College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources

MINUTES

Scholarship and Awards Committee

January 16, 2013

Attendees:Scott Brown (DASS), John Dwyer (SNR), Dave Emerich (BioChm), Shari Freyermuth (BioChm),Rodney Geisert (An Sci), Patrick Market (SNR), Melissa Remley (Plt Sci), Dave Trinklein (Plt Sci), Bryon Wiegand (An Sci), and Sharon Wood Turley (DASS). Also in attendance were Bryan Garton and Jan Russell.

Absent:Andrew Clarke (FS&B), and Karen Funkenbusch (FS&B)

The meeting agenda, 2012-13 Annual Report and Scholarship Policies were distributed electronically prior to the meeting. Chair Wiegand opened the meeting with discussion relating to freshmen scholarship statistics and how awards are determined based on total points from the freshman scale. High school class rank was discussed and the fact that high school core course GPA is a better predictor of academic success. The committee was asked to think about how we can best assess for quality and success; and be prepared to discuss at the next meeting. Jan Russell will explore how a student’s high school class rank is estimated based on their high school core course GPA when a student’s high school does not rank the graduating class. Scott Brown suggested that we look at last year’s database and compare using the high school core course GPA as part of the total points versus high school class rank.

It was also noted that freshmen acceptance of scholarships were lower in 2012-13 and Dr. Trinklein notedone reason might be cost and students who qualify for the A+ program may choose to attend a community college for two years at a significantly reduced cost.

Dr. Garton asked the committee to consider the philosophy behind the scholarship award structure. There has been a misconception that over 50% of CAFNR’s scholarship funds have been awarded to entering freshmen (first time college students). The question was posed,“What percent (25%, 30%, etc.) of our available scholarship funds do we want to invest in our entering freshmen (a recruitment tool)? We now have a system where we can generate a scenario of award amounts based on total points to determine if the committee desired an adjustment in the scale used for determining awards. Two scenarios will be generated for discussion purposes: adding another level (30-32 total points) to capture a group of students who are currently not receiving scholarships using two amounts, $1000 and $1500.

The committee was updated on the revisions made to the MU Annual Scholarship Application for students in CAFNR. Specific questions have been added to assist faculty in making departmental awards. Additional questions can be added if a new endowment requires specific information needed to identify eligible students.

The Scholarship and Awards Committee Policies were reviewed and two policies were revised to provide clarification:

Students who enter as a Curator Scholar, then change to a Mizzou Scholar will continue to receive the $1,000 CAFNR Automatic Scholarship as long as they maintaineligibility.
Students who receive the Mizzou Heritage award will receive a one-time award of $1,000.

The new processesdeveloped to streamline the selection and submission of Departmental Recommended and Departmental Awarded scholarships were discussed.

Dr. Wiegand appointed sub-committees:

Douglas D. Randall Young Scientists Development Fund: David Trinklein, Rodney Geisert and David Emerich

Mid America Crop Life Association (MACA): Melissa Remley, John Dwyer, and Sharon Wood Turley

The last discussion item was transfer students and the fact that they almost never receive a scholarship. Chair Wiegand noted that one way to remedy this would be to communicate with institutions where a majority of transfer students come and remind them of our scholarship application deadline. Transfer students are to be treated as continuing students in regards to scholarships.

Dr. Freyermuth moved adjournment. Dr. Geisertseconded and the meeting was adjourned.

Respectfully submitted,

Jan E. Russell