Federal Updates

ED Publishes New FSA Handbook
The new Federal Student Aid Handbook for 2002-2003 is now available online. This December, ED plans to mail copies of the newly updated FSA Handbook to all schools participating in the Federal Student Aid programs.

TG Updates

Fall 2002 TUG Conference Scheduled for November 14
Mark your calendars now for the Fall 2002 TG Users Group (TUG) Conference. The conference will be held in Austin on Thursday, November 14, 2002.

Trends and Issues

Loan Disbursement Q&A
In light of the recent expiration of two provisions related to loan disbursement, Shoptalk Online has assembled a series of Q&As on the topic.

Meeting at TG to Gather Input on MYF Online Counseling
Mapping Your Future (MYF) wants to know what financial aid professionals would like in the next version of its Online Student Loan Counseling (OSLC). OSLC 3.0, as the next evolution will be called, will be the topic of discussion during a two-day meeting to be conducted October 29 and 30 at the offices of TG. Any MYF team member is welcome to attend.

Common Manual

Common Manual Restructuring Begins
In September 2001, the Common Manual Governing Board organized a subcommittee for the purpose of improving the manual's navigation and the flow of its information. This "Restructuring Subcommittee" surveyed the FFELP community via the Common Manual Public list serve to determine user opinions about the manual's current organization. Survey results indicated that most users enthusiastically support the manual's life-of-the-loan organization, but want to see material presented in smaller segments annotated with more specific subtitles and section numbers. The Restructuring Subcommittee is responding to these community observations in its latest project.

Quick Links

• TUG Meeting Agenda

This, That, and the Other...

ED is presenting a teleconference this Thursday, October 24, 2002, from 1-3 p.m. (ET) entitled "The FSA Application Processing System: What's New for 2003-2004."

Details on the topics to be addressed are available in Shoptalk Online Edition 172.

You can register for the teleconference at http://www.edvideo.walcoff.com.

If you haven't already made plans to participate at one of the many host sites across the country, log on for the live videoconference webcast at http://www.edvideo.walcoff.com/
webcast.html.

Take a look at Adventures In Education, TG's Public Awareness web site.