the Informer

This year the Emeriti Scholarship Association announced that it has renewed and increased its annual scholarship award.
The EA has awarded students based on academic merit since the 2006-2007 academic year. This year the award has been increased to two awards of $500 each.

The scholarship is offered to undergraduate students entering either their sophomore, junior, or senior year as full time students a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25.

Consideration for the award is based on scholarly achievement and commitment to extra-curricular activities at the university or within the community at large. Applicants must also be enrolled in any of the colleges at the University of Hartford for at least one semester.

Emeriti Association Executive Secretary and Treasurer Walter Banzhaf shed some light on the association. The EA is comprised of retired university faculty and administrators who have been recognized by the university’s Board of Regents for their “outstanding service over a period of years.”

They assist the university in achieving its academic and professional goals by using the expertise of its members to the best advantage of the school.

“We appreciate the support of the university,” Banzhaf said, “in assisting our membership to continue their professional, educational and scholarly activities.”

The Emeriti Association offers scholarships to students because, Banzhaf stated, “All members served the university for many years, and are committed to seeing its students succeed. The Emeriti Scholarship was created to assist our best and brightest with funding their education.”

Scholarship money is provided by all of the donation money from members of the association allocated to an “endowment” account.

The annual income from this account is used for the scholarships. Some donations are also used to increase the award amount in a given year.

Very significant contributions in recent years have allowed the Emeriti Scholarship to grow from being a single $250 award to two awards of $500 each for the 2010-2011 academic school year.

Thus far the award has been given to students of the College of Arts and Sciences, the Hartt School and CETA. Every year the Emeriti Scholarship Committee makes an effort to rotate the award among the various colleges.

There is no application form for students to fill out for this scholarship; rather, prospective students should submit a resume, two letters of recommendation from the applicant’s advisor or other faculty members, and a letter of application.

The letter of application is open to the student’s creativity, and it should highlight their academic and extra curricular achievements at the university.

The deadline for submission of these materials is Wednesday, March 31 at 4 p.m. All materials should be emailed to Walter Banzhaf at banzhaf@hartford.edu.