Page 15 - November report 2023

ENTREPRENEURSHIP SCHOLARSHIP REPS’ MEETING REPORT (3)
One school reported that they require the scholars attend at least one event at their Indian Center. Another expressed that they strongly recommend membership in the AIBL chapter. One school said that all of their students are required to do a senior project.
There was great sharing around the room about marketing the availability of the scholarships. Several representatives spoke of fliers they use as a way to advertise to students, faculty, and the campus as a whole. All agreed that keeping the faculty informed and involved is very helpful. A couple of schools create impact documents that they share with “everyone that we can”. One school asks the president of the AIBL chapter to send out information about the scholarships. Getting students talking to other students is the most effective. Several schools said they market on TikTok and some on Facebook.
There was a lot of discussion about the additional needs that students have. Several schools have special needs or emergency funds that are available to their students. Several have food pantries, used clothing “shops” and offerings of necessities (like diapers). Some spoke of wrap around supports that include being able to direct students to community resources. When asked about marketing these additional services, we heard things like the information is included in student orientations, on the school’s website, through peer mentors, in the Financial Aid office, and most importantly, by keeping staff and faculty aware.
There was an interesting discussion about the schools’ desires to meet community needs and the difficulties (necessary “lag time”) for the school to gear up to being able to offer new training.
The question of dual enrollment for high school students came up. Although most of these programs are funded by the local school district, evidently some are not. There was pretty quick agreement that it would be difficult to determine financial need for high school students.
CLOSING MATTERS
Bobby thanked everyone for their attendance and for their active participation.
Sharon handed out the expense report forms and noted that Lady will be sending the on-line survey invitation to everyone. Next meeting = Friday, October 4, 2024
POST MEETING SURVEY SUMMARY
The feedback from the attendees was favorable. They gave high marks to the explanation of the program details and the school sharing time. Among the biggest takeaways for them was hearing how other institutions promote the scholarship, as well as the discussion about computer science classes. They also rated the discussion about Native CDFIs highly.
Topics that would be of interest at future meetings included:
• Nature and expectations of a campus site visit • Endowment building
• Success stories of graduates
Page 13 HORIZONS