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| Our Leadership |
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The leadership of Georgia Student Finance Commission is a dynamic team of individuals who have proven expertise and influences ranging from financial aid and business relations. The senior staff continually manages the direction and daily operations of this agency through its mission to promote and increase access to education beyond high school for Georgians. |
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Tim Connell, President
Jim Baumann, Vice President & Chief Information Officer
Sarah Baumhoff, Vice President, Client Services & Marketing
David Benner, Executive Vice President, Operations
Robyn Crittenden, General Counsel
Stephanie Green, Vice President, Loan Services
Philip Hawkins, Vice President, GAcollege411
Richard Hawkshead, Vice President, Internal Audit
Gerlda Hines, Vice President, Group Controller
Al Howell, Associate Vice President, Human Resources
Tracy Ireland, Vice President, Financial Aid Operations
David Lee, Vice President, Research and Analysis
Dana Russell, Executive Vice President, Finance
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Jim Baumann
Vice President & Chief Information Officer
Jim Baumann joined Georgia Student Finance Commission in October 2002 as vice president and Chief Information Officer, bringing more than 18 years of senior management and information technology experience. He began his information technology career with Burroughs Corporation (now Unisys) where for 13 years he held positions from System Analysis to IT Director. Since then Jim has held senior level positions heading up Information Technology for several local firms including Gwinnett County Government, CDC Credit Union, and National Refrigeration Services.
Jim earned his bachelor’s degree in physics from Illinois Benedictine College and masters’ degrees in engineering science and industrial administration from Purdue University.
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Sarah Baumhoff
Vice President, Client Services and Marketing
Sarah Baumhoff joined Georgia Student Finance Commission in December of 2002. During her tenure, she has held various positions at GSFC and currently serves as vice president of Client Services and Marketing. She is responsible for all outreach activities conducted by the agency, as well as the marketing operations.
While attending college, Sarah began working in the financial aid arena where she was a work-study student in the financial aid offices. Since then, she has been actively involved in the financial aid field at a variety of institutions including Aurora University and Waubonsee Community College in Illinois and Emory University in Georgia.
She is an active member of Georgia Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (GASFAA) and Southern Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (SASFAA), serving on the board of GASFAA as the Legislative Affairs Chair and a member of the SASFAA Legislative Affairs Committee. Sarah earned her associate’s degree from Southern Union State Community College, a bachelor’s degree from Birmingham Southern College, and holds a master’s degree in higher education administration from Northern Illinois University.
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David Benner
Executive Vice President, Operations
David Benner, executive vice president of operations, is responsible for managing all day-to-day operations of the agency related to grant, scholarship and loan originations, GAcollege411, operations, client relations, outreach programs, and all lender and default loan servicing. He was appointed to his current position in 2005. Previously, he served as executive vice president of Finance, deputy executive director, and director of budget/ administrative services for the agency.
Mr. Benner began his career with the City of Savannah as the director of management and budget in 1965. During his 42 years of professional experience in financial/ management analysis/ operations of government programs, over 11 years has been at the local level and over 31 years at the state level. Previous positions include: assistant county manager, Charleston County, SC; administrator of budget and operational analyses, DeKalb County, GA; and General Government Functional Unit coordinator, Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget, Atlanta, GA.
David earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Thiel College and a Master of Public Administration degree from Maxwell Graduate School at Syracuse University.
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Robyn Crittenden
General Counsel
Robyn A. Crittenden is the General Counsel for Georgia Student Finance Commission. In this capacity, Robyn handles all in-house legal matters for GSFC, GSFA and GHEAC and serves as a liaison to the Office of the Attorney General. In addition, she leads the Legal and Regulatory Affairs Division of the Agency which includes Compliance, Claims Review and Document Management. Prior to her current position, Robyn served as Assistant Vice Chancellor of Legal Affairs-Contracts for the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia where her primary responsibility was contract negotiation and drafting. Prior to joining the Board of Regents, she served as an Assistant County Attorney in DeKalb County and as an Associate at the law firm of Powell, Goldstein, Frazer & Murphy.
Robyn received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University and her Juris Doctorate from the University of Michigan School of Law.
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Stephanie Green
Vice President, Loan Services
Stephanie Green is the vice president of Loan Services where the mission is to encourage and facilitate maximum recovery of funds in an effort to reduce delinquency while providing the best customer service to the borrowers of Georgia. The Loan Services department includes units such as: collections, default aversion, claims, post default, data integrity and loan administration.
Stephanie began her career in February 1989 with the Georgia Housing and Finance Authority as an accountant. During her tenure, she held various positions until leaving the position of Director of Accounting in November 2001 to join the Department of Motor Vehicle Safety (DMVS).
Stephanie joined Georgia Student Finance Commission in November 2006. Stephanie holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and lives in Tucker with her husband and two daughters.
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Philip Hawkins
Vice President, GAcollege411
As Vice President of GAcollege411, Dr. Philip Hawkins is responsible for managing all day-to-day operations of the GAcollege411 website, the number one resource where Georgians can plan, apply, and pay for college.
Dr. Hawkins began his career as an educator in 1990 and now has over 16 years of experience in student service programs, including financial aid and enrollment management. A student-focused leader, he is thoroughly familiar with college enrollment requirements and processes and is experienced in advising students through their academic programs toward career success.
Prior to joining GSFC in January 2008, he served as the Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management at Georgia Gwinnett College. He also worked at Shorter College for 14 years where he held a variety of positions including Assistant Vice President for Student Financial Services, Director of Student Services/ Assistant Registrar, Director of Educational Support, Director of Summer Programs, and Director of Housing and Residence Life.
Philip earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics education from Shorter College, a Master of Education in guidance and counseling from West Georgia College, and a Doctor of Philosophy in higher education from Georgia State University. He is active in the Georgia Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (GASFAA) and has the designation as a Registered Enrollment Professional through the Georgia Institute for Strategic Enrollment Management (GISEM).
Philip lives in Emerson, Georgia with his wife, Tia, and their two children Eric and Mallary.
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Richard Hawkshead
Vice President, Internal Audit
Richard Hawkshead is vice president of Internal Audit and Special Projects. Reporting to the President and Board of Directors of Georgia Student Finance Commission, Hawkshead provides financial and operational internal control assessment and recommendations, coordinates external audit reviews and ensures compliance with agency, state and federal policies and procedures through a quality assurance process.
Richard began his career in auditing and accounting with KPMG, worked in the banking industry for 15 years as a Controller and Senior V.P. of Finance & Administration. Prior to joining the agency in June 2005, he was V.P. of Finance & Administration at Gwinnett Technical College for seven years.
Richard holds a Bachelor of Science in accounting and is also a Certified Public Accountant.
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Gerlda Hines
Vice President, Group Controller
Gerlda B. Hines is the vice president Group Controller for Georgia Student Finance Commission. With over 17 years of accounting, budgeting, and financial management experience, Gerlda has maintained and developed the Accounting Services department.
Prior to joining the Commission in August 2005, Gerlda was the Budget Officer for Georgia Regional Transportation Authority, Policy Analyst for the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget, and prior to that served in various positions in both the private and public sector.
She is a Certified Public Accountant and currently a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Government Finance Officers Association, Association of Government Accountants, and Georgia Fiscal Management Council.
Gerlda earned a Bachelor of Administration in accounting from Loyola University in New Orleans, Louisiana.
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Al Howell
Associate Vice President, Human Resources
As director of Human Resources, Al Howell is responsible for managing the agency’s classification, compensation, employee relations, training, recruitment and selection, and policy development programs. Al has over eleven years of state government human resources experience.
Prior to joining GSFC, Mr. Howell served as the Human Resources Director for the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, Clayton County Water Authority and the City of Forest Park. Mr. Howell’s human resource background also includes serving as the Director of Local Government Services for the Coastal Regional Development Commission.
Mr. Howell earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and a master’s degree in public administration from Georgia Southern University. He holds a Professional in Human Resources Certification from the Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM).
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Tracy Ireland
Vice President, Financial Aid Operations
Tracy is vice president of Financial Aid Operations at GSFC. His area is responsible for all application processing and disbursement of loans, grants, and scholarships and the Customer Service Call Center. In addition, to his regular duties, Tracy is also involved with many special projects at GSFC.
Mr. Ireland began his career in financial aid in 1994 and has a broad range of experience in the industry. He has been with GSFC since 2001and in that time has held a variety of positions.
Prior to joining GSFC, Tracy worked for College Foundation Inc, a private, non-profit student loan provider in Raleigh N.C. where he held a variety of positions including Director of North Carolina’s National College Savings Program, Call Center Manager, and Electronic Services Coordinator. Prior to joining CFI, he lived in Jacksonville, FL where he worked for Intuition Inc., where he began his career in financial aid as a customer service representative.
Tracy holds a bachelor’s degree in business management and lives in Cumming, GA with his wife Judy and their two sons.
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David Lee
Vice President, Research and Analysis
David V. Lee is vice president of Strategic Research and Analysis at Georgia Student Finance Commission. Before joining GSFC, he was for six years the director of Operations of the State Data and Research Center at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Lee was two-term Governor Zell Miller’s education policy advisor, and was Director of Educational Development for the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget in Georgia for seven years.
He served for seven years as Senior Policy Analyst for education and higher education issues in the Georgia Senate Research Office and has been appointed by three different Governors to chair or staff education study committees in Georgia. He was a Commissioner of the Education Commission of the States from 1995 – 2005, where he chaired the Investment Committee and served on the Executive and Policy and Priorities Committees.
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Dana Russell
Executive Vice President, Finance
Dana Russell currently serves as executive vice president of finance for the Georgia Student Finance Commission. During his 22 year career in Georgia state government, Mr. Russell has held numerous positions leading and managing financial and administrative services organizations and has served three Governors as head of two state agencies.
He led the Georgia Department of Administrative Services as its Commissioner for seven years in providing purchasing, risk management, fleet management, and other business support services to state agencies. He served as Commissioner and in other senior management positions for six years at the Georgia Merit System of Personnel Administration where he provided leadership for the state’s human resources, employee benefits, and deferred compensation programs.
Dana also held several positions in the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget where he conducted policy and budgetary analysis in support of development and management of the state’s annual operating budget. His involvement in Georgia’s landmark 1996 civil service reform initiative led him to be invited as guest speaker and presenter to a number of organizations including the National Conference of State Legislatures, the National Association of State Directors of Administration and General Services, and the Florida Council of 100.
In addition, Dana has been a member of and has served in leadership capacities for numerous national associations such as: the National Association of State Deferred Compensation Administrators, the National Association of State Personnel Executives, the State and Local Government Benefits Association, and the Government Finance Officers Association. He also served as president of the National Association of Chief Administrators, and currently serves on the Master of Public Administration Advisory Board for the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University. He holds a Master of Public Administration degree from Georgia State University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Presbyterian College.
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