Over the past year, N.C. A&T has received large donations from outside organizations such as Mackenzie Scott and FashionNova.
Jassica Harris, formerly known as the assistant director for financial aid is now appointed as the Interim Associate Director of University Scholarships.
Harris is responsible for reviewing scholarship applications and making sure students are aware of upcoming scholarship opportunities and students’ application status. Since the school’s renaming of the financial aid office, her responsibilities have stayed the same.
“I basically was doing the same thing, the only difference is now we’re working more closely with the Dean to streamline the process,” said Harris. “Whereas, they were making their selection and submitting a paper form over to us. Now, we’re working together.”
The college departments recommend students to the financial aid office. The office communicates with the department to make them aware of different scholarships and awards that students can apply to.
Harris sees a difference now that the financial aid office works with the college departments.
“It makes it a more transparent process,in the past, we were not aware of which account was awarded in the department. The department would have trouble knowing was awarded as well,” said Harris. “There is no confusion on whether or not funding has been awarded”.
Larger donations are not involved with the scholarships unit that falls under the Office of Financial Aid. The colleges involved with the funding are responsible for selecting students for scholarships.
Starting in the fall, the financial aid office will host scholarship workshops for students, providing advice and guidance on how to complete scholarship applications. The office also hopes to partner with the Center of Academic Excellence to reach out to more students.
Planning for monthly workshops, the office hopes to increase events with positive student body response. If more sessions are needed then the office will provide more frequent sessions.
As of now, the financial aid office will continue to work remotely. If students need to reach the financial aid office, students can communicate via virtual lobby, phone and email.
Harris believes the most common mistake in applications is not following instructions.
“We see this a lot, the application will ask students to write an essay and a lot of students choose not to. They will send a resume or something completely different instead, ” said Harris.
Continuing students and new students can apply to scholarships through the Aggie Scholarship Application Portal, checking your Aggie email and looking at N.C. A&T’s scholarship website.
