Scholarship Policy 2025
Scholarship Policy 2025
Consistent with our mission, PS1 offers Scholarships to individuals that might not otherwise be able to participate due to financial constraints, or who seek membership for the purposes of education or community service.
Scholarship Team
"Scholarship Team" refers to the scholarship officer and any members in good standings that are delegated with any of the duties below.
Team Duties
- Communicating with applicants and recipients
- Reviewing applications and vetting candidates
- Providing support to recipients throughout their scholarship term
- Answering any support tickets relating to scholarships
- Expanding and codifying scholarship processes and resources where a board or member vote is not necessary
Financial & Logistical Considerations
The total number of available scholarships will be a count capped at 5% of total paying membership based on a snapshot taken at the beginning of December using the current member management software. This provides the Scholarship Team roughly three months to finalize scholarship selections and gain Board approval based on the determined number of available seats. Scholarship applicants that are not selected are required to re-apply to be eligible for the following term.
Scholarships are to occur on a 12 month application cycle beginning on the first week of March for a smooth on-boarding process for scholarship recipients. Scholarships are approved for 12 month cycles with decisions being sent to candidates within the first week of March. All scholarships will have an option to renew via reapplication for an additional 12 months within three calendar years. Former scholarship recipients may be considered again in the third year, or for the second scholarship term within the same two years if there are insufficient applications to saturate the scholarship budget for the upcoming term.
Scholarship selections will be guided by the specifics of the selection criteria that are generally laid out in this document. The selection process is done by the Scholarship Team, provided that scholarship recipients are ultimately reviewed and voted on by the Board of Directors.
The Scholarship budget may also receive additional funding from donors in addition to what is voted upon in the annual budget. Donor funding may be added to the general scholarship pool, or as a separate scholarship designed to support particular applicants (e.g. a scholarship specifically for welders) provided those scholarships fit the goals and objectives of Pumping Station: One and are approved by the Board of Directors. All sponsored scholarship types should be made available for review by the membership, including those that are temporary, although donors and recipients may remain anonymous. Funds provided by donors for the purpose of supporting scholarships will be added to the general pool of Scholarship funding unless otherwise specified.
Terms
“Scholarships per month” refers to a singular instance of waived dues for that month’s membership. When someone receives a scholarship per annual term, they are receiving 12-months worth of scholarships to be used within that term. Modifications to an assigned scholarship term should be directed to the scholarship officer.
Limitations
The Board of Directors reserves the right to provide scholarships to the extent the Board or other designated volunteers are currently able to successfully manage and only to those applicants they deem to meet the criteria, regardless of availability. The Board of Directors reserves the right to revoke scholarships if the recipient violates the Membership agreement, does not fulfill the requirements of their scholarship, or does not respond to Board correspondence in a timely fashion regarding pertinent issues pertaining to their scholarship. The Board will work to the best of their ability to address issues for scholarship recipients with clarity and in a timely fashion. Scholarships are not transferable.
Selection Criteria
Successful applicants should meet one the following conditions:
- Applicant can demonstrate financial need
- This may be demonstrated by checking off a declaration in the scholarship application that PS1 dues would render the applicant unable to join PS1 without a scholarship
- Applicant demonstrates that their PS1 membership will be used for the purposes of education or community service