EFFECTIVE DATE: June 08, 2016
ISSUE #: 1
PRESIDENT: Michael A. Olivas (Interim)
PURPOSE
The purpose of this document is to define and set forth minimum criteria for the administration
and oversight of all college and institutional scholarships in compliance with System Administrative Memoranda 06.B.02. This document assigns responsibilities and assists university
personnel in complying with federal and state guidelines for scholarship management related to
credit bearing student work.
DEFINITIONS
2.1 Financial Need: In those instances where financial need is a scholarship criterion, students'
need will be defined by the U.S. Department of Education definitions and determined by
the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid.
2.2 Scholarship: Scholarships are gift aid awards based on selective criteria. Scholarships are
given to or on behalf of a student for purposes of educational activity. A scholarship is not
compensation for services rendered by the student for UHD. Depending upon the source
of funds and related requirements, the recipient may be chosen by a university committee
or by the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid.
POLICY
3.1 The University of Houston-Downtown is committed to providing financial assistance to
eligible students through scholarships, grants, loans, employment, and waivers. These
assistance programs are funded by the federal government, the State of Texas, private
donations, and other university sources, and are subject to the regulations and restrictions
imposed by the funding sources.
3.2 The Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid is responsible for recommending
scholarships and financial aid policies and procedures to the responsible vice president
or designee, and for administering the policies and procedures in compliance with federal
and state laws and regulations, donor restrictions, and UH System policies and
guidelines.
3.3 The Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid will publish and make available appropriate
consumer information regarding aid programs, as required by applicable laws and
regulations.
PROCEDURES
4.1 College-Administered Scholarships and Reimbursement
4.1.1 The procedural requirements for the college and institutional selection
committee(s) must be written and maintained by the college and/or institution.
The selection committee must discuss and document its approach to evaluating
the relevant application components before reviewing the submissions. This
process may be a matter of deciding how much emphasis will be placed on each
component. The selection committee should establish the evaluation emphasis
(such as weights in an evaluation matrix) before posting the scholarship
announcement. The college and/or institution is responsible for maintaining a
record of the standards used to determine awards.
4.1.2 Eligibility guidelines and selection criteria must be written and made public by
the college/university. The college must also share this information with the
Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid and the Advancement Office
(Endowments), which maintain selection criteria and procedural requirements.
4.1.3 Selection criteria and processes must comply with relevant federal, state, funding
agency, and/or University of Houston System endowment and management
guidelines and directives. Also, in cases in which the award was gifted to the
college as an endowment, the college must ensure that all guidelines are in
accordance with the memorandum of understanding between the donor(s) and the
university.
4.1.4 As new scholarships are established, the college is responsible for notifying the
Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid of new scholarships and cost centers as
well as the scholarship award criteria.
4.1.5 The Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid is responsible for publicizing a
master list of all university-wide scholarships on its website (publicly available)
at least (21) days before the submission deadline. The college is responsible for
publicizing the availability of its scholarships on its website (publicly available)
at least (21) days before the submission deadline. All awarding units will
communicate to the student that award(s) may impact the awardee’s financial aid
package. Students should be advised to contact the Office of Scholarships and
Financial Aid to determine the impact of the scholarship on their award package.
4.1.6 Under normal circumstances, the selection committee has (28) days from the
application deadline to render its decision with supporting documentation,
including meeting minutes and explanation of decision(s). Once the selection
committee has made its decision and submitted the above mentioned
documentation to the college office, the college has (14) days to submit a
scholarship memo to the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid. Scholarship
payments will be made to students prior to the semester payment deadline. As
such, scholarship memos must be submitted to the Office of Scholarships and
Financial Aid based on the following schedule:
- Fall semester – 1st business day in July
- Spring semester – 1st business day in December
- Summer semesters – 1st business day in April
4.1.7 Payment of scholarship awards will be made through the Office of Scholarships
and Financial Aid to Student Accounting. Student Accounting is responsible for
applying the actual payment of the award.
4.2 Institutionally Administered Scholarships
4.2.1 The procedural requirements for the institutional selection committee(s) must
be written and maintained by the institution. The selection committee must
discuss and document its approach to evaluating the relevant application
components before reviewing the submissions. This process may be a matter
of deciding how much emphasis will be placed on each component.
Alternatively, the selection committee should establish the evaluation emphasis
(such as weights in an evaluation matrix) before posting the scholarship
announcement. The institution is responsible for maintaining a record of the
standards used to determine awards.
4.2.2 The Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid is responsible for the oversight of
college and institutional scholarships to ensure compliance with federal, state,
institutional and University of Houston System policies and procedures.
4.3 Stewardship Requirements for Endowed and Other Outside Scholarships.
4.3.1 Scholarship recipients' names may not be released by the university or its staff
if the scholarship criterion includes a component of need and/or if the student
has opted out from the release of directory information.
4.3.2 Income distributed from endowment funds will be retained in individual cost
centers so spending may be traced back to the endowment corpus. Nonendowed scholarships will be deposited in cost centers so spending can be
traced to original revenue and/or gift.
4.3.3 All University of Houston-Downtown college and institutional scholarships
must be made in accordance with the Civil Rights Act of 1965, Title IX of The
Higher Education Act, as amended and all other federal and state regulations
that seek to provide educational opportunity without regard to race, color,
religion, national origin, gender, age disability, or veteran status.
4.4 Requirements for Management and Accounting for Scholarship Funds
4.4.1 Notification of new scholarship cost centers and criteria must be given to the
Office of Scholarship and Financial Aid.
4.4.2 All funds received and/or disbursed for scholarships will be recorded with the
appropriate fund codes and program codes (function) in the university’s
financial records.
4.4.3 All funds received for scholarships should be awarded in accordance with the
donors’ requirements, if any, and should be awarded within the period
specified by the donor.
4.4.4 Each awarding unit is responsible for the monthly reconciliation of their
scholarship accounts.
4.4.5 Each awarding unit is responsible for responding to requests for information
regarding their scholarship accounts as requested by audit.
EXHIBITS
There are no exhibits associated with this policy.
REVIEW PROCESS
Responsible Party (Reviewer): President
Review: Every three years on or before May 1st.
Signed original on file in Employment Services and Operations.
POLICY HISTORY
Issue #1: 06/08/2016
REFERENCES
System Administrative Memoranda 06.B.02.
