With the help of 450-plus volunteers this past year, the Mensa Education & Research Foundation awarded 176 scholarships totaling more than $77,000 to students attending universities and colleges in the United States. As you read this, we're ramping up to start another year, and I want to share just a few highlights of last year and what's coming up on the horizon.
This past year, the Mensa Foundation's scholarship program took a leap forward and converted to online submissions from applicants. That change meant scholarship chairs could access submissions by downloading them from a website and could distribute essays to scholarship judges via an automatically generated PDF file sent by email. Scores and finalists from the local judging process were entered online, and the process continued at the regional and national level, with each chair able to easily access the essays for judging. The new process saved time, postage, and paper and enabled better tracking of entries at all levels.
Beyond logistics, though, was it successful? From the student perspective, I'd definitely say yes. More than 9,400 applications were received—roughly double the number received in the previous year. From the scholarship chair view, here's a comment from the e-list: "For a first-time test of the new system, I was most impressed with how well it went.…A fantastic improvement over the manual drill the previous chair described to me." And my favorite quote: "The online scholarship process rocks!"
As you read this, the team of scholarship chairs is being assembled for the coming year. We may have already asked some of you to judge. Glitches in the process that weren't already fixed are being handled, and we look forward to an even smoother process. A number of groups and individuals are adding to or starting new scholarships, so even more opportunities will be available for students in this next year.
So, where are we going from here? One goal is to extend eligibility for submissions to students living in areas where a Local Group is not participating. Our experience this previous year indicates that the judging logistics are feasible, and we plan to give it a try this year. Such submissions would not be eligible for the "participatory" scholarship from a non-participating Local Group. Groups who do participate, however, would continue to have a $300 scholarship awarded on their behalf with the funds provided by the Foundation. All applicants would be eligible for relevant regional or national scholarships.
Also, the scholarship program has grown (a good thing), so the job of National Scholarship Chair is now too large for one volunteer. I've been working on how we can address this in a way that optimizes the existing strengths of our process while incorporating assistance from volunteers.
Through the dedication of our volunteers, the Foundation's scholarship program brings financial support and the Mensa name to students around the country. You, too, can be a part of fulfilling one of Mensa's purposes: "Identify and foster human intelligence for the benefit of humanity."
If you are already a volunteer for your group's scholarship program, thank you. You and your Local Group are ensuring another student is encouraged to achieve a dream. If you aren't yet a volunteer and want to know more about how you can make a difference, email Volunteers@mensafoundation.org. For more details on the Mensa Foundation scholarship program plus a complete list of award winners, visit the scholarship page.