News        from ABAC

Michael D. Chason Director of Public Relations ABAC 30 -- 2802 Moore Highway Tifton, GA 31793-2601 Phone 229-391-5055 Fax 229-391-5051 mchason@abac.edu

IMMEDIATE March 13, 2009

Gonzalez Appointed as Federal Negotiator

TIFTON –Javier Gonzalez, Director of the HEP and CAMP programs at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, has been selected by U.S. Department of Education assistant secretary for post secondary education Daniel Madzelan to serve as a team member of the Federal Negotiated Rulemaking Committee for Discretionary Grants as a non-federal negotiator.

The purpose of the committee members selected to serve on the Negotiated Rulemaking Committee is to formulate federal regulations that will impact how HEOA funding and services can be written as federal regulations. Programs impacted by these regulations include TRIO, GEAR UP, TEACH grants, and HEP/CAMP among others.

As part of the re-authorization process, the Department of Education under the Office of Postsecondary Education is required to establish five negotiated rulemaking committees to prepare proposed regulations under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended.

Gonzalez attended the first in a series of three negotiating sessions in Washington, D.C. Feb. 18-20. The session lasted for over 20 hours. The second session is scheduled for March 25-27, and the third session is scheduled for April 28-30. All sessions are held at the Department of Education.

Gonzalez said some of the topics covered at the first meeting were TRIO programs (HEOA section 403 (a)), branch campuses and populations, appeals processes, revised outcome criteria and measurement of progress, and Foster care and homeless youth; GEAR UP (HEOA section 404), funding rules, duration of awards, waiver of matching funds, and establishment of a scholarship trust fund.

In addition, the first session also covered Special Programs for Students Whose Families are Engaged in Migrant and Seasonal Farm work (HEOA section 408) to include the High School Equivalency program (HEP) eligibility and activities, College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP) eligibility and activities, as well as reservation and allocation of funds for these programs.

In reflecting on his first session, Gonzalez stated, “I am humbled to represent ABAC at the national level as a non-federal negotiator, because having come from a migrant background; I know firsthand the struggles of families and students whose lives will be greatly impacted by the program decisions that I will make as a member of the Discretionary Grants Team.”

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