Scholarship and Student Aid Committee
September 15, 2010
204 Ablah Library


Members Present: Doug English, Doug Parham, Jodi Pelkowski, Craig Torbenson, Sam Yeager, Mary Walker

Ex-officio Members Present: Kim Sandlin, Sheelu Surender


I. Approval of August 31, 2010 minutes
Approved as written

II. Elect a Chair for 2010-2011.
Mary Walker agreed to remain as Chair

III. Issues to Consider regarding Distinguished Scholarship Invitational
a. Update from Kim, overview & dates
The 2010 DSI is November 13. We will need to have the Interview questions and scenario completed by the end of October (29th). Kim explained how the DSI was structured. She also explained the process from application to awards.

b. Scenario for 2010
The committee considered using the scenario from the 2005 DSI but ultimately decided to use a new scenario for the 2010 DSI. There was discussion about what topics would be relevant to today's students such as ethics and plagiarism.
Names of people who might be interested in providing a scenario were solicited from the Committee members present. Mary will send out an email to those not present with the same request. Jodi and Sam submitted names of two people to contact and Doug English will check with the Chair of his department for possible scenario authors. The Committee also considered using a recent journal or newspaper article for the scenario. The issue of copyright would need to be considered if this option is used.

c. Questions for DSI
The Committee reviewed the leadership questions used and considered for 2008 and 2009. New questions were also suggested. Mary will condense the appealing questions into one list and send out via email to the Committee. This list will be refined at a later meeting.

d. Recruiting Faculty & Staff to be Observers
Committee members are encouraged to talk with colleagues in their departments about being an Observer at DSI. Sheelu reported that Ravi Pendse has offered to help in the recruiting process this year as well.

IV. Set date for next meeting
Mary will send out an email to the Committee in regards to the next meeting

V. As May Arise
Kim pointed out that the last time the DSI judging criteria were reviewed was in 2007 so the Committee may want to review these. Kim will send Mary the information and then Mary will distribute to the Committee via email.