Scholarship Collaboration
for Students
Presenters:
Lillian Simmons, Director of Financial Aid and Scholarships, Fielding Graduate
University
Emily Tarring, Financial Aid Counselor, University of Hawaii, Hilo
Jack Edwards, Director of Financial Aid, Stanford, Graduate School of Business
Agenda
 School
Profiles
 Institutional
Goals
 Institutional
Challenges
 Application
Processes
Fielding Graduate University

Private, nonprofit, graduate school
 Doctoral,
masters, and graduate certificate programs in
the fields of clinical psychology, media psychology,
human and organizational development, and
educational leadership
 Blended
educational model – combining face-to-face
and online learning
 Self-directed
adult learners with focus on socially
responsible leadership
Fielding Graduate University
 Financial
 Serves
 25
aid team of 4 FT staff:
1,100 students
scholarship programs
 10
different budget managers overseeing the
award committees/decisions
 25%
of students receiving $900,000 in
scholarship funds
University of Hawai`i at Hilo

One of 10 campuses with in the UH System


3 four year schools and 7 community colleges
Public, undergraduate and graduate school

Baccalaureate degrees in many areas of study

Masters and Doctorate degrees

About 4,000 total enrollment

Mix of traditional and non-traditional students
University of Hawai`i at Hilo

Financial aid staff: 8

Almost 80% of students receive some type of aid

Most scholarship programs are established through the UH
Foundation

About $500,000 available through over 100 different scholarship
funds- most awarded by our office

About 50% of applicants receive a scholarship; 9% of total aid
recipients

Currently have 11 committees overseeing scholarships

Academic Departments, Study Abroad Office, Alumni Office
Stanford, Graduate School of Business
Private, nonprofit graduate business school
 Admissions is Need Blind
 Institutional fellowships are based on demonstrated
financial need


3 Academic Programs:
 MBA – 2 year program
 MSM – 1 year program
 PhD – 4-5 year program
Stanford, Graduate School of Business

Financial aid team of 5 FT staff:

Serves approximately of 1,000 students

804 MBA, 83 MSM, and 107 PhD students

50% of MBA students receive fellowships

100% of PhD students receive full fellowship for tuition and living
stipend

1 – 2 MSM students receive fellowship

435 endowed/expendable fellowships providing $20M annually in
fellowship awarded
Fielding Graduate University

Institutional Goals
 One
secure, online application for all institutional
scholarships (IT)
 Retain
budget/award decisions within academic
programs (Academic Admins)
 Increase
 Ensure
awareness and equity (Admission & Advising)
compliance and consistency (Finance)
 Support
advancement efforts (A&D)
University of Hawai`i at Hilo

Institutional Goals
 Simplify
the scholarship process for students
 Allow
Departments to have decision making authority
for scholarship awards
 Ensure
 Allow
funds are awarded to keep donors happy
Financial Aid Office to have some oversight to
ensure eligibility criteria are met and funds get paid
Stanford, Graduate School of Business

Institutional Goals
 Provide
fellowship funding to students with
demonstrated financial need
 Gather
student demographic data to successfully match
students with donor specific criteria through a single
fellowship data form
Fielding Graduate University

Application & Awarding
 Ellucian
(Datatel) Colleague and WebAdvisor for
homegrown Fielding Common Scholarship Application
online form – open 3 times per year
 Supplemental
documents – LOR, FAFSA, Essay
 PDF
files sent to awarding committee point of contact
for decision – two week window
 Award
by FA
packages updated & decisions sent to students
University of Hawai`i at Hilo

Application and Awarding

Online application through Next Gen Web Solutions “Scholarship
Manager”

Open once: deadline is March 1 of each year
 480
applicants in 13-14; 602 applicants in 14-15

Require LOR, FAFSA and personal statement

Certain data elements imported from Banner

Committee members have access around mid-March; usually 4-6
week awarding window

Awards updated and notifications sent through Scholarship
Manager by our office

Review of declined/ cancelled awards before fall and spring
semesters begin
Stanford, Graduate School of Business

Application & Awarding
 PeopleSoft
and Academic Works
 MBA
and MSM students must complete FAFSA and CSS
Profile Applications and submit tax documents, PhD
students are not required to apply for aid
 Fellowship
data form is required of all fellowship
recipients completed once a year in September
 Through
Academic Works, Financial Aid team will
match donor funds based on data provided by students
Stanford, Graduate School of Business

Departmental Collaboration
3
GSB Admissions Offices
2
Development Offices; University and GSB Development
 GSB
Finance Office
 Other
 IT
University Financial Aid Offices
Fielding Graduate University

Institutional Challenges
 Clarifying
what is/is not a scholarship program
 Balancing
autonomy of decisions while centralizing the
process
 Student-led
 Feedback
scholarship programs
loop to advancement/development & donors
University of Hawai`i at Hilo

Institutional Challenges
 Getting
Departmental scholarship administrators on
board
 Changes
 Online
in Academic staff (i.e. Department Chairs)
reviewing process for the not-so-tech savvy
Stanford, Graduate School of Business

Institutional Challenges
 Short
window for matching process
 Getting
students to complete To Do’s in a
timely manner
 Finding
the right match for donor funding
 Coordinating
matching process
Contact Information
Lillian Simmons, Director, Financial Aid & Scholarships
Fielding Graduate University
lsimmons@fielding.edu
(805) 898.4009
Emily Tarring, Financial Aid Counselor
University of Hawai`i at Hilo
ekingery@hawaii.edu
(808) 932.7449
Jack Edwards, Director of Financial Aid
Stanford, Graduate School of Business
Jack.Edwards@Stanford.edu
(650) 736.1758