Chair Instructions
Thank you for your commitment and leadership! We know that coordinating this process takes a few steps and we are here to help. Don't hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or concerns regarding scholarship review and selection. You can also access our Committee Frequently Asked Questions page to review responses to common questions.
Save the Dates!
Here are some important dates for the 2022-23 academic year:
Application Scoring Site Available: March 27
Final Selections Due: April 24
Scholarship Funds & Fee Due: April 24
Senior Celebration: May 24 @ 7:00pm
Prior to the scholarship selection site opening, you will receive an email from Sisters GRO with instructions and login information to share with your committee members. Once you have access to the selection site, it will be ready for you and your committee to review and score applications in order to make the selection(s) for which student(s) will receive your scholarship award(s).
A structure that has worked well for committees in the past is:
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Judges review the applications and submit their scores either online or to the Chair via email (online scores can be accessed in ISTS or requested from Sisters GRO)
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Chair takes those scores and develops a ranked list of applicants
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Chair and Judges hold an in-person/virtual/phone conference to discuss the list and agree on final selections
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Chair submits the final selections online and chooses whether or not to opt-in to the Spread Process
Follow the pre- and post-selection task lists below to ensure a smooth process.
Committee Chair Pre-Selection Tasks
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Form a committee of at least three people (including yourself) to score applications and select scholarship recipients. Due to IRS guidelines, the selection process may not be controlled by the donor, meaning that the selection committee must include more non-donors than donors.
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Print a copy of the Sisters GRO Scholarship Selection Committee Policies and Agreements and have all of your committee members sign it. Another option would be to email the form and receive electronic signatures. Keep these forms with your committee records. This is a requirement to ensure that all donations remain tax deductible.
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Assign usernames to each Judge on your committee (usernames will be included in the email from Sisters GRO).
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Send an email to each committee member that includes:
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Link to the Scoring Site: https://aim.applyISTS.net.
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Assigned Judge username and password.
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Link to the Judge’s Instructions.
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Customized instructions on how you want Judges to score applications - which sections to score, which recommendations to evaluate, if they should provide an Overall Score, if you want them to enter their scores in the system, bring scores to a meeting or send scores to you via email, etc.
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Deadline for Judge scoring - be sure to provide enough time for the committee to discuss scores and chose recipients prior to the final selection deadline.
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As a Chair, if you are also judging applications (which isn’t always the case), login to the Scoring Site using your Chair username and password (included in the email from Sisters GRO) to evaluate and score applications.
Committee Chair Post-Selection Tasks
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Compile Judge scores to generate a ranked list of recipients. If you had your judges submit scores in the online application system, you can reach out to Laura at laura.kloss@sistersgro.org to request a copy of the online scores or you can run the scores yourself (see instructions in Additional Information below). You could also have judges submit scores directly to you via email or on paper.
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Hold an in-person/virtual/phone meeting with your committee to discuss the ranked list and agree on final selections.
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Submit final selections into the Final Selection Site: https://aim.applyists.net/SistersGROCommittee/ (login using the Chair username and password).
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Enter your scholarship information.
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Select whether you will opt-in to the Spread Process.
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If you do opt-in to the Spread Process, list as many viable applicants as you feel are worthy of the scholarship.
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If you do not opt-in to the Spread Process, fill in the fields designating the recipient(s) and award amount(s). If you have more than one recipient, select "New" to add an additional line.
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Check the box saying that your committee has read and signed the Sisters GRO Scholarship Selection Committee Policies and Agreements.
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Once all information has been provided, click Submit.
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Additional Information
Application Scoring
The standard application will have scoring fields for Academics, General Essay #1, General Essay #2, Scholarship Specific Essay (if applicable), Financial Need (if applicable) and Recommendations. These are scored 0-10. There is also an Overall Score that can be used that is scored 0-20.
Note: Judges will see all the recommendations that a student received. Depending on the scholarships a student applied to, there could be as many as five recommendations, or none at all. Score this section based on what your committee requested.
Each scoring field must have a value in it or the application will give an error and not save the score. If your committee does not want to score a particular section, instruct them to enter a "0" for that section. For example, your committee may only want to use the Overall Score and will then put a zero in each of the other scoring fields.
Additional resources for scoring including an application and interview matrix are included on our website.
Run Scoring Reports
The Chair will be able to generate a report that summarizes all of the Judges’ scores on their own. If you prefer, you can request for Sisters GRO to run the report for you and send it via email.
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Login to the Chair Reporting Site: https://clients.applyists.net/SistersGROChair using your Chair username and password
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Click on “Report of Chairs” on the right-hand side
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Select your scholarship from the dropdown list
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Select the year of the application - which for ISTS is one year ahead. For example, for Spring 2022 scholarships you will select the 2022-23 academic year.
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Click on “Run Report”
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You can scroll through the scores from all of the Judges within this Report Viewer. However, it is limited in what you can do with the data. We recommend that you “Export” the data to Excel.
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From the dropdown that says “Select a format” select “Excel”
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Click on the word “Export” next to the dropdown
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Depending on what type of computer you have you should be able to save this file so that you can open it, view, and sort, in Excel. You may also open the file in Google Sheets if preferred.
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The report will show you how each Judge scored each application. To the far right there are three columns showing the Total Score by Judge, Total Score for all the Judges, and an Average Total Score for all Judges. You can use these numbers to narrow down your selections and generate a ranked list of final applicants.
Printing Applications
If your committee has decided to use hardcopies of the applications, please follow these steps:
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Log in to https://aim.applyISTS.net using your Chair username and password
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On your Home Page you will find a table listing all of the applications for your scholarship. You can view an application by clicking on the applicant name in the table. This will open that student’s application.
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Print the application by selecting "File" and then "Print" on your browser. Another easy way to do this would be to hold down the Ctrl button and then hit the letter P (Ctrl+P).
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Note: If your committee reviews transcripts, resumes, or activities charts, you will have to open those attachments and print them separately.
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Use the “Back” button to return to your Home Page and repeat the process for the next applicant
Interviewing Candidates
If you would like to set up interviews with candidates either in person or virtually, contact Jillian Frankl at Sisters High School at jillian.frankl@ssd6.org or call 541-549-4045.