Report of the AdHoc Scholarship Committee
(submitted to the Faculty Senate Monday, May 5, 2003)
Conclusions and Recommendations
Conclusions:
Over the past two years, positive steps have been taken to improve the
scholarship selection and awards process. Much of this is due to standardization
of forms and deadlines, efficient work done by key people in the offices of
Financial Aid, Admissions, and the WSU Foundation. In addition, the Faculty
Senate Committee on Scholarships and Financial Aid has increased their
participation to some degree. The recommendations which follow build on these
efforts.
The main purpose of scholarships is to recruit the academically most gifted
students possible. This purpose should be kept foremost in mind when deciding
policies related to the awarding of scholarships.
Recommendations: The Faculty Senate ad hoc Committee on Scholarships recommends the following:
1. The Faculty Senate Committee on Scholarships and Financial Aid should play a central role in awarding scholarships at WSU. This committee has been working to advance its role in the scholarship awards process, and should become even more involved.
2. Software to help classify scholarship applicants and preliminarily screen them should be purchased. This would greatly expedite the process by which these decisions are currently made.
3. Internet posting of all scholarships offered at WSU should be accomplished very soon.
4. Scholarships awarded to incoming students by the Financial Aid Office should have academic merit increased in importance. Currently academic merit counts for only fifty percent.
5. A scholarship month should be established (November) as a way to diversify the awards offered with more emphasis on academic criteria. The colleges at WSU who have scholarships to award might join in these different selection and recruitment processes. For example, the Barton School of Business and the College of Engineering might take a weekend for their activities, one weekend for DSI, etc.
6. The Faculty Senate Committee on Scholarships and Financial Aid should determine the criteria and the process for selecting scholarship recipients, DSI included.
7. The Distinguished Scholarship Invitational should only award scholarships tied to leadership criteria. The definition of "leadership" needs to be specified by the Faculty Senate Committee on Scholarships and Financial Aid in a way that allows it to be a) measured and b) implemented as a criterion of selection.