Scholarships
“Our scholarships should be bestowed on those whose
ability and earnestness in the primary department have been proved, and whose capacity for a higher education is
fully shown.”
~ Elizabeth Cady Stanton ~
Most often when we think of scholarships, we think of
assistance provided to high school graduates, to attend college. We know that many of our best young athlete’s,
not only enjoy participating in those activities, but hope that their skills will warrant a scholarship; otherwise
they may never have the opportunity to attend college at all. Don’t get me wrong, the overwhelming numbers of scholarships
are awarded for academic achievement rather than athletics. In fact, of the 7 billion dollars in annual scholarships
awarded each year, only about 1 billion dollars are awarded men & women athletes. A similar comparison in number
of individuals receiving scholarships would be 1.7 million general scholarships compared to about 126,000 for athletics.
Many scholarships are awarded for very specific endeavors.
FIRST Scholarships are awarded to students who have participated in Robotics
Competition. The FIRST Robotics Competition is an exciting, multinational
competition that teams professionals and young people to solve an engineering design problem in an intense and
competitive way. The program is a life-changing, career-molding experience— and a lot of fun. In 2006, the competition
will reach over 28,000 high-school-aged young people on over 1,125 teams in 33 regional events. FIRST teams
came from Brazil, Canada, Ecuador, Israel, Mexico, the U.K., and almost every U.S. state. The competitions are
high-tech spectator sporting events, the result of lots of focused brainstorming, real-world teamwork, dedicated
mentoring, project timelines, and deadlines. In 2005, 59 colleges and universities
from the United States and Canada, three professional associations, and three companies awarded over $8,000,000
in scholarships to 328 FIRST Robotics Competition students.
NACME (the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering) is widely known as the nation's largest
private source of scholarships for African American, American Indian and Latino women and men in engineering. Over
15 percent of all minority engineering graduates since 1974 have received scholarship support from NACME and are
now leaders in government, industry and academia.
Microsoft is committed to building a pipeline of future computer scientists. They offer scholarships
which are designed to encourage students to pursue studies in computer science and related technical disciplines.
Students from across the United States, Canada, and Mexico are awarded scholarships in recognition of their passion
for software, academic excellence, and ability to make a difference in the software industry. Microsoft offers
four types of technical scholarships to current undergraduate students. They are; General, Women’s, Underrepresented
Minority and for Students with Disabilities.
Berklee College of Music in Boston, Mass, awards $10.5 million in scholarships
each year to students from all over the world who demonstrate the potential to succeed in today's music industry.
The Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks of the USA through The Elks
National Foundation provides more than $3.3 million in college scholarships each year to graduating high school
seniors. The 500 "Most Valuable Student” four-year scholarships, ranging from $1,000 per year to $15,000 per
year, for graduating high school seniors based on financial need, leadership and scholarship, Four-year scholarships
for eight Eagle Scouts selected by the Boy Scouts of America, and Four-year scholarships for eight Gold Award recipients
selected by the Girl Scouts of the United States of America.
Scholarships, such as the ones included above, are in reality a two way street. To borrow from one of those
scholarship sources: ‘Students are awarded scholarships in recognition for their passion, academic excellence
and ability to make a difference…’ Such students are driven to excel in all aspects of life.
There is more to getting a scholarship or just getting into college than academic performance. Typically colleges
use a weighting scale with upward to 70% coming from academic criteria and 30% from non-academic criteria such
as; Special Contributions (talents, cultural vitality, intellectual stimulation); Personal Motivation
(tenacity, unusual circumstances, overcoming hardships); Service (commitment to community, experience
and impact on people); Writing Ability/Communications Skills (mechanics, creativity).
By now you are wondering why I would use this column space to give an overview on scholarships. The reason is
very simple. You see there are all kinds of scholarships and I was using a round about way to get to the specific
one I wanted to draw to your attention.
Annually, the American Resort Development Association (ARDA), offers Regional Seminars in eight locations around
the USA. There are three important reasons why these seminars are continuing to expand in size and quality. Those
reasons are Education, Networking and Showcases. With their emphasis on management and operations, local decision-makers
and vendors area whole-heartily endorsing these exciting educational opportunities. The regional seminars are part
trend report, part legislative briefing, part good old fashioned grassroots networking all mixed with sponsored
fun and socializing. These seminars have revealed themselves as a microcosm of what ARDA is doing well in association-to-industry
relationships. They're part outreach and a vital communication source. The bottom line is that they have the ability
to connect people to people. They bring the information covered in national meetings to ARDA members' backyards.
Such gatherings will be held in the Southwest (July), the Carolinas (August), Rockies (September), and New England
(December).For specific information simply press CTRL and click on the following:
http://www.arda.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Meetings/RegionalMeetings/Regional_Seminars.htm
Each of these conferences have exciting agendas and educational opportunities. I have just finished putting
together the program for the Southwest Conference which will occur on Monday and Tuesday July 24 and 25. Subject
matter such as the following will be covered: Resort Rehab – Revenue other than Assessments – Exchange Firm Standards
– Professionalism – Reducing Liability – Staffing Sources – Resales – Audits & Annual Reports – HOA Board Due-Diligence
– Community Involvement – and Default Recoveries. There will also we a Showcase Reception where those in attendance
will imbibe in liquid sprits, hors d'oeuvre and fellowship, as they wander from exhibit table to exhibit table
filled with products and information directly related to resort operations. The venue for the upcoming Southwest
Conference be the Carefree Resort and Villas in Carefree Arizona which is nestled
in the scenic foothills surrounding Scottsdale, where the resort offers luxury guestroom accommodations, suites,
villas and vacation rentals in a premier Arizona golf resort destination.
FINAL THOUGHT
One of the most difficult
positions within the timeshare industry is that of voluntary leadership, within a Resort Owners’ Association, as
a member of its Board of Directors. Anyone associated with a timeshare / vacation ownership resort know that these
are special men and women who are deserving of our respect and appreciation. Unfortunately, very few of those HOA
Board Members are aware of ARDA’s attempt to show how much they are valued, as one of our industries best kept
secrets is the Regional Meeting Scholarship Program sponsored by the Resort Owners Coalition (ARDA-ROC).
While this
Scholarship Program doesn’t offer assistance in the thousands of dollars provided by some of the programs showcased
above, it does cover the registration fee for any HOA Board Member wishes to attend any of these Regional meetings,
seminars or conferences. As an example, the registration fee for the two day Southwest Conference is only $140.
If you are,
or know of, a Timeshare Resort HOA Board Member will you please consider sharing this knowledge and encouraging
anyone eligible to take advantage of this Scholarship opportunity. I assure you that it will be a win-win for all
concerned.
If you have
an interest contact any of the following ARDA staff members.
Catherine Lacey, VP Meetings & Conventions
clacey@arda.org
Sandra DePoy, VP ARDA-ROC sdepoy@arda.org
Hope to see you in Carefree…
JS 6/06
