UNC Charlotte Academic Procedure: Scholarship Awarding Timelines and Accountability

I. Executive Summary

UNC Charlotte aims to optimize fund utilization, reduce unawarded year-end balances, and provide timely, predictable financial planning support to students to bolster enrollment and retention. This procedure establishes formalized timelines, administrative responsibilities, and clear accountability measures for the distribution of institutional scholarships across all colleges and academic units at the University. Administered under the oversight of the University Scholarship Office, the procedure mandates the utilization of the institutional Scholarship Management System for application reviews and award allocations, sets explicit multi-tier deadlines tailored to distinct student populations, and details formal escalation protocols for non-compliance. 

II. Procedure Statement

    This procedure establishes formalized timelines, responsibilities, and accountability measures for awarding institutional scholarships. It ensures timely allocation of funds, reduces unawarded balances, and aligns scholarship decisions with student enrollment and financial planning needs. 

    This procedure applies to all colleges and academic units administering one or more institutional scholarship funds. 

    The University Scholarship Office provides procedure oversight, system training and support, monitoring, and escalation for non-compliance.

    Requirements

    Academic units that award scholarships must review applications, identify deserving applicants, and extend initial and replacement offers through the Scholarship Management System within the timelines established below. 

    Renewal (multi-year) scholarship commitments must be reflected in available balances. 

    The University Scholarship Office will issue advance deadline reminders, post-deadline notices, and initiate escalation should awarding units fail to act.

    All scholarship administrators must maintain active Scholarship Management System access and participate in annual and ad hoc University Scholarship Office training. Administrators must also maintain a current, active roster of reviewers. 

    The University Scholarship Office will conduct semesterly Scholarship Management System audits of active users and user roles to which a designated unit representative will respond. 

    Mandatory Awarding Timelines

    PopulationStudent Application DeadlineInitial Offer DeadlineInitial Offer Acceptance DeadlineSubsequent Offers Process
    New FTIC (Early Action) StudentsFeb 15Mar 15Mar 30*See Exceptions section below for First Time in College (Early or Regular Action)
    New FTIC/Transfer & Continuing Students & Graduate StudentsApr 1May 1May 15
    Initial offers not accepted should be withdrawn one day after the Initial Offer Acceptance Deadline, and a secondary offer extended within three days.Secondary offers not accepted within seven days should be withdrawn and a subsequent offer made. This schedule shall repeat until all offers have been accepted.
    Reentry & Nontraditional StudentsJul 30Aug 30Sept 15
    Marching Band MembersAug 15Aug 30Sept 15

    Exceptions

    • Exceptions to student application deadlines or scholarship offer deadlines may be granted to departments for specialized programs or if there is a conflict with donor terms. Written justification should be submitted to the University Scholarship Office for approval prior to the start of an application cycle.
    • First Time in College students (Early or Regular Action) may request an exception to the offer acceptance deadline. Boilerplate terms in the student offer notification email and the offer package in the scholarship portal communicate that  students must respond to the offer or request an extension from the administering unit by the Initial Offer Acceptance Deadline, or the offer will be withdrawn. Exceptions approved by the administering unit will extend the Offer Acceptance Deadline to April 15. 

    Responsibilities

    The University Scholarship Office shall:

    • Maintain Scholarship Management System access, functionality, and user records
    • Provide annual and ad hoc training to colleges to academic units
    • Issue advance reminders of application deadlines and post-deadline notices
    • Generate reports of students eligible for individual scholarship upon request by the Scholarship Administrator
    • Implement escalation procedures
    • Produce annual compliance reports

    Designated Scholarship Administrator within the Awarding Unit shall:

    • Promote scholarships to eligible students with focus on those with low applicant volume
    • Conduct application review and select eligible recipients in accordance with Mandatory Awarding Timelines
    • Maintain accurate personnel assignments of reviewer roles
    • Respond to the University Scholarship Office communications and user audits
    • Notify the University Scholarship Office when donor terms prevent the identification of an eligible applicant pool

    The College Dean shall:

    • Maintain accurate personnel assignments of administrator role
    • Monitor escalation communications and direct units to achieve awarding objectives  

    The Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs shall:

    • Support escalation communications from the University Scholarship Office
    • Review annual compliance reports
    • Direct corrective measures as needed

    Escalation

    If an awarding college or academic unit fails to act by the required deadline, the University Scholarship Office will issue: (a) initial reminder; (b) delinquency notice; and (c) escalation to the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. 

    With approval of the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, the University Scholarship Office may issue awards on behalf of the unit. 

    Escalation actions will be documented in the annual report.

    Reporting

    The University Scholarship Office will submit an annual report to each College Dean including demographic information for scholarship recipients within their departmental programs, individual award amounts, and awarded and unawarded funds 

    The University Scholarship Office will submit an annual report to the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Deans Council summarizing awarding compliance, unawarded funds, training participation, and system usage. 

    III. Definitions

    • Awarding College or Academic Unit: Any college or academic unit responsible for reviewing applications, selecting scholarship recipients, extending scholarship offers, and fully utilizing all donor funding. .
    • University Scholarship Office: The office responsible for procedure oversight, system training and support, monitoring, and escalation for non-compliance.
    • Scholarship Management System: The system used for application review and awarding (e.g., Slate).
    • Unawarded Funds: Scholarship dollars remaining unallocated in a spendable fund at the close of an awarding cycle.
    • Award Deadline: The date when a scholarship must have been offered, re-offered as necessary, and accepted by the student.
    • Escalation: A formal process transferring unresolved awarding actions to Academic Affairs.

    IV. Procedure Contact(s)

    V. History

    • Established: September 1, 2026

    VI. Related Policies, Procedures, and Resources

    VII. Frequently Asked Questions

    • Where is this procedure referenced?
      The procedure is published on the Academic Policies & Procedures webpage of the Provost website.
    • Which students are covered under this policy?
      This procedure applies to all newly admitted and continuing undergraduate and graduate students.