Student Academic Grants & Awards

WELCOME! In these pages we will introduce you to a myriad of opportunities, and provide a range of resources to help you decide where you are going and how to get there. Here you'll find information on a variety of competitive grants and scholarships, links to scholarship foundation home pages, and plenty of practical advice from programs and past applicants to help you put together an outstanding application.

Whatever your goals may be, a scholarship is a small part of the journey you are taking through Willamette, and beyond.

Here at SAGA we can help you to:

identify your career goals
clarify your values and interests
improve your writing and interviewing skills
move toward planning for graduate school and life after graduation

National scholarships and grants are highly selective competitions that can provide financial and professional support for research, completion of your undergraduate education, and funding for graduate and international study and research. Unlike financial aid, scholarships such as the Truman, Rhodes, or Mellon are merit-based; need is not a factor. Moreover, many of these scholarships will be used for study, research, and travel following graduation, and so will not affect your financial aid at Willamette. (For information about financial aid at Willamette, contact the Office of Financial Aid.)

There are a range of other places to find funding opportunities and professional or volunteer experiences through Willamette. The Office of Career Services has information about volunteering, internships for during and after college, and post-graduate service programs like the Peace Corps and Teach for America. Willamette's Office of Financial Aid offers several internal scholarships that can help you pursue your academic goals while you are a student here.

Finding the right scholarship opportunity can demand a significant commitment of your time. Read the criteria carefully, check the fine print, and consider the purpose of the scholarship before you apply: does it fund independent research? coursework? language study or cultural immersion? Some scholarships, such as the Rotary and Fulbright, offer international travel and study after graduation, but don't necessarily lead to a graduate degree. Some, like the Goldwater and the Mellon, restrict the eligible fields of study; others, such as the Rhodes, impose age restrictions. Some are specifically geared to Ph.D. aspirants, like the NSF and Javits. Others are only offered to specific groups like minorities, women, or descendents of Civil War veterans. Some expect particular kinds of volunteer experience or extracurricular activities. Some take financial need into account. Most have gpa requirements, and several have a service requirement. Look for an opportunity that fits who you are, provides the kind of experiences you seek, and what you want to do and be. If the program for which you want to apply requires institutional nominations, contact the SAGA office for campus deadlines; but feel free to come in for advice and support for any application.

2008 WINNERS OF NATIONAL AWARDS REQUIRING UNIVERSITY NOMINATION

Cassandra Farrin ('05), Fulbright Scholar
Marco Fiallo, Kemper Scholar
Mika Lim, Kemper Scholar
Jennifer McKenzie, Watson Scholar
Lucas Nebert, Fulbright Scholar
Jeff Weber, Goldwater Scholar

OTHER SPRING 2008 NATIONAL AWARD WINNERS

Jacqie Grace, NSF Fellow
Jacob Swenson, American Graduate Fellow
Collin Sui, Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellow
Sarah Zerzan, NCAA Post Grad Scholar

INTERNAL SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS

2008 Presidential Scholars
Recipients of the 2008 Presidential Scholarships have been chosen. The program funds rising seniors to do independent research or to expand on senior thesis research. This year's Presidential Scholars are:

Corey Costantino, “Effects of Ring-Closing Allene Metathesis Reactions on Synthetic Helical Peptides”
Sponsor: Andrew Duncan, Chemistry

Molly Sultany, “Facilitative vs Competitive Plant-pollinator Interaction in Sympatric Pacific Northwest Camassia: An assessment of flowering phenology, floral density & pollinator abundance”
Sponsor: Susan Kephart, Biology

2008 Carson Scholars
Recipients of the Carson Undergraduate Research Grants for 2008 have been chosen. The program funds summer research and creative projects up to $3000. This year's recipients are:

Alisa Alexander, “D.E. May: The Artist as an Archivist”
Sponsor: Roger Hull, Art

Rebecca Demarest, “Granddaddy: Research and Meditation on 15 Pages of Letters”
Sponsor: Gretchen Flesher Moon, English

Katlyn Giombolini, “Sustaining the Local Food Movement: Farmers in the Willamette Valley”
Sponsor: Kimberlee Chambers, Earth and Environmental Science

Holly Janka, “Medieval Pilgrimage: Art as a Manifestation of Christian Spirituality”
Sponsor, Wendy Peterson Boring, History

Sarah Kutten, “Ghana's New Bonding Measures: Is Nursing a Ticket Out?”
Sponsor: Joyce Millen, Anthropology

Andrew Lackman, "A Cost-Benefit Analysis of Green Vs. Gray Infrastructure".
Sponsor: Don Negri, Economics

Acacia McGuire, “Identifiable Victim Effect”
Sponsor: James Friedrich, Psychology

Stacy Michaelson, “Examining the Relationship of Farm Women to Feminism: A Case Study of Southern Oregon”
Sponsor: Melissa Buis-Michaux, Politics

John Michael Miller, “The "Unknowable" Policy Guide: A Critical Assessment of Natural Rate Theory and Application by the Federal Reserve”
Sponsor: Jerry Gray, Economics

Laura Westmeyer, “Working the Land: The Future of Argentine Cattle Ranchers and the Land Upon Which They Graze”
Sponsor: Kimberlee Chambers, Earth and Environmental Science