Scholarship reviewer anti-bias statement
Good afternoon,
Do any of you have an anti- bias statement that require scholarship reviewers to agree to? If so, would you be willing to share the language?
We currently have a statement regarding conflict of interest that reviewers sign and agree too, but I need to expand out policies.
Thank you!
Robin Cowles
Comments
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@robincowles We don't have this feature, but I'm intrigued. Can you describe what you think an anti-bias statement might say? Alternatively, have you considered blind evaluation? I'm seriously thinking about implementing it for next year's UA process.
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Hi Tom,
Sorry it has taken me so long to respond. I suspect that some scholarship committees are selecting their favorite students. I am looking for a statement that states all applicants should be considered and selection should be based on a diverse pool of applicants.
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Ah, I see more clearly what you're getting at. Unfortunately, we don't have a tool like that. I can see how this could be helpful. Right now I remind our main committee at the beginning of each selection meeting about our approach to awarding scholarships (honoring donor intent, the differences between a criteria requirement and a preference, that it's okay for students to get multiple awards, etc.), but maybe a document that they sign saying they understand this could be helpful. Good luck in compiling this!
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Hello Robin (@robincowles),
Thank you for your question. We (Kiwanis Children's Fund) have a document called "Best practices for administering a scholarship program" that we share with Kiwanis Clubs that are interested in giving out scholarships. We simply say that, "Scholarships should be awarded on an objective and nondiscriminatory basis. Consider using a blind selection process where applicants’ names are not revealed to the selection committee. This ensures objectivity and maintains a process free of conflicts of interest."
I hope this is helpful!
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@RhobieBentley that's a good approach. Thanks!
Kent
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