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Community Service Scholarship Application Procedures
1. Read the Community Service Scholarship Program Description.
Be sure you understand the program and are prepared to commit to it. The $1000 scholarship is awarded at the conclusion of the academic year after the service hours and all other requirements are completed. We do not award partial scholarships.
2. Submit your completed application to the Financial Aid & Scholarship Office. The Financial Aid & Scholarship Office is located in Cougar Central, Craven 3rd Floor. Submit your application by the October 1 deadline. The Financial Aid Office will verify the screening criteria.
3. Once notified that you have been accepted to the scholarship program, visit the Office of Community Service Learning (OCSL), Craven Hall 5211 to discuss possible placement opportunities and registration for HD 499C in the Spring semester. You may also check out placement possibilities on the OCSL database, available at www.csusm.edu/ocsl. (If you wish to work for a service organization not listed on the OCSL database, appropriate arrangements can usually be made.)
4. Contact the organization and request an interview, preferably with the person who would be your site supervisor. During the interview, learn as much as you can about the work of the organization and about the role you would play. Treat this interview as you would a job interview because your acceptance by an organization determines whether or not you can receive the Community Service Scholarship. The organization may have other students to interview and may not make an on-the-spot decision about you. You may wish to interview other organizations and may not want to commit immediately, either. In either case, make arrangements with your interviewer about how and when you will reconnect to make a final determination. Once you and your chosen organization have reached an agreement to work together, the organization must contact the Office of Community Service Learning immediately at (760) 750-4055 to confirm the field placement and starting date of service. The organization will need to provide a job description for the service placement to the OCSL.
5. Participants in the Community Service Scholarship must register for HD499C Serving the Community, for the coming Spring semester. You will be given a schedule for HD 499C class meetings; attendance is mandatory.
6. Move the process along as quickly as possible. Scholarships will be assigned in the order that students complete the process and have confirmed agreements with a non-profit organization. (However, five of the scholarships will be held for low income students who have qualified for assistance through the Financial Aid and Scholarships.)
7. You may now begin working for your organization. Once accepted to the Community Service Scholarship program and connected with a non-profit agency, you and your organization will determine how to schedule your hours. Be sure this schedule will permit you to complete all 170 hours by the end of the Spring semester. Note: Service hours must be completed by the end of the Spring semester to receive a grade for HD 499C. Incomplete grades may affect your scholarship award disbursement.
Students may apply 50 hours from another service learning course taken concurrently with HD 499 or in the preceding Fall semester if approved by the Director of the OCSL.
