LA PALMA-CERRITOS AAUW
ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS POLICY

An Academic Achievement Awards Fund shall be established each year to award monies yearly to outstanding Cerritos College women students who are transferring to a 4-year college or university. The monies shall be awarded for educational expenses after the dropout deadline of the college or university in which the students are enrolled.

A committee shall be formed to raise monies, to accept individual donations, and to determine the criteria to be used to award the recipients. The awards shall be presented in the name of La Palma-Cerritos AAUW.  The committee shall be composed of at least five branch members, one of whom shall serve as chair.

The process and criteria for determining the awards shall be reviewed annually by the Committee, and shall be updated, as needed, with the approval of the branch board of directors which will also approve of the amounts to be awarded. The criteria and award application process shall be explained each year on the branch website at least one month prior to the application deadline.

Fundraising for the Academic Achievement Awards shall be separate from all other branch fund raising activities.  No national AAUW Fund or general branch fund monies shall be used for the Academic Achievement Awards.  No more than 5% of the monies raised shall be used for administrative costs for the Academic Achievement Awards. Each year, the total amount of Awards to be made will not exceed the amount of money in the AAUW Fund account designated to be donated by the branch for AAUW National philanthropy.  Any excess Award Funds may be carried over to the next year.

All monies received for the Academic Achievement Awards Fund shall have separate accounting identification, and will be forwarded to the Cerritos College Foundation, to preserve tax-deductibility to the donor. The Foundation, at the direction of the Academic Achievement Awards Chair, will write the award checks to the recipients. Contributions to the Academic Achievement Awards Fund shall be tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.

APPROVED 4/6/2017