This
rule was filed as 5 NMAC 7.15.
TITLE 5 POST-SECONDARY
EDUCATION
CHAPTER 7 TUITION
AND FINANCIAL AID
PART 15 GRADUATE
SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
5.7.15.1 ISSUING
AGENCY: State of New Mexico Commission on Higher
Education, 1068 Cerrillos Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 87501-4295, (505)
827-7383.
[7/15/98;
Recompiled 10/31/01]
5.7.15.2 SCOPE: Provisions for 5 NMAC 7.15 [now 5.7.15 NMAC]
apply to New Mexico residents who are graduate students enrolled at New Mexico
four-year public post-secondary institutions.
[7/15/98;
Recompiled 10/31/01]
5.7.15.3 STATUTORY
AUTHORITY: Section 21-21G, NMSA 1978.
[7/15/98;
Recompiled 10/31/01]
5.7.15.4 DURATION: Permanent.
[7/15/98;
Recompiled 10/31/01]
5.7.15.5 EFFECTIVE
DATE: July 15, 1998 [unless a later date is cited
at the end of a section].
[7/15/98;
Recompiled 10/31/01]
5.7.15.6 OBJECTIVE: The objective and purpose of 5 NMAC 7.15
[now 5.7.15 NMAC] is to increase graduate enrollment in the state's public
universities of students from groups underrepresented in graduate education. By
encouraging groups underrepresented in graduate education to pursue advanced
degrees in accredited graduate programs, particularly in academic fields of
high regional and national priority and fields where their under-representation
is most severe, the state will benefit by increasing the number of
professionals for industry, business, research and development, economic
development and public service.
[7/15/98;
Recompiled 10/31/01]
5.7.15.7 DEFINITIONS:
A. "Academic year" means any consecutive period of
two semesters, three quarters or other comparable units commencing with the
fall term each year.
B. "Award recipient" means a student awarded a
graduate scholarship.
C. "Commission" means the New Mexico commission on
higher education.
D. "Eligible institution" means any
graduate-degree-granting New Mexico public university accredited by the north
central association of colleges and schools.
E. "Financial need" means the difference between
a student's projected costs for the year, including books, materials, supplies,
room and board and other reasonable costs, and the student's resources,
including available income and other available assets as determined by an
approved standardized needs analysis system.
F. "Graduate and professional field" means any
program of study intended to result in a master's or doctoral degree, excluding
the degree in medicine.
G. "Groups underrepresented in graduate education"
means women, minorities, the visually handicapped, the physically disabled and
other groups that have traditionally been underrepresented in the specific area
of graduate study or profession for which the scholarship is awarded.
H. "Scholarship" means an award made by an
institution of higher education to a person for graduate study under the
Graduate Scholarship Act.
[7/15/98;
Recompiled 10/31/01]
5.7.15.8 STUDENT
ELIGIBILITY:
A. Conditions for First-Year Eligibility: Priority will be given to New Mexico
students from those groups with the most severe under-representation and
students with the greatest financial need. A scholarship may be awarded to an
individual who:
(1) is a citizen of the United States or a
permanent resident alien and is a member of a group underrepresented in his/her
intended graduate or professional field of study;
(2) has met the admission requirements and is
accepted for enrollment as a full-time student in a graduate or professional
field of study with high priority or underrepresentation, as determined by the
institution;
(3) has complied with all the rules and
regulations adopted by the commission for award of the scholarship and the
provisions regarding the administration of state graduate scholarships adopted
pursuant to the Graduate Scholarship Act;
(4) agrees to serve in an unpaid internship
or assistantship at the eligible institution, a government agency or private
industry approved by his major department for ten hours per week during the
academic year; and
(5) is eligible according to a standard needs
analysis or when a financial aid officer exercises professional judgment in
accordance with the institution's and applicable federal financial aid
standards to determine that circumstances, for which documentation exists in
the student's file, warrant adjusting the cost of attendance, expected family
contribution or other factors to make the program responsive to a student's
special financial circumstances, within the parameters authorized for this
program.
B. Conditions for Continuing Eligibility: A scholarship may be re-awarded to a student
who:
(1) has been an award recipient of a New
Mexico graduate scholarship the previous year;
(2) remains in good academic standing as determined by the
institution;
(3) is enrolled as a full-time graduate
student as determined by the institution;
(4) is pursuing the second year of a master's
degree or the second, third or fourth year post-baccalaureate of a doctoral
degree;
(5) agrees to serve in an unpaid internship
or assistantship at the eligible institution, a government agency or private
industry approved by his major department for ten hours per week during the
academic year; and
(6) is eligible according to a standard needs
analysis or when a financial aid officer exercises professional judgment in
accordance with the institution's and applicable federal financial aid
standards to determine that circumstances, for which documentation exists in
the student's file, warrant adjusting the cost of attendance, expected family
contribution or other factors to make the program responsive to a student's
special financial circumstances, within the parameters authorized for this
program.
[7/15/98;
Recompiled 10/31/01]
5.7.15.9 INSTITUTIONAL
RESPONSIBILITIES:
A. The eligible institution must agree to give preference to
students enrolled in academic programs where their underrepresentation is most
severe and must agree to give full consideration to students with physical,
visual or hearing disabilities.
B. The eligible institution must agree to give preference
to:
(1) students who have previously been
awarded a graduate scholarship under this program, within the limits of
eligibility established in Section 8 [now 5.7.15.8 NMAC], then
(2) students who have been newly recruited to
the institution, thereby adding to its enrollment of graduate and professional
students from underrepresented groups.
C. The institution must agree not to reduce its level of
financial aid from other sources for award recipients.
D. The eligible institution must agree to appoint an individual
with appropriate educational background, experience and institutional authority
and responsibility, to administer this program.
E. The eligible institution must agree to establish
appropriate scholarship selection procedures and maintain appropriate data and
records. Each major department involved in the program must agree to provide
appropriate orientation, practical experiences and assistance designed to
prepare scholarship recipients for academic and/or professional careers.
F. In addition to the unpaid internship or assistantship
required in Section 8 [now 5.7.15.8 NMAC], the institution must award to the
recipient a paid internship or assistantship in her or his major department for
ten hours per week during the academic year and summer sessions.
G. The institution must provide adequate financial support
for recipients maintaining satisfactory progress and requiring more than two
years to complete their master's degrees and for recipients requiring more than
four years post-baccalaureate to complete their doctorates.
H. By September 1 of each year, the institution must submit
to the commission an annual report summarizing for the prior academic year the
number of scholarship recipients, by group and field; the expenditures and
beginning and year-end balances for the program; and such other information as
may be requested by the commission.
I. Periodically, at the request of the commission,
representatives of eligible institutions will meet to discuss and coordinate
the definition of academic fields of high regional and national priority and
other matters pertaining to the program.
[7/15/98;
Recompiled 10/31/01]
5.7.15.10 APPLICATION
PROCEDURES: A student applies directly to an institution
of higher education that has received an allocation of scholarships.
[7/15/98;
Recompiled 10/31/01]
5.7.15.11 AMOUNT
OF SCHOLARSHIPS:
A. Scholarship awards shall be for seven thousand two
hundred dollars ($7,200) per academic year.
B. Scholarship awards shall be disbursed in equal
installments over the period of an academic year or period of enrollment.
C. An award recipient who is enrolled in the program for
less than an academic year shall receive a pro rata share of the stipend.
[7/15/98;
Recompiled 10/31/01]
5.7.15.12 TENURE
OF SCHOLARSHIP:
A. Each scholarship is awarded for a period of one academic
year.
B. A recipient who remains in good academic standing in
his/her course of study, as determined by the institution, may receive the
scholarship for a total of two years for master's degree program students, or
for a total of four years post-baccalaureate for doctoral degree students,
subject to the availability of funds.
[7/15/98;
Recompiled 10/31/01]
5.7.15.13 DISTRIBUTION
OF SCHOLARSHIPS:
A. Each eligible institution will receive its annual share
of new scholarship dollars based upon the average of its:
(1) total graduate and professional
enrollment of women;
(2) total graduate and professional
enrollment of underrepresented minorities (Hispanics, Native Americans and
Blacks); and
(3) total graduate and professional
enrollment.
B. No university shall receive fewer than three scholarships
per year. If any university is to be allocated fewer than three scholarships, a
pro rata share of scholarships shall be taken from the two universities with
the highest number of scholarships and allocated to those universities which
would otherwise receive fewer than three scholarships.
[7/15/98;
Recompiled 10/31/01]
5.7.15.14 VACATED
SCHOLARSHIPS: If a recipient vacates a scholarship prior
to the end of an award period, that scholarship may be offered to another
eligible student, with first priority given to a student who is not currently
enrolled for graduate study at the university.
[7/15/98;
Recompiled 10/31/01]
5.7.15.15 TERMINATION
OF SCHOLARSHIPS: Scholarship is terminated upon the
occurrence of:
A. withdrawal from the institution by the award recipient,
failure to re-enroll for consecutive academic years or failure to be a
full-time graduate student; or
B. substantial noncompliance by the award recipient with the
Graduate Scholarship Act or the rules, regulations or procedures promulgated by
the commission.
[7/15/98;
Recompiled 10/31/01]
5.7.15.16 DELEGATION
OF ADMINISTRATION: The commission may designate an
administrative agent for this program. The administrative agent shall be
responsible for disbursement of funds to participating institutions through the
individual appointed by the institution as administrator for the scholarship program.
[7/15/98;
Recompiled 10/31/01]
History OF 5.7.15 NMAC:
Pre-NMAC
History: The material in this Part was
derived from that previously filed with the State Records Center and Archives
under:
CHE
Rule 890, Graduate Fellowship Program - Administrative Regulations, 3/8/90.
CHE
Rule 890, Graduate Fellowship Program - Administrative Regulations, 8/15/91.
CHE
Rule 890, Graduate Fellowship Program - Administrative Regulations, 7/1/93.
History
of Repealed Material: [RESERVED]