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Advanced Opportunity Program Fellowship Processing Guidelines

For Department Nominations Award Year 2013-2014

Contents

• Description of Award
• Eligibility
• Concurrent Employment
• Selection of Nominees
• Selection Criteria
• Letters of Recommendation
• Graduate Program Evaluation of Nominees
• Graduate Program Nomination Instructions
• Application Status
• Forwarding Procedures
• Important Dates

Description of Award

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The Advanced Opportunity Program (AOP) is funded by the State of Wisconsin. AOP Fellowships are designed to assist members of groups under-represented in graduate study, and other disadvantaged students, to enter and complete a graduate degree at UWM. Awards are granted to newly admitted or currently enrolled UWM graduate students.

Approximately 30 academic year (Fall/Spring) AOP Fellowships are awarded annually to qualified graduate students. Awards are for full-time study only. The current fellowship stipend is $14,000. In addition, Fellowship recipients benefit from full coverage of resident tuition, a remission of the out-of-state portion of the tuition (if applicable), low-cost comprehensive health insurance and other benefits. Awardees retain full responsibility for mandatory fees and additional instructional/course fees (including distance education) above basic graduate tuition levels.

Eligibility

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To be eligible candidates must meet at least one of the following:

• Individuals from racial or ethnic populations which are under-represented among students of higher education.
• First-generation college student.
• Individuals with disabilities.
• Individuals from financially disadvantaged backgrounds or circumstances.
• Recent Immigrants (provided, however, that they meet the residency requirements, which state that applicants must be American citizens or permanent residents of the United States.
• Participants in TRIO pre-college or undergraduate programs for students (e.g., Upward Bound, Talent Search, Student Support Services, McNair, Project 1000, etc.)

Concurrent Employment

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Concurrent employment of Fellowship recipients is limited to the following:

• University TA, PA, or RA of a maximum of 25%.
• Student hourly or outside employment of up to 15 hours per week.

Selection of Nominees

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No more than five nominees from your graduate program may be forwarded for the AOP Fellowship competition.

Selection Criteria

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Fellowships are awarded on the basis of academic achievement as reflected by:

• Graduate grade point averages.
• Letters of recommendation.
• Program evaluation (Department assessment of academic achievements and potential).
• Written responses to application questions.

As funding is very limited and fellowships are extremely competitive, graduate programs are asked to be highly selective in nominating students for an AOP Fellowship. Nominees should represent exceptional students in your graduate program.

Letters of Recommendation

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Attach applicant’s letters of recommendation (no more than two letters).

• Applications that do not have the letters of recommendation will be considered incomplete and will be returned to your graduate program.
• Letters must be on official letterhead stationery or approved forms. (Letters not complying with this guideline must be verified as true by the graduate program.)

Graduate Program Evaluation of Nominees

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Complete the Graduate Program Evaluation for each nominee. (Appendix A).

Two current letters of recommendation are required for each nominee. Letters must be on official letterhead stationery or approved forms.

New Students (fall 2012 admission) may submit their letters of recommendation for admission to your graduate program as their letters of support to the fellowship.

Graduate Program Nomination Instructions

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1. No more than five nominees from your graduate program may be forwarded for the AOP Fellowship Competition.
2. Application must be TYPED.
3. Complete GRADUATE PROGRAM EVALUATION (Appendix A) for each nominee. Duplicate form as needed.
4. Determine rank order of the applicants you plan to nominate.
5. Rank each nominee’s application form at the bottom of the Graduate Program Evaluation Form (Appendix A).
6. Attach applicant’s letters of recommendation (no more than two letters).
7. Attach copy of applicant’s Graduate Admission Evaluation (GAE) Form.
   (If you do not have a program copy of the GAE form for each of your nominees, contact your assigned graduate admissions representative or call x6569. No fellowship application will be accepted without this form.)

Before submitting your program's nominations, please make sure that you have followed the instructions and have included all the necessary documentation. Verify all information submitted by your nominee.

Application Status

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In most cases, your nominees will be currently enrolled or newly admitted graduate students. If you are nominating a student who has not yet been admitted into your graduate program, however, please note the following:

• AOP applicants must have a COMPLETED application form on file in the Graduate School.
• AOP Fellowship nominees who are not formally admitted into your graduate program at the time of nomination MUST BE FORMALLY ADMITTED BY February 22, 2013 in time for the final Fellowship Selection Committee Meeting.
• After forwarding nomination materials to the AOP Office, notify all AOP Fellowship applicants (non-nominated as well as nominated) of the status of their application form. This is your program’s responsibility.
• AOP Fellowships are awarded by the AOP Committee and all nominated applicants will receive written notification from the Graduate School.

Forwarding Procedures

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1. Convert all documents into one PDF file per each nominee.
2. Label PDF file as follows: LastNameFirst NameAOP13-14Name of Department.pdf.
3. In each PDF file should be:
   1. The nominee's completed application form.
   2. Two letters of recommendation.
   3. Completed Graduate Program evaluation form.
   4. A copy of the GAE.
4. E-mail PDF as an attachment to the AOP Office no later than February 8, 2013. THIS IS THE DEADLINE DATE. No nominations will be accepted after this date. You will e-mail the completed file to aop-list@uwm.edu.

Important Dates

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October 2012	Application online
February 8, 2013	Graduate program nominations deadline to AOP Office
Approximately March 18, 2013	Announcement of Awards

For questions regarding any of these procedures, please contact the Graduate Opportunity Programs Office (414-229-6618 or -6538, dcl@uwm.edu).