Sponsor CertificationPlease identify how the sponsor plans to execute this proposal. By identifying functional resources, securing funding, and staff for ongoing support, the Sponsor will demonstrate their preparedness and ability to execute the project effectively. These elements are vital for ensuring the project's success and smooth implementation, as well as providing ongoing support and maintenance after its completion.
The Foundation Office and Financial Aid Office have established a coordinated plan to ensure the successful execution of the transition from Blackbaud to AwardSpring. This plan includes committed functional resources, secured funding, and a clear strategy for maintaining uninterrupted scholarship processing during the implementation period. Together, these units have aligned their roles and responsibilities to support a smooth transition and long‑term system sustainability.<br /><br />The Foundation Office will manage the day‑to‑day configuration and operation of the new scholarship management system. Staff members already responsible for scholarship administration will participate in requirements gathering, workflow design, testing, and training, with a designated project lead coordinating directly with IT and AwardSpring throughout implementation. Funding for scholarship management has historically been provided by the Financial Aid Office, and this arrangement will continue. Financial Aid will assign a staff member to participate in functional setup, business rule validation, and decision‑making to ensure that AwardSpring aligns with institutional awarding practices and compliance requirements. Technology Services will support authentication, data integration, security review, and alignment with institutional standards, ensuring that the system is implemented in a secure, stable, and supportable manner.<br /><br />Funding for the new scholarship management system is already secured through the Financial Aid Office’s existing budget allocation for scholarship software. This funding covers licensing, implementation services, and any required data migration support, and no additional budget requests are anticipated for the transition. With financial resources already committed, the project is positioned to move forward immediately upon approval.<br /><br />Because the requested go‑live date for AwardSpring is July 1—and meeting that timeline may be challenging—the functional teams will develop a temporary, homegrown solution as a contingency to ensure uninterrupted scholarship processing if implementation cannot be completed in time. This fallback approach would use fillable application forms, secure submission workflows, spreadsheet‑based tracking and reviewer assignment, and manual award posting and documentation. These interim processes would be built using existing tools and managed by the functional offices with minimal IT involvement. This ensures that scholarship cycles can continue without disruption should the AwardSpring implementation extend beyond the Blackbaud license expiration date.