Foundation Board Votes to Give More Money to Students

The Grizzly Success Scholarship program will provide funds to students within a certain criteria who are close to graduation. The Foundation Board of Directors voted at their quarterly November 14 meeting to repurpose the Foundation Grants program to align with Guided Pathways and impact student retention and completion. $126,000 is available to disburse over three semesters and the results will be monitored to ensure the program is a success.

In another move to help more students finish what they start, the Board of Directors approved a higher disbursement percentage from the Foundation’s $11.5 million endowment for the 2018-2019 academic year. This means more than $600,000 will be disbursed from endowed scholarship funds and nearly $80,000 more in annual scholarship funds.

“Assisting the college with their strategic priorities is important to the work we do at the Foundation,” Vice President of Advancement Stacy Cofer said. “Since providing scholarships to students is our main mission, this opportunity makes perfect sense.”

The Scholarship Taskforce, chaired by Associate Vice President of Enrollment Management Jessica Ohman, Ph.D., conceptualized the idea for the Grizzly Success Scholarship program during a strategic discussion. The taskforce is committed to redefining and redesigning the way scholarships are disbursed institution-wide. Ohman worked with the college’s Institutional Research office to define criteria that targets students who are at risk of leaving Butler without completing a degree. The criteria approved by the Board of Directors is:

• Full-time, degree-seeking students
• Have earned 20-35 credit hours
• 2.75 or higher GPA
• Have not received any other institutional or Foundation scholarship during their time at Butler

At $500 per student for three semesters, 84 students would be impacted through this pilot program.  

“It is important to our board that these dollars truly help students reach the goal of completion,” Cofer said. “That is why this will be monitored closely and the progress of each student tracked so the viability of the program can be measured.”

“With more scholarship applications coming in every year, providing dollars to more students means we can have an impact on more futures,” Scholarship Coordinator Averie Nelson said. “It is our honor to be able to help our students.”

Philanthropic contributions to Butler Community College are coordinated by the Butler Community College Foundation. The foundation manages fundraising efforts with alumni, friends, corporations and foundations to secure private support for the college.