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By Susan Williams
Just as the Wells' Scholarship program brings some of the best and brightest undergraduate students to Indiana University's Bloomington campus each fall, the Chancellor's Fellowship program does the same at the graduate level.
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 Walker |
"The Chancellor's Fellowship program is tremendous," said George Walker, who as vice president for research and dean of the graduate school at IU heads RUGS. "It has allowed us to recruit top tier graduate students we would otherwise not be able to attract by offering them competitive financial packages."
The fellowship initiative was launched three years ago after a newly elected 1995 U.S. Congress seriously cut federal funding for fellowships traditionally relied upon by IUB graduate programs.
"President Brand's Strategic Directions Charter recognized the need for additional funding," said Frank Hoole, associate dean for RUGS and professor of political science. "On top of congressional cuts, in 1995-96, IU was in the fifth year of a budget freeze which had kept the campus budget for graduate fellowships level since 1991.
"Good graduate programs contribute enormously to the intellectual excitement of our campus as well as to our world-wide reputation," he continued. "And at least four elements go into building and sustaining good programs --excellent researchers as faculty members, excellent research facilities, excellent graduate programs per se and excellent students."
 Photo by Heather Hill Anya Royce (left), professor of anthropology at IUB, mentors Jennifer Cash, a Chancellor's Fellow. "The Chancellor's Fellowship Program allows us to recruit the very best students who might have every reason to come here anyway," Royce said. "I know that I have grown by having Jennifer as a student. When you have biin in anthropology as long as I have and when you've been teaching as long as I have, you tend to become comfortable with your own point of view. Jennifer is bright and well read. She comes at a topic from a different way, an that just jogs me out of my usual way of thinking." (See related story about Cash in this issue) |
Faculty agree with Hoole."Every one of the students to whom we have offered fellowships has been outstanding, not just academically, but also as people," said Anya Royce, professor of anthropology. "The ones who come enliven the department."
And Gwyn Richards, director of admissions and financial aid for IUB's world-renowned School of Music gives the program a standing ovation.
"Without a doubt, our competitive ability was strengthened directly as a result of the Chancellor's Fellowship program," he said. "The benefits have been immediate, broad reaching and recognizable. As a group, these students exhibit significant musical and academic ability, making this most recent class the most selective in a decade."
The Chancellor's Fellowship program offers a competitive stipend, tuition and health insurance to qualified entering graduate students who intend to pursue a master of fine arts degree, a doctor of jurisprudence degree or another doctoral degree. The first year involves a fellowship, while subsequent years involve teaching or research assistantships. Students are expected to complete their degrees in a specified length of time.
Supporting the Chancellor's Fellowship program is one way Brand has worked to enhance the learning community for IU's graduate students.
"President Brand has taken several steps to improve the quality of graduate students, their programs and their experience at IU," said Walker. "In addition to his leadership in providing funds for this initiative, he has also provided the students with access to the trustees, funds for day care, and through Strategic Directions Initiatives, a career center and professors for the future program."
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