USAC reduces number of textbook scholarships offered
By Jillian Beck
Jan. 31, 2012 1:13 a.m.
Correction: The original version of this article contained an error. After some scholarships went unclaimed last quarter, $7,200 was left in the scholarship fund.
Stephanie Fletes has applied for a textbook scholarship from the undergraduate student government twice during her time at UCLA.
But the third-year Chicana/o studies student has yet to receive one of the $200 scholarships, and now her chance is even lower.
The Undergraduate Students Association Council will be giving out only 50 textbook scholarships ““ in the form of Associated Students UCLA Textbook store credit ““ this quarter, 75 fewer than in the fall.
“I’ll still apply,” Fletes said. “However, I won’t rely on (getting the scholarship) because I know the chances are really minimal that I will win.”
The reduction in the number of scholarships stems from a surplus fund that was lower than expected, said Andrea Hester, USAC’s Financial Supports commissioner. Money for textbook scholarships has come from these leftover funds since the program was created in the 2008-09 school year.
Hester said her office is looking for alternate sources of funding, such as corporate donations, to prevent further cutbacks of scholarships.
Students who win a scholarship can use it up to two quarters after they are awarded.
For Leah Wilensky, a first-year physiological sciences student, the textbook scholarship she won fall quarter has gone a long way.
Wilensky said she purchased most of her books for her North Campus classes and a course reader for a chemistry class in both fall and winter quarters with the scholarship funds. With about $100 remaining of the scholarship money, Wilensky said she will use the rest next quarter to buy textbooks for general education courses.
“I got my scholarship in the first couple weeks of fall quarter, so I didn’t use a lot of it because I had already bought (most of) my textbooks,” Wilensky said.
But not all the students who win the textbook scholarship take advantage of the extra money.
Thirty-six students failed to turn in their contracts or claim their scholarships last quarter, leaving $7,200 in the textbook scholarship fund, Hester said. The commission is still looking into why the scholarships went unclaimed.
To supplement the money left in the textbook scholarship account, Hester requested and received $2,800 from USAC discretionary funds at winter quarter’s first council meeting.
“It all takes time,” Hester said. “We realized we didn’t get the funding until the first week of winter quarter … so we decided to wait until the end of the quarter (to give the scholarships).”
The shortfall in funds may lead to some potentially beneficial changes to the textbook scholarship application process.
The Financial Supports Commission now plans to hold the random drawing for the scholarships at the end of the quarter instead of the beginning.
“We’ve always run into problems having the drawing at the beginning of the quarter,” Hester said, referring to the short window of time at the beginning of each quarter to advertise the scholarships to students.
Some students were unaware that the scholarships even existed, or how to apply for them. Fifth-year anthropology student, Stephany Del Cid heard of the textbook scholarships in passing but never received any further information about them.
A commuter student balancing a part-time job at the Griffith Observatory, Del Cid said she struggles to afford textbooks each quarter and would have applied for the scholarship had she known of the opportunity.
With the new scheduling, the commission wants to let students know ahead of time how much money is available to them, Hester said.
Applications for textbook scholarships for winter quarter open March 5 and are due by March 16 at midnight.
The USAC Financial Supports Commission will send out notification emails to the winners by March 23 or at the beginning of spring quarter, Hester said.
With contributing reports from Melissa Truong, Bruin contributor.
