NSHSS attended the annual conference of The National Scholarship Providers Association in Atlanta, October 25-27, 2006; the conference featured an exchange of information on topics critical to scholarship providers, ranging from financial aid information and college affordability to practical strategies for administering scholarships and addressing minority needs. The mission of the National Scholarship Providers Association (NSPA) is to advance the collective impact of scholarships by informing policy, and to provide opportunities for professional development and the exchange of best practices among scholarship providers. The keynote address was delivered by Dr. Betty Siegel, recently retired President of Kennesaw State University, who is a remarkably inspirational educator. Dr. Siegel is one of the longest-serving female college presidents in the country and the first woman to serve as head of a college in the University System of Georgia. Under her leadership, Kennesaw State grew from a 3,500-student college offering 15 undergraduate degree programs, to a full-fledged university with an enrollment of nearly 18,000 students accessing 55 undergraduate and graduate-degree programs. Dr. Siegel will conduct and lead a program in ethical leadership at Oxford University in Oxford, England, next spring, through Kennesaw State's RTM Institute for Leadership, Ethics and Character. She also is working on her second book, "Transforming Colleges and Schools through Invitational Leadership." Dr. Siegel stressed in her speech that the importance of access to higher education is "not only to help you make a better living, but to help you make a better life." This principle is one that all of us at NSHSS believe strongly and work to instill in our members.
The NSPA conference also provides a great opportunity to discover more resources for our members, and one of the best places that college-bound students and their parents should check out is SPIDO, the State Policy Issues Database Online, sponsored by the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education. You can search this database by state for critical information on student financial aid, tuition and fees, residency requirements, and other relevant policies regarding colleges in your particular state. We think you will find it quite useful.