Awarding Scholarships | Alumni Association of the University of Michigan                       

Selecting the Award Recipient(s)

Scholarship Committee: Unless a club's bylaws provide otherwise, the Association recommends a club elect a scholarship committee of three or more members (one of whom serves as chair) to select the student recipient(s) of the club's scholarship award. Committee members must not be related to any of the scholarship award applicants. (Alternatively, if the club would prefer that OFA select the recipient(s) of its scholarship award, OFA will do so. Contact OFA for more information.)

Please note that if a scholarship is need-based, OFA will confirm the recipient's eligibility prior to distributing scholarship awards. The club does not have access to information regarding applicants' financial needs and must rely on applicant self-identification or confirmation from OFA during the review process.

Scholarship Criteria: Every club scholarship fund should have a scholarship establishment document or gift agreement clearly establishing:

• the purpose or goal of the scholarship fund;
• the criteria and guidelines to be utilized in choosing award recipients (OFA must approve the criteria and guidelines to ensure compliance with University policies); and
• whether the scholarship is for one year only (e.g., only newly admitted freshmen), automatically renewable, or potentially renewable (e.g., students must reapply or must make satisfactory progress in order to renew).

Timing: Incoming freshmen are required to make enrollment decisions by May 1st. To assist them with their decisions, we recommend selecting your scholarship recipients as soon as possible. You should, however, be aware that students' financial-need information is not available until mid-March at earliest.

Notifying the Award Recipient(s)

Once your club has selected the recommended recipient(s) of your scholarship award, you must first inform OFA of your decision in writing, including each student's (1) name, (2) address, (3) U-M ID (issued by U-M upon receipt of the student's application for admission), and (4) award amount.

Do not inform a scholarship recipient of his/her award prior to OFA notifying your club it has approved the award. OFA's approval process includes matching a recipient's profile (e.g., GPA, financial need determination) against your club's designated scholarship criteria. (Please note that while a club's recommended scholarship recipients should be approved by OFA so long as the club adheres to the approved written guidelines, OFA does have the ultimate and final authority in determining the recipients of all University scholarships, including all club scholarships administered through U-M).

Following OFA approval, notify each recipient of the award and explain to him/her that OFA will credit the scholarship money directly to the student's U-M account (one-half of an annual award will be credited each term) to be applied to the student's tuition, fees, and/or on-campus housing expenses. OFA follows this procedure rather than issuing a check to the club or the student in order to ensure the student is in good academic standing and enrolled during the period he/she receives the scholarship.