Morris Udall Foundation Scholarship for Environmental Policy/Studies/Science Competition: http://www.udall.gov/scholarship/
Welcome back to the New Year of 2008, and a second semester of classes and challenges. Once again, I have the privilege of serving as the Indiana University Bloomington faculty representative for the Morris Udall Foundation Scholarship for undergraduates with an environmental orientation. This is an excellent opportunity for an IU student interested in environmental studies/policy/science to receive recognition both monetary and honors.
A few facts about the scholarship:
1. It is a national competition open to all U.S. citizens who are current sophomores or junior undergraduates.
2. It's purpose is to encourage greater involvement in environmental policy/science activities by today's young leaders.
3. 80 current sophomore or junior undergraduates are awarded merit-based scholarships of up to $5,000 (50 additional students receive honorable mention awards)
4. Each university can nominate up to six students for these scholarships which can be used for tuition, books, and room and board.
PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS IMPORTANT: Student nominees need not be environmental studies or science major. The key requirement is a demonstrated interest in environmental issues, particular policy issues. Representative majors have included political science, chemistry, biology, sociology, anthropology, public policy, and of course environmental studies.
5. Students must have at least a "B" average and be a matriculated sophomore or junior.
6. Awards will be announced April 8, 2008.
A few facts about the application process:
1. Student cannot directly submit their applications, but rather must submit their application, along with an "official" transcript to the campus faculty representative, me.
2. The deadline for internal submission is February 18, 2008... From the total submissions, six students will be chosen to be forwarded to the Foundation by March 4, 2008. In some cases, these students will be contacted before the submission for possible fine tuning of their application package.
3. The application forms and details about the program can be found at:
http://www.udall.gov/scholarship/
and
http://www.udall.gov/pdf/scholar/2008_Brochure.pdf
Helpful Hints from the website:
Frequent Problems in Applications
The Udall Scholarship is a highly competitive award. The principal reasons an applicant may not be awarded a scholarship are:
Coursework and plan of study unlikely to lead to career related to the environment, tribal public policy or Native American health care;
Career plans not supported by goals of the scholarship program;
Poor use of questions 2, 4, 5, 6, & 7 to reveal values, interests, and motivation;
Little evidence of leadership;
Lack of community involvement, particularly in the case of tribal public policy or Native American health care applicants;
Few activities or research that reveal interest in and commitment to the environment, tribal public policy or Native American health care.
You may request feedback from the Foundation concerning unsuccessful nominees and Honorable Mentions who are eligible to reapply their junior year by contacting your faculty representative, Prof. Edwardo Rhodes at rhodes@indiana.edu.
Nomination Procedures and Materials
Number of nominations. Up to six candidates can be nominated for the 2008 competition. Only nominations submitted by the official faculty representative will be considered for the competition.
Nomination Materials. It is the nominee's responsibility to provide the faculty representative with:
A completed, signed Udall Scholarship Application;
An 800-word essay, signed and dated;
A current official college transcript and transcripts for other colleges attended;
Three letters of recommendation.
The application must be submitted on forms provided by the Foundation to Faculty Representatives, on photocopies of these forms, or on copies from the Foundation's website. Recreated forms and attachments of additional information will not be accepted.
Submission of nominations
An Institutional Nomination Form [34kb PDF] is required for each candidate, signed by the designated faculty representative.
Selection Procedures
All complete and eligible nominations are reviewed by an independent selection committee. Applications are read by state and region. Scholars are selected on the basis of:
Demonstrated commitment to environmental issues through substantial contributions to and participation in one or more of the following: campus activities, research, community or public service; or
Demonstrated commitment to tribal public policy or Native American health care through substantial contributions to and participation in one or more of the following: campus activities, tribal involvement, community or public service, research.
Course of study and proposed career likely to lead to position where nominee can make significant contributions to the shaping of environmental, tribal public policy, or Native American health care issues, whether through scientific advances, public or political service, or community action.
Leadership, character, desire to make a difference, general well-roundedness.
The 2008 Udall Scholars will be announced on the Foundation's website on April 8, 2008.
This is a great opportunity for several worthy students to receive merit based financial assistance with a relatively small expenditure of effort and time.
Edwardo L. Rhodes
Professor Public and Environmental Affairs
Associate Vice President Academic Support and Diversity
343 SPEA
Indiana University
Bloomington, Indiana 47405
812 855-4556
