Veteran administrator leads scholarship development at UC Denver

Scholarships provided through foundations and individuals have been an essential part of college financial aid for generations. To enhance the University of Colorado Denver's scholarship services, scholarship functions in financial aid are being aligned with the Scholarship Resource Office under the direction of Sharon Harper, who joined the university on Jan. 19.

A high priority of Harper's position is to oversee the online scholarship application process and strengthen programmatic partnerships with key foundations, said Frank Sanchez, associate vice chancellor of student affairs.

"Ms. Harper is a talented administrator with a proven record of enhancing scholarship services to students," Sanchez said. "Her leadership with the Scholarship Resource Office will be invaluable as we further develop critical financial resources for a growing student community."

Prior to the move, Harper was at CU-Boulder for 12 years in financial aid, most recently as coordinator of scholarship services. In that role, she emphasized working with donors and students to make the scholarship awarding process easier, as well as ensuring the donors' intent was met and funds maximized. Harper has worked extensively with the Daniels Fund, the Boettcher Foundation and the Denver Scholarship Foundation to create an effective student-donor-school relationship.