Scholarships & Tutor of the Year

SCWCA Conference Scholarship Policy

Scholarship applications due: January 5, 2026 by 11:59pm CT

Scholarship notifications anticipated mid-January 2026

See the official scholarship policy taken from scwca.net below.

Scholarship Committee Membership

The five state representatives will comprise the scholarship committee, with a chair elected by the representatives each year at the annual business meeting. For the purpose of making awards, additional scholarship committee members may be chosen by the chair from SCWCA members who volunteer to serve as readers.

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Fund Availability

The Scholarship Committee will confer with the SCWCA board to determine the availability of funds before announcing scholarships for a given conference. The total amount set aside for scholarships will not exceed $2000.00 for a given year, unless specifically approved by the board.

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Funds Awarded

For each annual conference for which sufficient funds are available, awards will include registration waivers plus two nights’ hotel stay for four recipient categories: one tutor, one administrator, one group presentation (up to two hotel rooms for the group award), and one open presenter award. The awards will be based on the following criteria:

• One administrator/director will be chosen, with preference being given to a first-time presenter; from each of the four states that make up the region;

• One tutor will be chosen, with preference being given to a first-time presenter; from each of the four states that make up the region;

• The members of one group presentation will be chosen, with preference being given to first-time presenters. Recipients will not have funding from their institutions.

• One open award, open to any conference attendee, with preference given to a particularly strong justification for attending (as requested on the scholarship application form). 

If additional information is required to make a determination, the following criteria will be considered in this order:

• Recipients must be presenting at the conference;

• Recipients will be first-time conference attendees (except for the open award);

• Quality of the conference abstract and/or quality of the rationale for receiving funds;

• Distance traveled (with preference being given to the four states that comprise the SCWCA region).

If there are no applicants in a given category, the scholarship committee may choose to select more than one winner in a different category.

If we do not receive applications from directors and tutors from each state, awards may be given to additional applicants from other states.

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Reduction in Funds

For conferences located in cities in which hotel costs exceed $100.00 per night, the hotel award may be reduced to one night’s stay. For years in which funds are very limited, the awards may be reduced to registration waivers only, or waivers plus one hotel award each for a director and a tutor.

Funding Method

Registration fees will be waived by the conference institution. For the group award, up to four registration fees will be waived; if funds permit that year, additional registration fees for the group may be waived. Hotel awards will be paid directly to the conference hotel. The committee will maintain an alternate list so that unused awards can be shifted if initial awardees cannot attend the conference, or if they choose to share rooms.