a) The Office of
Education and Transition Services shall coordinate the Scholarship Awards
Selection Committee (SASC). SASC shall include senior leadership of the
Department, including, but not limited to, persons who oversee the offices of
guardian, legal services, clinical and operations, and key representatives from
Department advisory groups, including the Child Welfare Advisory Committee,
Child Care Association of Illinois, Illinois Foster Parent Association,
Statewide Foster Care Advisory Council and Council on Adoptable
Children.
b) The SASC shall meet in
April to evaluate the applications.
1) Each
application will be reviewed by 3 randomly selected SASC members, who will rate
it according to the criteria in this subsection (b)(1). The reviewers will
receive detailed scoring rubrics regarding subsections (b)(1)(B) through (D) to
maximize consistency among reviewers.
A) Test
Scores/GPA (40 points total)
The highest two scores of the following shall be counted at 20
points each:
i) High School GPA, on a
4-point scale (weighted if possible; otherwise unweighted is acceptable):
GPA x 5
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(20 points possible)
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ii)
College GPA (if applicable), on a 4-point scale (weighted if possible;
otherwise unweighted is acceptable):
GPA x 5
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(20 points possible)
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iii)
ACT Score (if the applicant is submitting an SAT Score instead, it is converted
to the corresponding ACT Score using the ACT-SAT Concordance available at
http://www.act.org/aap/concordance):
ACT Score x 20/36
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(20 points possible)
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iv) GED
Test Score (if applicable):
GED - 200 x 20/600
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(20 points possible)
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B) Activities/Jobs/Awards/Other (10 points
total)
Applicants will be awarded the sum of the following scores. No
applicant may receive more than 10 points total:
i) Interests/Activities: (8 points possible)
Interests and activities may include, but are not limited to,
participation in athletics or clubs through school or in the community,
personal interests such as reading or swimming, etc.
ii) Employment Experience: (8 points
possible)
iii) Volunteer
Experience: (8 points possible)
Volunteer experience may include, but is not limited to, Boys
and Girls Club, community food drives, church daycare, assisting the elderly
with daily tasks, etc.
iv)
Leadership Experience: (8 points possible)
Leadership experience may include, but is not limited to,
organizing/leading a community event, serving as an officer for a school class
or organization, speaking at a local event or school assembly,
captain/co-captain of an athletic team, etc.
v) Awards/Honors/Recognition: (8 points
possible)
This category may include, but is not limited to, earning Honor
or High Honor Roll status, membership in various academic honor societies,
recognition for athletics, Dean's list recognition, etc.
C) Letters of Recommendation (10
points total)
Each of the 3 required letters will be scored on a 10 point
scale. The score for this category is the average of the 3.
i) How well does the writer know the
applicant? (3 points possible)
ii)
How objective is the reference? (3 points possible)
iii) How strong is the recommendation? (4
points possible)
D)
Student Statement (40 points total)
Student statements will be evaluated according to the following
framework (childhood trauma, multiple moves in foster care, academic
challenges):
i) Grammar, Organization,
Clarity: (15 points possible)
ii)
College Plan: (5 points possible)
iii) Sincerity of Desire to Attend College:
(10 points possible)
iv)
Circumstances the Applicant has Overcome (examples may include but are not
limited to, multiple foster care moves, extreme childhood trauma, education
deficiencies, etc.): (10 points possible)
2) Score sheets are collected and tabulated.
Each application will be assigned a final score, which is the average of the
three scores received from the SASC reviewers. The applicants with the highest
composite scores shall be awarded a Department Scholarship. Applicants will be
notified no later than May 1 of their award status.
3) In case of a tie for the lowest-placed
scholarship recipient, two reviewers will be randomly selected to score both of
the tied applications. The additional scores will be included in each tied
applicant's average, and the applicant with the higher average will be awarded
the scholarship. If the scores are still tied, the process is repeated until a
recipient can be selected.