Tuesday, January 21, 1997
FINANCIAL AID:
Sunset Commons office provides up-to-date informationBy Ashley
Harre
Daily Bruin Contributor
Getting free money on campus has just gotten a whole lot
easier.
Serving more than 200 people in five days, the Scholarship
Resource Center (SRC) has experienced an overwhelming response to
their free scholarship searches.
After opening on Sept. 24, the center held an open house
Wednesday night to introduce undergraduates to the services
available as they begin to apply for graduate schools.
Providing students access to a scholarship library, one-on-one
counseling and computer listings, the SRC is a first to the UCLA
campus. Located in 233 Sunset Commons, the office is small, but
contains more than 40 scholarship books and two computers.
Computers have access to fastWEB, a free Internet scholarship
service.
Angela Deaver Campbell, administrative director of SRC, asserts
that the center is a welcome addition to the university. "There has
never been a support system for undergraduates. So this is a very
exciting thing for us right now," Campbell said.
Among other services offered, the SRC also provides scholarship
workshops, proofreading services, and a support system for applying
to individual grants, fellowships and internships.
Help with writing applications to graduate school, including
personal statements and statements of purpose, are also
offered.
Students often view the scholarship search process as tedious,
since search categories range from the military to doctoral
programs. While "there is no way to gain quick money … if you
don’t try it you get nothing," Campbell said.
One of the major points that Campbell makes is that scholarships
are available to anyone, not just financial aid or honor
students.
"We want to help educate you that there are a lot of other
scholarships beyond award and merit," she said, noting that
students often aren’t proactive enough in pursuing
scholarships.
While the SRC isn’t the only place students can turn for help
with scholarships, it is considered one of the best. Those
alternatives include bookstores, retail software, the Internet, and
contacting local and civic association directors, said Connie M.
Raza, student affairs officer with the SRC.
However, as Raza asserts, there are problems to these other
sources. The bookstore and library material may be out-of-date or
simply not as up-to-date as the SRC.
Retail software "requires a lot of (computer) space and
installation and is not updated." Subject searches on the Internet
mean that "you are in for a ride."
Finally, civic leaders have seen a big drive to increase money
for endowments and programs outside of grants, resulting in a
smaller pool of available scholarships, Raza said.
Many students remain unaware of the new center. Jonathan Chen, a
third-year biochemistry student, said he knew relatively little
information about the SRC before stopping by. "I’ve just heard the
name, but I don’t really know what they offer yet."
Campbell said that starting the center was partly her idea,
working in conjunction with the undergraduate students’ association
and the UCLA Financial Aid office. "It is partly through the
students and partly through the administration," Campbell said.
The SRC is funded for the first three years as a test run under
the auspices of the undergraduate government and the
administration. Results of that test will determine whether or not
the services continue to be provided for future undergraduates.
As Campbell states, "We want them to know that this is really
their center. Undergraduates should be assertive about looking for
scholarships," and the SRC is ready to help, she said.