Scholarship Committee responsibilities

1. The Finance Committee presents the annual ASURA Financial Health Analysis to the Board during the September Board meeting.
2. Based on the results of the Financial Health Analysis  the Board sets the scholarship amount for the upcoming year.
3. The Chair brings any suggested substantive changes in criteria not violating Foundation agreement to the Board for consideration. The changes, if any, come from the Scholarship Committee’s selection meeting the previous April. The official purpose of the endowment, per the documents on file with the Foundation, is:
   
   
   
   "To provide scholarships to students reentering an academic after an extended absence. Recipients are students with financial need who have been out of high school for at least 5 years, have not attended a university in the past 5 years, but may have completed one semester at ASU, and may have attended community college."
4. The Chair passes the scholarship information to the person listed as the scholarship contact on our helpful people page. You must be logged in to this site to see the Helpful People page. The contact will be an administrator in ASU’s  Financial Aid and Scholarship Services Office.
5. The Chair prepares a story about the new scholarship recipient for the fall edition of Prime Times.

1. An ASU Financial Aid administrator sees that the scholarship is posted on the ASU web.
2. The Chair checks the ASU Scholarship website to ensure it has been posted correctly.

The Chair contacts the current year’s scholarship recipient to invite them to the Annual Meeting and remind them that they have agreed to give a short talk at the meeting.

March 1

The deadline for submitting scholarship applications to ASU

March 1-15

1. The ASU Financial Aid administrator sees that all scholarship applications meet the scholarship criteria
2. The Chair fills the committee. The Wild Apricot database can be searched for members who have indicated an interest in the Scholarship Committee. Contact the ASURA Data Base committee chair for help in getting this list.

Mid March

1. The Chair requests the scholarship applications from the ASU Financial Aid administrator. The applications are emailed to the Chair.
2. The Chair emails the applications to the selection committee for review.
3. The committee members separately review the applications, choosing several preferred applicants. 
4. The Chair establishes a mid-April date for the committee to meet and select the recipient.

1. The Chair contacts the current year scholarship recipient to make sure they are planning to attend the Annual Meeting and are prepared to give a brief talk.
2. At the Annual Meeting the Chair welcomes the recipient to the meeting and introduces them.
3. In mid-April the committee meets and selects the top three candidates. 
4. The committee also discusses whether substantive changes in criteria not violating Foundation agreement should be recommended to the Board for consideration in the October Board meeting.
5. The Chair contacts the Financial Aids administrator to assure that the first choice has sufficient financial need. If not, the second choice is vetted, etc.

1. The Chair prepares a report for the May Board meeting informing them of the committee’s selection.
2. The Chair makes sure the following two letters are prepared and sent (see samples below).
3. The first letter goes to the ASU Financial Aid & Scholarship Office identifying the name and Student ID of ASURA scholarship recipient,
4. The second letter is a congratulatory letter sent to the scholarship recipient. The letter informs the recipient that:
   1. They have been selected for the ASURA Scholarship,
   2. They can expect to see the scholarship money posted to their account toward the end of July or first of August,
   3. The scholarship money will not be available until ten days before school starts, and
   4. They are expected to attend the ASURA Annual Meeting in April and give a short talk.
5. Copies of both letter are sent to the ASURA Financial Operations Manager.

The following five step process moves the scholarship money from ASURA’s Foundation Accounts to the student and takes about a month. Historically it has been important for the Chair to periodically check with the Financial Aid administrator to make sure the transfer has been successfully accomplished.

1. In early July the ASURA Financial Operations Manager processes scholarship payments in the Foundation financial system. The money comes from two accounts: the ASURA Scholarship Endowment’s Spending Account and the ASURA Operations Account. At the current time all the monies in the Spending Account are used and the Operations Account brings the total up to what was advertised.
2. Foundation Finance processes the payment transactions submitted in the previous step to send the money to the ASU Accounting Clerk in ASU Financial Services.
3. Financial Services sends a check to the Cashiers Office.
4. The Cashiers Office notifies Financial Aid and Scholarship Services that the money is transferred and can be posted to the student's account.
5. The Scholarship Office then posts the funds to the student's account and notifies them that they are there.

July 28, 2013

name [this is the name of the scholarship person on our helpful people page]

title of above person

Financial Aid and Scholarship Services

Arizona State University

PO Box 870412

Tempe, Arizona 85287-0412

Dear Mr./Ms. lastname:

The Arizona State University Retirees Association has selected name of recipient, ID

#nnnnnnnnnn [ASU ID number] to receive its scholarship for the nnnn-nn academic year. The award is $10,000, half of which is to be paid at the beginning of each semester.

To comply with the requirements of the scholarship, Mr./Ms. last name has been notified that he/she  is expected to:

1. Be a full time student;
2. Complete a minimum of 24 semester hours during the academic year (at least 9 semester hours each semester);
3. Attain a minimum 2.50 GPA; and
4. Make a short presentation to the ASURA annual meeting in the spring.

He/she has also been given information that she can expect to see the scholarship money posted to her account after August 1st, and it will not be available to use until ten days before school starts.

We will send a request for disbursement to the ASU Foundation transferring the funds.

As in the past, please inform the other applicants that they were not selected and thank them for applying.

Thank you for your assistance.

Sincerely,

name or president, President

President, ASU Retirees Association

bc: ASURA Financial Operations Manager

 

Month dd, yyyy

name

street address

city, st zzzzz

Dear Mr./Ms. lastname:

Congratulations.  It is my pleasure to inform you that you have been selected by the Arizona State University Retirees Association to receive its scholarship for the nnnn-nn academic year. The Association will provide $10,000 with equal payments to be made at the beginning of each semester. 

You will be expected to (1) be a full-time student; (2) complete a minimum of 24 semester hours during the academic year (at least 9 semester hours each semester); (3) attain a minimum 2.50 GPA; and (4) make a short presentation talk to the ASURA annual meeting next April. You can expect to see the scholarship money posted to your account after the first of August. The scholarship money will not be available to use until ten days before school starts.

The members of our Association, Board of Directors, and scholarship committee are most appreciative of your outstanding achievements to date.  We look forward to meeting you in person at our annual meeting next spring and to playing a modest role in your continued success.

Sincerely,

 

first last, President

ASU Retirees Association

xc:  name, ASURA Scholarship Committee Chair

name, title, ASU Scholarship Services [This is the person listed on our Helpful People page.]

name, ASURA Financial Operations Manager