2005-06 AMBASSADORIAL SCHOLARSHIP

APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE NOW!

Please send forth the best and brightest students you can find to study abroad for the 2005-06 Academic year.  RI Ambassadorial Scholarship applications are NOW available from anyone on the Ambassadorial Scholarship Committee or they can be downloaded from the RI website at: http://www.rotary.org/newsroom/downloadcenter/foundation/educational.html#scholarships

The scholarships are designed to further international understanding and goodwill and provide for study abroad in more than 150 countries where Rotary clubs are located.  We have two(2) $25,000 one year academic scholarships to award to 2 worthy candidates in June of 2004. Please note that our District offers only the one-year Academic Year Scholarship as it best meets the purposes of the scholarship program.

Established deadlines are:

Completed Ambassadorial Scholar applications are due to Rotary clubs for preliminary consideration by March 15, 2004.

Clubs select up to 3 candidates and submit to the District Scholarship Committee by April 15, 2004.  The Ambassadorial Scholarship Committee will interview the prospective scholars May 16 or May 23 and select three outstanding candidates.   Finalists must be present for the interview. There will be no exceptions to this requirement.

District 5280 will submit our 2 Ambassadorial Scholars to RI in June, 2004 for one year's study abroad to begin 2005-2006.

PLEASE NOTE:

We want to encourage all clubs to submit potential Ambassadorial Scholars to interview for the 2 scholarships we have to award for study abroad next year.  The guidelines are that we will only accept 3 candidates per club. That means if one of the clubs, for example, near USC or UCLA has more than 3 great applicants they will have to give those in excess of three to alternate clubs in the District for submission.  If more than one scholar from the same club is selected for a scholarship, we will then ask that club to assign any more than one to another club for sponsorship to avoid any financial hardship to any one club and to maintain the spirit of "fair to all concerned". The committee has no desire to create too great of a financial burden for any one club. Furthermore, it is our sincere desire to spread the wealth of pride among the sponsors and the fiscal responsibility as well.

Please be sure to pass all this information to the chair of your Rotary scholarship subcommittee or your Director of International Service so they can begin to publicize the program and start recruiting qualified candidates, if they haven't done so already.

FYI:

To avoid disqualifications, disappointments, and unnecessary work on the part of the clubs and applicants, I have extracted several pertinent guidelines that must be followed at the club level before applications can be considered complete and forwarded to the District Selection Committee for final interview.

1. Rotarians, their spouses or direct relatives are not eligible.

2. Candidates from District 5280 must be U.S. citizens.

3. Scholars may be of any age (over 18) and must have completed two years of university work or have a secondary school education with employment in a recognized vocation for at least two years.  Scholars may be married, but spouses are not provided for as part of the scholarship.

4. Applicants may apply only to one club (a club within the Rotary district of their college, permanent residence, or workplace).

5. A committee at the club level must have interviewed applicants before applications are forwarded to the District Selection Committee.  Applications forwarded to the District Selection Committee must include the name of the sponsoring counselor and signature of the Club President or they will be disqualified.

6. Upon receipt of recommended applicants from Rotary districts, The Rotary International Foundation is the final approval authority for the scholarship, and assigns the scholar to a specific institution in a country, with consideration for the scholar's listed priorities.  Scholars will not be assigned to areas of a country where they have lived or studied for more than six months.

7. Please inform candidates that they will be required to maintain their presence in the Los Angeles area during 2004-2005.  They will be asked to visit other Rotary clubs, participate in club projects, attend some club meetings, attend at least one District Breakfast, attend the District Conference and participate in all invited Rotary orientation activities that take place throughout the year until departure for the study country.  Thus, it is essential to determine specific plans of the applicant for the next year.

8. Applicants must submit responses to each essay question in English and in the language of their first-choice study country if it is not their native language.  If applicants list study institutions in countries where the native language is different from their own, they must also have the appropriate Language Ability Form completed by a language teacher.  For language proficiency requirements, please see the 2003-04 Ambassadorial Scholar’s Handbook pg 13-14.

While several Rotary Clubs have established long-term relations with some of the major colleges and universities such as UCLA, USC, Pepperdine, and Loyola Marymount, there are many liberal arts and proprietary schools within the district which, as yet, have not been informed of our Rotary Scholarship program.

For more information please contact our Ambassadorial Scholar Outbound co-chairs: Ray Brown of Downey rbrown@aahc.com; Doug Wilson of Bellflower, Doug.Wilson9@verizon.net; Larry Ybarra of Gardena, ybarral@earthlink.net; or  Ambassadorial Scholarship Committee Chair PDG Vicki Radel, Ph.D. of Redondo Beach, DrVictoriaRadel@cs.com

THANK YOU for sending us your best and  brightest students; they deserve a chance at this highly respected and coveted international "Ambassador of Goodwill" Scholarship. 
                                
Good luck and good recruiting.

Sincerely, 

Doug Wilson, Co-Chair
District 5280 Outbound Scholar Committee
562-867-3259