The application process for the Student Association (SA) Senate Leadership Scholarship opened up to eligible student leaders across the Southern Adventist University campus earlier this year.
At a Senate meeting on March 4, 2020, Natasya Panjaitan and Rodny Aquino presented a proposal for additional funding for the scholarship, according to the Senate minutes.
According to Panjaitan and Aquino’s presentation, there are three steps included in selecting two recipients. First, the SA Scholarship Board reviews all the applications. Next, the Financial Appeals Committee verifies the eligibility of the candidates. And, lastly, the recipients are awarded.
The SA Scholarship Board is made up of Kenny Turpen, Mark Galvez, Luis Moreno, Dennis Negron, Kari Shultz, Xenia Figueroa and Natasya Panjaitan.
According to the presentation, the scholarship had $1,000 from an endowment fund, and leaders were seeking a matching donation of $1,000 from the Senate to provide two $1,000 scholarships.
“This scholarship was created a few years back by SA through Advancement. The funds are actually from an endowment fund that was established through different businesses donating towards this fund, one of the largest contributors being Papa John’s,” Panjaitan said. “The funds in the endowment fund are invested in different avenues and have a profit. That amount is what's going towards the scholarship fund. Essentially, the scholarship fund is sustainable year by year.”
With the $1,000 Senate donation passed for the Leadership Scholarship at the March 4 meeting, two recipients were chosen based on certain criteria.
According to the scholarship flyer that was posted on social media and sent to students via email, there were several requirements for those who applied. Those requirements included holding junior or senior class standing, having a grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or above, occupying a leadership position (excluding SA officers) and submitting a one-page essay answering the question, “How has your leadership experience at Southern shaped you into the person you are today?”
The original due date for applying was March 23 but was extended to March 30 due to COVID-19, according to Senator Abby Hansen.
“We do have top candidates for the scholarship recipients,” Panjaitan said. “The committee who was responsible for the voting of this scholarship has met and is awaiting for Student Finance to verify the eligibility of the candidates that we have suggested.”
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