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Setting up a Scholarship with the
Alumni Association
Scholarship Form
One
of the philanthropic services the Slippery Rock University Alumni
Association (SRUAA) offers to alumni and friends of the University
is the ability to set up scholarships for current undergraduate,
graduate or doctoral students. The SRUAA oversees
several academic and athletic related scholarships for
students. Among these are:
- MAREE MCKAY/ESTHER SMILEY ACADEMIC
SCHOLARSHIP -Any junior with at least at 3.25 QPA having a minimum of
63 semester hours by the conclusion of the fall '03 semester and
who has been involved in campus or community life is eligible to
apply. Students receiving tuition waivers are not eligible
and a maximum of thirty-six transfer credit hours may be applied to
obtain the minimum 63 semester hour requirement.
- MADELINE FARNEN STOOPS SCHOLARSHIP FOR
SOPHOMORE/JUNIOR EDUCATION MAJORS -Applicant must have
earned a 3.5 QPA during academic career. Special
consideration shall be given to residents of Butler County,
Pennsylvania and the state of Delaware.
- MAGGIE MEISE GRADUATE FELLOWSHIP
-Applicant must hold an undergraduate degree from SRU and be
enrolled as a graduate student of SRU. Applicant must have
completed a minimum of 9 graduate credit hours and have a minimal
overall graduate QPA of 3.5.
- CARL AND NORMA LAUGHNER SCHOLARSHIP*
-Applicant must have earned a minimum of 12 credits by the end
of fall '03 semester and hold a minimal overall QPA of 3.00.
Transfer students must have earned at least 12 semester hours at
SRU. Only students with second-semester freshman through
first-semester senior status will be considered.
Applicant must be a relative to a current annual dues paying or
life member of the SRU ALUMNI ASSOCIATION.
- EISAMAN ALUMNI SCHOLARSHIP FOR SOPHOMORE
STUDENTS –Applicant must
currently be enrolled as a full-time sophomore, no transfer hours
to be applied. Applicant must have a minimum of 3.25 and
demonstrate involvement in community service and/or university
activities.
- HALLIE DUGAN SMITH ELEMENTARY
EDUCATION SCHOLARSHIP –Applicant
must have an overall QPA of 3.25, must be an elementary education
major and be either a sophomore or first semester junior by the
conclusion of the fall 2003
semester.
All scholarship applications
will require a completed application form, three reference letters
and a personal letter from the student. Deadline for
scholarships is December 1, 2003. Phone ext. 2018 for further
information/application forms.
*Deadline for Laughner Scholarship only is January 12,
2004.
"Though it seems simple to give
students money to pay for tuition or books or other things that are
essential to a good education, there are some pitfalls to be aware
of when it comes to taxes, accountability, compliance, and
monitoring," says Virginia Peckham of Foundation News &
Commentary.
Frequently Asked Questions:
How much money do we need to start a scholarship
fund?
If it is an
endowed scholarship fund, the blunt fact is that if you want to
distribute funds right away, it simply doesn't make any sense to
start a scholarship with less than $25,000. If you have a
smaller amount in mind and want to make the scholarship renewable,
you are pretty much eliminating new applicants for two, three, or
four years until enough interest is built up. However, we
have had alumni set up scholarships with a $10,000
donation.
The SRUAA has
started scholarships for less money and has allowed donors to make
payments towards the endowed amount over time. It depends on
the donor and what they want to accomplish in terms of setting it
up and distributing the money. The staff of the Alumni
Relations Office and the SRUAA Scholarship Committee will assist
you in setting up whatever timeline, guidelines or goals you have
for the scholarship.
Who gets the scholarship check--the student or the
institution?
Donors are
sometimes attracted to the idea of giving money to the student
rather than the school. But this arrangement is fairly
rare. The SRUAA is bound by very stringent IRS rules and
guidelines. The IRS requires tracking of how the funds are
spent, meaning that the SRUAA, if it funds the individual and not
the organization, must collect all receipts from the student.
And, because some of the scholarship grants money is taxable,
students are shocked to find they owe taxes on anything besides
tuition, books, room and board, and certain kinds of
supplies.
How do we establish criteria?
The founding
scholarship document, often called the trust document, is the place
that sets forth the eligibility and selection criteria. It
also describes the award's duration and provisions for
renewal. Included you will see examples of some SRUAA
sponsored scholarships to review.
We suggest that
you try to be as flexible as possible with your criteria. For
example, instead of suggesting the student maintain a specific
grade point average, a donor might specify an acceptable
range. Flexibility is also important when a donor wants to
target a scholarship to members of an ethnic minority group.
Consider the burden of verification.
Flexibility is
also important in regards to setting up the amount of the
award. The amount does not have to be spelled out or fixed
precisely in the trust document. It's often better to specify
the size of the award pool. This way, if tuition goes up, or
if there are fewer or more qualified students, the fund can decide
on an ad hoc basis how much to give to how many
students.
What does the SRUAA Scholarship Committee
do?
It is quite common
for scholarship funds to set up committees to select recipients and
set policies. The Scholarship Committee can help you draft up
some guidelines. Our board (and a legal counsel, if
necessary), would approve the guidelines, and they could be changed
in the future. The Committee would also ensure that the
scholarship fund is monitored and distributed according to the
guidelines set up by you.
Typically, the
Scholarship Committee consists of ten to twenty Alumni Association
Board of Directors or members. They meet periodically
throughout the year to distribute applications on time, answer
inquiries, collect applications, and choose scholarship
winners. Please keep in mind that the donor can request any
criteria they want in setting up the scholarship (faculty
representation, special judging factors, etc.). Each year the
SRUAA holds a Scholarship Awards Dinner recognizing the recipients
of the scholarships. Students and families, faculty,
administration, board members and donors are invited to
attend.
How do we get word out about your
scholarship?
The SRUAA has an
Executive Director who is a full-time employee of Slippery Rock
University. The Executive Director and the Alumni Relations
staff makes sure students, faculty and families are alerted about
the scholarship. Both the full-time staff and the Scholarship
Committee strictly adhere to deadlines. Scholarship
information are also kept with the Financial Aid Office and
published in the Rock Insider, electronic newsletter, campus
publications, and on the Web site. The Financial Aid Office
sets up a "one stop shopping" book for students and families to
review of all scholarships available at the University. These
are also published in the student handbook.
A Menu of Flexible Scholarship
Criteria
These are just
some suggestions to donors in setting up criteria for
scholarships. These are simply suggestions and do not
necessarily have to be your guidelines.
- Resident of
Pennsylvania
- Graduating high school senior or
student already enrolled as an undergraduate or graduate
student
- Full- or part-time
student
- Graduation from a particular high
school
- Participation in a certain sport or
extracurricular activity
- Financial need
- Field of study
- Teacher or career specific job in
Pennsylvania (professional development grant)
Sometimes
additional guidelines then list some or all of the following
items:
- Financial need
- Grade point average
- ACT/SAT scores
- School activities
- Noteworthy achievements
- Awards and recognition
- Work history
- Class rank or percentile
ranking
- Special talent
- Community and personal
activities
- Demonstrated creativity
Excerpts
taken from "Setting up scholarship funds," Foundation News &
Commentary, January/February 1998
SLIPPERY
ROCK UNIVERSITY ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
Initial Scholarship Information
Form
Contact the Alumni Office
1-800-GET-ROCK
alumni@sru.edu
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