Administrative Policies and Procedures Manual - Policy 2335: Departmental Scholarships

Date Originally Issued: 07-01-2005

Subject to Change Without Notice

1. General

Departmental scholarships enable the University to recruit, retain, recognize, and reward the best and brightest by providing financial support to students who demonstrate superior motivation, curiosity, and intellect. Through departmental scholarship programs students registered at the University may be eligible for monetary assistance to help in meeting their educational expenses. This assistance may include scholarships, non-service awards, student tuition payments, and fellowships, hereafter referred to as scholarships. This policy defines the requirements for scholarships to ensure equal treatment and access to departmental scholarship programs.

2. Departmental Scholarship Programs

To establish a departmental scholarship, departments must submit either a Proposal for Establishing a Departmental Scholarship (Exhibit A) or a description of the program to the appropriate dean for approval. Each proposal or description must include the following elements in accordance with applicable sections herein:

• scholarship objective;
• type of award and value or range of values;
• typical number and frequency of scholarships to be awarded;
• source of funds;
• criteria for eligibility, nomination, and participation;
• process used to promote the scholarship and request applications;
• selection procedures indicating who selects recipients and timeline for selection; and
• criteria upon which scholarship decisions will be made.

To obtain approval for a scholarship program in existence before the date of enactment of this policy, the department should submit either a Proposal for Establishing a Departmental Scholarship (Exhibit A) or a description of the program addressing the above elements to the appropriate dean.

3. Publicity

Departments must formally announce all available awards on departmental web pages. In addition, the department must provide this publicity information to the University Scholarship Office, which will place a link to the departmental web page on the Scholarship Office web site and include the awards in the Scholarship Guidebook that is published every year.

 4. Eligibility

In order to assist students in their search for scholarship support, departments must have written guidelines on file that include eligibility criteria for each of their scholarship programs. These guidelines must be printed on all departmental scholarship announcements and placed on departmental scholarship web pages. The criteria for scholarships paid from endowed programs must adhere to donor agreements.

5. Application

The UNM Standard Scholarship Application must be used for all scholarship programs. Departments may add a supplemental form to the standard application. All applications/nominations must be submitted in writing.

6. Nomination

Departments may have scholarly award programs whereby they request nominations from faculty, staff, and constituents. These awards differ from scholarships in that they are designed to recognize specific scholarly achievements and are generally not comparable to the dollar amounts of scholarships. Departments must notify the Scholarship Office of existing or proposed scholarly award programs and provide the criteria for eligibility, selection procedures, and dollar range of the awards.

7. Selection and Notification Process

Departments must have a formal selection process that includes a selection committee of at least two (2) individuals, unless the fund donor has different requirements. For limitations on donor involvement concerning recipients, refer to Section 4. of "Gifts Made to the University" Policy 1030, UBP. The selection process must be documented in writing and the selection timeline must be placed on the departmental scholarship web page. Departments must:

• coordinate and maintain records of all applicants and the selection process for three (3) years,
• notify recipients in writing on University letterhead, and
• notify the Scholarship Office of all awards via a Departmental Award Form available at http://www.unm.edu/~schol/apps/DeptForm04.doc.

The University does not discriminate in scholarship selection on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, physical or mental handicap, age, sex, sexual preference, gender identity, ancestry, or medical condition. However, legitimate preferences of scholarship fund donors shall be observed, with approval of University Counsel. The Scholarship Office and the University Cashiers Department will facilitate the payment of all awards. All awards will be distributed in accordance with "Financial Aid Disbursement" Policy 7230, UBP.

8. Scholarship Office

The Scholarship Office is responsible for:

• processing departmental award forms,
• notifying departments of projected income balances for all endowed programs,
• monitoring the proper use of funds, and
• publishing the Scholarship Guidebook.

Applications, forms, and additional scholarship information can be found at the following Scholarship Office links (http://www.unm.edu/~schol/4departs.html):

• UNM Standard Scholarship Application
• Departmental Award Form
• International Student Departmental Award Form
• Departmental Award Change Request Form
• Policies and Procedures for Departmental Award Form

9. Attachment

Exhibit A. Proposal for Establishing a Departmental Scholarship