TG Updates

TG and THECB host third year of financial aid telethons

For the third time in the last few years, TG and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) are combining their efforts to produce a series of telethons on financial aid. Their objective is simple but far-ranging: Reach out to students and families interested in college, but facing financial obstacles, by televising a special call-in program — the College Access and Affordability Telethon — in targeted viewing areas in Texas. The telethons offer one more way to connect with families who need to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or Texas Application for State Financial Aid (TASFA) and want more information about the financial aid process.

This year, TG and THECB are offering two versions of the telethon, one set of programs devoted to Spanish-speaking audiences and another version in English. The telethon series kicked off last week with Spanish-language programs broadcast by Univision cable stations in Austin (February 4), Dallas (February 6), and San Antonio (February 7).

Representatives from TG and THECB staffing the telethon offered callers information about the FAFSA, TASFA, and directed parents and students to other resources helpful in learning the financial aid process. (Representative from the Texas Women’s University G-Force assisted during the Dallas telethon.) In cases where the caller didn't have ready access to the Internet, representatives offered to mail a packet of information on the FAFSA.

This week's events
For the second week of telethons, TG and THECB will be hosting the program in English in the east Texas region (Tyler). Telethons conclude next week with broadcasts in San Antonio and El Paso.

During the newscasts, the number for the Texas Financial Aid Information Center (TFAIC) and the College for Texans Web site are displayed prominently on the screen for viewers. Reporters also interview financial aid experts to discuss the various ways to pay for college and to help students and families find out more about navigating the financial aid process.

About the telethon
The College Access and Affordability Telethon is an initiative started by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) as a part of the College for Texans campaign. Members of TG's educational alliances and customer assistance teams, along with other TG volunteers, and the THECB staff take calls from college-bound students, their families, and others.

These college access-related telethons have generated thousands of calls to the TFAIC, which is staffed by TG's customer assistance team. Peak call times are during and immediately following a newscast, as well as the following mornings.

Learn more
For more information about the College Access and Affordability Telethon, you may contact the Texas Financial Aid Information Center at (888) 311-8881, or visit www.CollegeForTexans.com.

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TG's annual Symposium leaves participants inspired, energized

It's rare to find a well-rounded leadership workshop, polished in content and presentation; it's rarer still to find one that tailors its topics to the needs of financial aid professionals. TG offers just such an opportunity with its annual Financial Aid Leadership Symposium, a professional development experience crafted to help financial aid professionals advance in the profession.

Members of this year's Symposium class participate in a brainstorming exercise. Pictured l to r: Thelma Martinez (Lone Star College), Jess Mangold (Texas State University), Eric Cooper (UT San Antonio), Kim Canady (UT San Antonio), Raymond Clarke (Southern University), Bridgette Ingram (Texas A&M), Summer Kokic (Southern Methodist University), Rhonda Beauchamp (Texas State Technical College)

This week-long workshop examines the dynamics of leading — teambuilding, coaching, ethics, accountability, for example — but applies them in situations and scenarios familiar to those who work in a financial aid office (FAO). TG has been offering the training annually for three years, and participants consistently rate the experience high, both for the "big picture" it offers of financial aid, and for the thoroughness and enthusiasm of presenters.

"You all have given me the knowledge and confidence to make a difference," said one attendee at this year's Symposium, held February 4-8 in Round Rock, Texas. The event brought together 15 financial aid professionals from all institution types — public, private, four-year, and two-year colleges. Participants scored the 2008 Symposium a 4.87 out of 5.0. They especially appreciated the open atmosphere that the Symposium fosters, an environment of trust and honesty which allowed each person to share his or her particular challenges and questions.

"The environment was very safe and reassuring and made participation very easy," said one attendee. Another said, "I now feel like I am part of the bigger picture and part of the financial aid community, not just an employee in my office."

Career-building exercises
The Symposium organizes its content around 15 modules presented by seasoned trainers who know the regulatory and work routines of a financial aid office. Individual and group exercises help to sharpen each participant's understanding of the qualities and skills vital to effective leadership, including the ability to motivate others, promote vision in the workplace, and negotiate change.

According to TG senior corporate trainer Tom Rebstock, one exercise helped attendees gauge their current strengths as leaders in order to build on those abilities.

"Participants spent Monday night reviewing their individual Leadership Assessment Instrument reports," said Tom. "This is a 360-degree feedback assessment that provides feedback from peers, subordinates, and supervisors on specific leadership skills and competencies."

This year, modules were added on other topics, including communications styles and systems thinking. Response was enthusiastic, said Tom, with many attendees doing well in presentation assignments and other interactive projects.

Staying in touch
Each year, the Symposium's alumni traditionally find benefit from one of the many perks of the training: continued candid feedback from friends and colleagues met at the event. After graduating, alumni stay in contact via an informal e-mail network, or 'feedback tree,' that allows members to bounce ideas and questions off each other — a form of connection that lasts as long as members need it.

"Each cohort finds this especially helpful, since they can rely on another source of advice and inspiration in each other," said Tom.

This year's cohort will likely take advantage of such a benefit, according to Tom. Members quickly bonded, sharing information openly and honestly. "They are driven and focused," said Tom. "They are very much committed to using the experience of the Symposium to become better leaders back at their respective financial aid offices."

To learn more about financial aid training
TG offers the Financial Aid Leadership Symposium for a fee to participants. If you’d like to learn more about the annual event, watch for announcement articles in Shoptalk Online.

To find out more about TG’s other training opportunities in industry and FFELP-related issues, contact your account executive. You can also visit www.tgslc.org/speakers/index.cfm to review the catalog for the TG Speakers Bureau, a series of workshops on financial aid and industry topics provided at no cost to schools.

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Change to TG's forms distribution process and help with disclosures for APPS borrowers

TG is gearing up for 2008-09 processing, and, as part of that effort, is reviewing all current processes and services. This article announces two upcoming changes, one to TG's Preprint service and one to TG's Application and Printing Service (APPS).

Regarding the Preprint service, TG will continue to make blank Stafford and PLUS master promissory notes (MPNs) and school certification forms available to customers; however, effective March 31, 2008, we will discontinue customizing these forms with the school's or lender's identifying information in the upper right hand corner.

Also, effective March 31, TG will begin including a revised Addendum with each MPN generated through TG's Application and Printing Service (APPS). TG's APPS process populates an MPN with information provided by a borrower and prints and mails that MPN (and the appropriate Addenda) to the borrower for signature. The revised Addendum covers both changes made by the Higher Education Reconciliation Act of 2005 (HERA) and by the College Cost Reduction and Access Act (CCRAA) of 2007. The Addendum currently being used only notifies borrowers of changes made by HERA.

TG will assume responsibility for disclosing new loan terms authorized by the CCRAA to borrowers who received their loans through the TG APPS process during the period from October 1, 2007 through March 31, 2008. March 31 is the last day that TG will provide the HERA-only Addenda; October 1 is the effective date of the CCRAA. Lenders will provide borrowers with the appropriate disclosures using other loan origination systems.

To learn more
If you have any questions, please contact TG customer assistance at (800) 845-6267, or send an e-mail message to cust.assist@tgslc.org.

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Product spotlight: Guide to Effective Practices in Student Success (EPSS) database

In May of last year, TG and the Educational Policy Institute (EPI), a nonprofit research center devoted to the study of educational opportunity, released a new Web-based tool to provide postsecondary institutions with access to varied strategies for improving student success.

The Effective Practices in Student Success (EPSS) database is a free resource for institutions of higher education, and allows schools to search a database of over 100 programs by geography, institutional level, selectivity, and a variety of other variables to find strategies that fit their requirements as an institution.

The EPI and TG solicit schools to submit their program information for inclusion in the database. Entries are peer-reviewed before being added. Each program must have some empirical evidence of success to be included in the EPSS.

Recently, TG and the EPI produced a companion booklet to the database, describing its objectives, providing a categorical analysis of the various featured programs, and, at the end, including a how-to section on using the EPSS database.

Inside the database guide
TG and EPI are committed to serving colleges and universities as they develop strategies for helping students graduate from college. The database offers numerous examples to that end, many of which can be tailored to fit the particular needs of other campuses.

The EPSS Overview and Guidelines booklet describes the diversity of these programs, detailing program goals and missions, the targeted demographics of particular programs, and the components that can be found in each, e.g., student services, academic services, or curriculum and instruction.

The booklet also considers who these programs serve, in this case, mainly undergraduate students and those students facing particular obstacles in going to college and remaining through to graduation; for example, first-generation students.

The how-to section at the back of the guide describes how to register to use the database, and then how to search its contents by filtering on various characteristics or details, such as program services, target population, educational type, etc. This section also details the online rating system by which users can rate and comment on featured programs.

Finally, the EPSS offers a way to submit programs for inclusion in the database. Submitted entries are sent through peer review before being posted online.

To order the guide
You can order the EPSS Overview and Guidelines booklet by visiting TG Online at www.tgslc.org/order/index.cfm.

To learn more
Institutions interested in the EPSS can visit www.educationalpolicy.org/epss. Registration is free, and institutions are encouraged to add to the database.

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