University Scholarship Policy UPPS No. 02.05.01
Issue No. 4
Effective Date: 10/20/2004
Review: December 1 E3Y
01. POLICY
STATEMENTS
01.01 These
policy guidelines establish principles, policies and responsibilities for
coordination of scholarship activities throughout the University.
01.02 The
policy guidelines are designed to insure that all students who are eligible and
who apply for scholarship assistance are treated fairly.
02. THE FINANCIAL AID ADVISORY AND
SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS COMMITTEE
02.01 The
Financial Aid Advisory and Scholarship Awards Committee (comprised of 2
students, 4 faculty, 2 academic deans, Director of Financial Aid, Director of
Admissions, Director of Multicultural Student Affairs and representative from
University Advancement) is responsible for the development of general policy
regarding the award of all undergraduate scholarships. The Committee neither
gives awards nor is it normally involved in specific decisions regarding awarding
of scholarships. However, it does assist with the review of applications for
some of the major undergraduate scholarships such as Merrick.
02.02 The Financial Aid Advisory and Scholarship Awards Committee has 4 primary charges:
a. To
recommend overall University policy for the entire Texas State scholarship programs (see Attachment
I);
b. To address and act on significant operational issues that impact the overall program;
c. To
recommend strategies to appropriate administrative offices on ways to promote
the Texas State scholarship program; and
d. To
recommend policies and procedures that will insure every effort is made to use all
the scholarship money available in any given year.
03. SCHOLARSHIP
COORDINATOR’S ROLE
03.01 The
Scholarship Coordinator is experienced in financial aid and responsible for the
coordination of scholarship activities.
03.02 The 2
primary functions of the Scholarship Coordinator are:
a. To work
with scholarship award groups and scholarship recipients to prevent over-awards as determined by federal regulations, and
b. To
coordinate administrative activities to insure that documentation and information
flow in a systematic and timely fashion.
03.03 In order to fulfill the responsibilities outlined above, it is imperative that effective communication take place between the Scholarship Coordinator, the General Accounting Office, deans' offices and academic departments.
04. GENERAL
SCHOLARSHIP POLICIES
04.01 Criteria
for the selection of scholarship winners within each group will be provided in
writing to the Scholarship Coordinator (see Attachment
II).
04.02 In any
given academic year, no student's institutional scholarships may exceed the cost of attendance, as determined by the
Office of Student Financial Aid. Also, a
student’s institutional scholarships, if that student is receiving financial
aid, may not exceed his or her financial need when combined with financial aid. If financial
aid must be reduced to resolve an over-award, loans and work-study will be
reduced first.
04.03 Texas
State scholarship holders may accept
scholarships from agencies and groups outside the University.
04.04 All
university scholarships will be awarded on a competitive basis and as early in
the preceding school year as consistent with adequate safeguards to insure fairness
and full publicity. NCAA regulations on the award of academic scholarships
apply to all scholarship programs (i. e., student athletes are eligible for
academic awards on a competitive basis along with all other students.)
04.05 Publicity
for awards is the responsibility of the awarding group. All offices sending
scholarship notices shall send a copy of that notice to the Scholarship
Coordinator for information purposes, as well as a list of recipients on Attachment
III.
04.06 Scholarship applications will normally arrive in the office of the Scholarship Coordinator, who will duplicate and distribute applications, as appropriate, to departments that have scholarships available, to the Honors Program, to college deans, to University Advancement, and to any other offices as appropriate.
04.07 Offices
that receive applications directly, rather than through the Scholarship
Coordinator, shall notify the Coordinator if an applicant appears to be a
highly promising candidate who should be considered for other or additional
scholarships.
04.08 The
Financial Aid Advisory and Scholarship Awards Committee will recommend the
amount and number of undergraduate scholarship awards to the Scholarship
Coordinator. In turn, the Scholarship Coordinator will coordinate scholarship
packages with other members of the University community, such as academic deans
and chairs. This coordination of effort is to maximize the recruitment and retention
of talented students.
04.09 Departmental,
college and other award groups or committees will notify the Scholarship
Coordinator concerning award decisions via the Scholarship Recipient List (Attachment
III). This notification needs to take place as soon as possible, but no
later than March 15 for incoming freshmen, April 1 for other incoming students
(transfer, graduate, etc.) and May 15 for returning Texas State students. Exceptions to these deadlines must be
approved by the Director of Student Financial Aid.
04.10 All
scholarship funds will be disbursed via the Office of Student Financial
Aid. Awarding committees will notify
the Scholarship Coordinator of all awards via the Scholarship Recipient List (Attachment
III). Scholarship funds will first
be applied as a credit toward a recipient’s outstanding registration or
Emergency Tuition Loan charges. If any funds remain after this crediting
process, a balance check will be mailed to the student’s address. Any exception to this scholarship
disbursement process must be approved by the Director of Student Financial Aid,
or the Scholarship Coordinator acting on his or her behalf, and the Director of
Accounting.
Upon
the creation of any scholarship account, the account manager must submit a
Departmental Scholarship Transmittal Form (Attachment
II) to the Scholarship Coordinator.
The information provided on this form will be used to establish a
Financial Aid Sub Code for the scholarship, which will allow for the tracking
and disbursement of individual scholarship funds.
05. REVIEWERS
OF THIS UPPS
05.01 Reviewers of this UPPS include the following:
Position Date
Ms. Mariko Gomez, Director of Financial December 1 E3Y
Aid
and Chair, Financial Aid Advisory
Scholarship Awards Committee
Mr. Chris Murr, Scholarship Coordinator December 1 E3Y
06. CERTIFICATION STATEMENT
This
UPPS has been approved by the following individuals in their official
capacities and represents Texas State policy and
procedure from the date of this document until superseded.
Ms.
Mariko Gomez, Director, Financial Aid and Chair, Financial Aid Advisory and
Scholarship Awards Committee; senior reviewer of this UPPS
Dr.
James D. Studer, Vice President for Student Affairs
Dr.
Denise M. Trauth, President