Madeleine McCormick | News Editor

The Value Added initiative has been giving financially disadvantaged students a chance to study abroad and perform internships for a number of years says Associate Dean of Faculty, Dr. Peter Steinfeld. However, this year the initiative has undergone a few changes creating a standard for equal opportunity.

This year, a panel of BVU associates will oversee and personally examine each application. Once each application has been reviewed, the panel will then distribute money to each student who applied.

“This way, everyone gets a fair share,” Steinfeld said.

According to Steinfeld, there are many different kinds of award donations. Many of these donations require the recipient to have specific qualifications — this is another reason why the review panel is so important.

“We assign each applicant a donor,” Steinfeld said. We are trying to be more intentional about the way funds are distributed.”

The funds are pooled in order to help students find ways to travel, intern, perform research, and study abroad. The money is donated – some anonymously, some by friends of the university – and set aside for distribution among student applicants.

Each student must fill out an application form, a specific budget, and a 500 word narrative describing the students’ reason for needing the money.

Ken Converse of Institutional Advancement put together the initiative to promote capital campaign which is the main prong of what institutional advancement is trying to do.

“It ensures that students have money to travel and work outside of campus opportunities,” Steinfeld said.

Donations are dependent on availability, however; Steinfeld says that donations are being made consistently increasing the amount of funds available to distribute.

If a student is awarded funding, they must complete a “Student Awards Responsibility Waiver Form” before they are able to collect the money.

No later than four weeks after completion of the endeavor must the student then submit a financial account of the budget, a narrative of their experience, and photographs from the trip.

“A thank you note to the donor is also appreciated,” Steinfeld said.

Value Added submission deadlines occur four times each year; twice in the spring and twice in the fall.

The most recent Spring deadline is February 15; however, students are encouraged to bring applications by as the semester goes on and the second deadline approaches April 15.

Students can submit applications to Michele Kenkel in the Dean of Faculty office.

To apply for value added funding, visit: https://www.bvu.edu/bv/academic-resources/application-process-value.
Value added opportunities occur more than once per year, so Steinfeld encourages students to apply more than once.

Photo by Stephanie Steiner