(1) Program advisory committee. The board will establish an advisory committee to assist in program design and to advise the board on matters of program administration including, but not limited to, application procedures, selection criteria, fund raising, and program publicity. The committee shall be comprised of persons involved in helping American Indian students to obtain a higher education. It is the intent of the board that the committee be comprised from members of the state's American Indian community. Membership of the committee may include, but is not limited to, representatives of: Indian tribes, urban Indians, the governor's office of Indian affairs, the Washington state Indian education association, and institutions of higher education.

(2) Screening committee. The board will establish a screening committee to assist the board in selecting the students to receive American Indian endowed scholarships. The committee shall be composed of representatives of the same groups as the advisory committee described in WAC 250-76-040(1) of these rules.

(3) Selection of recipients. The board, in consultation with the advisory committee, may annually consider and revise the criteria for selecting recipients. At the minimum, assuming program eligibility criteria are met, selection criteria shall include:

(a) An assessment of the student's social and cultural ties to an American Indian community within the state. Significant social and cultural ties may be assessed through documentation of one, or a combination of several, of the following:

(i) Enrollment in a federally recognized tribe; or

(ii) References supplied by an American Indian organization or agency from within the state and the student's self-statement describing, and attesting to, his or her own social and cultural ties; and

(iii) Additional forms of documentation as recommended each year by the advisory committee.

(b) Priority in awards to students in upper-division or graduate programs who are majoring in program areas in which expertise is needed by the state's American Indians.