Office of National Scholarships is helpful

This winter, the University of Connecticut Honors Program established the Office of National Scholarships. The intent of this office is to inform high achieving students of opportunities available to them, while providing students with assistance on applying for a prestigious national scholarship.

The office does not deal with general scholarships, but rather those opportunities of national competition. Examples of the scholarships the office intends to help students with include the Truman, Rhodes, Mitchell, Madison, Marshall, Mellon and Goldwater Scholarships.

Previously, the Undergraduate Research Office of the Honors Program administered national scholarships. This office was able to help students with scholarships, but was overloaded with additional tasks and responsibilities. The creation of an entirely independent office run by a professor was a great idea.

This new office allows full attention to be devoted to scholarships. The office can focus on and assist individual students in a way best suited for them. Hopefully, over the course of the coming months, the office will be able to contribute positively to getting more students informed and willing to apply for such prestigious scholarships.

In previous years, very few students from UConn were willing to apply for national scholarships. Such a low trend was the result of several factors. Most specifically, many students were simply not aware of the opportunities available to them. Second, the process of applying intimidated many students who were aware of the scholarships.

The Office of National scholarships is already well on its way to remedying this problem. The office is actively recruiting qualified students to apply while also making information about scholarships easily available to anyone who asks. The office also reassures students about the process of applying for such a scholarship. Most importantly, the office provides students with the assistance of completing their applications, editing of applications and answering questions to improve student responses to the scholarship materials.

Given the scope of the mission for this office, it is quick to envision a large and bureaucratically staffed office. Do not be fooled, however, to discover that the workings of one man, Professor Steven Zinn, primarily run the office.

Dr. Zinn is the Director of an office where he is the principal worker. In addition to his tasks in the Office of National Scholarships, Dr. Zinn is a Professor of Animal Science. Some may be critical of the university for not having a full-time staff person run the office. Nonetheless, having a faculty member run the office is most advantageous to students.

Since Dr. Zinn is a professor and an outstanding advisor, he easily identifies with students and takes a different approach than a traditional administrator would. Additionally, Dr. Zinn's close interactions and experiences mentoring students allow him to encourage students to complete the monumental task before them.

While only serving as director for less than two months, Dr. Zinn has already spent countless hours mentoring students to apply for the Goldwater and Truman Scholarships, among others. For each student seeking to apply for a scholarship, Dr. Zinn devotes upwards of 12 to 15 hours of time in the office and of his personal time at home.

As director, he has already begun to interact with other faculty members to seek out their expertise and support. In doing so, Zinn will be able to expediently identify students who are most suited to apply for specific scholarships.

For a University looking to gain national prominence, the creation of an Office of National Scholarships is a starting point to help UConn undergraduates compete nationally. UConn is long overdue for its share of national award winners. With the assistance of Dr. Zinn, a very deserving and high-achieving student is one-step closer to meeting such a goal.

Like most important academic programs and professors' salaries, the Office of National Scholarships is most likely under-funded due to budget limitations. With any luck, the University will realize the importance of academics and such a comprehensive office by giving it the attention deserved.

Even without having investigated the salary amounts for the director of this office, it is safe to say the compensation is low and many times thankless for the countless hours and effort placed into the job. Desirably, as the office evolves and proves itself, such merit and financial compensation will improve.

In the mean time, the Honors Program is lucky to have found a faculty member as devoted and willing to help as Dr. Zinn. Without acknowledging the amount of time personally put into the new job, Dr. Zinn actively works to help student after student for the simple fact that he enjoys helping people.

If students think they qualify for a national scholarship or simply want to learn more, they can contact the Honors Program. Alternatively, students can directly visit the Office of National Scholarships in room 419 of the Center for Undergraduate Education (in the former business school).

Scholarships on the level of the Rhodes, Truman and Goldwater are no joking matter. Yet, it is easy to discount the ability of UConn to have a successful nominee based on the fact that the university is a public institution. Given the creation and formation of the new office, such assumptions will become myths of the past.

If UConn wants to be a nationally competitive institution, the creation of academic resources and services for students must be on the forefront of the agenda. Funding an essential academic service at the meager cost of several thousand dollars a year will go much further to making UConn the best in the nation than building another multi-million dollar building will.

The Honors Program and this University deserve to be commended for the initiative to create a resource for students. At the same time, the University is very lucky to have a director so passionate about students running the office.

UConn, as an institution, must recommit itself to aiding students academically. The Office of National Scholarship is one small step on a tedious reform path that UConn must undertake if the university wishes to receive national praise and prominence.

http://www.honors.uconn.edu/natsinfo.html http://www.advance.uconn.edu/03121003.htm