1. Scholarship Task Force Charge What are current processes for donor recognition, announcement of scholarship opportunities, the awarding of scholarships, and monitoring scholarship awardees? How can scholarship information be more effectively shared with prospective awardees? How do we better communicate with faculty and staff to make certain that all scholarship funding is awarded? How can we effectively connect scholarship recipients with the donors who have provided this support?

2. Scholarship Task Force Membership Kathy Lake, co-chair, Director, Enrollment Services Mary Kay MacIver, co-chair, Associate Director-Alumni Relations, UA&M Maude Bigford, Coordinator-Honors Program, University College Kevin Dendel, student representative Matt Eickhoff, Assistant Director, Student Leadership & Activities Brian Kegler, Assistant Athletic Director, Athletics Becky Kowalkoski, Educational Counselor, Business Rod Larsen, Assistant Dean, Pharmacy Ron McKean, Associate Dean, Technology Angie Mishler, Admissions Counselor, Admissions & Records Tracy Powers, Assistant Dean, FSU-GR Christa Walker, Advancement Services Assistant, UA&M Heather Youngs, Scholarship Programs Coordinator, Financial Aid

3. Scholarship Task Force Subcommittees Awarding and Tracking – Kathy Lake, Chair Marketing/Application – Maude Bigford, Chair Stewardship – Mary Kay MacIver, Chair

4. Stewardship stewardship, noun A process whereby an organization seeks to be worthy of continued philanthropic support, including the acknowledgment of gifts, donor recognition, the honoring of donor intent, prudent investment of gifts, and the effective and efficient use of funds to further the mission of the organization.

5. Donor Bill of Rights To receive proper acknowledgement & recognition

6. Acknowledgement policy Publicity policy College recognitions Individual department recognitions Annual donor event Scholarship luncheons Endowment reports Current Process

7. Financial Aid Website Selective advertising -Torch -MyFSU -Crimson & Gold (Legacy) Colleges and program marketing varies Marketing & Application Current Process

10. Focus Group Notes: Students find the current scholarship website difficult and frustrating. Hard to find initially and many did not know it existed at all Can’t search by major Most do not have links for more information Don’t know what “need-based” means Marketing & Application Current Process

11. Focus Group Notes Continued: Categories seem too general and poorly labeled Most who called Financial Aid to ask questions about scholarships after visiting the site said the person who answered could not answer any of their questions Marketing & Application Current Process

12. Focus Group Notes Continued: No suggestions or tips on the site on how to successfully apply Students who spent the time to apply, including writing essays, often did not hear back at all. Some were not sure their application was received Students visit once and don’t return Marketing & Application Current Process

13. Focus Group Notes Continued: Other Marketing Ideas: Utilize Torch Brochure in orientation packet FSUS classes Advertise on Facebook and My Space Flyers Encourage professors to announce in class Targeted announcements that are clear Scholarship workshops Scholarship fair Marketing & Application Current Process

14. Focus Group Notes Continued: Students were unanimous in their desire for a unified application system Marketing & Application Current Process

15. Scholarship Website at our own College of Technology! Comprehensive Applications are available as pdf files Detailed information regarding each scholarship Great Job! Marketing Best Practices

16. Scholarship Web Search at Northern Michigan University Marketing Best Practices

18. Title

19. Scholarship Workshops at University of Washington Freshman Scholarship 101 – Getting Started in the Search for Scholarships Scholarship 201, Continuing Students – The Search for Undergraduate Scholarships and Graduate Fellowships Marketing Best Practices

20. Ohio State University Scholarship Application See handout Unified Application Best Practice

21. Marketing: 1.Complete overhaul of the scholarship search site to include more detailed information about each scholarship, including an educational piece about the donor. 2.Include a FAQ section, as well as tips on how to apply for scholarships 3.Encourage each college to list scholarships similar to the COT Recommendations

22. Marketing: Timely Torch article Encourage professors to announce scholarship availability in class Utilize FSUS classes Hold scholarship workshops Investigate scholarship fair Thoughtful use of MyFSU notices Utilize Facebook and My Space – this is where our students are on a daily basis! Recommendations

23. Marketing continued: Use all marketing internal resources, including Bulldog Radio, flyers, Ferris Cable channel Recommendations

24. Develop a unified application to be used with all scholarships university-wide Recommendations

25. Awarding Process Current Process –Endowment status is reviewed in the Spring –Status memo is sent to the colleges –Dept./Fin Aid start selection process –Dept. sends email to Fin Aid with recipients information –Fin Aid awards the scholarship –Dept. sends out notification letter to student

26. Awarder Survey Results –No consistent place to get information –No tracking of whether a scholarship was awarded or not –Little or no communication exists Awarding Process

27. Penn State – Annual Cycle Awarding Process Best Practice

28. Northern Michigan University Scholarship Committee Awarding Process Best Practice

30. Recommendations Establish a contact person in each College Send an email awarding notification form to appropriate contact person in the Spring (already developed) Dept contact person forwards the form with selection information to Fin Aid for awarding of scholarship Establish a University Committee to award general scholarships

31. Create a website for awarders on the Intranet, ie FAQ’s, Annual Cycle Create tracking for scholarships that are not awarded or not accepted Develop a process to acknowledge applications Coordinator is developing a system to ensure that all funds are awarded Recommendations

32. Internal Resources Programmers –Tracking program for scholarships –Intranet website for awarders –Website for scholarship searches –Website for donors

33. Enough with the plaques! Show me the impact! Stewardship

34. Current practice: Not required No process in place to track thank you notes Encouraged only at the department/awarding entity level No unified message to encourage students to write thank yous No guidelines available to assist them Stewardship Thank You Process

35. University of Memphis: All student-athletes are required to write up to five thank-you notes to their donors. They do not receive their books/grant money until they write those five notes. The student-athletes are given a template to work from Donors are very appreciative! Stewardship Best Practice

36. University of Minnesota Does not require a thank you for the funds to be released Creates instead, a “scholarship experience” for students with a packet that contains a congratulatory letter, background information, a note card to write the thank you, tips on what to say, and a return envelope to the development office Stewardship Best Practice

37. University of Florida Requires a thank you note and an information release form before releasing funds See handout Stewardship Best Practice

38. Current practice: Lunches are selectively coordinated by Alumni Office Colleges Departments Major gift officers Stewardship Scholarship Luncheons

39. FSU College of Pharmacy Honors Convocation Donors are invited to attend to present awards Traditional ceremony that donors look forward to each year Great job! Stewardship Best Practice

40. Stewardship Endowment Reports See example Reports are sent in the spring with a letter from President Eisler Contains background, criteria, amount to award, recipient information and contribution information

41. Stewardship Best Practice University of Texas at Austin’s “Donor Connect” An online reporting system developed by UT Austin that allows donors to check the status of their endowment and connect to recipients via personalized messages with photos that augment traditional thank you notes.

42. Recommendations Development of a Comprehensive Stewardship Policy available on the intranet to help educate faculty and staff about the importance of speaking with one voice. Response from awarding survey regarding donor contact and providing that contact information to UA&M: “We would if it involved them”

43. Recommendations Develop the administrative systems necessary to begin a stepped thank you process: Begin with thank you notes strongly encouraged and move to a thank you note required system in the future Provide students with the necessary support to write effective thank you notes

44. Recommendations Examples of support: Online tips for writing thank you notes on our scholarship website Requests for thank yous attached to the notification letter Workshops to assist students in writing thank you notes Providing computer workstations, notecards and postage.

45. Recommendations Establish a policy for scholarship luncheon support similar to the acknowledgement policy. Research indicates that donors appreciate as much personalization as possible for luncheons: Private with University representative and student Department level College level

46. Recommendations Research the feasibility of providing online information to donors including a donor survey on estimated usage of such a system

47. We do some things well We do some things ok We do some things very poorly! We are not alone. Many universities we spoke with want a copy of our report because they face the same challenges! Breaking new ground! Scholarship Task Force Wrap - up

48. Written report will include a recommendation to establish an Office of Scholarships at Ferris State University. Oversee the entire process from Stewardship to Marketing to Awarding Scholarship Task Force Wrap - up

49. Questions?