3: Scholarship Awarding Policy

  1. Statement of Purpose
    Through the generosity of individuals, businesses, and organizations, the Foundation awards hundreds of scholarships each year. The Foundation recognizes that a student’s total Cost of Attendance includes tuition, room and board, books, supplies, transportation, loan fees, and other miscellaneous expenses (the “Cost of Attendance” or “COA”). Foundation scholarships pay for a student’s total Cost of Attendance.
  2. General Principles
    1. The Foundation awards scholarships to promote individual students’ educational progress. Scholarships also further broader Foundation/College goals, such as promoting student access, success, and completion.
    2. The Foundation is committed to treating scholarship applicants and recipients fairly, respectfully, and in a manner that promotes their academic progress.
    3. The Foundation adheres to the Pension Protection Act of 2006 and all other applicable IRS regulations. Accordingly, Foundation scholarship donors, or persons appointed by the donor, do not have “the privilege of providing advice with respect to the fund investments or distributions.”
    4. The Foundation complies with the requirements of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) during its processes for selection and continued communication with scholarship recipients.
    5. As an institutionally related foundation, the Foundation adheres to the same federal and state laws as the College and thus may not accept or distribute charitable contributions if there is reason to believe that gifts, and any restrictions placed on gifts, (i) would involve unlawful discrimination, and/or (ii) would cause the Foundation or College to violate any applicable law or regulation or to jeopardize tax exempt status.
  3. Roles and Responsibilities
    1. For each scholarship cycle, the Staff determines the list of scholarships, number of awards, award amounts, award timing, application composition, and the recipient for each scholarship. Significant changes to the scholarship cycle, application, and scoring criteria are reviewed and approved by the Foundation Board.
    2. All scholarships are awarded through an application process that is open to all eligible candidates. The Staff must approve the application and selection process for Foundation scholarships selected by College departments or external groups.
    3. Staff approves all selection committee members. Every selection committee member is obligated to disclose any personal knowledge of and relationship with any candidate under consideration and to refrain from participation where he or she could (a) directly or indirectly benefit if any candidate were selected over another candidate, or (b) be perceived as having a conflict of interest or a relationship that might jeopardize the privacy of the application.
    4. Every scholarship evaluator and selection committee member is required to sign a confidentiality form agreeing to keep all applicant information and committee meeting discussions confidential.
    5. Each scholarship recipient signs an agreement with the Foundation that outlines the responsibilities of the recipient to the Foundation and vice versa. The Foundation, and its donors, must not expect recipients to perform services outside of this agreement.
  4. Scholarship Awarding Policies
    1. In general, scholarship awards will be minimally $1,000/academic year, with the exception of awards that are generated by investment earnings of endowed scholarship funds.
    2. Foundation scholarships pay for a student’s total (COA), and thus the value of the scholarship may exceed the cost of tuition. Foundation scholarships are disbursable to the individual recipient. Scholarship recipients may have access to their full award. Staff will determine a reasonable disbursement method as it relates to a student’s attendance, academic engagement, and total cost of attendance (COA).
    3. During the period of the scholarship award, the Staff will monitor the academic status and eligibility of scholarship recipients to ensure that they continue to meet the College’s academic progress standards and/or maintain eligibility for scholarship funding based on specific criteria of the scholarship. If upon review it is determined that the recipient does not meet the College’s academic standards and/or maintain eligibility based on specific criteria, the recipient may lose the remainder of the scholarship award for the academic year.
    4. Each scholarship fund has a Board-approved fund agreement or approved grant agreement, which describes the scholarship purpose and selection criteria. The selection criteria are used to determine the eligible candidate pool.
    5. All scholarships are reviewed, evaluated, and awarded on an objective and nondiscriminatory basis, based on Board-approved scoring criteria and rubrics that are used to rank the candidate pool.
    6. A minimum of two eligible and approved individuals review each scholarship pool and select the recipient (s) for each scholarship.
    7. A donor can be an individual, non-profit corporation, association, or business entity. Donors to scholarship funds that are separately identified by reference to the contributions of a donor or donors may serve on the selection committee for that scholarship, provided that all of the following are met:
    8. The Foundation approves the selection/nominating committee members.
    9. The donor’s input is given solely as a member of the committee.
    10. One-half or the majority of the committee is made up of individuals who are not the donor(s) or related to, designated by, or appointed by the donor(s).
    11. Foundation fundraising and development staff may not serve on a selection committee with donors (although they may be present to facilitate and support the application review process). If these requirements are not followed, the results are not valid and a new committee must be convened.
    12. Scholarship applications, score sheets, and candidate rankings are retained for three years, and then destroyed.
    13. In general, students may receive scholarship awards for three consecutive academic years.
  5. Avoidance of Donor Advised Funds
    1. The Foundation does not have or offer donor advised funds as defined in the Pension Protection Act (PPA) of 2006. Donor-advised funds meet three criteria:
      • The fund must be separately identified with reference to the contribution of a donor or donors.
      • The fund must be owned and controlled by a sponsoring organization (a 501 (c) (3) foundation).
      • The donor or person appointed by the donor must have, or must reasonably expect to have, the privilege of providing advice with respect to the fund’s investments or distributions.
    2. The PPA of 2006 prohibits grants (scholarships) to individuals from a donor-advised fund. At the Foundation, some funds meet the first or second criteria above. In order to avoid having donor-advised funds, the Foundation avoids meeting the third criteria above. Accordingly, Foundation scholarship donors, or persons appointed by the donor, do not have “the privilege of providing advice with respect to the fund investments or distributions,” (which includes recipient selection). Donors and donor advisors include individuals, professional organizations, charities or other non-profits, and corporations or other business entities.
  6. Honorary Named Annual Scholarships
    The purpose of honorary named annual scholarships is to cultivate major giving and foster exceptional support and service to the College and the Foundation, through honorary recognition with an annual named scholarship.

    1. General Principles
      1. Honorary named scholarships recognize any of the following:
        1. An individual, business, or organization for outstanding service or non-financial support to the College or the Foundation.
        2. A donor to the Foundation or College, who has major giving potential, and who:
          1. Previously established a fully funded endowment that due to various circumstances is not in a position to award a scholarship;
          2. Recently established an endowment with an initial gift of $25,000 or completed fully funding an endowment;
          3. Provided a significant unrestricted or restricted gift to the College or Foundation; or
          4. A faculty, staff, retiree, Board member, or other friend of the College or Foundation who has passed away and in whose name scholarship memorial gifts are made that can fund a scholarship.
      2. Honorary named scholarships will be limited in number, so that they are seen as a prestigious honor.
    2. Selection Process and Reporting
      1. The Executive Director will take the lead in screening donors/other candidates for all honorary named scholarships. While these scholarships are designed largely as a tool to support Foundation staff efforts and donor cultivation, nominations may be offered by College executive leadership and/or the Foundation Board and committees.
      2. Honorary named scholarship awards will entail assigning a name to a recipient of a general Foundation scholarship. The highest “ranking” scholarship recipients will be honored with these named awards. Within this select group, an effort also may be made to “match” the scholarship recipient with the donor/individual – where the spirit of the gift/service can be defined in a manner that matches with a scholarship recipient essay or personal profile.
      3. The Executive Director will provide a list annually to the Foundation Executive Committee that details who has received (or will receive) an honorary named scholarship, the rationale, and who nominated the individual.