Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Park Scholars Program announces "junior" awards beginning in 2008

Greetings,

On behalf of the Park School, the Park Scholar Program, and the Park Foundation, we are very pleased to announce that beginning with the 2008-2009 academic year, Park Scholar Awards will be available to students already enrolled in the Park School.

The specific details regarding the application and selection process are being developed as we speak, but we wanted to be sure to share some of the preliminary details with you.

During the spring 2008 semester, Park School sophomores will be eligible to apply for Park Scholar Awards. Three students will be selected as Park Scholars, and these students will join the Park Scholar Program as juniors, beginning in the fall 2008 semester.

It is our expectation that a limited number of Park Scholar Awards will be made available to juniors every year going forward. Students will apply during the spring of their sophomore year, and will enter the program during the fall of their junior year. These awards will be made in addition to the ‘regular’ class of incoming freshmen Park Scholars each year.

Award recipients will be selected via the same criteria currently utilized in the selection of Park Scholars: academic excellence; community service; leadership; extracurricular participation; and commitment to the field of communications. Only students matriculated in those degree programs currently eligible for the Park Scholar Award may apply. As with the existing Park Scholar Awards, international students are not eligible. Transfer students are also not eligible; only those students who have been enrolled in an eligible degree program in the Park School of Communications since matriculating at Ithaca College are eligible to apply.

As with the existing Park Scholar Award, these two-year awards (for a student’s junior and senior years) will cover the full cost of attendance (tuition, room and board). In addition, the award includes stipends for living expenses, books, and a one-time computer purchase of $2,500.

Those students who receive the award and enter the program during the fall semester of their junior year will be expected to meet the same eligibility requirements as current Park Scholars: full-time enrollment at a minimum of 12 credit hours per semester as a Cinema and Photography, Communication Management and Design, Integrated Marketing Communications, Journalism, or Television-Radio major in the Park School of Communications; a 3.5 cumulative grade point average throughout the term of the scholarship; a strong and continued record of community service and extracurricular involvement; participation in Park Scholar academic programming and enrichment activities; and good judicial standing.

We are delighted to share this exciting news with you, and continue to be grateful for the tremendous generosity of the Park Foundation, without which none of this would be possible.

As you can imagine, there are a lot of details to be worked out. As soon as we have more information, we will share that with you. In the meantime, please feel free to contact Park Scholar Director Matthew Fee (parkscholars@ithaca.edu) with any preliminary questions that you may have.

Dr. Dianne Lynch

Dean, Roy H. Park School of Communications

Matthew Fee

Director, Park Scholar Program

7 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Too little, too late

8:16 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Coming in to Ithaca College, I was not allowed to apply for the Park Scholar Program due to my major (i.e. Cinema & Photography). Three years later, the program "mysteriously" opened its doors to film students upon the departure of the faculty chair. However, as a currently enrolled student, I was yet again unable to apply for this lavish scholarship program. These new developments serve as a capstone for a career as a second class citizen of the Park School of Communications.

2:40 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

personally i think this is rediculously unfair. the purpose of the park scholar program is to give it to INCOMING freshmen. opening the program up to what, like 3 or 4 new sophomores every year just takes away the honor of the award, not to mention anger every single current sophomore i've spoken to. the above poster said it best, it is too late for this, and i'm more than a little pissed off about it as well. if they didn't get the park scholar award the first time, why give people another chance to apply?

1:25 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

why not just give a few more incoming freshmen the chance to get it instead of passing the money on to sophomores?

1:26 PM  
Blogger Dianne Lynch said...

Greetings,
Since my arrival at Ithaca College two years ago, I have spoken to scores of students who specifically asked me to consider the possibility of adding "junior" Park Scholar awards to the program. They had been unaware of the program when they applied to IC, or they believed strongly that their performance since their arrival clearly matched that of the scholars in their classes.

In considering how we might create such a program, it made sense to require that applicants would have had at least three semesters to establish a record of excellence in academics and service prior to applying. That meant that 'junior' awards were the most reasonable model.

I took those proposals to the Park Foundation in an effort to expand the program and its availability to our current students -- in direct response to the most commmon concern I have heard raised by students themselves. I hope even those of you who disagree with the decision understand that it was made in the best interests of our students and the school.

Cheers,
Dianne

2:32 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think it's a great idea...
I was very unsure of where I was "meant to be" when i was applying for schools, and by the time I realized Ithaca was "the place," and found out about the Park Scholars program, I had missed the deadline by a day or two. I think it is a terrific opportunity for those "parkies" who need help, but yet can't necessarily get financial aid due to family situations and for Parkies to rise to the challenge.

9:20 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think it's a great idea...
I was very unsure of where I was "meant to be" when i was applying for schools, and by the time I realized Ithaca was "the place," and found out about the Park Scholars program, I had missed the deadline by a day or two. I think it is a terrific opportunity for those "parkies" who need help, but yet can't necessarily get financial aid due to family situations and for Parkies to rise to the challenge.

9:20 PM  

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