The Arts Students’ Advancement Program (ASAP) is currently working on establishing a new scholarship directed at arts students who are in co-op programs.
The main co-op placements targeted for the scholarship include anything from museums, orchestras and various humanitarian endeavors. This prospective scholarship is an endowment derived from the surplus of student funds that have been collecting in the bank for past few years.
“We wanted to use this surplus in a way that would give back to the community,” explained Jessica Shahen, executive chair of ASAP.
Arts students pay a fee of $15 per semester in faculty fees, which is then distributed to ASAP.
The scholarship will also be partly funded by external donations. “We have been receiving many donations from the Kitchener-Waterloo community,” Shahen said.
It will be awarded annually to cover the whole cost of the recipients’ co-op. The recipients of the scholarship will be compensated at $13 or $14 per hour for at least 35 hours a week.
The ASAP scholarship will be offered to students demonstrating an interest in working to further both Laurier and the outside community.
Interested applicants must be registered as a full-time arts student at Laurier (with a co-op option), have substantial volunteer experience, good grades and must demonstrate financial need.
In order to be considered, applicants must also complete an interview with two ASAP representatives and an executive member of the co-op office.
The scholarship is not yet finalized, although it has been approved by the dean of arts Mary-Louise Byrne and the manager of Wilfrid Laurier University Students’ Union Mike McMahon.
The final approval will be determined by a vote from the ASAP representatives, which is set to take place sometime this month.
According to Shahen, ASAP is hoping to have this scholarship finalized by Oct. 25 so that students may begin to apply in January and receive the scholarship money for co-op placements this summer.
