• Section 1 - Governing Policy
• Section 2 - Sourcing and Prioritising Donor Funds for Scholarships
• Section 3 - Negotiating Scholarships
• Section 4 - Approval for the Conditions and Amendment of Scholarships and Awards
• Section 5 - Maintenance of the Scholarships Browser
• Section 6 - Determining Recipients Against Published Criteria
• Section 7 - Administration and Payment
• Section 8 - Reporting and Compliance
• Section 9 - Promotion of Scholarships to Current and Prospective Students
• Section 10 - Presentation Events
• Section 11 - Associated Information

Section 1 - Governing Policy

(1) This Procedure is governed by the Scholarships and Awards Policy.

Section 2 - Sourcing and Prioritising Donor Funds for Scholarships

(2) Advancement will source philanthropic donor funds for:

1. new scholarships; and
2. an existing or new fund for pooled donations such as the Creating Opportunity Fund in accordance with the Principles in Section 3 of the Scholarships and Awards Policy.

(3) Advancement will be informed as to priority areas of need through:

1. the goals of the ACU Strategic Plan;
2. recommendations arising from the periodic review of scholarship offerings in accordance with clause (4); and
3. recommendations from the Faculties, First Peoples, Pathways, Marketing and External Relations and the Scholarships Office.

(4) A periodic review of scholarship offerings will be coordinated by the Scholarship and Fees Steering Committee, and will include an analysis of:

1. their alignment with the goals of the scholarships framework as determined by the Scholarships and Fees Steering Committee and the strategic directions as set out in Vision 2033;
2. the impact of scholarships on the recruitment, retention and success of students;
3. the identification of priority areas of need for future scholarship offerings with appropriate stakeholders;
4. the appropriateness of categories on the scholarship browser; and
5. the potential pool of applicants for proposed new scholarships or scholarship categories.

(5) External donor offers of funding for scholarships and awards with a value of more than $2,500 must be referred to Advancement for consideration and response.

Section 3 - Negotiating Scholarships

(6) The minimum donation negotiated for a scholarship named after the donor will normally be $12,000 over three years with a scholarship benchmark of $4,000 per annum.

(7) The Scholarships Office will provide a scholarship rules guide and template. In addition to the conditions set out in the Policy, criteria to be specified are:

1. Name of scholarship
2. Background and intended purpose
3. Value and schedule of payment, including maximum duration
4. Eligibility criteria
5. Application process including documentation required
6. Selection criteria
7. Selection process, including composition of the selection committee where relevant
8. Endowment payment details
9. Ongoing eligibility requirements, including other specific provisions in relation to the award.

(8) Advancement will discuss any new scholarships, or proposed amendments to existing scholarships, with the Scholarship Office and then liaise with donors regarding the scholarship rules using the prescribed template.

(9) The participation by donors in the selection of recipients will:

1. only be agreed to by exception in accordance with clause (25) of the Scholarships and Awards Policy;
2. be limited to selection from applicants assessed as eligible by the Scholarships Office, in accordance with published selection crieteria;
3. be limited to staff from the donor organisation appropriately qualified to select recipients for a placement, workplace program, employment or representative duties; and
4. be limited to membership of a selection panel which includes staff from the appropriate Faculty and/or Scholarships Office.

(10) Prior to the finalisation of the donation negotiations and the drawing up of the agreement, Advancement will consult the Scholarships Office on details of each scholarship for the purpose of confirming the scholarship rules and must work within the published timeframes for the commencing and mid-year scholarship intakes.

(11) Following finalisation of the donation negotiations, Advancement will obtain funds from donors, according to the agreement made with the donor, and ensure they are deposited into a discrete ACU account.

Section 4 - Approval for the Conditions and Amendment of Scholarships and Awards

(12) The Scholarships Office will draft the scholarship rules for each ACU scholarship for submission to the Academic Registrar or nominee for approval

(13) Advancement must consult the Scholarships Office on any changes to the scholarship rules prior to agreement with the donor, to ensure alignment with the Scholarships and Awards Policy and this procedure, so that appropriate action may be taken in relation to the administration of the scholarship to ensure any potential impact to current scholarship awardees, assessment of ongoing  eligibility or progression requirements are considered and the changes do not disadvantage current students or any pending or in-train applications pending assessment

(14) The Scholarships Office will consult Advancement on any significant changes to opening and closing scholarship rounds to provide Advacement ample time to complete necessary negotiations with donors.

(15) Faculties and Directorates are responsible for ensuring that the conditions for all Faculty or Campus awards are established and approved according to the Scholarships and Awards Policy and these Procedures.

Section 5 - Maintenance of the Scholarships Browser

(16) The ACU scholarships browser will be maintained by the Scholarships Office which will include the details of:

1. ACU scholarships; and
2. external scholarships that may be relevant to ACU students as approved by the Academic Registrar or nominee.

(17) Advancement, Faculties, and members of the Executive will provide the Scholarships Office with any information received about externally funded scholarships which may be relevant to ACU students for promotion through the ACU scholarships browser within the requested timeframes.

Section 6 - Determining Recipients Against Published Criteria

(18) The Scholarships Office will:

1. liaise with University Admissions Centre (UAC) in relation to the lodgment, assessment and offer of Commonwealth Scholarship and Institution Equity Scholarship applications; and
2. manage the processes by which applications for scholarships, other than Commonwealth and Institution Equity Scholarships (IES), may be lodged and assessed against agreed selection criteria.

(19) The Scholarships Office will manage the assessment and selection processes in accordance with the approved selection criteria and will seek advice where:

1. the selection requires that assessment is made by a selection committee, in which case the Scholarships Office will refer the constitution of a selection committee to Advancement or the relevant Faculty; and/or
2. the eligibility criteria are specific to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, in which case the Scholarships Office will consult with First Peoples and Pathways prior to selection; and/or
3. the assessment relates to International Student Scholarships in which case the Scholarships Office will refer selection to Global to select recipients in accordance with the approved selection criteria.

(20) The ongoing eligibility assessment for continued receipt of ACU scholarships and Commonwealth Scholarships will be managed by the Scholarships Office.

(21) For all Awards that are not managed by the Scholarships Office, Faculties and Directorates are responsible for the selection and offer processes and any ongoing eligibility requirements, including required communication of the outcomes of these assessments and any additional reporting requests not captured in the schoarship reports of dashboards.

Section 7 - Administration and Payment

(22) The Scholarships Office will

1. verify eligibility for scholarship payments;
2. on request, provide recipient details of donor funded scholarships including course, duration of course and contact details to Advancement for the purposes of scholarship donor events and the tracking of scholarship payments and funds; and
3. manage payments of ACU and Commonwealth scholarships.

(23) Advancement will manage:

1. scholarship donor funds; and
2. payments for awards in response to the submission of request forms from Faculties and Directorates; and
3. all aspects of additional donor scholarship conditions or opportunities including paid work or internships for students.

Section 8 - Reporting and Compliance

(24) The Scholarships Office is responsible for the development, maintenance and operation of reporting systems for ACU scholarships. The Scholarships Office will:

1. ensure that Australian Government conditions, reporting requirements and timelines are met;
2. provide data to relevant stakeholders on ACU recipients for selection, payment and assessment purposes and for strategic purposes; and
3. provide data on recipients and the value of scholarships awarded to scholarship owners to report to funding bodies.

(25) Faculties, and Directorates are responsible for providing recipient details for awards with a value of $1,000 or greater to the Scholarships Office to record on the Student Management System within the stipulated timelines.

(26) Advancement will provide annual reporting on scholarship uptake, awarding and impact to donors of scholarships and awards of more than $2,500 within the stipulated timelines.

(27) An Annual Report will be compiled by the Provost, or nominee which is inclusive of:

1. numbers of applications received against scholarship offerings provided by the Scholarships Office;
2. a report on the impact of the scholarships on the recruitment, retention and success of students provided by the Scholarships Office;
3. a list of the recipients (excluding personally identifiable information) of all ACU scholarships and awards with a value of $1,000 or more provided by the Scholarships Office.

Section 9 - Promotion of Scholarships to Current and Prospective Students

(28) Managing the promotion and publicity of scholarships to current and prospective students is the responsibility of:

1. Marketing and External Relations; and
2. Global in the case of international students.

(29) Bi-annual campaign planning will be led by Marketing and External Relations in collaboration with the Provost, Advancement and the Scholarships Office which will consider:

1. the nature and volume of promotional material required;
2. target markets to whom scholarships need to be promoted; and
3. consideration of appropriate timing.

Section 10 - Presentation Events

(30) Advancement will manage events for donors and presentation to recipients of donor funded scholarships by:

1. setting the requirements, event date, and due date for provision of recipient information in consultation with the Scholarships Office; and
2. managing the event.

(31) Faculties and Directorates are responsible for events for recipients of their respective awards of less than $2,500.

Section 11 - Associated Information