2008 Woodie Awards
Private scholarships benefit recipients and donors
Shea Snelson
Issue date: 5/13/04 Section: News
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Comment on this article"It was given to me by Angie and Mark Smith in memory of their daughter who died when she was eight months old due to chromosome abnormalities," Terlouw said.
The scholarship is specifically given to a student in the College of Business, with Terlouw being the first recipient.
"It was a huge honor to be chosen for this because I was her student when she was going through this terrible tragedy," Terlouw said. "I went through all the heartache with Mrs. Smith and watched her with all the heartache about her daughter; it meant a lot to have a scholarships given to me in honor of someone else."
The impact of private scholarships available at SBU can be seen in the lives of both the donors and the receivers. Cindy Rice, estate planning associate / private scholarship coordinator for the University, asserts that the donors are as impacted by private scholarship as the student recipients.
"The donors feel it is their ministry through God to provide the help they did not have when they were trying to attend college," Rice said. "Many of our donors say that they pray daily for their recipients - it is a personal thing for them. They want to know that they are helping students and meet those who are receiving the money they donated. I hear many students say they receive letters from their donor once they have met them at the fall scholarship appreciation days or Christmas cards."
Private scholarships have the ability to touch everyone through kindness and financial support. Rice recently shared the statistics on private scholarships. SBU offers a total of 295 private scholarships; however, not all are available to students. Of the 295 scholarships, 60 are inactive, but will be issued in the future.
"There are many which are started that are building to the trustee-suggested minimum balance of $10,000," Rice said.
The largest endowed scholarship is the Clarence and Edna Wheeler Scholarship, which is given in honor of the late Clarence Wheeler, the owner of Consumers grocery stores. The endowment totals $362, 719, which breaks down into $18,000 in scholarships each year.
"Of the 295 total scholarships, 238 are endowed and 57 non-endowed. The endowed scholarship balances earn interest for student scholarships (never invading principal) and the non-endowed are money-in, money-out to students (no interest earned)," Rice said.
In regard to the actual number of students receiving scholarships, the statistics may be misleading. Some scholarships split the award between a number of students, ranging from two to 20.
Last year, 419 SBU students received scholarships totaling $366,249.
According to last year's statistics, the smallest scholarship amount totaled $74, while the largest scholarship is the Stanley Dill Award. The scholarship is awarded to students nominated by their college and then selected by SBU President Dr. C. Pat Taylor. The Stanley Dill Award is based on exemplarily conduct and totals $2,800.
The actual process begins with college committees recommending candidates to the faculty / staff committee called the University Scholarship Committee.
"The University Scholarship Committee takes these recommendations and considers several factors in the final decision," Rice said. "Then we select students for those that name several majors as recipients, the 'open to any major' scholarships, ones who say students should be from certain counties in Missouri, certain Baptist associations in Missouri or out-of-state conventions and from certain high schools. Some are named by churches to receive in honor of past members."
The committee then meets with Rice for the final selection process and selects students for other scholarships.
The SBU private scholarship program is still growing, with 10 to 13 new scholarships added each year. Though the deadline for private scholarships has passed, there are still some applications available. Students may see Rice for further private scholarship information. She can be reached by telephone at 328-1838 or by e-mailing crice@sbuniv.edu.
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