1. An award candidate must be currently enrolled, or have been admitted through the unit/departmental regular admission procedure.
2. Both master’s and doctoral degree students are eligible.
3. An award candidate must be nominated by the chair of the enrolling department and have the support of the dean of the enrolling unit. (Students cannot apply independently).
4. An award candidate must be identified as a member of an underrepresented ethnic minority group. Recognizing that the University of Louisville’s partnership with the U.S. Office of Civil Rights (OCR) and the Kentucky Council for Postsecondary Education (CPE) to increase the presence of minority students, staff and faculty measures only the university’s African American student enrollment, preference in awarding these scholarships will be given to African American candidates who are United States citizens and, particularly, those who are residents of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. However, if money is available after addressing that concern, awards to viable U.S. citizen candidates who are identified as Latino/Latina, American Indian, or Asian/Pacific Islander American (in departments where they are underrepresented) will be considered.
5. In order to utilize the funds available to support the retention and graduation of the greatest number of students, preference will be given to requests for one-year awards for master’s students for which the department/unit will provide equivalent funding for a second year or two-year awards for doctoral students for which the department/unit will provide equivalent funding for all subsequent years. Also, for those units that have their own scholarship funds, preference will be given to units with a "track record" of providing financial support to underrepresented ethnic minority graduate students.
6. Funding may be for 10 months or 12 months depending on the student’s program of study . A department requesting 12-month awards is asked to explain the request. If funded for 12 months, the student must be continuously enrolled full-time.
7. Departments may request funding for either a scholarship or an assistantship. An assistantship is recommended when the work to be performed contributes significantly to the student's academic experience.

To nominate a candidate for an ethnic minority scholarship the academic department must submit:

• a letter of nomination, addressed to Dr. William Pierce, Interim Vice Provost for Graduate Affairs, from the department chair (or from a student's faculty mentor with a letter of support from the department chair), specifying the student's ethnic identity and including an accounting of the student's academic progress to date and the anticipated date of degree completion. The letter should also indicate whether the request is for a scholarship or assistantship. If an assistantship is requested, the nature of the work should be described briefly. If subsequent year(s) support (see item 5 above) is available from the department, that should be described in the chair's nomination letter. 
• a letter of support, addressed to Dr. William Pierce, Interim Vice Provost for Graduate Affairs, from the unit dean, indicating commitment of subsequent year(s) financial support or indication of previous financial support, if such support is coming from the unit level.
• documentation from the student's application for admission, including copies of the application form, transcript(s), GRE scores, and at least one letter of recommendation.

Awards will be made using the following criteria:

• Appointments that will advance the University’s commitment to the U.S. Office of Civil Rights (OCR) and the Kentucky Council for Postsecondary Education (CPE)
• support of departments with a demonstrated record or strong commitment of financially sponsoring ethnic minority graduate students
• support of departments showing evidence of active recruitment of ethnic minority students
• providing a balance of support from the Graduate School across the entire University, especially in areas where ethnic minority students are particularly under-represented.

Michael J. Cuyjet
Associate Dean
Graduate School
105 Houchens Building

Review of nominations for Fall 2008 will begin April 7, 2008.