Many of York’s students access some form of government student aid, and as of October 2022, there are more than 1,900 active awards, scholarships, prizes and bursaries currently being offered. But whether you’re a student, or a member of faculty or staff, you may find the processes for accessing and reviewing these options tend to be rather complex.
The Student Systems Renewal Program (SSRP) is transforming business and technology systems across York, and one of its first releases, launching in Summer 2023, will be a new solution for financial aid, awards, scholarships and graduate funding. Through a series of blog posts, we will be sure to update you on development, testing phases and rollout, as well as inform you on ways to get involved. For now, let’s first introduce what the new solution will offer.
As part of the Next Generation Student Information System (NextGen SIS) project, the new solution will create a seamless experience for students, faculty and staff – everything from applying for awards, tracking application statuses, to reviewing eligibility criteria and more!
Personalized choices will be offered to each student, narrowing down options to show what they’re eligible to apply for and providing a tailored online experience. By integrating the different options in one place, the related processes for all York community users will also become more straightforward and easier to access.
A few key benefits of the new tool for financial aid, awards, scholarships and graduate funding will include:
- One comprehensive tool to search and apply for financial aid, awards, and scholarships
- Ability to track status of applications
- Ability to see eligible award options based on each student profile
- Less manual work for staff and faculty, with automated calculations and the use of workflows
- Integration with existing York systems to consolidate information from different sources into one system
- Ability to view and manage funding packages for graduate students
As you consider the new functionality and how it will improve processes for all the different options, you may not think there are many distinctions between financial aid, awards, scholarships and graduate funding, but there is a variety of unique classifications for each. Here’s how they differ:
- Financial aid: financial assistance offered to students with financial need, including bursaries and government grants
- Award: written recognition, appearing on a student’s transcript, to acknowledge exceptional work based on specific academic and non-academic criteria
- Scholarship: monetary recognition for students based on outstanding talent/promise or academic excellence. For more information on terms, definitions and qualifying criteria, click here
- Graduate funding: funding offered to graduate students in research-based programs to support their graduate career. A student’s funding package may consist of one or more of the following internal and external funding sources: fellowships, scholarships and awards, Teaching Assistantships (TA), or Research Assistantships (RA). Click here for more information on graduate funding.
There are many different opportunities available for students, both monetary and non-monetary. The reality is every student can apply to some form of award, scholarship, aid, or funding during their studies. With this tool, they will be able to optimize their potential and York’s staff will be able to better support their success.
We are close to delivering this new solution to the York community, and we can’t wait to tell you more as we progress with the NextGen SIS project. Stay tuned for more updates, a sneak peek at the new solution and initial opportunities to get involved! If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us at ssrp@yorku.ca.
