1 Office of Faculty Engagement | Distinguished National & International Scholarship and Fellowships Program: Annual Reporting Guidelines
1. Official Charge
The Distinguished Scholarships & Fellowships Program at Stetson University promotes awareness of nationally
distinguished scholarship and fellowship opportunities and liaises with faculty/staff advisors to identify, support
and advance student engagement at all stages of scholarship preparation and submission. The Research &
External Scholarships Advisor works closely with the Office of Faculty Engagement to enhance Stetson’s advising
capacity to elevate student research opportunities and promote competitiveness for elite national/international
scholarships and awards.
2. Faculty/Staff Advisors
The following faculty and staff advisors have been identified as having responsibility for specific scholarship or
fellowship programs.
Barry S. Goldwater Scholarship Mike King Faculty
Harry S. Truman Scholarship David Hill Faculty
Morris K. Udall Foundation Wendy Anderson Faculty
Fulbright U.S. Student Program Bill Nylen Faculty
James C. Gaither Junior Fellows Tim Stiles Staff
Rhodes Scholarship Melinda Hall Faculty
Marshall Scholarship Melinda Hall Faculty
3. Initiatives during the Academic Year: This section describes initiatives implemented or enhanced during the
reporting year.
Prepared report for February 2020 Board of Trustees Book
Expanded outreach to and collaboration with faculty and staff through:
o Partnerships with scholarship advisors and academic leaders
Collaborated with Dean Skomp to identify additional scholarship advisors and to
prioritize scholarship focus.
Worked with Andrew Larson to facilitate outreach to the School of Music, via
email and speaking at a faculty meeting.
ANNUAL REPORT – DISTINGUISHED SCHOLARSHIPS & FELLOWSHIPS
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Facilitated communication with scholarship advisors through a March 2020
meeting, and by creating and disseminating an annual report form to collect
data from each advisor.
engagement of faculty advisors.
o Outreach targeting all faculty
Emailed all faculty during Fall 2019 and Spring 2020 advising weeks. 5 faculty
nominated 12 students for scholarship advising.
Presented, along with scholarship advisors, at January 24, 2020 faculty meeting.
Marketing published “The Rhodes Less Traveled” story on Stetson Today in
November 2019 and Stetson Magazine Spring 2020 issue (pg. 50), and “Seeking
the Best and Brightest” story published in Stetson Today in May 2019 and
Stetson Magazine Summer 2019 issue (pg. 14).
Created handout for faculty/staff, and distributed it at Unified Resource Fair.
Presented two sessions on Undergraduate Research and Distinguished
Scholarships at Teaching & Learning Day in January 2020.
Met with the Brown Center in February 2020 to discuss faculty outreach
opportunities.
Promoted student awareness:
o Tailored outreach to specific populations
Presented to and created handout for students enrolled in Peace Corps Prep
Presented at School of Music meeting
Tabled at Unified Resource Fair (August 2019), Global Citizenship Fairs
(September 2019 and January 2020), and Academic Excellence Reception
(February 2020)
o Organized, promoted, and led info sessions open to all students
October 2019 info sessions were held in person on October 28 and 29 and were
attended by 85 students.
April 2020 info session was moved online. The live session was attended by
about 30 students and the recording was requested by 15 additional students.
The recording was also made available on the website and Facebook page.
Arranged for 2 former Stetson scholarship applicants speak at spring session.
These speakers gave permission to reuse their clips in future outreach.
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3 Office of Faculty Engagement | Distinguished National & International Scholarship and Fellowships Program: Annual Reporting Guidelines
Revised assessment tool and assessed student interest as part of all info
sessions.
o Collaborated with campus units to explore additional student engagement opportunities
Met with Career and Professional Development to enhance pathways for
students to connect career development and scholarships.
Formed collaboration with Nora Huth to recharacterize skills translational tool
to map to Stetson’s career competencies.
Provided support for and tracked scholarship applicants:
o Created and disseminated annual report form to scholarship advisors and collated data.
o Number of known students who applied or planned to apply increased from 7 in AY19 to
25 in AY20.
12 students applied for a scholarship during FY20. 2 students made it to the final
round of the selection process and 1 student was awarded a scholarship.
At least 17 students have expressed serious interest in applying for a scholarship
in a future cycle.
o The Research & External Scholarships Advisor provided advising and support for 13
students who were nominated for scholarship advising by faculty and 5 who nominated
themselves.
o Began preparing a roadmap of experiences to guide interested students and enhance
outcomes of the application process.
b. Future initiatives
Organize a boot camp for scholarship applicants.
Send letters to potential Goldwater applicants.
Collaborate with Marketing to create a website for prospective students and parents.
Develop action plan for FY 21.
Gather feedback from previous scholarship applicants.
Connect academic programs more intentionally to language scholarships such as CLS, Gilman, Boren.
4. Activities: The following monthly timeline identifies and describes activities generated by this area and/or
important to advancement of this work.
Month/Date*/Year Activity Brief Description Outcome
July 2019 Planning and development
Attended and presented at NAFA biennial conference,
worked on FY 20 action plan
Met and learned from scholarship advisors from
across the US. Poster
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presentation viewed by 50+ attendees.
August 2019 Outreach Created brochures tailored for specific groups of students and faculty/staff and disseminated at Unified Resource Fair table. Presented at School of Music
meeting.
100+ faculty and students in the School of Music.
September 2019 Outreach Tabled at Global Citizenship Fair. Presented at School of Music
faculty meeting.
Citizenship Fair. David Hill appointed as Truman
advisor.
October 2019 Outreach Presented at Peace Corps Prep meeting. Planned and delivered info sessions held on 10/28 and
10/29. Email sent to faculty during advising week.
Approximately 12 Peace Corps Prep students attend meeting. 85 students attend
info session.
November 2019 Collaborating Prepared 3-year budget plan. Met with Career and
Professional Development staff.
Development. Sally Ancheva is finalist for Global Rhodes Scholarship. 3-year budget
plan submitted.
Wrote report for Board of Trustees. Began planning
Teaching and Learning Day sessions.
Report published in February 2020 Board of Trustees book.
January 2020 Outreach Presented at 1/22/20 faculty meeting. Led 2 sessions at
Teaching and Learning Day and arranged for Sally Ancheva to participate in student panel.
Tabled at Global Citizenship Fair. Prepared budget memo.
100+ faculty present for faculty meeting talk.
Engaged in dialogue with about 12 faculty and staff at Teaching and Learning Day
sessions. Collaboration formed with Nora Huth. Invited to participate in
Academic Excellence Reception. Passed out
approximately 40 brochures at Global Citizenship Fair. Submitted budget memo.
February 2020 Outreach Tabled at Academic Excellence Reception.
About 60 brochures handed out to students at Academic
Excellence Reception.
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March 2020 Adjusting plans and collaborating
Wrote continuity plan when all interactions were moved online.
Led meeting with scholarship advisors. Email sent to all faculty
during advising week.
April 2020 Student outreach and applicant tracking
Led online info session. Developed and distributed
annual report form for scholarship advisors.
Approximately 30 students attend live info session,
another 15 request recording access. Recording made available on website and
Facebook page. Stephanie Hanson is awarded Udall
Scholarship.
Distributed annual reporting form to scholarship advisors.
Created FY 20 external scholarships annual report.
Began planning future initiatives, including Goldwater letters, 0-credit engagement for incoming students, and website
for prospective students and parents.
5 of 6 advisors submit annual report. Full annual report for
external scholarships submitted. Melinda Hall
appointed Marshall advisor.
June 2020 Planning and Student engagement
In June, I expect to make progress on projects including AY 21 action plan, Goldwater
letters, 0-credit engagement for incoming students, and website
for prospective students and parents.
TBD
5. Student Impact: The table below identifies and describes students who are located in the pipeline for
competitive awards and for distinguished scholarships.
Applications submitted during the 2019-2020 application cycle:
Scholarship/Fellowship/Award (include awards/other distinctions
that enhance competitive advantage)
Location in Pipeline (e.g. introduced, mentored, statements
completed, application submitted, awarded)
Fulbright Reilly Cash Senior Application submitted
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Fulbright Frederick Lee Alumni Finalist, final decision TBD as of May 2020
Goldwater Jordan Ogg Junior Application submitted
Rhodes Slavina Ancheva Senior Finalist
Rhodes Bailey Busscher Senior Application submitted
Truman Arye Beck Junior Application submitted
Truman Peter Greubel Junior Application submitted
Truman Joseph Morel Junior Application submitted
Udall Stephanie Hanson Senior Scholarship awarded
Students who have expressed interest in applying during a future cycle:
Scholarship/Fellowship/Award (include awards/other distinctions
that enhance competitive advantage)
Location in Pipeline (e.g. introduced, mentored, statements
completed, application submitted, awarded)
Fulbright Sarah Sarver Sophomore Introduced
Marshall Peter Greubel Junior In communication with advisor
Rhodes Nelson Quezada Senior In communication with advisor
Truman Ryan Clifton Sophomore In communication with advisor
Truman and Boren Paolo Teodorescu First-Year Referred to advisor
Truman, Rangel, Payne, and Pickering
Madelyn Wiseman Sophomore Referred to advisor
Truman Camilo Lilleslatten Sophomore Referred to advisor
Truman and Udall Emery McClenny Sophomore Referred to advisor
Udall Natalie Bergeron Junior In communication with advisor
Udall R’Keria Davis Sophomore In communication with advisor
Udall Jenna Hassebrock Sophomore In communication with advisor
Udall Grace Hunter Sophomore In communication with advisor
Udall Christopher “Jay” Stearman
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6. Meetings: This section describes meetings/meeting outcomes with academic leadership, faculty/staff, and with
students during the reporting year.
This year I had a total of 41 meetings with academic leadership, faculty, staff, and students. The highlights of
each meeting are described in the table below.
Date Met with Highlights
7/8 Rosalie Richards We discussed the FY19 annual report
7/31 Andrew Larson We discussed opportunities for outreach to School of Music faculty and students
8/28 Rosalie Richards We discussed the FY20 action plan and goals.
9/19 Sally Ancheva and several faculty
We helped Sally prepare for her Rhodes Scholarship interview.
9/23 Rosalie Richards We discussed some opportunities for collaboration.
9/27 Sarah Sarver Sarah set up a meeting with me to discuss the possibility of applying for a Fulbright Arts Grant in a few years.
9/27 David Hill We discussed the Truman Scholarship.
10/7 Diane Everett and Stacy Collins
Diane, Stacy, and I met to discuss advising engagement.
10/8 Rosalie Richards We discussed recent meetings and began preparing for the info session.
10/10 Peace Corps Prep leadership team
We discussed the potential scholarship needs of student participants in the Peace Corps Prep program, and scheduled a presentation at an upcoming meeting.
10/15 Elizabeth Skomp, Rosalie Richards
We discussed issues around scholarship advising.
10/16 Rosalie Richards We planned the fall info sessions.
10/18 Rick Tysor, Rosalie Richards
We discussed a potential budget.
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10/22 Rosalie Richards We updated the FY 20 action plan.
10/24 Arye Beck Arye met with me to discuss the possibility of applying for the Truman Scholarship.
10/25 Rick Tysor, Rosalie Richards
We discussed the possibility of a budget.
10/30 Connor Darby Connor reached out to me for help preparing is CLS application.
11/5 Elizabeth Skomp, Rosalie Richards
We discussed advising communication and the possibility of organizing a ½ day bootcamp.
11/6 Career and Professional Development staff, Rosalie Richards
We discussed points of overlap between scholarships and career and professional development.
11/12 Rosalie Richards We prepared for upcoming meetings.
11/18 David Hill We discussed the Truman Scholarship.
11/19 Noel Painter, Rosalie Richards
We discussed fall 2019 progress and ideas for continued growth.
11/22 Tim Stiles, Stacy Collins, Lori Snook
We discussed potential collaborations around our various mapping projects.
12/10 Rosalie Richards We followed up on recent meetings, discussed Teaching and Learning Day and the Board of Trustees report.
12/12 Nathan Wolek and Chris Griffin
Planned for Teaching and Learning Day sessions
12/17 Rosalie Richards We discussed my Teaching and Learning Day sessions.
1/13 Nora Huth, Rosalie Richards
We talked about the possibility of collaborating to recharacterize the skills translational tool to map to Stetson’s career competencies.
1/14 Rosalie Richards We discussed the ideas generated at Teaching and Learning Day, budget, and began planning a scholarship advisor meeting.
1/14 Nora Huth We discussed skills translation project.
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1/17 Rosalie Richards We discussed the budget memo materials.
2/11 Rosalie Richards We talked about faculty outreach and supporting scholarships with a language component.
2/19 Nathan Wolek and Chris Griffin
We met to talk about potential opportunities for the Brown Center to support scholarship outreach.
2/19 Nora Huth We discussed skills translation project.
2/24 Elizabeth Skomp
We discussed the upcoming scholarship advisors meeting.
3/10 Rosalie Richards We discussed the budget and the upcoming scholarship advisors meeting.
3/25 Scholarship Advisors, Elizabeth Skomp, Rosalie Richards
We touched base to discuss the work of scholarship advising and to clarify the role of the Research and External Scholarships Advisor.
4/15 Rosalie Richards We talked about the spring info session and assessment results, and an annual report form for advisors.
4/23 Rebecca Hett We discussed several scholarship opportunities that interest Rebecca.
5/5 Rosalie Richards We began talking about the AY20 annual report.
5/6 Noel Painter, Rosalie Richards
We discussed areas of growth from AY20 and opportunities for engaging students over the summer.
5/12 Rosalie Richards We discussed some of the steps need in order to make progress on upcoming initiatives.
6/2 Paolo Teodorescu
I invited this student to meet with me after they were referred by a faculty member. Paolo is interested in Truman and Boren.
6/2 Madelyn Wiseman
I invited this student to meet with me after they were referred by a faculty member. Madelyn is interested in Truman, Rangel, Payne, and Pickering.
6/3 Camilo Lilleslatten
I invited this student to meet with me after they were referred by a faculty member. Camilo is interested in Truman.
6/3 Emery McClenny
I invited this student to meet with me after they were referred by a faculty member. Emery is interested in Udall and Truman.
6/9 Rosalie Richards We discussed the annual report and progress on ongoing projects.
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7. Distinguished Scholarships & Fellowships Advisor Role: This section focuses on the role of the advisor.
a. Describe key accomplishments, challenges, and recommendations for improvement opportunities.
In the FY19 annual report, I described the need to increase outreach to faculty and staff across campus.
Throughout FY20, several initiatives built awareness and encouraged engagement in scholarship advising among
faculty and staff. These initiatives (described in greater detail in section 3 of this report) ultimately led to
additional collaborations and an increase in the number of faculty and staff who refer students for scholarship
advising. Another accomplishment this year was increased collaboration between myself and the 6 scholarship
advisors. This year, advisors participated in the Fall 2019 and Spring 2020 info sessions, presented at the January
faculty meeting, attended an advising meeting, and submitted annual reports on applicant activity. FY20 also
saw accomplishments around student outreach. Through collaboration with several faculty and staff, I was able
to organize outreach targeting specific student populations such as School of Music students, Peace Corps
students, RAs, and international students. Perhaps the most exciting accomplishment this year has been growth
in the number of students in the application pipeline. In the FY19 annual report, I list 7 students who plan to
apply for a scholarship. In FY20, 12 students submitted a scholarship application and I am aware of another 17
who plan to apply in a future application cycle. Among the 12 who submitted this year, 2 students were named
finalists and 1 student was awarded a scholarship.
Of course, the circumstances brought by COVID-19 posed unique challenges to scholarship advising work. 88%
of students who attended the April 2020 info session indicated that they were “unsure” of whether they would
apply for a scholarship. This is compared to only 53.8 % who said the same in October 2019. Encouraging
students to maintain interest in scholarships (many of which incorporate travel) during these uncertain times
will be an ongoing focus in the coming months. There is also uncertainty around the plans of scholarship
foundations themselves. Some spring 2020 scholarship competitions were cancelled due to the pandemic, and
others may make changes to their application processes next year.
My recommendations for improvement are as follows:
Allocate a small budget to fund supplies for future workshops/presentations, outreach, and professional
development.
Acquire additional support by expanding use of student assistants or possibly hiring a dedicated student assistant.
Identify advisors for scholarships that do not have one, such as the Boren Scholarship and the Critical Languages Scholarship.
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b. Summarize professional development activity during the reporting year, including activities with the
Office of Faculty Engagement and the Office of the Provost and Academic Affairs.
This year I participated in professional development opportunities that helped me deepen my understanding of
external scholarships work, including:
Attended NAFA 2019 biennial conference
Have attended or plan to attend the following upcoming NAFA online summer 2020 workshops:
o Trends in Higher Ed
o Successful Online Strategies for Recruitment, Social Media Referrals, and Cohort Advising
o Virtual Skill Share
Attended May 2020 Office of Faculty Engagement Retreat and June 2020 Academic Leaders Retreat
c. Describe any plans for staff structuring, restructuring (including student support, etc.).
This year I received significant support from student assistants employed by the duPont-Ball Library. In the future, I hope
to acquire additional support by expanding use of library student assistants or possibly hiring a dedicated student
assistant who can have a stronger focus on helping me handle the logistics of this work.
I also plan to continue expanding collaborations with other faculty and staff on campus. This year, valuable new
connections were formed between External Scholarships and Career and Professional Development, Student Success,
the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Music, and the Brown Center. Collaborations formed in AY19 with
Marketing, WORLD, scholarship advisors, and many other faculty and staff continued. I will continue to seek out
opportunities to enrich External Scholarships work through similar partnerships.
8. Additional improvement opportunities: Describe any additional improvement opportunities including
approaches that could be supported by the Office of Faculty Engagement.
The move to online-only interactions due to COVID-19 has posed both challenges and opportunities to Research and
External Scholarships work. A few of the relevant lessons that pose opportunities for improvement include:
Hosting information sessions online has some advantages
In Spring 2019 and Fall 2019, I held a series of two face-to-face Distinguished Scholarship and Fellowship info
sessions. These sessions were successful and each attracted an average of over 40 student attendees. The Spring
2020 sessions, originally scheduled in person for the week of March 16th, were cancelled and replaced with an
online event held on April 14th. About 30 students attended the live event, and another 15 requested a copy of
the recording. Since I was able to make the recording available on the website and Facebook page, even more
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students may have viewed it and I will be able to share it with any others who express interest until the next
session is held. I also had the most success in attracting scholarship advisors to present at this session, which
may in part be due to the convenience of presenting online. For the first time, two previous scholarship
applicants also spoke at this event. Both gave me permission to share clips of their talks at future sessions. One
of these speakers is an alumna who would have been unlikely to speak at an in person event anyway. Finally,
hosting the sessions online was in some ways easier for me as an organizer. I didn’t have to spend time running
errands like picking up snacks, working with the print shop, setting up the space, etc.. Since I recorded the
session, I only needed to lead one instead of two as in the past.
Need to explore online workshop options
It was relatively easy for me to move the info sessions online, but organizing a ½ day scholarship application
workshop as an online event will be a bigger challenge. The goal of this event would be to provide an
opportunity for connection, development, and support to students who are beginning to prepare scholarship
application materials. We started thinking about doing something like this last semester with the hopes of
organizing a pilot event for late Spring 2020. Since one of the major benefits of participation in this workshop
would be connection, this project has temporarily been tabled. It will take some intensive brainstorming and
planning to figure out how to turn this into a meaningful online event.
Students remain interested in scholarships, but unsure about the future
The success of the online info session in combination with one-on-one communications that I’ve had with
hopeful applicants tells has taught me that students remain interested in scholarships. Perhaps unsurprisingly,
there is also an aura of uncertainty about the future. A survey distributed following the April 2020 info session
asked “Do you plan on applying to any of the scholarships or fellowships discussed in the session?” Results
indicated that 88.2% (15 of 17) respondents were “not sure yet.” Only 1 person said “yes.” The same question
was asked following the October 2019 info session. At that time only 53.8% of (14 of 26) attendees were unsure,
while 42.3% (11 individuals) said “yes.” One way that I plan to address this uncertainty is to emphasize to
students the need to think long-term. Students often may not realize that planning scholarship applications
many months or years in advance is advantageous. Targeting prospective, incoming, and first-year students and
their parents will be one way to encourage long-term scholarship planning. Some strategies I plan to implement
include:
o Lead a 0-credit engagement experience for incoming new students. This experience is titled The New
Student’s Guide to Distinguished Scholarships and Fellowships and is scheduled for July 7.
o Work with Marketing to create a web page that emphasizes student scholarship success stories.
o Gather feedback from previous scholarship applicants.
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