Scholarship

Springhouse Worship and Arts Center Scholarship

Guidelines and Procedures

Background & Objective

The Springhouse Worship and Arts Center College Scholarship was created as a budget item under the line item of Benevolence. The Benevolence budget is maintained by the tithe from the church’s yearly budget. During the creation of the 1998 budget a new line item, Smyrna Assembly Scholarship Fund, was placed within the Benevolence Fund and continues as a ministry of Springhouse Worship and Arts Center. Each month a percentage of the church tithe is allocated to the scholarship fund until the amount designated by the Administrative Board is met for disbursement each July. Scholarship awards are determined by the Springhouse Worship and Arts Center Scholarship Committee.The committee has the discretion to fund one or more scholarships with the allocated money. The Elder Board has created this committee to review applications, conduct interviews, and award the scholarship(s). There will be a minimum of one Elder on the committee.

Eligibility Requirements

The applicant must meet the following requirements:

• Church membership at Springhouse Worship and Arts Center as verified by the Youth Pastor or Church Secretary on the scholarship application form.
• A graduating high school senior or completing high school equivalency and will be enrolled in college as a full-time, first year student.
• Plan to enroll full-time in an accredited institution of higher education.
• Intend to pursue a degree (ex: A.A/ A.S. or B.A. /B.S.) in any field of study.

Applicant Packet and Deadline Date

To participate in the Springhouse Worship and Arts Center Scholarship program, a student must submit an applicant packet to Springhouse Worship and Arts Center. The packet contains:

• A recent photo of yourself.
• A completed word-processed application form. (No hand written submissions, please.) NOTE: To be able to key in the information on the downloaded application form you must first “Save As” the document to your computer hard drive, type in your responses,SAVE these changes, and then print out a hard copy.
• Signed verification of church membership.
• Computer-processed biographical narrative describing yourself. This should include your educational objectives, reasons for applying for this award, financial need and, how you see God leading you in these areas. Narrative limited to two typed pages.
• An official copy of up-to-date high school transcripts and college entrance exam scores.
• An academic letter of recommendation, completed pastoral evaluation, and completed parental evaluation.

All application materials should be placed in a sealed envelope and turned in to the church office no later than SUNDAY, JUNE 1, 2011. Incomplete or late applications will not be accepted.

Interview, Evaluation and Award Process

Once the applications have been received, every applicant will have the opportunity to be interviewed and evaluated by theSpringhouse Worship and Arts Center Scholarship Committee. Each applicant will be notified of the date and time for his/her interview. Prior to the interview, the members of the Scholarship Committee will be given a copy of each student’s application for review and pre-evaluation. Following the interview,candidates will be evaluated as individuals by the committee on the basis of equally weighted criteria and then ranked among their peers. The criterion includes: academic achievement, extracurricular activities (sports, school clubs, work experience), church involvement (youth group, mission trips, Christian involvement at school), the student’s narrative, and the ability to convey thoughts and ideas. All applicants will be notified regarding the committee’s decision.

Award Disbursement

When an applicant is notified that s/he is an award recipient, the student will be provided a check in the amount of $500.00 made payable to the student no later than two weeks prior to class registration.