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Scholarship Lead Resource Guide

Overview for alumni chapter scholarship leads

Each chapter will establish a scholarship review group to evaluate scholarship applications. Please review the following key information for an effective scholarship selection process.

Action Items

  • Complete review group form by Jan. 15:
    • Participant details: List each member’s first name, last name, and email and check email for accuracy.
  • Review preferences:
    • Indicate the number of reviews per application.
      • Options include: once per application, twice per application, three times, and by all evaluators.
    • Each chapter’s geographic region is the minimum criterion.
  • Complete scholarship award recipient form by March 1:
    • Award recipients and back-up selections:
      • Submit the student application number(s) of the top candidate(s), in order of preference.
      • Include back-up candidates, in order of preference. Note: Back-up candidates will be utilized should the top candidates become unavailable.
    • Award amounts: Include the award amounts for each student.

Key Dates

  • Scholarship application deadline: Feb. 1
  • Review period: Feb. 2-28
  • Scholarship award decisions deadline: March 1

Note: Updated funding information will be provided after Giving Day to ensure awards comply with Policy 3400.

Recruiting Scholarship Evaluators for Review Group

Reviewing scholarship applications is a 10+ hour commitment, depending on region and applicant pool. Chapter leaders may need to recruit volunteers to assist in reviewing scholarship applications.

Best Practices

  • Create and share volunteer recruitment survey/form through Google/Microsoft.
  • Share to regional alumni through social networks, LinkedIn, and/or chapter regional email.
    • Request submission of first/last name, email address, Virginia Tech class year, current location, why they are interested in volunteering.
    • Consider asking volunteer to disclose any conflicts of interest (i.e., do they know of any students applying to Virginia Tech and/or a local chapter scholarship).
    • Chapter should disclose:
      • Time commitment required
      • Virginia Tech data compliance requirement

Review Group Review Process

Accessing Scholarship Central

  • Once the review group information is received, review groups will be setup in Scholarship Central.
  • An alumni chapter liaison will email information on how to log-in to Scholarship Central once the Scholarship Review Group is complete.

Accessing applications

  • Starting Feb. 2, review group members will be able to login to Scholarship Central to access applications for review.

Scholarship chair responsibilities

  • To help Scholarship Review Group members/evaluators understand the Virginia Tech processes and policies, we recommend sharing the Scholarship Review Group Members Resource Guide with your review team.
  • Please also communicate any chapter-specific processes, timelines, and expectations (such as meeting times, ranking rubrics, or other key details) through email, in-person, or virtual meetings.
  • If any issues arise with Virginia Tech policies, procedures, or access to Scholarship Central, Alumni Chapter liaisons are available for support.

Information Collected in Scholarship Application

The application gathers details on:

  • First-generation college student status
  • GPA, including scale
  • Current educational institution
  • Extracurricular and leadership activities
  • Employment experience
  • Awards and honors
  • Three 250-word essays on:
    • Reasons for attending Virginia Tech
    • Understanding of Ut Prosim (That I May Serve)
    • Personal experiences with diversity

Applicant Pool Considerations

Attendance status

  • Students may not confirm their attendance as first-year or transfer students until May 1, so we cannot limit recipient pools to only confirmed incoming students before that date.
  • We will offer best practices for chapters prioritizing incoming students as they confirm their acceptance. (This does not apply to awards for current students.)

Applicant pool criteria

  • Each chapter’s applicant pool includes students attending high schools within its designated geographic boundary. Note:
    • Students from outside boundary private schools or homeschool students may be unintentionally excluded.
    • Please contact your liaison prior to review period closing if you know of applicants that you wish to include in the applicant pool. A liaison can start a process to have those known students added.
    • Boundaries may be less precise for chapters outside Virginia or those covering multiple states.

Prohibited criteria

  • Preferences that are discriminatory or inconsistent with Virginia Tech policies will not be applied. These include, but are not limited to:
    • Race, ethnicity, affinity, or identity
    • Citizenship status
    • Test scores

Scholarship Award Process

Policy 3400

  • Virginia Tech privately held scholarships must comply with Policy 3400, which aims for a minimum 95 percent utilization of funds held in Virginia Tech Foundation accounts.
  • Updated scholarship fund amounts will be shared after Giving Day and before the March 1 award submission deadline.
  • Alumni chapters may choose to supplement awards with local funds if desired.
  • The scholarship chair or lead should work with chapter leaders and review group members to finalize award amounts.

Award deadline

  • Scholarship chairs or leads submit the final list of recipients and award amounts via the provided form by March 1.

Back-up candidates

  • We recommend selecting back-up candidates, particularly for incoming students who have until May 1 to accept admission.
  • If a primary candidate declines, a back-up will be awarded, or we will coordinate with your review group to select a new candidate.

Additional eligible criteria options

The chapter can also inform liaison team of additional chapter-specific priorities in award process, such as:

  • First-generation college student
  • Financial need (for use as a ranking factor)
  • Current Virginia Tech student
  • Incoming first-year student
  • Undergraduate student

Student Notification and Engagement

  • By mid-April, incoming recipients will receive financial aid packages, including their alumni chapter scholarship.
  • Alumni chapter liaisons will notify recipients on the chapter’s behalf, inviting them to Student Send-Off and other chapter activities.
  • Alumni chapter liaisons will also notify non-recipients and encourage them to stay involved with the alumni chapter.

FERPA compliance

  • With student permission, alumni chapter liaisons will share contact details of awarded students for chapter-approved outreach.
  • Volunteers handling this information must complete a data security compliance form and use the data solely for approved purposes.

Additional communication

  • Scholarship chairs or leads are encouraged to send congratulatory messages to awardees.
  • Alumni chapter liaisons can assist in sending these on the chapter’s behalf.
  • We also invite scholarship chairs or leads to attend the scholarship lunch in the fall to celebrate awardees’ achievements.

Thank you!

Thank you for your dedication to an inclusive, fair scholarship selection process. We are grateful for your time and dedication in selecting this year’s scholarship recipients and leading review group volunteers. Please reach out with any questions or support needs as we move forward.