Gearing up for the new solution for Financial Aid, Awards and Scholarships

Why is this change happening?

York is committed to enhancing the student, staff and faculty experience. The University wanted to make it easier for students to apply for and be considered for financial aid, awards and scholarships during their academic journey. The new solution will make it easier to see what financial aid, awards and scholarships opportunities are available to students, and it will simplify the processes for submitting and tracking applications, all in one place. York also wanted to make it easier for faculty and staff to administer awards by providing automated workflows that will significantly reduce manual administrative efforts. 

Will Graduate funding packages be included in this new solution?  

Yes, students will now have a comprehensive view of their graduate funding package with a granular breakdown of what comprises the whole package. This includes funding that has already been dispersed, a breakdown of the committed amount of funding, details about awards and scholarships, and payments from other sources that contribute to the overall graduate funding package. 

How are research-based funding opportunities captured in the student’s profile information? 

This implementation will not include Research Awards, as it is focused on awards that are part of the current Award Repository. Although the solution has the capability for this and could be considered in the long-term for this functionality. The scope of this launch is focused on Student Awards (including tri-council awards) and graduate funding.  

Does the solution provide visibility to access important federal and provincial scholarships for graduate students (e.g. NSERC, OGS, SSHRC, etc.)? 

Yes, the solution provides visibility to this, specifically to the tri-Council awards for graduate students. Faculty and staff will be able to adjudicate and process applications for particular funding opportunities within the system. 

What plans are in place to help students use the new solution? 

York is actively preparing information resources for students that will give instructions on how to use the new solution. These resources will be embedded on York websites and in other places familiar to students so they will have this information readily available. Faculties and Divisions will have resources to ensure instructions and resources are shared with students appropriately.  

Can the new solution be used for funding opportunities geared towards students in specific Faculties? 

Yes. The solution is intended to be used by everybody in the institution. This includes awards that are distributed both centrally and awards that are distributed within faculties and departments. The role access functionality will allow staff to set up awards within the system. In today’s state, students have to apply to many different locations to try and leverage opportunities, which is challenging. The new solution will address this by sharing the awards available to students. There will also be greater visibility into how students are applying and what they are eligible for within the system. 

Is the new solution going to be available to all students, including undergrads and grads? 

Yes, this new solution is available for all students, including both undergraduate and graduate students.  

Given the current economic climate, applicants may only be able to apply part-time studies. Will York review their definition of financial need to include opportunities for part-time students and students with disabilities? 

Full-time funding is based on provincial definitions and frameworks. The University will continue to stay aligned with provincial guidelines, and this new solution will allow York to find gaps that might exist in current the funding structure for students. The new solution will encourage York to be proactive and think about how policies and processes can be changed to address the funding structure.  

Currently, staff members have to contact the Office of the University Registrar or a Faculty to obtain various award information. Will the new system allow staff members to access award information such as an award balance and endowments? 

There will be information to view in the system: Staff who require award balances as part of their role will now be able to view award balances from the new solution. Access to these views depends on the type of role staff are assigned and based on work functions. This solution is not a replacement for applications like eReports, so any current work being done in that application will continue. Access to information is meant to help facilitate reporting and adjudication of awards, however this will be limited to what is required based on the individual role. 

Some awards are adjudicated in the spring and summer. Will these timelines be affected by this new solution? 

No, those timelines will not be impacted by the new solution because this new solution will be released to the York community in July 2024. This launch for July 2024 means that all awards that are already in progress at that time will follow the existing process to complete (in the existing York systems0. This means that the solution will be available to use at the next adjudication cycle.  

Are there any edge cases and awards and scholarship processes that are not accommodated by this new system that faculty should look to address? 

The functionality has been developed to be flexible to accommodate a breadth of functionality. Over 150 application forms from Faculties and departments were collected, analyzed, and incorporated into the new solution. However, it is possible that not all edge cases have been discovered. The new system adds the flexibility needed to address these types of issues. For some specific awards there are specific questions to ask students – a question bank has been implemented to address questions regarding one or more award applications. The system will accommodate all the various adjudication processes that are currently used within the institution. 

Will award administrators need to log into the system to gain access to these reference letters, or will the applicants include that information with their applications? 

When students fill out their application, they will indicate their reference(s), which will generate an email invitation to that reference to go online to submit their information. The staff member specifies the response options, such free text questions, document, and media upload. Students will be able to add multiple documents or media in this new solution. After submission deadlines, Award administrators will access the system to see all of the application materials and references in one place, which enables them to forward to the award adjudicators. 

How will the reporting functionality work in the new solution? 

The reporting functionality is very nimble. There is a lot of functionality to generate reports and gain insights. We are working closely with colleagues in Office of Institutional Planning and Analysis (OIPA) to ensure they have the access they need to utilize this functionality. Some of the broader reporting will include standard reports. The solution will allow system administrators to create different types of reports as required for various needs. 

Does the system populate awards specific to the Faculty? How are awards determined for our students of Black and Indigenous background? 

Yes, any awards that are currently part of the Awards Management Module (AWM) in SIS will be available in the new solution and will allow anyone within the faculty or department to administer them. Regarding how awards are determined for Black and Indigenous students, the student profile contains optional questions for students to self-identify their demographic background. These responses will be incorporated into the award criteria.   

Will Advancement be trained in this solution in order to access award recipients directly for donor updates? 

Yes, roles in the solution will be assigned certain access credentials, and Advancement will have access to view the training materials and will have access to reports, but there will not be any live, in-person training for these roles.  

Some awards require an application to York before admission to the program. Will applicants be able to apply for these types of awards or will having an active student profile be a requirement? 

Applicants who have applied to York will be adjudicated for entrance awards through the solution. The solution will also flag awards that require student to apply with further information. For example, in some entrance awards require reference letters or nominations, or other processes, and the solution has been configured to handle all of these requirements.