Subject: Student Success

Policy: MRJCON SCHOLARSHIP AND AWARDS COMMITTEE

Revised: April 13, 2021, May 9, 2025

Effective date: April 14, 2021, May 23, 2025

Review date: Spring 2027

Responsible Party: Level 1 Scholarship & Awards Committee; Level II Dean

Introduction and Purpose: The College of Nursing and Montana State University offer many scholarships and awards to undergraduate and graduate students every year. Each scholarship and award has specific criteria for eligibility. Scholarships are awarded through the Cat $cholarship online platform. Awards are nominated by the committee and may or may not be associated with funds. The Scholarship Committee members are responsible for selecting scholarship recipients and making recommendation for awards. 

Policy: The Committee is composed of faculty members from each campus, and is chaired by the Assistant Dean for Academic Programs (ex officio) who is responsible for convening meetings. The faculty committee members review and select recipients of scholarships from applicants to the Cat $cholarship online application system.  The faculty members individually coordinate the nomination of students for awards from their campuses and, as a group, make recommendations to the Dean from among those nominated each year. 

Procedures:

  1. Voting privileges: Each faculty committee member has one vote while the chair (ADAP) is a non-voting member.   
  2. The Undergraduate Program Manager serves as staff support to the Committee.
  3. All members of Scholarship Committee are required to complete implicit bias training on an annual basis.
  4. Scholarships: The Committee meets each semester to review new and existing scholarships and the selection processes. Students apply for scholarships through the Cat $cholarships online portal. The selected recipients are notified of the scholarship award during the spring semester and are awarded the scholarship for the following academic year. If needed, the Undergraduate Program Manager reviews the nominees with the Financial Aid Office to determine the eligibility of the student to receive the award.
  5. At the discretion of the Chair a special meeting may be called to manage award distribution as needed.
  6. Off Cycle Awarding of Scholarships: A running list of ranked applicants will be kept in the event of unclaimed awards or emergent needs prior to the next official awards cycle. The committee chair has authority to either make off-cycle awards from the ranked list or convene a special meeting.
  7. Awards: The faculty members individually coordinate the nomination of students for awards from their campuses.  The Committee reviews nominees as a group and makes recommendations to the Dean for recipient/s of awards. 

Internal control considerations, if applicable:

  1. The Assistant Dean for Programs coordinates with the MSU Alumni Foundation and Office of Financial Aid to comply with all associated policy and award criteria.