Give a Hand
Wang Jialian Scholarship
Application Deadline: October 26, 2014
Send Application Form (English or Chinese ) to awards@fdfzalumni.org
Awards Description:
Title: "Give A Hand" Wang Jialian Scholarship
With generous contributions from the alumnae of Class 1979-3, this year's Give A Hand (The Scholarship) is dedicated to honor Ms. Wang JiaLian. Ms. Wang was Homeroom and Math teacher for Class of 1979-3. During the two years there, the students from the class were showered by Ms. Wang's care and dedication. She was instrumental in helping the students grow and excel in their formative years. Her dedication left a lifelong impact on the class of 1979-3. Ms. Wang received a bachelor degree in Mathematics from Fudan in 60's and spent her entire career at FuZhong. It is our deepest sadness that Ms. Wang suffered from lung cancer and passed away in 2005. The Foundation is privileged to jointly sponsor this scholarship with Class 1979-3 in honor of Ms. Wang JiaLian.
Description and Qualification
The scholarship is awarded by the Fudan Fuzhong Overseas Foundation (the "Overseas Foundation"), with generous help from High School Affiliated to Fudan University Education Development Foundation ("HSFDEDF")
The Scholarship is intended to provide financial aid to disadvantaged students who are in a trying financial situation due to various reasons including but not limited to low family income, family illness, and etc. Through the Scholarship, the committee would like to connect domestic and overseas Fuzhong alumni to continue the legacy of helping one another in building a strong alumni community.
Scholarship Committee (the Committee)
The Scholarship Committee consists of two parties:
1) Fudan Fuzhong Overseas Foundation, and
2) Representatives from Fudan Fuzhong Class of 1979-3
Amount
The scholarship committee will determine the total award amount for each qualified applicant based on family income, total family savings and other economic factors. The committee has decided on three levels of total award amount. Based on the economic factors, a qualified applicant may receive RMB 3,000, 5,000 or 7,000 every academic year. Students will receive the award in two installments1
Eligibility
All current full time students with good standings at Fudan Fuzhong, who are experiencing financial difficulties and would need help in accomplishing the degree program.
Application
Applicants must submit the application form (see attached) by October 26, 2014 to awards@fdfzalumni.org
Selection Process
The Scholarship Committee will review the applications including questionnaire and essays. The Committee reserves the right to verify candidate eligibility by accessing financial records maintained by the School, as well as through fact checking and due diligences with references if needed.
15 applicants will be chosen to receive the award on or around November 2, 2014, and will be notified in person via email and letter. Students will receive the first installment of the scholarship no later than November 21, 2014.
Q & A:
Q1: Who is eligible for applying for the Scholarship?
All full time students with good standings at Fudan Fuzhong, who are experiencing financial difficulties and would need help in accomplishing the degree program.
Q2: Will the Committee conduct its own verification of financial situations?
Although the Scholarship Committee relies on HSFDEDF's resources to perform first round screening, the Committee reserves the right to conduct fact checks / due diligences if further verification is needed.
Q3: Will you share my personal information with School and others?
Unless we need to verify certain facts with the School for the purpose of this scholarship, we will not share any information with those who are not relevant to the evaluation of your application. We respect your privacy; it will be strictly guarded by the Scholarship Committee. A synopsis of your general situation will be shared with donors to provide an overview of fund usage. The Committee strives to act sensitively to disclose information as general as possible to protect your privacy. You may choose to share your personal life and story with your designated sponsor(s) in the future. However, it is your entire discretion to do so.
Q4: Does my essay have to be approved by my teacher?
No, it doesn't. Your submission will be directly made to the Fudan Fuzhong Overseas Foundation (awards@fdfzalumni.org) with your personal pledge of accuracy. As stated above, the Committee reserves the right to fact check with your references.
Q5: How does the selection process work?
The Scholarship Committee will collect and aggregate all applications by October 26, 2014. The members of the committee will independently review all the applications and make their respective nominations of 15 candidates to the committee. A round of voting will then take place to narrow down the number of final nominees to no more than 15. If necessary, another round of discussion will ensue followed by yes-or-no voting on each nominee. Each committee member can cast no more than 15 yes-votes in that round. The 15 nominees with the highest number of votes will be given the Give a Hand Wang Jialian scholarship.
Q6: If I submit the application but do not receive the award, will that negatively impact my chance for other need-based scholarships at Fuzhong and/or my future chance of winning awards from the Overseas Foundation?
No, absolutely not. The decision on your application is made solely for the purpose of this award, this time around. It has no implication on your qualification in any other academic or social setting, nor will it affect, positively or negatively, your future applications for the Give A Hand Wang Jialian scholarship. In fact, we will keep all comments made during the decision process confidential -- no one outside of the current executive committee will have access to the record.
Q7: What will be the required format of the essay?
The essay should be composed in Chinese, typed and submitted electronically as an email attachment in either MS Word (.doc or .docx) or PDF (.pdf) format. See the attachment for details. We encourage you to express your true feeling and thoughts through essays as it is often difficult to discern financial and circumstantial difficulties from factual numbers from questionnaire. Please know shorter essays will not negatively impact your candidacy as long as they convey all the main points described in the application.
Q8: Is this scholarship recurring?
Yes, as long as it is financially viable, the Committee intends to make the Scholarship a yearly event.
Q9: What is your relation with the school?
Fudan Fuzhong Overseas Foundation is founded in the United States by a group of Fuzhong alumni. It is a not-for-profit charitable organization registered in the State of Connecticut with a US 501(c)(3) tax-exemption status.
HSFDEDF is a domestic foundation set up by the School and administered by retired school officials who have close ties with alumni across several decades. The two foundations maintain close working relationship with the School and with each other. They both enjoy full support from the School.
Class of 1979-3 is a group of alumni who studied at Fudan Fuzhong when Ms. Wang Jialian was their class teacher. They have pledged resources for the establishment and continued funding of the Scholarship. Members of the class have worked with both the Overseas Foundation and HSFDEDF in the past.
Q10: Can I apply for the HSFDEDF need-based scholarship at the same time?
Yes. But eventually you will only be approved for one of the two scholarships between Give A Hand Wang Jialian scholarship and the scholarship awarded by HSFDEDF.
Q11: What is the currency of the cash award?
The cash award will be awarded in two equal installments. Each installment equals to the half of the total award amount.
Q12: What other scholarship are you giving out? Can I apply for other scholarship sponsored by HSFDEDF or the Overseas Foundation?
The Overseas Foundation also sponsored a "Social Contribution Award" to recognized students who demonstrated sensitivity in identifying unmet needs in a community, taken significant initiative in mobilizing resources and in designing solutions, and made meaningful steps towards the betterment of the community. In addition, the Overseas Foundation is in the process of creating other scholarships. You are encouraged to apply for each of them when available.
HSFDEDF sponsors need-based financial aid to a larger group of students at RMB 4000 per year. You are encouraged to apply for that concurrently if you have not already.
Q13: Where is the scholarship money from? Is the scholarship based on the will of a single donor?
The scholarship is drawn from a pool of specific purpose funds raised over the years by the Class of 1979-3 and the Overseas Foundation from the entire alumni body of Fudan Fuzhong as well as from the society at large. Although donors cannot designate specific individuals as beneficiary, the Scholarship Committee will, however, assign individual donors to individual award recipients based on bilateral interests through the "buddy program".
Q14: If I have questions not answered by the Q & A, how can I get it clarified?
You can either check back on this web page, or to check HSFDEDF's website, or you can email us at awards@fdfzalumni.org to expect a response within 48 hours.
Application Forms:
1 The first part, half of the total amount, will be awarded at the end of this application process to cover the fall semester. The second installment will be awarded at the beginning of the spring semester upon review. The Foundation reserves the rights to withhold or cancel the second installment in extraordinary situations including but not limited to significant improvement of recipient's family financial status.