates and locations are still being firmed up, we’re already looking forward to seeing you at the 2005 Fall Seminars for Partners! Based on the extremely positive feedback received last year, we will continue with the half-day format and will again schedule the seminars in November and December. Additionally, we hope to have the use of computer labs for hands-on training at each of our sites. One of the highlights of this year’s seminars will be an in-depth introduction to the dynamic functionality available for students, parents and high school counselors through the IllinoisMentor enhancement to collegezone.com (see related article on page 2). Other topics that will be covered include: the 2006-07 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA); professional judgment and special circumstances; and helping parents understand the college admission process. If you have ideas for session topics, we would love to hear from you. Please send comments or suggestions, via e-mail, to schoolservices@isac.org. We’ll continue to work on finalizing the dates and locations for seminars through the summer, and will let you know the final details in the fall “Back to School” issue of Communiqué. We’ll continue to work on finalizing the dates and locations for seminars through the summer, and will let you know the final details in the fall “Back to School” issue of Communiqué.  IllinoisMentor at collegezone.com Moving Toward December Launch Progress on adding the IllinoisMentor component to collegezone.com is rapidly moving forward, and the launch of this exciting new initiative is scheduled for December. As we talked about at last year’s Fall Seminars for Partners, this significant enhancement to collegezone.com will provide students dynamic functionality as they explore careers; research and choose a college; keep track of career and academic data via My Mentor’s e-portfolio; apply for admission and send transcripts online; and learn about financing their college education. We recently sent a letter to the principal of your high school introducing IllinoisMentor at collegezone.com and its interactive modules. As requested at Fall Seminars, a copy of that letter was also sent to the head guidance counselor at each high school. If you were able to attend an IllinoisMentor session at last year’s seminars, be sure to mention to your principal how the dynamic functionality of IllinoisMentor at collegezone.com will benefit both you and your students! One of those benefits, the Electronic Transcript Exchange, will allow a student (at the counselor’s discretion) to send his or her transcripts electronically to the college of choice. Details about how your school can participate in the Electronic Transcript Exchange will be sent to your principal in early fall. If you would like to learn more about IllinosiMentor at collegezone.com, contact School Services through e-mail at schoolservices@isac.org or at 866.247.2172, and plan to attend the 2005 Fall Seminars for Partners (see article on page 1). Access the information contained in the following articles through menu items/links on the front page of the Counselor Zone at collegezone.com. The underlined headings at the top of each box indicate where within College Zone you can find the information discussed in each article.
ISAC GIFT ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS High School Scholarship Programs Schedule of Upcoming Activities Here’s an overview of the upcoming activities related to the High School Scholarship Programs* (HSSP), and the estimated dates on which they’ll occur. May/June - In order to begin the HSSP process for 2006-07, counselors are urged to create a roster containing accurate sixth semester data of students' class ranks and grade point averages (GPA’s) for submission to ISAC. Additionally, we request that the class size is reported. Special care should be taken to ensure that only sixth semester data is submitted. Sixth semester is defined as the third semester prior to graduation. Instructions regarding school-generated sixth semester rosters, including required data and requested disqualification codes, can be found by clicking on “High School Scholarship Programs (HSSP)”, “Required Sixth Semester Data”, and “School-Generated Roster”. Letters containing details of the HSSP delivery process during the 2005-06 academic year (to determine 2006-07 awards) will be sent to high schools. At the same time, delivery process information on College Zone will be updated. August 12th - Due date for school-generated sixth semester rosters to arrive at ISAC. Late August - ISAC will send HSSP 6th Semester Academic Information Rosters and Certification Forms to high schools that have not submitted school-generated rosters. Fall - Announce 2006-07 State Scholar finalists prior to Thanksgiving 2005. What’s New at collegezone.com? In case you haven’t visited the Web site recently, here are some changes that we’ve made over the past several weeks. Check them out today!
* HSSP is the collective term for the Illinois State Scholar, Merit Recognition Scholarship and Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship Programs.
The Countdown Is On! Sign Up for College Zone’s e-Messaging Service The transition from paper Communiqués to all-electronic correspondence with you is nearly at hand. Make sure you don’t miss any news or updates from ISAC - sign up for e-Messaging today! Join your fellow Communiqué readers who get their information directly through e-mail, without waiting for the mail to arrive on their desks. This is one of your last paper issues, so it’s extremely important that you subscribe to the subscription group(s) that best fits your needs as soon as possible. From your Counselor Zone, you can sign up for any combination of the following:
Don’t miss out – make sure signing up for e-Messaging is on your “to do before summer vacation” list! Expanded Community Partnerships Benefit Illinois Students In our continuing effort to provide college planning services to the families of Illinois, ISAC staff forged partnerships this year with a number of community organizations and volunteer programs. As just a small representation of the variety of activities which occurred during Financial Aid/Admission Awareness Month in February, we’d like to spotlight the Workshops which took place through the Lifetime Learning Financial Literacy Program and at the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum. On every Saturday from January through April, more than 1,700 tax preparation volunteers assisted families with the completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) at 20 locations in the Chicago area. The Tax Assistance Program (TAP), a Chicago-based nonprofit organization which provides free tax preparation services to the working poor as part of their Lifetime Learning Financial Literacy Program, requested ISAC’s assistance in training their volunteers to help families complete the FAFSA in conjunction with completing their tax returns. In addition, more than 50 TAP volunteers were provided with in-depth “expert” training and ISAC staff was available every Saturday to answer the most detailed questions. The partnership resulted in more than 1,200 families completing both their tax return and the FAFSA during the four-month period. On February 27th, a FAFSA Workshop was held at the Mexican Fine Arts Center in Chicago. Over 200 Latino students and parents attended this fifth annual workshop whose attendance has grown from only 15 individuals when it began. Designed especially for parents with limited English proficiency and for first generation college-bound students, the Workshop was supported by community members and merchants and staffed by bilingual volunteers from FAAM committees. Also assisting at the Workshop were representatives from LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens) National Educational Service Centers, Resurrection Project, and the Chicago Police Department. Although these are only two examples of this year’s FAAM activities, we’d like to extend our gratitude to all of the committee members, coordinators, volunteers and behind-the-scenes workers who made FAAM 2005 a great success!
e-LIBRARY Proposed Rules Changes Anticipated July Effective Date Each year ISAC reviews its administrative rules in order to implement state and federal statutory amendments, and to respond to program changes and client suggestions. The proposed rules amendments for ISAC-administered programs for the 2005-06 academic year, as published in the February 14, 2005 Illinois Register, can be accessed by selecting “ISAC Administrative Rules”, and then choosing 2005-06 Proposed Rules Amendments from the right-hand menu. Although the Illinois Register contains proposed changes for other agencies, only information regarding ISAC-administered programs is included in the College Zone posting. While amendments were proposed to several sections this year, high school and college admission counselors will be most interested in the items highlighted below. State Scholar Program The Illinois Standard Test Score Table [located in Section 2760.30(b)] is being updated to better align SAT and ACT scores having similar percentile rankings. At this time, ISAC will not be incorporating the score from the additional writing section that is being added to the SAT and the ACT exams beginning in 2005, but will continue to monitor this issue. References to the SAT verbal score have been changed to reflect its new name, Critical Reading. College Savings Bond Bonus Incentive Grant (BIG) Program and College Illinois! The provisions exempting consideration of Bright Start Savings Accounts, College Illinois! contracts and college savings bonds proceeds in determining financial need for ISAC gift assistance programs are being eliminated. The anticipated effective date of the proposed amendments is July 2005. Potpourri Here are some bits and pieces you may find useful and/or interesting.
State Legislative Update The Spring 2005 Legislative Session has been underway for several weeks, and will continue until a final budget is passed and approved by the Governor. This process will likely extend past the anticipated adjournment date of May 27, 2005 and could continue throughout the summer, as it did last year. An updated ISAC State Legislative Update listing all proposed bills for this session along with their current status is available within the e-Library. When reviewing the summary, it’s important to keep in mind that there will likely be many changes as the session moves forward, and none of the information included is final. We will periodically provide an updated State Legislative Update on the Web site to keep you informed of the status of all education-related proposals. You can also check the “Program News” page of each ISAC program section for the latest on any changes or legislative action that may impact that particular program. At the present time, we are following the progress of the following proposals:
The Federal Scene Here’s what is currently happening at the federal level:
ISAC continues to monitor the activity on the federal side and will bring you up-to-date in the “Back to School” issue of Communiqué later this summer.
Questions? The Illinois Student Assistance Commission disclaims all responsibility and liability for the reader's reliance on information contained in this publication as it may represent only part of the complete guidance on a topic or have been superseded by subsequent communications, publication(s) or changes in State or Federal law. |
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© 2003-2007 Illinois Student Assistance Commission
graphic now appears in front of each item added during the current week. Be sure to visit the Counselor Message Board on a regular basis to stay current with issues related to you and your college-bound students.