{"id":70757,"date":"2016-02-15T15:00:20","date_gmt":"2016-02-15T20:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=70757"},"modified":"2024-04-16T16:51:35","modified_gmt":"2024-04-16T20:51:35","slug":"ucf-alumni-association-aids-students-with-scholarships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-alumni-association-aids-students-with-scholarships\/","title":{"rendered":"UCF Alumni Association Aids Students with Scholarships"},"content":{"rendered":"

The UCF\u00a0Alumni Association collects thousands of dollars each year to give right back to students through its many scholarships.<\/p>\n

Senior Erica Chu received the alumni association\u2019s UCF Alumni Legacy Scholarship \u2014 a $1,500 award for outstanding students with parents who graduated from UCF \u2014 to make her dreams of attending UCF possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was ecstatic when I found out I won the scholarship,\u201d the\u00a0biomedical sciences major says. \u201cEvery little thing counts when you\u2019re paying for college.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chu says receiving the scholarship has not only helped her financially, but has also increased her networking with alumni, including those who selected her to win the scholarship.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s great to meet people who graduated from UCF, and are now so successful and want to give back,\u201d she says. \u201cThat\u2019s something I want to do when I graduate.\u201d<\/p>\n

The alumni association awards 25 scholarships annually, including scholarships from alumni chapters and clubs.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year, we had a good year in our endowments, and we were able to increase the majority of the scholarships by $500,\u201d explains Carla Cordoba, associate director of alumni and student relations.<\/p>\n

In fact, in 2015, the alumni association awarded more than $55,000 in scholarships to UCF students.<\/p>\n

Heather Junod, director of the UCF Fund, says there are many\u00a0ways the alumni association receives the money to fund these scholarships.<\/p>\n

The UCF Fund utilizes e-solicitation, direct mail, phone campaigns, faculty\/staff campaigns and a student philanthropy program to reach out to potential donors. Staffers\u00a0prefer more face-to-face solicitation rather than phone calls because it often garners better results. For example, the average donation is $86 on the phone, $270 for e-solicitation and $130 by mail, but face-to-face gifts are much larger \u2014 sometimes in the millions.<\/p>\n

Junod says the UCF Fund asks every alumnus and alumna with up-to-date information to donate, which is more than 226,000 Knights. Of this, about 7,000 donate, or a little more than 3 percent of alumni.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt our call center, students like to talk to alumni about donating to scholarships because the student callers are often on scholarships,\u201d Junod\u00a0explains.<\/p>\n

To apply for alumni scholarships, students must fill out the applications on their myUCF account. If a student is eligible for an alumni scholarship, it will automatically appear in his\/her\u00a0scholarship listing. Most scholarships also require an essay, recommendation letter and activities summary.<\/p>\n

\u201cScholarships aren\u2019t going to come to you \u2014 you have to look for them,\u201d Chu says. \u201cThe alumni association does a great job advertising the scholarships. People just have to take the next step and actually apply.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also says it is important for students to be themselves when writing application essays.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey can tell in your writing if you\u2019re being fake or lying,\u201d she says. \u201cStand out and have a personal story that they can connect to.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Chu\u2019s application, she wrote a personal essay about how UCF has opened so many doors for her father. She also described how the university has already given her innumerable opportunities, such as research and networking.<\/p>\n

After the applications are submitted, the four-month-long reviewing process begins.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to make sure we are being diligent in reading everything and paying attention because students took the time to submit their applications,\u201d Cordoba says.<\/p>\n

A team of student assistants first checks the applicants\u2019 eligibility to make sure they meet all of the necessary criteria for the scholarship, and then the applicants are scored using a point system.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor example, if you\u2019re a member of a club, you get so many points. If you\u2019re an officer, you get more points,\u201d Cordoba explains. \u201cEverybody gets the same formula applied to them across the board.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once the applicants have been rated, a selection committee of alumni, faculty and staff reviews the top five to 10\u00a0students. The committee then gives its recommendations and a staff committee selects the final winners.<\/p>\n

Reaching out through email, postcards and banner advertisements, there\u2019s been an increase in students who have been applying for the alumni association\u2019s scholarships.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had more than 500 applications in 2015, which is a third more than we had the year before,\u201d Cordoba says. \u201cStudents\u00a0are taking advantage of the scholarships!\u201d<\/p>\n

However, with more applicants comes more competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe caliber of students\u00a0who are\u00a0applying is\u00a0amazing,\u201d Cordoba says. \u201cWe\u2019re choosing from the top echelon of students who are extremely\u00a0involved with their university and in their communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alumni who wish to contribute can name a scholarship for\u00a0$10,000, or they can endow a scholarship\u00a0for\u00a0$25,000, which gets invested and earns appreciation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea is to keep building the endowment so it lives on in perpetuity,\u201d Cordoba says.<\/p>\n

\u2014By\u00a0Isabelle D\u2019Antonio,\u00a0Contributing Writer, <\/em>Central Florida Future<\/p>\n

How to apply for UCF Alumni Association scholarships:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Visit ucfalumni.com\/scholarships<\/a>. (The\u00a0application window opens Feb. 1\u00a0and closes Feb. 28 each year.)<\/li>\n
  2. Read all scholarship criteria and complete all required supporting documents.<\/li>\n
  3. Log on to myUCF<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  4. Select \u201cStudent Self Service.\u201d<\/li>\n
  5. Click on \u201cScholarship Application\u201d > \u201cHome Page\u201d > \u201cAdd New Scholarship.\u201d<\/li>\n
  6. Complete and submit application(s).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Questions?<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Read the Scholarship FAQ,\u00a0or contact Carla Cordoba<\/a> at 407.823.3453.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The UCF\u00a0Alumni Association collects thousands of dollars each year to give right back to students through its many scholarships. Senior Erica Chu received the alumni association\u2019s UCF Alumni Legacy Scholarship \u2014 a $1,500 award for outstanding students with parents who graduated from UCF \u2014 to make her dreams of attending UCF possible. \u201cI was ecstatic when I found out I…","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-twocol.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[5,27],"tags":[982,3393,4068,4163,4168,202,5055],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-70757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-colleges","category-student-life","tag-college-of-sciences","tag-nicholson-school-of-communication-and-media","tag-rosen-college-of-hospitality-management","tag-scholarships","tag-school-of-visual-arts-and-design","tag-alumni","tag-veterans"],"yoast_head":"\nUCF Alumni Association Aids Students with Scholarships<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The UCF\u00a0Alumni Association collects thousands of dollars each year to give right back to students through its many scholarships. 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