FAME is happy to announce that we have a limited number of slots available at FAME's 6th Annual Financial Aid 101: A Training for Counselors & Advisors.  This is a great FREE opportunity for anyone who is new to the world of financial aid! 

The training will be held on Friday, October 7 from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Augusta Civic Center.  Our special guest speaker will be Mr. Greg Darnieder, Senior Advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Education on the College Access Initiative.

This year's workshops include: Net Price Calculator, FAFSA Overview, Working with Adult Students, Homeless and Foster Youth, Financial Aid for the Middle Income Family and other financial aid topics. 

Pre-registration is required and available online at http://fs18.formsite.com/FAME/2011FA101/index.html.  There is no charge for the training which includes lunch and materials.  A final agenda will be sent to registrants prior to the training.

Eastern Maine Community College and Thomas College are two of the recipients for the 2011-2012 Maine College Access Challenge Grant (MCACG). Including these two schools, FAME awarded sixteen sub-grants totaling $674,748. You can view the complete list of grantees online.  

FAME is still accepting requests to host a 2012 College Goal Maine FAFSA lab. Sites may request to offer the event on Sunday, January 29 at 2:00 p.m. or choose another date that works best for their proposed site. Request forms are available online and site selection notification will be made in mid-November.

Just a reminder that EPIC is currently available for certification and payment requests. The FAME Programs available on EPIC are the State of Maine Grant Program, Educators for Maine and the GEAR UP Program. Institutions that participate in the Tuition Waiver Program may also certify students and indicate the waiver amount on the student's record.

Funds for the Robert Byrd Scholarship Program and the Quality Child Care Program were eliminated through Federal and State budget cuts, respectively, and are not available for students in Academic Year 2011-2012.

Budget

The LePage Administration has initiated a new budgeting process that directs departments to use a cost-benefit analysis when looking at programs and expenditures. "Zero-base budgeting" directs state agencies to prioritize and justify all programs, activities, and expenditures as if the agencies are starting from zero. One goal is to help identify where resources might be reallocated to better meet the departments' missions.

The current process, known as "incremental budgeting," requires departments to justify only additions or deletions to their budgets. Administration officials have been meeting with department officials this week to go over the new budgeting method.

The effort is separate from a bipartisan task force that was part of the recently enacted biennial budget to identify $25 million in budget savings. The governor has suggested that up to $100 million in savings may be needed to balance the budget.

Zero-base budgeting is expected to be in full force when agencies present their proposals for the two-year budget that will be passed by the Legislature in 2013 for Fiscal Years 2014-15, which begins in July 2013.

Special session

The Legislature returned for a special session on September 27, 2011. The purpose of the session was for consideration of a congressional redistricting plan, numerous appointments, and a proposal to criminalize possession of "bath salts."  All matters won legislative approval.

Rep. Frederick Wintle (R-Garland) recently resigned his House seat. Gov. LePage will set a date for a special election to fill in the vacancy in the near future.