Golden Apple Scholars of Illinois Program

2009-10 Award Determination and Payment
2009-10 Award Announcements
2009-10 Qualification
2009-10 Certification
2009-10 Nominations

2009-10

On July 15, 2009, the Governor and state legislators reached an agreement regarding the fiscal year 2010 (FY2010) state budget. Absent new revenues and facing a substantial state budget deficit, budget cuts have been made. Based on that budget, Golden Apple Scholars applicants will be funded for the full academic year.

Payment

As announced in a September 17th, e-Message, TESP payment request rosters, (including Golden Apple Scholars of Illinois) can be completed online and submitted electronically to ISAC via TESP Payment Online at My Zone.  

Refer to the Award Determination and Payment and the TESP Payment Roster section of TESP at My Zone for details about the TESP Payment Roster process and instructions for completing and submitting payment request rosters to ISAC.  

Award Announcements

2009-10 Golden Apple Scholars of Illinois Program awarding took place on Friday, August 21, 2009, with results available online at My Zone.

Refer to the Teacher Education Scholarship Program page in My Zone to learn about accessing student eligibility data using TESP Notifications to generate a report or view information online using the search, filter or sort functions.

Qualification

The 2009-10 Initial Qualification process for the Golden Apple Scholarship of Illinois program started on June 1, 2009. The Qualification process runs on a nightly basis. Be sure to access the TESP Student Certifications: List at My Zone regularly to learn the qualification status of applicants from your school.

If the college certified a student as eligible for a Golden Apple Scholarship, the Complete column will be checked and a status code of "Q" will display in the Status column on the Student Certifications: List in My Zone. If the college certified a student as ineligible, the Complete column will be checked and a status code of "U" will display in the Status column on the Student Certifications: List in My Zone. Corrections to completed Golden Apple Scholarship certifications cannot be made online at My Zone, contact the School Services department for assistance.

Refer to the Student Certification Entry Instructions to learn about submitting a certification, obtain a complete list of the status codes returned after a certification record is processed and making corrections before and after a record has been qualified. 

Communication to the student regarding their eligibility status is done by the Golden Apple Foundation.

Recent legislation reserves some IFTC Program awards for participants in the Golden Apple Scholars of Illinois Program who, based upon their commitment to teach in approved shortage disciplines, are requesting a $10,000 award (rather than the $5,000 award made to qualifying recipients who commit only to teaching at a hard-to-staff school). As announced in an April 30, 2009 e-Message, included with the 2009-10 TESP initial certifications at My Zone are records for Golden Apple Scholar applicants for whom colleges must certify eligibility.

Initial Certification records for 2009-10 Golden Apple Scholar applicants can be completed online and submitted electronically to ISAC via My Zone beginning on April 30. 2009. My Zone is available to enter certification information each Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. (CT).  Results are available in real-time.

An Initial Certification record is created in My Zone when the Golden Apple Foundation provides application information. All Initial Certifications available in My Zone must be completed regardless of whether the school certifies a student as eligible or ineligible and regardless of whether the student is currently enrolled. Only applicants with a complete and eligible certification record will be considered for an award.

An overview of the online Certification process, instructions to enter and submit certifications to ISAC and how to request a report can be found in the TESP Certification area of My Zone. An overview of the certification process for Golden Apple Scholars is available within this section the Gift Assistance area at College Zone.

Nominations

Nominations for the Class of 2010 opened in April 2009 and must be submitted on or before December 1, 2009.