CFCE Guidelines

February 4, 2010

Statement of Purpose- the Committee for the Future of Civil Engineering

(CFCE) is a subcommittee to the Advisory Council of the University of Akron Civil
Engineering Department. Its purpose is to provide funding for scholarships,
student activities, and recruitment activities.

Mission Statement- the CFCE will conduct fundraising activities for the purpose
of providing funding for both short-term and long-term initiatives. These
initiatives will support the efforts to better position the University of Akron Civil
Engineering program in attracting and retaining the best students and faculty
available.

I. Focus - The focus will be to work with corporations, organizations,

foundations, alumni and individuals to raise funds.

II. Officers – The Officers for the Committee for the Future of Civil
Engineering shall consist of a Chair, Chair Elect and a Secretary
Treasurer.

The Chair, Chair-Elect and the Secretary Treasurer shall be elected by the
Committee for the Future of Civil Engineering and announced at the
Annual Awards meeting.

It is intended for the Chair-Elect to succeed the Chair and serve a

complete term as Chair. The Secretary Treasurer is intended to succeed
the Chair –Elect and serve a full term in that position as well. The intent of
this organizational structure is to provide long term, consistent and
sustainable leadership within the committee.

The term for offices shall be two years with an option to extend to three
years if confirmed by the Committee for the future of Civil Engineering.

Vacancies in the elected officer positions may be filled by a majority vote

of the Committee for the Future of Civil Engineering. Also an officer may
be removed if deemed in the best interest of the council by a majority vote
of the Committee for the Future of Civil Engineering.

III. Disbursement of Funds - Whereas it is a goal of this organization to

support students of the University of Akron, Civil Engineering Department,
funds collected will be disbursed for immediate scholarships, a scholarship
annuity, and current student activities. The Civil Engineering Department
will oversee disbursement of all scholarship funds. The following goals
have been established for this distribution:
 • 80% for immediate scholarships;
• 10% towards establishment of a scholarship annuity, and;
• 10% for student activities*

* Should a balance, exceeding a three year average of the student activity

expenditures accumulate, the CFCE would consider suspension of
disbursement for that purpose until a time the balance is exhausted.

Emphasis will be placed on generating annual scholarship funds and

establishing a self-sustaining scholarship annuity fund. However, in the
event a “special need” develops, consideration may be given to an
alternative use of the collected funds. A “special need” shall be
identified by the Civil Engineering Department Chair and presented
to the CFCE. The CFCE may approve and authorize the disbursement
of funds to address the identified “special need”. The nature and
purpose of the “special need” must be consistent with the
betterment and promotion of the Civil Engineering Department, Staff
and students.

The donor may specify a distribution for disbursement of funds to

scholarship, student activities and endowment that differs from the
guidelines indicated in this document.

III. Applications - The application process will be coordinated between the

CFCE and The Civil Engineering Department, the latter of which will
establish guidelines for student awards using a weighted scoring system
to balance academics, work ethic and financial need in evaluating
scholarship applicants Based on this scoring system the Civil Engineering
Department will rank the top applicants and provide that information as a
tool for use by the CFCE; in lieu of the scoring system the final selection
will be at the sole discretion of CFCE and the Donors. The Civil
Engineering Department will provide a complete list of all applicants to the
CFCE for distribution to donors.

IV. Selection of Applicants - Donors of named scholarships will be asked to

rank their top five (5) applicants from the list provided in Item III above,
and return that list to the CFCE for coordination. Applicant selection needs
to be a collaborative and consensus building exercise involving all of the
donors of named scholarships. Every effort should be made to
accommodate the selection desires of the Donors. In the event two or
more donors have selected the same applicant as their selection for their
scholarship, the following items will be given consideration for tie-breaking
purposes.

1. Applicant or family member is employed by the donor company.

2. The higher scholarship value will be given precedence.
 3. The selection committee will facilitate an interactive discussion
and negotiation between the affected donors.

The final scholarship awards will be provided to the Civil Engineering

Department by the CFCE.

V. Donation Guidelines – All financial donations are welcome, however, the

following guidelines have been established to assist donors in determining
their appropriate level of donation:

a) Named Scholarships – Opportunities for named scholarships will be

provided under the following donation commitments:

1) Donations of $3,000 or more will be awarded as a named

scholarship in the year of donation.
2) Donors contributing $500 or more and committing to a total
minimum donation of $3000 over a six year period may designate
their donation be accumulated towards the creation of a named
scholarship or included with annual scholarship defined as CFCE
scholarships. Donations less than $500 are pooled and awarded as
CFCE Scholarships.
3) Donations of $1500 may be combined with general CFCE
funds, if available, to create a jointly Named Scholarship in the
name of the Donor and CFCE

b) Unnamed Scholarships – Scholarships awarded in the name of the

CFCE will be provided under the following scholarship commitments:

1) Donations without a specific identified commitment will be

accumulated and disbursed as CFCE scholarships in
denominations suitable for a given pool of applicants, as
determined by the CFCE. The CFCE selection committee will
make recommendations for award with approval by CFCE.
2) Donors will be recognized in the Annual report and at an awards
ceremony, should one be held.

VI. Notification of Award – The Department of Civil Engineering will provide a

notice of award to the CFCE for all scholarships awarded in a given
period. That notice will include the student’s name, address, telephone
number and amount of award (including scholarship name if applicable).
The CFCE will, in turn, provide that information to individual donors for
their purposes.

VII. Other Activities - Other activities will be conducted to promote the

students, the Department of Civil Engineering, and donors.
Guidelines approved by CFCE February 7, 2008