Daily Skiff

A new scholarship will give three rising seniors a chance to cut back on costs before graduation.

Chancellor Victor Boschini and TCU Transitions worked together to create the TCU Mission Statement Scholarships, which will give $2,000 each to three rising seniors, said Chuck Dunning, dean for the class of 2008 and director of TCU transitions.

"It benefits students who have worked hard to embody the TCU culture and we want to give a valuable, tangible award to let those students know how much we appreciate their work," Dunning said.

When the senior transitions team learned it had extra money in the budget, its immediate thought was to create an annual scholarship, said Jenny Cureton, chairwoman of the senior transitions team.

The scholarship is available to juniors who will graduate in December of 2008 or May or August of 2009, have a 2.0 GPA or higher and are in good standing with the university. The individual does not have to be eligible for financial aid, Dunning said.

"You don't really think about having one last chance to get financial assistance before you graduate," said Cureton, who is also the assistant director of University Career Services.

Transitions is a behind-the-scenes collaborative alliance made up of four teams, one for each year of the traditional college experience, Dunning said.

There is a transfer dean with a student assistant, but not a full collaborative team that helps transfer students make the adjustment to TCU and identify with a specific graduating class, Dunning said.

Each of these teams looks at what is happening in terms of students' experiences through focus groups, individual interviews and surveys before they decide what it can do for the students' holistic development, Dunning said.

The senior transition team will donate $2,000 to the scholarship, an amount that does not come solely out of TCU Transitions, but comes through Student Development Services, which is a department in the Division of Student Affairs, Dunning said.

"There are many departments and offices in the university that produce programming for students, each with its own budgets, and they may or may not be working directly with Transitions," Dunning said.

When Transitions does work with those other entities, it is typically to assist with thinking about the development aspects of its programs, facilitate collaboration with other offices, help with marketing or providing volunteer assistance, Dunning said.

Boschini said the other $4,000 will come from anonymous donations.

A nine-member selection committee will review the applications and choose six finalists whose applications will be reviewed by Boschini and Provost Nowell Donovan, who will both choose the three recipients of the scholarships.

The six finalists and three winners will be recognized at a ring ceremony during family weekend, Dunning said. The three winners will have the choice of receiving the money in the form of a check, payment on a student loan or on the individual's TCU bill.

"The finalists and winners of these scholarships are going to be role models for everything we hope to see in the culture of TCU," Dunning said.

Application deadline: April 30
Applications should be sent to the Mission Statement Scholarship Committee, TCU Box 297350.
Applications can also be hand delivered to Student Development Services.

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