Vice Provost for Enrollment Management Craig Cornell presented the first calculations from the Student Scholarship Task Force to next year’s faculty senate.
Cornell, chair of the Student Scholarship Task Force, said the task force has evaluated around 50 different scholarship methods in order to create the best price package for the high ranking and median-range students.
Cornell said the task force is using a “gap analysis” in order to assess what can be improved from the current scholarship system.
Currently, prospective students can look at a chart and have an idea of the minimum amount of financial aid they will receive for their test scores before admissions takes financial need into account.
For example, a student who receives an ACT Composite Score between 25 and 31 can receive an annual scholarship from $500 to $4000, and a score of 32 or above warrants full in-state tuition at OU.
Although Cornell said it is a valuable tool for students applying, the current Gateway Scholarship chart is inhibiting Ohio University’s ability to compete with other institutions in financial aid.
“One of the things that is pretty clear for us is that we need a more sophisticated strategic program that allows us to maintain enrollment,” Cornell said.
Bowling Green State University offered $500 more than OU for an ACT score of 23 or higher, according to Cornell.
“Think about how that plays out in the application matrix,” he said.
Although OU’s discount rate, or the ratio of financial aid to tuition cost, is high for public institutions, currently at 19.2 percent, Cornell said scholarships could be a better deal for students if they were individually tailored.
The task force is currently preparing a model that should be presented at the June Board of Trustees meeting. The scholarship program will be implemented in Fall 2014, Cornell said.
Cornell presented the task force’s plan in front of a changing Faculty Senate. Newly-elected senators joined the current Senate at this meeting. The newest senators only voted for resolutions that would impact them next year.
The Senate passed three resolutions, allowing non-substantial changes to the faculty handbook, reevaluating the faculty’s end-of-year survey to have a broader focus than the president’s and provost’s performances, and changing the professional name of Group II faculty members to various degrees of the word “lecturer.”
The new senators voted with returning senators to keep Elizabeth Sayrs as chair, David Thomas as vice chair and Beth Quitslund as secretary.
“I appreciate the help that (Senators) give us in running Senate,” Sayrs said.
Senate will be electing new leaders to all of their committees, such as the promotions and tenure committee and the finances and facilities committee at the next meeting in May.
dk123111@ohiou.edu
