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For Information

S.941.55

REPORT TO SENATE ?

SENATE POLICY COMMITTEE ON

SCHOLARSHIPS, AWARDS AND BURSARIES

SEPTEMBER 1994

Dr. Katherine Heinrich

SPCSAB Chair

•

1. INTRODUCTORY COMMENTS

This report covers all business activities of the Senate Policy Committee on Scholarships,

Awards and Bursaries (SPCSAB) for the three semesters 93-2, 93-3 and 94-1.

The committee held meetings on

In May 1993, the Financial Aid and Awards office underwent significant restructuring

which included the elimination of the position of director and a change in reporting

mechanisms. The new Financial Assistance Office is located in the Office of the Registrar

and reports to the Director, Student Academic Resources. Undergraduate entrance

scholarships are now the responsibility of the Director, Liaison and Awards while the

Open.,Scholarships Program and various graduation medals and awards are administered

through the Assistant to the Registrar. The Registrar is Secretary to SPCSAB.

The major task accomplished by SPCSAB and the Registrar's Office was to bring the

undergraduate scholarships and awards budget under control and end the year without a

deficit. This was achieved as a result of decisions made in the Office of the Registrar in

collaboration with the SPCSAB, redesigning of the entrance scholarship program and an

unexpected budget addition at the end of the year.

To facilitate this the following decisions were taken:

Open Scholarships were awarded only to students satisfying the advertised

criteria and with a CGPA of at least 3.75.

The entrance scholarship program was reviewed and revised. Commitments had

already been made for the

93194

entrance scholarship program and so efforts were

focused on programs for succeeding years.

The Committee established the objective that over time, the minimum CGPA

required for the Open Scholarship would be the same as or very close to the

minimum CGPA required for subequent disbursements from entrance scholarships.

In the administration of any portion of the financial assistance program, strict

adherence to the budget would be required.

At the same time it was recognized that our major budget difficulty arose from the large

number of entrance awards of more than one year's duration (in 1993/94 $577,250 of a

budget of $2,317,006 was needed to fund continuing entrance scholarships). Investigation

also revealed that many recipients of President's and Chancellor's Scholarships were

becoming ineligible for continuation, thereby indicating that this award was not recruiting

the best students. The entire entrance program was revised (the new program is described

later in the report) so that the Simon Fraser, Alumni and Shrum awards are for fàur years,

the Dean's awards are for two years and all others are one year awards. Further,

requirements for continuity were tightened. While the impact of this change will not be

felt immediately, in the long-run it will result in greater flexibility allowing for the

awarding of more open scholarships, more entrance scholarships and a greater emphasis

on bursaries.

Unfortunately, these changes still left the budget in a deficit position.

This was relieved

when the President decided that for this year only the additional monies inadvertently

generated by the new tuition penalties for reduced course loads would all be allocated to

the undergraduate scholarship, awards and bursary budget.

We then entered the 1994/95 budget year without a deficit for the first time in many years.

All those in the Registrar's and Financial Assistance offices are to be thanked and

congratulated for their extremely hard work. At the same time Financial Services was

very helpful in providing us with a thorough explanation of the budget allocation process

• and assisting in determining the endowment funds available. Finally, the Office of

Analytical Studies did an excellent job in preparing various budget scenarios resulting

from proposed changes to the entrance scholarship program and other background

materials.

We are confident that, assuming no" cuts are made to our budget, we will stay "in the

black" in future years.

. ?

Such a thorough investigation of the budget led to the alarming discovery that there are

very few endowments supporting University scholarships and bursaries. A major focus of

our work in the future will, be to address this issue and encourage the University to make

scholarship and bursary fundraising an item for special attention At this point it is worth

noting that as a result of a bequest 'of Tadeusz Specht, an endowment of close to one

million dollars (the Tadeusz Specht Memorial Endowment)' will be used to fund

additional Summit awards for undergraduate students studying in health-related sciences.

These awards will first be made in 1995. The University is also in receipt of a major

endowment from the estate of Stanley Morisse, also providing for entrance scholarships.

Our year's work. focussed 'on the undergraduate program because of the immediate need to

control the budget. The graduate awards program has for several years been administered

by the Dean of Graduate Studies and during that time has been constantly revisedto reflect

students" needs and budget realities. In terms of the Graduate Program SPCSAB

•

considered recommendations brought forward from the Dean of Graduate Studies and the

Senate Graduate Studies Committee. (Graduate bursaries, however, are administered by

the Financial Assistance Office.)

In addition to the redesigning of the undergraduate entrance scholarship program and the

general work of the committee the following motions were approved.

2. MOTIONS

MOTION (June 1993): That only recipients of the Simon Fraser, Shrum. and Alumni

entrance scholarships be ineligible for the Canada Scholarship Program.

*Note that formerly President's Scholarship recipients were also ineligible.

MOTION (October 1993): That effective September 1994 the Special Graduate Research

Fellowships be discontinued.

MOTION (October 1993): That the Terms of Reference for the Graduate Fellowships, be

changed to:

1 ,

.. The Graduate Fellowship (CF) is a one-semester award valued at $4,100

$4,200

for a

Master's student and $4,700

$4,800

for a Ph.D. student (effective September 1994).

To, be eligible to hold a GF, a person must be registered as a full-time, regular (not

"on leave" or part-time) student and must normally have a first-class (^3.50) grade

point average. In exceptional cases, other evidence of outstanding ability may

outweigh this criterion.

Academic merit is the

primary

criterion for ranking eligible applicants;

departments will advise all applicants in advance if additional criteria will be used.

Academic merit is assessed based on grades, research ability

and progress.

Applicants for Graduate Fellowships are expected to also apply for external awards

for which they are eligible. Recipients of Graduate Fellowships may accept other

scholarship support from external sources. If the total of the Graduate Fellowship

and the other support exceeds $20,000 per annum, the value of the Graduate

Fellowship will be reduced so that the total equals $20,000.

Applicants for

Graduate Fellowships are encouraged to apply for external awards for which they

are eligible.

Recipients may receive no employment income during tenure of this award with

the sole exception given

Item 6 below, and are expected to devote their full time

and energies to their, graduate studies during tenure of the award; full-time paid

employment is prohibited..

Recipients may receive income for work performed as a part-time research

assistant or intern if the work constitutes the recipient's actual thesis (or

equivalent) research project or an internship 'performed

S.F.U.

degree requirements.

7. Students will normally be eligible to receive CF support only during

the first 9

• semestersof a' Master's rogram and during the first 15 semesters of a Ph.D.

program. In no case will more than 15 semesters of CF support be given to any

student. For students who enrolled part-time in several semesters, these limits

• On eligibility will be interpreted in terms Of full-time equivalent semesters;

departmental verification of part-time status will be required. During tenure of

the GF, full-time status is cxpcctcd

required.

Applicants may apply for and be recommended for One, two or three semesters of

support in each academic year (commencing in the fall semester).

Awards are made by the Senate Graduate Awards Adjudication Committee on the

recommendation of the Departmental Graduate Program Committee. Each

department is allocated a number of awards, based on its graduate enrollment in

the previous calendar year.

10.

Application is made on the

Application for a Graduate Fellowship

form. The

• completed form and all post-secondary transcripts must be received by the

Graduate Program Chair in: the Department of intended enrollment by 15 April.

October/ November, 1993: The SPCSAB approved the following changes to the

undergraduate entrance scholarship program:

• Dean's Entrance Scholarships reduced from eight semesters to four semesters;•

• Summit Regional Entrance Scholarships introduced (Two semesters at $1500 - two

to be awarded in each of the fourteen provincial college regions)

• Summit Entrance Scholarships introduced (Two semesters at $1500)

• Jack Diamond (BC and National) Entrance Scholarships reduced from eight to two

semesters

• Strand National Entrance Scholarships reduced from eight to two semesters

• - Hamilton College Transfer Scholarship reduced from six to four semesters

• Caple College Transfer Scholarships reduced from six to two semesters

President's Scholarship eliminated•

• Chancellor's Scholarships eliminated

Abe Unrau Entrance Scholarships eliminated

• Simon Fraser University Entrance Prizes eliminated

• All new awards include a one-time travel component for recipients outside the

lower mainland school districts.

• Effective with new awards in 94/95, the minimum GPA required for the second

disbursement is increased from 2.0 to 3.0

• Effective with new awards in 94/95, the minimum CGPA required for the third and

subsequent disbursements is increased from 3.5 to 3.6.

MOTION (April 1994): That the following guidelines for the deferral of entrance

scholarships be adopted:

An entrance award may, at the discretion of the Registrar, be deferred subject to the

following general conditions:

if the student attends another institution on a full-time basis during the period

covered by the deferral, the number of disbursements for which the student is eligible

will be reduced accordingly. The student will be subject to SFU requirements for

subsequent disbursements.

ii)

the first disbursement from the award is claimed within four semesters of the

semester for which the original award is made; and

iii)

the request for deferral is made, in writing, prior to the start of the semester for

which the original award is made.

iv)

appeals from the decision of the Registrar will be deferred to the Senate

Undergraduate Awards Adjudication Committee.

MOTION (April 1994): A student is not eligible to receive a disbursement from the Open

Scholarship Program if his/her tuition fees are:

i) paid from a benefit under the tuition waiver plan administered by the University;

ii)

assessed at zero by virtue of special registration status (such as Senior, Formal

Exchange Program).

MOTION (April 1994): That the $83,500 collected in a special purpose fund designed for

University Entrance Scholarships be set up as an endowment to support new entrance

scholarships.

• 13. FUTURE---]

While much was accomplished during the year, much remains to be done. Future items

for discussion include:

With increased budget flexibility, a different balance between entrance and open

• scholarships can be considered. For example, many feel that the continuing CGPA

for entrance scholarship winners should .be the same as the CGPA for the awarding

of an Open Scholarship. At the same time we must ask what portion of the budget

should be allocated for bursaries.

. Consideration of other types of awards (e.g. university awards similar to work-study,

awards for international students, awards for students in specialized programs (e.g.

SECWEPEMC program, international exchange programs))..

. Development of policy book for Scholarships, Awards and Bursaries.

Emphasis on building a large endowment to support general scholarships and

bursaries.

Continued revision of existing programs to ensure that they are fair, that all

students have appropriate access to them, and that they remain sufficiently flexible

• that we can best meet the needs of students at any time and take advantage of

opportunities as they arise. Regular and appropriate data collection will assist in

these decisions, as will verbal input received from secondary schools, provincial

colleges and SFU liaison officers.

The Chair, and all members of SPCSAB are always available to respond to questions and

suggestions.

DATA

The data following describes the allocation of all undergraduate awards, scholarships and

bursaries and graduate bursaries. . Detailed information on other graduate awards is given

in the Dean of Graduate Studies annual report to Senate and the accompanying Graduate

Studies Fact Book.

93/94 ENTRANCE SCHOLARSHIPS

Number of new awards - 162 (94 Females; 68 Males)

Value of new awards -• $275,000

• ?

•

Number of renewal awards - 590. (321 Females; 269 Males)

• ?

Value of renewal awards - $837,800*

*this figure includes renewal in Spring 94-1 of new 93-3 awards.

OTHER FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM SUMMARY

1991 TO APRIL 1994

INTRODUCTION

The following report is a year end update of a progress report submitted to the Board of

Governors in November of 1993. Most programs administered by Financial 'Assistance

(Student Academic Resources) are outlined and awards made from the programs are

summarized.

Many of the programs outlined in this report are awarded on the basis of financial need.

Financial need is determined by the difference in allowable reported expenses and income.

Allowable expenses include considerations for food, housing, tuition, books,

transportation and dependents. Income includes savings, investments, monetary gifts,

scholarships, earnings and government loans. Canada Student Loan rules and guidelines

are used as a basis for allowable expense levels and eligibility for programs administered by

the University.

Domestic students are expected to pursue government loan funding before applying for

any University administered need based programs. If a student has an unmet financial

need beyond awarded government funding they may be identified for the provincially

funded Work Study Program or considered for bursaries. The disbursement schedule for

government loan and grant programs gives the student 60 percent of funding in their first

semester, typically September, and 40 percent of funding in their second semester, January.

This means that a higher demand is placed on University funded programs in the Spring

semester of each year.

Some programs' reported do not require evidence of financial need. These programs

include Service Awards and Private Scholarships. These awards are given on the basis of

service to the university or others, academic merit, or other achievements. These awards

are adjudicated or approved by the Senate Undergraduate Awards Adjudication

Committee or its Chair.

Figures reported in the following tables represent the

academic

year May to April, not the

fiscal year.

I. BURSARIES

Bursaries are awarded on the basis of financial need. Students submit applications that

include a budget outlining their income and expenses. The difference between a student's

income and expenses determines the value considered for bursary awards. When

adjudicating Bursaries, consideration is given to the ability of the award to meet the

student's unmet need and the total dollars available to award. Awards are made 'to as

many students as possible.

. Private Bursaries are adjudicated first. These Bursaries are funded from outside sources

either by endowment or specific gift. Often Private Bursaries require more than financial

need for a student to be eligible (e.g., candidate must be a third year Business

Administration major). International students are eligible for many of these awards. Once

the Private Bursaries are adjudicated, the remaining applicants, and those with private

awards who have not had their need met, are considered for Open Bursaries.

In general, Open Bursary awards for domestic students without dependents are $300-$500

and for students with dependents are $500-$800. The Open Bursary awards for

international students without dependents are $300-$700 and for students with dependents

$500-$900.

Appendices I and 2 outline budgets, awards and number of applications received for S.F.U.

Open Bursaries for domestic and international students.

1. UNDERGRADUATE BURSARIES

SFU OPEN (domestic) *

SFU Open (international) **

*Awards include those funded through endowed accounts which are adjudicated as Open

Bursaries.

**The total number of undergraduate international students decreased from 815 in Fall

1992 to 675 in Fall 1993.

***May include accounts not previously reported.

SFU Open (international) **

*Awards include those funded through endowed accounts which are adjudicated as Open

Bursaries.,..,-

**The total number of graduate international students decreased from 377 in Fail 1992 to

345 in Fall 1993.

H. SERVICE AWARDS, MEDALS AND PRIVATE SCHOLARSHIPS

Private Scholarships for continuing undergraduate students are adjudicated by the Senate

Undergracuate Awards Adjudication Committee. Students must apply, hold a high grade

point avera

ge and meet other specific qualifications to be successful. Financial need is not

a consideration for scholarship adjudication.

Awards, Metals and Prizes for undergraduate students usually require a departmental

nomination. Awards in these categories usually require excellence in a particular field or

service to the University. They may or may not have a financial need requirement.

It']

Awards, Medals, Prizes

University Arts & Service

EMERGENCY LOANS: UNDERGRADUATE/GRADUATE

ffl.

Short term, interest-free loans

are available to students who require interim emergency

funding while awaiting funds from other sources.

Emergency Loan debt per student

was capped at $1000

beginning in August 1994.

Value: Normally $300 - $800 (typically $500)

GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS

1. ?

FEDERAL AND PROVINCIAL LOANS: Undergraduate /Graduate

Domestic students, graduate and undergraduate, may apply for funding assistance through

the federal and provincial loan programs. Students apply for both programs through the

provincial ministry responsible in the province where they hold permanent residency.

B.C. Student Loan/Grant

* Number of students reported for 1993/94 are only those who were approved for

funding. Previous years reported all applicants.

2. ?

WORK STUDY PROGRAM: Undergraduate/Graduate

The Work Study program is a B.C. government funded program which is intended to

supplement B.C. and Canada student loans with paid work experience for students in high

financial need. An additional SFU funded Work Study program allows for the

participation of international students. All students must meet a financial needs test,

must be registered in.. and maintain a minimum of 9 semester hours or more in

undergraduate studies, or be registered in a full time graduate program, and must be in

satisfactory academic standing.

SFU Funded Work Study:

Government Funded Work Study

*program was restricted to limited use for mternational students

3. PART TIME STUDENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

The Part Time Student Assistance 'Program; offered by the B.C. government, operated on

an experimental basis in 1991/92 and was in the first year of province wide operation last

year. Awards to students are adjudicated by the institution and are in the form of grants

rather than loans. The requirements for eligibility are the same as for government loan

funding except that students must be registered in less than 9 semester hours.

Total Funds Awarded as SFU Dollars * -

All Programs:

* Totals include funds awarded from non-specific Bursary and Scholarship endowments

'-Ii

'.0

ION

0'.

- ?

(I) 0

0 100

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