Bill Goodwin, pastor of Lincoln Baptist Church in Coosa River Baptist Association, is a former recipient of a scholarship awarded by the Board of Aid for Students in Church-
Related Vocations, and he remembers well receiving that scholarship.
In fact, the potential benefits of this scholarship are a reality Goodwin remains quite familiar with.
He serves as the Board of Aid’s current chairman, and he desires to get further word out about the program, believing that students who qualify but don’t apply are robbing themselves of funds that could be helping their education along.
Goodwin recalled interviewing an upperclassman for a scholarship who had only shortly beforehand discovered the Board of Aid — and just by not being aware of it, Goodwin said, that student had lost out on several semesters’ worth of financial assistance.
As one of its primary functions, the Board of Aid financially assists undergraduate students who are entering vocational ministry and who attend one of the three Alabama Baptist schools — Samford University in Birmingham, the University of Mobile and Judson College in Marion. “We are helping them (the students) achieve their educational goals in preparation for ministry,” Goodwin explained.
Scholarships through the Board of Aid are awarded in the fall and spring. Students apply to the scholarship program, typically by going through their school’s religion department to obtain an application and guidelines, Goodwin said.
The Board of Aid then arranges times with the schools to conduct on-campus interviews with the applicants. Students are interviewed by one of the board’s committee members, and Goodwin said he is aware of several committee members who write down the names of the students they interview and personally pray for them.
Students must re-interview each semester as the scholarship is awarded by semester. Goodwin explained that students must meet several qualifications, including maintaining a 2.0 GPA and remaining involved in some type of local church ministry. He noted there are some exceptions to these qualifications; for example, ministries through the schools also qualify.
The Board of Aid members then meet and review applications, and scholarship disbursements for the students who qualify conclude the process.
The Board of Aid receives funds from the Cooperative Program (CP) to fund its scholarships, Goodwin explained. He added that the scholarship amount is based on how much money the Board of Aid receives in CP dollars and is based on percent of tuition.
“Ideally, we would rather have more students [apply] and be able to help everybody a little bit,” he noted. “We’d like to help more students … and get the word out.”
For the spring semester, the Board of Aid scholarship interviews will soon begin at the three respective schools. Goodwin encourages qualifying students who are interested in applying to contact their school’s religion department.
The Board of Aid also awards scholarships to students of the Samford University Extension Division, he added, noting there is no age limitation for this particular scholarship nor does the Board conduct interviews for it.
The Board of Aid awarded 204 student scholarships in the amount of $259,552 for the 2011–2012 academic year, according to the 2012 Book of Reports. “This is a great scholarship program,” Goodwin concluded. “We want to get more students who … qualify. [And for] those who do, we want to give them help if we can.”
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