Graduate Students Awarded Record Number of Scholarships

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A record of 24 scholarships worth more than $26,000 has been awarded to graduate students at School of Library and Information Science at San José State University (SJSU) in recognition of their outstanding performance during the 2013-2014 academic year.

According to Dr. Anthony Bernier, chair of the Student Awards and Scholarship Committee, “The committee was very pleased to be recognizing the excellent academic progress of our current students.” Bernier added that this year was especially competitive with more than 500 qualified nominations, which made the “committee’s choices all the more difficult.”

The total amount of scholarship dollars awarded this year more than doubled that of last year’s scholarships and included three new scholarship categories, one of which is specifically for graduate students in the Master of Archives and Records Administration (MARA) program.

In partnership with ARMA International chapters in Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area (ARMA Golden Gate), the SJSU information school established for the first time a new category of scholarships for MARA students, which awards four individual scholarships each spring. The ARMA Silicon Valley Scholarships, each worth $500, were awarded to MARA students Susan D. Haigh and Desiree Wallen. The ARMA Golden Gate Scholarships went to MARA students Anne Musella ($1,000 scholarship) and Eileen Hansen ($500 scholarship).

New this year, students interested in a career in special libraries could apply for a $1,000 scholarship established by the Silicon Valley chapter of the Special Libraries Association (SLA). Corinne Laurence, a student in the Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) program, received the first-ever SLA scholarship.

Among the many scholarships awarded each spring, several are in honor of former faculty members. The Connie Constantino Scholarships, which are worth $1,000 each and commemorate the work of the former faculty member in the areas of library education and library services, went to Scott Boyd and Heather Lanctot. The $1,000 Terry Crowley Scholarship, which is given in memory of the former faculty member who specialized in reference and information services, was awarded to Jessica Bowman. The Robert Ellett Scholarships, established by alumna Janice Wakimoto in admiration for her cataloging professor, is awarded in both spring and fall to students who have completed a cataloging class. The first two students to receive the Ellett scholarships are Angela Di Tommaso and Darnell Melvin.

Lisa Cheby and Tara Million are both recipients of Alumni and Friends Scholarships, which are endowed by the Alumni Association. Each award is worth $2,000 and is based on academic merit. Samantha Hein has been chosen by the scholarship committee to receive the $1,000 Faculty Scholarship endowed by faculty at the SJSU information school. Two Graduate Scholarships of $2,000 each were awarded to Janine de Manda and Ian Matzen this year. The funds for the two scholarships awarded each spring come from donations to the school.

Two H.W. Wilson Foundation Scholarships of $1,000 each were awarded to Darren Ilett and Simon Lum. This year’s Librarian Opportunity Scholarship, endowed by Diana Lee Morabito and Keith Ball and worth $1,000, went to Nicole Patch. Morabito and Ball created this scholarship in honor of the important role libraries played in their life and education.

Barbara Delawska-Elliot received the $1,000 Kaiser Permanente Medical Librarianship Scholarship, which supports students pursuing careers in medical librarianship and health informatics. Two $1,000 scholarships provided by NewsBank for students interested in NewsBank-related fields, such as information retrieval and digital information resources, were awarded to Stephanie Routhier Perry and Laura Gleason.

Jenny Yap was chosen as the recipient of the $1,000 Ruth Finegold Scholarship for MLIS students in Northern California wishing to pursue a career in public librarianship. Two Southern California MLIS students interested in public librarianship have been chosen to receive the Friends of the Leisure World Library Scholarships worth $2,000 each. This year’s winners are Kristin Peers and Gilliland Kristie.

The scholarship committee accepts applications for scholarships for continuing graduate students in the spring, and the recipients are announced in April. Most scholarships are awarded based on academic merit. The school congratulates this year’s recipients on their record achievement!

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