The office of student financial assistance at the University of Tennessee at Martin has announced that students will begin receiving award notification via e-mail. The notification change will go into effect beginning with awards applied toward fall 2003.

The new process for notifying students about financial aid awards is primarily a budget reduction effort expected to save UTM between $4,000 and $5,000 in postage and mailing materials in the face of University of Tennessee system-wide budget cuts expected for 2003-04.

The new notification procedure will affect students receiving federal financial aid awards. The e-mail messages will not contain any personal award data, but will instruct students to log into their account for specific award information. Students who wish to continue to receive award notifications by letter can do so by contacting the office of student financial assistance. Students will still receive letters notifying them of scholarship awards.

Students will be encouraged to keep their e-mail addresses current and will be able to update them online.

“E-mail notification will be easy for students and will improve efficiency,”said Bobbie McClain, director of student financial assistance at UT Martin. “With the elimination of mail delivery, students will receive their notifications quicker and will have the option to accept their loans online.”

For more information, contact the UT Martin office of student financial assistance at (731) 587-7040.