Tortellini Pasta Salad with Spinach, Feta, Olives, and Tomatoes

Assorted Seasonal Vegetables, Croutons, Pepperoncini Shaved Parmesan and Cheddar Cheese

Assorted Dressings

Grilled Sliced Marinated Flank Steak Butcher Carved Roasted Turkey Breast Gourmet Rolls and Breads

Cranberry Mayonnaise, Horseradish Bleu Cheese Spread, Mustard, Pickles Kettle Style Potato Chips

Chefs Choice of Dessert

Starbucks® Freshly Brewed Regular and Decaffeinated Coffee and Assorted Teas Unsweetened Iced Tea

Submit the topics you want discussed here!

TBA

TBA

International And Domestic Cheese Display

Served with Crackers and Crostini, Assorted Seasonal Fruits and Berries

Hummus Display

Traditional and Roasted Red Pepper Hummus Served with Pita Chips, Cucumbers and Carrots

Spinach and Feta Cheese in Phyllo Applewood-Smoked Bacon Wrapped Scallops Chicken Skewers with Teriyaki Sauce Miniature

Miniature Chesapeake Bay Crab Cakes with Creole Remoulade Carving Station I Roasted New York Strip

Carving Station I Roasted Turkey Breast

Salt-Brined Turkey Served with Warm Cornbread and Mini Rolls, Cranberry Chutney and Sage Mayonnaise Assorted Mini Desserts

Cash Bar

Seasonal Sliced Fruits and Berries

Yogurt Served with Honey and Granola 

Muffins and Bagels

Cream Cheese and Sweet Butter 

Chilled Orange, Apple and Cranberry Juice

Starbucks® Freshly Brewed Regular and Decaffeinated Coffee and Assorted Teas

During this session, participants will learn about VA Education Benefits. Information will be provided about each benefit, how Financial Aid works with the benefit, and how students can leverage benefits when multiple benefits are available to the student. 

Finally, we'll discuss best practices for working with military-connected students well as an overview of Green Zone training. 

TBA

This interactive session brings Pell Boost liaisons together to connect beyond our regular Zoom meetings and strengthen relationships across campuses. Participants will engage in light ice breakers and small group conversations to get to know one another and share experiences. The session will highlight effective practices, common challenges, and practical strategies to increase FAFSA completion and retention among Pell students. 

There is A LOT to learn as a financial aid administrator and with constantly changing rules and regulations, it’s important to know where to go for the latest information.  There is an abundance of training materials and resources available to you and in this session, we will share a list of tools to help you succeed on the job.  You don’t have to HAVE all the answers, but you do need to know where to find them! 

Designing an effective financial aid program requires balancing institutional goals, student needs, and regulatory expectations. This session highlights the key elements to consider when building or refining an aid model, including cost of attendance, packaging philosophies, equity and access, funding sources, and the impact of policy decisions on student behavior and institutional outcomes.

Efficient financial aid operations depend on seamless coordination between front‑line service and back‑end processing. This session explores how institutions can strengthen the entire workflow—from the first student inquiry to the final aid disbursement—by improving communication, reducing bottlenecks, and aligning teams around shared goals. We’ll examine practical strategies for simplifying complex tasks, leveraging technology to enhance accuracy and speed, and creating a student‑centered experience that feels clear, responsive, and consistent. 

The FAFSA Simplification Act changed the way Pell Grant eligibility is determined, and the July 4, 2025 Reconciliation Act changed it further. In this session we will look at the three-step process currently used to determine an applicant’s eligibility for Pell Grant (Maximum Pell, Calculated Pell, and Minimum Pell) and how these have changed for 2026-2027. We will also look at the students who are most likely impacted by the change from using AGI to using AGI plus the foreign earned income exclusion as the income factor in the Maximum and Minimum Pell Grant comparisons, and if there are ways to mitigate these changes.

  TBA

The U.S. Department of Education, Office of Inspector General (OIG) will provide a fraud awareness presentation that gives an overview of the OIG, discusses fraud risk indicators, tips on how to reduce a financial aid office’s risk for fraud, provide real case examples, and how to report fraud.

Mixed Greens Mediterranean Style Salad Served with Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinaigrette

Warm Pita Bread and Hummus

Chickpea Salad with Fresh Herbs, Lemon, and Olive Oil Herb-Roasted Chicken with Tzatziki Sauce

Pork Loin with Mediterranean Spices Roasted Vegetables and Couscous Baklava Drizzled with Honey

Starbucks® Freshly Brewed Regular and Decaffeinated Coffee and Assorted Teas Unsweetened Iced Tea

TBA

The income data we use to evaluate a student’s eligibility for Title IV funds is over a year and a half old before students receive the first bill for their first term. When the underlying assumption built into the use of prior prior year income, that for most people, income changes in moderate and predictable ways from year-to-year, breaks down, financial aid administrators can turn to professional judgment to incorporate income changes into their analysis or aid eligibility. In this session, we will look at various kinds of income changes, including permanent changes to earned or retirement income, changes that overlap with the academic year, one-time income changes, and discretionary vs. non-discretionary changes. The session will cover best practices around documentation and complying with the requirement that professional judgment be considered on a case-by-case basis.

In Dungeons & Dragons, the Dungeon Master (DM) is the guide, orchestrator, and world-builder - drawing players into the stories and scenarios they create, providing clear objectives, and helping the group overcome challenges. The DM is a champion of the players, just as a great leader champions their team. From the game room to the boardroom, the DM’s role is a living exercise in communication, adaptability, and empathy. Behind the screen, they juggle personalities, guide collaborative storytelling, resolve conflicts, and make a thousand micro-decisions in service of a shared vision - the exact skills that define modern leadership. In this session, we’ll step behind the DM screen to explore leadership lessons born at the game table. Drawing on principles of improvisation, team alignment, and adaptive problem-solving, we’ll uncover how creative facilitation and thoughtful communication can transform teams. Participants will leave with practical insights that reframe everyday leadership challenges as opportunities for storytelling, collaboration, and shared growth.

General overview of withdrawal and Return of Title IV process.  Will the new 2026-27 rule changes leave a sour taste in your mouth?

Join us for a interactive session where we will learn about the frequently asked questions that Robert encounters and time for you to ask your own!

Assorted Brownies, Blondies, Lemon Bars

Cash Bar

Seasonal Sliced Fruits and Berries

Yogurt Served with Honey and Granola 

Selection of Sliced Coffee Cakes and Danishes

Hard Boiled Eggs

Chilled Orange, Apple and Cranberry Juice

Starbucks® Freshly Brewed Regular and Decaffeinated Coffee and Assorted Teas

Join our panel as they share lessons learned with the implementation of Pell Initiative for Virginia(PIV)-this panel will include information that all institutions of higher education can utilize. 

Audit-ready doesn’t have to mean human-absent. Whether you’re an advisor or a director, the strength of your office lies in the community you build. This session introduces a relational framework designed to help every staff member navigate campus politics, block burnout, and boost retention. By prioritizing community over processing, we create a resilient, high-performance team where staff want to stay, and students succeed.

Changes are coming—Grad PLUS is going away, and Parent PLUS is getting capped starting in 2026-27. That means families may be looking at private student loans more than ever. If talking through these options isn’t something you do every day, you’re not alone. Join me for a straightforward breakdown of private student loans and how schools can best guide students and families through the new landscape.

Institutional accountability is a newer concept that we are faced with as the Budget Reconciliation Law is implemented.  Student loan repayment is becoming a proxy for institutional accountability and means more will be expected from schools and the financial aid office. Learn about the things that have gone well and the things that haven't as borrowers return to student loan repayment. Schools will also understand the changes that have occurred post-pandemic and how the new environment can impact the aid office, their institutions, and how they can help the students and borrowers we are here to serve.

With sweeping changes to student lending on the horizon, the financial aid landscape is poised for disruption. In the face of this uncertainty, students need trusted guidance more than ever—and lender lists can serve as a critical tool for colleges and universities to provide clarity, direction, and transparency in borrowing decisions.

Many institutions have long-standing concerns about compliance and conflict-of-interest provisions stemming from the changes to our industry over 15 years ago. While those changes did reinforce protections against unethical lending practices, that legacy has led some schools to avoid hosting lender lists altogether.

This session will explore how institutions can confidently re-engage in offering lender guidance in a compliant, student-focused manner. We'll provide actionable strategies for developing responsible lender lists, and underscore why now is the moment for schools to step up as trusted navigators in a fast-changing lending environment.

Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) remains one of the most complex and consequential components of financial aid administration. In this dynamic panel discussion, seasoned financial aid leaders will unpack the challenges institutions face in implementing SAP policies while supporting student success. Panelists will explore best practices for evaluating academic performance, managing appeals, communicating requirements clearly, and balancing regulatory compliance with compassionate student-centered approaches. Attendees will gain practical insights, real-world strategies, and fresh perspectives to strengthen their institution’s SAP processes and better guide students on their path to completion. 

A lively, competitive trivia experience inspired by Jeopardy! Choose categories, pick clues, and race to respond in question form. This session blends strategy, speed, and teamwork for an engaging group challenge.

An understanding of how the FAFSA data come together to become the Student Aid Index is important for financial aid administrators to understand, especially when it comes to professional judgment. In this session, we will review hypotheticals request from students for an adjustment based on changes to their or their family member’s income or assets – and learn how to estimate the impact the change would have on the student’s aid eligibility if we decided to use professional judgment to account for the change. Understanding this process can help FAAs manage their appeal workload, since many requests from students and parents, even if a professional judgment is warranted, will not result in a change to the student’s federal aid eligibility or create Pell eligibility. Let’s see if we can predict in advance whether the adjustment the student or parent is requesting will result in more funding for the student.

This session provides a practical, easy‑to‑apply overview of the core components of effective cash management. Participants will explore key regulatory requirements, learn best practices for managing disbursements, and strengthen their understanding of reconciliation processes that ensure accuracy and accountability. Whether you're new to cash operations or looking to sharpen your skills, this session offers clear guidance to help you streamline workflows, reduce risk, and maintain strong financial controls.

Since the transition to prior-prior year in 2015, the (former) spouses of more applicants than ever are not required to provide information on the applicant’s FAFSA due to the couple falling out of love, or the loss of a spouse or parent. If an applicant or FAFSA contributor filed a joint tax return in the base year but their (former) spouse is not required to provide information on the FAFSA for the academic year, the IRS DRT (2023-2024) and the FUTURE Act Direct Data Exchange (FADDX) (2024-2025) will not work. The applicant or contributor will manually enter their tax information into the FAFSA. In this session, we will work through the process of extracting an individual person’s FAFSA data from a jointly filed tax return, something required when an applicant is selected for V1 verification or requests a special circumstances professional judgment based on the death of a spouse or parent or the dissolution of the marriage of a FAFSA contributor.

Supporting graduate students requires a holistic, long‑view approach to financial aid advising. This session explores effective strategies for guiding students from their earliest inquiries through enrollment, degree progression, and completion. We’ll discuss best practices for communicating complex financial aid concepts, addressing the unique funding challenges graduate students face, and building advising models that foster clarity, confidence, and long‑term financial well‑being. 

This presentation covers what resilience is (and is not), how to stay resilient in trying situations, and how to avoid the Resilience-to-Burnout pipeline.

Behind every financial aid package is a Cost of Attendance—but how confident are you in yours? This session breaks down the process of building, reviewing, and maintaining COA in a way that is both compliant and realistic for today’s students. We’ll cover what to include (and what not to), how to document your decisions, and where institutions commonly get tripped up. Expect real-world examples, practical tips, and a few “don’t do this” moments along the way.

Although the Student Aid Index (SAI) and Maximum and Minimum Pell Grant eligibility rules are critically important when determining a student’s eligibility for Title IV aid, many financial aid administrators (FAAs) do not understand how these calculations work. MASFAA (Massachusetts) introduced an SAI Hand Calculation contest at its 2024 annual conference, and both CASFAA (California) and MASFAA included the contest at their 2025 conferences. Contestants are given ISIR data, the SAI Formula Guide calculation sheets, the SAI Formula tables, the “Applicant Required to Report Assets” rules, and, depending on the time allotted for the contest, the base year poverty guideline tables, and challenged to determine an applicant’s SAI, and eligibility for Maximum and Minimum Pell grant as quickly as possible.

Rolls and Butter

Cheese Tortellini Pasta Salad with Tomato Vinaigrette, Goat Cheese, Herbs Mixed Greens with Tomatoes, Cucumber, Carrots and Assorted Dressings Lemon Pepper Salmon with Butter Sauce

Pork Loin with Dijon Cream Chicken with Roasted Garlic Demi-Glace

Baked Mac & Cheese Roasted Baby Heirloom Potatoes Chefs Assortment Of Desserts

Starbucks® Freshly Brewed Regular and Decaffeinated Coffee and Assorted Teas Unsweetened Iced Tea

Cash Bar

Seasonal Sliced Fruits and Berries

Mixed Greens with Grapefruit, Fennel, Goat Cheese, Candied Pecans 

Scrambled Eggs with Cheddar and Chives

Homestyle Fried Chicken and Waffles with Maple Syrup 

Pork Sausage

Crispy Bacon

Roasted Baby Potatoes with Rosemary

Assortment of Croissants and Muffins Fruit Preserves and Sweet Butter

Chef Carved Ham

Chilled Orange, Apple and Cranberry Juice

Starbucks® Freshly Brewed Regular and Decaffeinated Coffee and Assorted Teas

Join us for important updates from State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV).

Join us for some insight into the road ahead with NPRM and possible impacts.