Coursework Scholarships and Awards Committee
Guidelines for Establishment of Student Awards
TYPES OF STUDENT AWARDS
In general, prizes recognise a student’s achievement on completion of a subject or course, whereas scholarships and bursaries provide financial assistance to a student while the course is being undertaken. Scholarships and prizes are awarded on the basis of academic merit. These awards are governed by Chapter 6 Regulations, i.e. separate regulations, or Regulations R6.72 or R6.72A.
For the purposes of the approval process there are two categories of student awards – sponsored awards and trust awards
SPONSORED AWARDS
A sponsored award is created from a gift or donation from a person, company or organisation that is not established by a trust and therefore does not require a regulation. Faculties and departments may also sponsor awards to be offered in conjunction with the courses they teach.
(a) Process for establishing a new sponsored student award
Click here for the approval process flowchart for sponsored awards.
Proposals for the establishment of a new student award should include the following information:
- Faculty/school to which the award applies;
- title of the award;
- nature and value of the award (must be over $100 per annum);
- donor;
- period for which the award is committed;
- eligibility (this may involve students from more than one Faculty);
- selection criteria (including composition of selection panels, if any)*;
- special conditions (if any).
Please note the difference between eligibility and selection criteria:
Eligibility defines the cohort from which the student is selected to win the prize and might state in which course/subject/year the student must be enrolled in order to be awarded the prize.
Selection Criteria should state exactly what that student must do in order to win the prize – i.e. be placed first overall in the subject.
The nature of any restrictions imposed on the eligibility requirements for an award must be clearly set out in the award proposal. Any issue relating to the legality of an award proposal must be referred to Legal Services before the proposal is considered by CSAC. Regardless of any question of legality, CSAC has not approved subject or course awards in respect of which only Australian citizens and permanent residents are eligible. Awards containing other legal restrictions on eligibility have, however, been approved.
Most awards are made exclusively on the basis of academic merit. Where an award permits additional criteria to be considered, for example the financial circumstances of eligible students, the proposal must state clearly how such criteria are to be assessed.
The University has an obligation, which it cannot delegate, to ensure that awards have been made strictly in accordance with the criteria governing their award, which, in the case of trust awards, requires meticulous compliance with the terms of the trust instrument and the regulation giving effect to the instrument. Where it is proposed that a selection panel will make the award, the University membership of the panel must exceed fifty per cent. Alternatively, it is permissible for a panel consisting wholly or partly of non–members of the University to make a recommendation to an appropriate member of the University, such as a Dean, Head of Department, or Chair of a relevant University committee, who will be responsible for making the award.
(b) Process for making major changes to existing student awards
Any change to an existing sponsored student award that affects the eligibility or selection criteria of the award, or the establishment of a new award.
Major changes will continue to be considered and approved as follows: the Faculty completes the request for a change to a prize form and forwards it to the Secretary of CSAC, it is considered by CSAC Shepherds, approved at CSAC and reported to Academic Board to ensure that any changes to the eligibility and selection criteria are appropriate.
(c) Process for making minor changes to existing student awards
Minor changes to sponsored awards (see definition below) are reported to, rather than be considered by, CSAC. Any minor change to a sponsored award should be forwarded by the Faculty to the Secretary of CSAC for reporting to the following meeting of CSAC, in a listing on the agenda. These changes would then be included in the CSAC report to Academic Board.
Once CSAC has noted the change to a prize in the action sheet/minutes, the secretary of CSAC will notify Student Administration and the University Secretary’s Office so that the changes can be made on MERLIN and on the online List of Awards, Scholarships and Prizes. No further action is required by faculties.
Definition of a minor change to a student award
Any change to an existing sponsored student award that does not affect the eligibility or selection criteria of the award including:
- Change to subject code for which an award is made
- Change to subject name for which an award is made
- Change to award sponsor name (i.e. because of a merger or renaming of the sponsoring company)
- Change of subject for which the award is made
- Renewal of an existing award with no major changes
- Suspension or cancellation of an existing award
- Change to the amount of money being awarded
- Change to the duration of an award
Please note that faculties are still encouraged to seek advice about minor changes to existing awards from the Secretary of CSAC or the Faculty Shepherd if necessary
TRUST AWARDS
Click here for the approval process flowchart for trust awards.
A trust award is provided in perpetuity, the award paid from the income of a capital sum which the University holds as trustee.
(a) The process for establishing a new trust award
When a Faculty approaches Legal Services to draft a regulation, it must also submit a proposal to establish the award to CSAC for approval of the eligibility and selection criteria. Faculties should seek advice from Legal Services before submitting a proposal to CSAC, particularly for advice on discussing terms and conditions with the donor The information required in the proposal to CSAC should include:
- Faculty/school to which the award applies;
- title of the award;
- nature and value of the award;
- donor;
- eligibility (this may involve students from more than one Faculty);
- selection criteria (including composition of selection panels, if any);
- special conditions (if any).
After approval by CSAC, and the drafting of the regulation by Legal Services, the finalised regulation is submitted to Academic Board, Legislation Committee and Council.
(b) The process for making changes to a trust award
In many cases, the regulations for trust awards cannot be changed but faculties should contact Legal Services in the first instance.
Once it has been determined that the regulation can be changed, any changes to the eligibility or selection criteria of a trust awards need to be approved by CSAC in the normal way via a change to a student award form being completed and submitted to the Secretary of CSAC.