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Naming scholarships and establishing criteria

Naming your scholarship: The name of a scholarship is determined by the donor (or donors). Most name a scholarship after their family or for a loved one or honored one. Some have endowed scholarships in the names of favorite professors. To see the names of existing UW-Eau Claire Foundation scholarships, view the online scholarships listing.

Establishing criteria: The donor(s) may help develop scholarship criteria with the assistance of a UW-Eau Claire Foundation development officer. Some items to consider:

• amount of the scholarship award
• number of scholarships to be awarded each year
• whether the scholarship will be renewed in subsequent years
• class standing (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, graduate student) of the student who is to receive the award
• whether grade-point average will be considered, and if so what average will be required
• other academic requirements
• whether the scholarship will be for students in all academic fields or in a particular area of study
• whether student financial need should be a priority
• whether student academic merit should be a priority
• other possible factors: scholarship, financial need, citizenship, leadership, extracurricular participation, a student's potential for success in his or her chosen field.

IRS regulations prevent donors from designating family members as scholarship recipients or from selecting the recipients. Donors may be notified of the scholarship finalists and will be notified of the recipients. Preferences rather than requirements are most often expressed by donors with respect to traits of potential scholarship recipients. Preferences may involve academic major, financial need, international study, academic promise or year in school (first-year student versus upper-class status).

Certain preferences and/or requirements are not recommended and could be inappropriate. UW-Eau Claire Foundation staff can be helpful to the donor or donor's financial advisers as preferences are being considered.

For assistance in naming your scholarship and establishing your scholarship criteria, contact the UW-Eau Claire Foundation.