TG Updates

TG names Anne Hopkins senior vice president of customer relations and business operations

Anne B. Hopkins, an executive with national and international business experience, has joined TG as senior vice president of customer relations and business operations.

In her new role, Anne will be part of TG's executive management team and will oversee the areas of customer focus, operations, collections, and marketing and product management.

Before joining TG, Anne was vice president of membership sales and marketing for the American Automobile Association (AAA) in Dearborn, Mich., as well as a business consultant for start-up businesses.

She spent 20 years in various capacities with American Express, including 10 years in executive positions in the U.S. and abroad. Anne was vice president of sales and marketing for the company's Travelers Cheque Group in Sydney, Australia, from 1994-96, and vice president and general manager of the Emerging Businesses Group in Salt Lake City from 1996-98.

She returned to Australia to serve as vice president and general manager of the Merchant Services Group from 1998-2000, and then as vice president of Worldwide Customer Experience in Dallas from 2000-04.

Anne earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan, and has completed various management and leadership training programs.

"Anne possesses both nonprofit and for-profit executive experience that will serve TG well," said Sue McMillin, TG's president and CEO. "She has broad general management experience in all of the business areas that she will supervise, especially in customer relations, which is important to TG as we work to provide exceptional service to customers."

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TG unveils 16th annual training conference

This Wednesday, TG debuts the three-day 2008 TG Annual Training Conference in Austin, Texas. Hundreds of financial aid professionals from across the U.S. will attend some 67 workshops and seminars that offer a strong grounding in the essentials of managing student loans.

TG's 2008 conference, titled "Training today, preparing for tomorrow," will feature some recognized figures in student aid, including guest speaker, Robert Shireman, executive director of the Project on Student Debt and founder and president of the Institute for College Access and Success. It will also focus on training topics sure to enrich anyone's understanding of the issues facing financial aid professionals today.

A balanced training agenda
TG designs its conference agenda around two simple ideas: Offer sessions that address the regulatory and operational concerns of a typical financial aid office, but also feature workshops on trends affecting the industry. This year, TG has provided a well-designed balance of both with seminars on perennially-important issues like enrollment management and other sessions focused on topics that have just lately drawn more attention, including the role of ethics in financial aid and particular barriers to higher education.

Here's a brief review of some of these trainings.

• Making Ethical Financial Aid Decisions Using the NASFAA Statement of Ethical Principles: This interactive session allows participants to explore methods for ensuring that ethical practices are a part of all decision-making within the financial aid office.
• Enrollment Management — Clear and Present Danger to Institutional and Student Success: This workshop helps schools support academic and financial success among students by infusing default aversion strategies into existing or new institutional retention initiatives. Participants will learn tips for establishing a systemic default aversion plan within strategic enrollment management.
• Hispanic-Serving Institutions: Achieving Latino Success Project: Learn the history and purpose of the Achieving Latino Student Success (ALASS) Project; review federal and state accountability measures which have fueled institutional efforts to assess student success; and gain a policy perspective of Latinos in higher education.
• Lender and Servicer Forum: Best Practices from Regulations to Operations: Participants in this open forum discuss the impact of recent changes in regulations and the operational challenges that have resulted. They'll also discuss best practices for originating lenders.
• Best Practices for Developing and Implementing a Financial Aid Code of Conduct: Join an open discussion about developing a financial aid code of conduct for your office and learn from some of those who have implemented a code of conduct at their institutions.

Conference attendees will also be treated to some opportunities for professional and personal enrichment outside regularly-scheduled conference sessions, including these:

• Opening luncheon keynote address: Dr. Janet Lapp, founder of the Center for Leadership Development, leads a presentation on leadership that inspires with a special focus on the work of professionals in financial aid.
• Healthy Start Walk and Breakfast (7:15 a.m. - 8:45 a.m., Thursday): Start your day with an optional brisk walk on a wooded trail with TG team members and other conference attendees.

To learn more
Visit TG Online at www.tgslc.org/tgconference/index.cfm to find out more about the 2008 TG Annual Training Conference. Online registration is now closed; however, attendees can register at the hotel during the event. Registration fees are waived for school attendees.

If you prefer to speak with someone directly, contact Judith Cunningham at (800) 252-9743, ext. 2905, or send an e-mail message to judith.cunningham@tgslc.org.

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Give your students the tools to explore consolidation — with help from TG

As graduation approaches, your seniors are contemplating a new set of priorities beyond college, including financial obligations like student loan repayment. A large percentage of such borrowers have multiple loans, which means several things: They're probably eager to lower their interest rate and payment amount — low payments take less out of the paycheck — and they want a convenient way to pay all their loans if they have several lenders. Student loan consolidation offers the optimal solution — simpler payments, lower interest rates, and reduced monthly amounts.

Borrowers with variable-rate loans are also probably very interested in consolidation at this time, since federal interest rates for student loans are about to be adjusted, most likely to a new all-time low. For these and other borrowers, reliable, easy-to-find information on consolidation is important. TG provides just such support in the form of printed materials and a comprehensive Web site.

Portable resources
TG helps you cover your communication bases with two easy-to-mail pieces of collateral: a statement stuffer on TG's Web site — Consolidation Station™ — and a wallet card, which serves as a quick reference for instant help on consolidation.

The statement stuffer offers a capsule description of Consolidation Station, TG's Web site on student loan consolidation. The statement stuffer lists the advantages of consolidating, provides the Web address for the site, and offers a phone number for immediate help.

The wallet card also guides students to Consolidation Station and lists the call center number for TG's customer assistance team, ready during normal business hours to answer questions related to consolidation.

Web site support
Available whenever borrowers need answers, TG's Consolidation Station describes the benefits of consolidation, walks borrowers through the consolidation process, includes a search tool for choosing a lender, and offers a calculator for estimating repayment for FFELP and Direct Lending loans as well as Perkins and previous Consolidation loans.

Borrowers may be especially interested in the calculator tool, which provides a simple interface for entering basic loan information in order to determine an estimated consolidation payment amount. Borrowers select a loan type, enter a loan balance amount and interest rate as well as the loan term, and click "Calculate." The calculator is pre-populated with the existing fixed rates for common FFELP loans.

Or, if borrowers wish to begin the consolidation process, the lender search feature provides a handy starting point. Using the search, borrowers can locate lenders several different ways: They can view and choose from a list of lenders that consolidate with TG; search for a lender by entering a name or a keyword from the name; or locate the lenders for their TG-guaranteed loan, or for all their loans.

To learn more
If you're looking for resources that help your graduating seniors — and graduated students — understand consolidation, consider TG's varied tools. To find out more about TG's Consolidation Station, visit www.ConsolidationStation.org. For questions about the site, contact TG's product support team at (800) 332-1455, or send an e-mail message to product.support@tgslc.org.

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