VCU SGA Scholarship Fund Effort

Hey everyone,

Our VCU SGA student body president created an special committee called, the Alternative Funding committeee. If you aren't aware of our main effort yet, we are trying to set up an VCU SGA Scholarship Fund as well as an Senior Gift Fund.

We are working diligently to make this efforts possible in the near future!

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Below is an draft of the proposal for the VCU SGA scholarship (the proposal for the Senior Gift Fund will be posted soon)--

Solicitation for VCU SGA Scholarship Fund Proposal 2008-2009
I. Purpose:

A. Reach out to many businesses in the Richmond community to help both financially struggling students and the Richmond community through this scholarship.

B. Students selected for the scholarship will have the opportunity to volunteer within the Richmond community in exchange for the scholarship.

C. In other words, businesses who donate funds to this scholarship fund will essentially be simultaneously positively affecting VCU students and the Richmond community.

II. Focus:
A. Primary- VCU students who have balances on their student account, who have received the maximum federal student loan and all the financial aid eligible to them. Furthermore, despite their best efforts cannot get private students loans or alternative funding elsewhere.
B. Secondary- VCU students who cannot afford the books for their classes.

III. Qualifications:

A. Sophomore status and above
B. Minimum cumulative G.P.A of 2.0
C. Must be in good standing with the university
D. Must have a part time job working at least 8 hours a week
E. Must have a balance on their student account no longer than 1 semester past due.

Option 1: Maximum balance of $500,
Option 2: Minimum balance of $500, Maximum balance of $1,000
F. Complete the application which includes the following:

• Personal information
• Major
• Graduation date
• Cumulative G.P.A,
• Submit one of their proudest academic work here at V.C.U along with a no long than 1 page statement explaining why & its significance.
• Submit a no longer than 1 page personal statement to explain why they deserve this scholarship.
• Unofficial Transcript
• Resume

IV. Organizational Structure:

A. SGA will take care of all the logistical cost of this scholarship
B. SGA will be responsible for advertising this scholarship to the VCU community
C. SGA will collect all applications
D. SGA will form the committee that will, include members of all three branches of SGA and members of the VCU Administration to award the scholarships
V. Timeline:

A. Solicitation packets will be mailed out to business throughout Richmond by Nov. 28, 2008
B. Deadline for responses from businesses will be February 28, 2009 by 5pm
C. Scholarship applications will be available to students by March 2, 2009
D. Deadline for students to turn in the applications will be March 13, 2009 before 5pm
E. Notifications will be sent out by March 20, 2009
F. Selected students must complete at least 20 hours of community service by April 30, 2009
VI. Partnerships:

A. SGA will like to collaborate with the VCU Administration to receive advice on how to structure and execute this initiate successfully
B. SGA will like to collaborate with both the VCU Financial Aid and Student Account Offices
C. SGA will like to collaborate with Barnes & Noble and/or the Virginia Book Co., to assist in the book scholarships
D. SGA will like to collaborate with the various non-profit organizations and volunteer based organizations in the Richmond community to assist in coordinating student volunteers and logging hours

VII. Benefits to our Sponsors:
A. Besides the above, our sponsors will be recognized on the VCU SGA website and if possible the VCU website.
B. Opportunity to meet the organizers and selected recipients of the scholarship at a catered banquet May 1, 2009 where the press will be invited.

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Below is an update on the VCU SGA Scholarship effort:

I met with Tom Burke and Ike Tucker of the VCU Foundation to seek their advice on our effort to start a scholarship fund. This meeting proved to be so informative, because they explained the nature of how things work in terms of setting up a scholarship fund and it's options.

To cut to the chase, they stated it takes on average 10 years for a endowed scholarship fund to be established, because of the difficultly in raising at least $10,000 to set up an investment account, where you can't touch the funds for 1 year. Therefore, it is on the 2nd year that you can begin to pay out scholarships.

So, looks like this is actually a long term effort. Nonetheless, I still feel that we should as leaders lay down the foundation to start an endowed VCU SGA scholarship.

Two options we have is:

• To go ahead and solicit businesses and partner with Student Affairs to set up an current account with them, any funds we get we will give away as scholarships this March or so.
• Or we can still partner with the Office of Student Affairs, and lay down the ground work to start an endowment fund, and solicit businesses by Dec. 1st till May 2009. Then make sure we meet with whoever the new committee members will be for the fall 2009, so that the new committee will know how to continue this effort until we reach the funds needed to set up the account.

If you have any concerns, questions, or suggetstions please feel free to contact me at finance@vcusga.com.

Thanks,
Eddie Brunson