The Graduate School
New Mexico State University
Anderson Hall, First Floor
MSC PSL/ P. O. Box 30002
Las Cruces, NM 88003-8002
(575) 646-5746 Fax: (575) 646-7758
|
Memorandum |
| To: Graduate Program Department Heads and Graduate Directors |
| From: Dean Lacey, Graduate School |
| Subject: Nominations for the New Mexico Higher Education Department, |
| formerly Commission on Higher Education Graduate |
| Fellowships (CHE)/Assistantships |
At the web site of the Graduate School, we have a link called Award Announcements. We provide announcements on all of the funding of the Graduate School. One of the announcements is for the New Mexico Higher Education Department Graduate Fellowships. The awards are for women and minority persons who are citizens or permanent U.S. residents and who are a first year student or a student that is beginning their graduate studies in any graduate department at the master’s or doctoral level at NMSU. The selected student must be admitted to your program prior to applying for this award.
CHE fellowships provide stipends of $7,200 per academic year. Students are required to work to receive this fellowship. Departments are required to: a) use their graduate assistantship budget to bring the amount of the award up to the current salary of a graduate assistant that is working 20 hours per week, and b) provide a 20 hour graduate assistantship to the student while they receive the NM Higher Education Department award. For the total salary amount, please see the web site on Graduate Assistant Salaries that is posted on the Graduate School web site: http://gradschool.nmsu.edu/graduateassistantsalaries08.html
Fellowships are available for 2 years for master’s students and 4 years for doctoral students. Eligible nominees will be judged using the following criteria:
- Grade point average (at least 3.0)
- Recommendation of Department Head or Graduate Director
- Financial need: in order for the student to establish financial need, students must complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form available in the Financial Aid Office. This form is not to be returned to the Graduate School. The form must be mailed to the Federal Student Aid Programs, address listed on the application or submitted via computer at the Financial Aid Office. The results will be sent to the student and the Financial Aid Office. Students must have a complete FAFSA form with NMSU. Second, they must be approved by the NMSU Financial Aid Office to be considered for this award.
Department Heads or Graduate Directors wishing to nominate eligible students for this fellowship should provide evidence relating to the criteria stated above along with their endorsement and a copy of the students’ transcripts. The deadline for nominations is April 30th. Letter nominations should be sent to the Graduate School as soon as possible.
Students must file a Federal Student Aid form each year and be approved to receive financial aid to remain on the NMHED fellowship. Students who do not file a FAFSA form will be dropped at the beginning of the semester from the program. Students will also be dropped if their grade point average goes below a 3.0.