The Education Together Foundation does not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, economic status, ethnic background, sexual orientation, age, physical ability, or cultural and religious backgrounds; however, individual scholarships may have specific criteria and qualification requirements.
Education Together Foundation’s scholarship selection process is designed to avoid instances where potential conflicts of interest may arise or situations where undue influence could be employed for the advantage of any applicant.
As each application comes in it is assigned a number. The application from that point on is referred to by number and not by the applicant’s name.
All scholarship applications are screened and reviewed by a panel of community volunteers who are not Education Together Foundation Board Members and who verify that they do not have any possible conflict of interest with the applicant pool. The members of the Scholarship Review Committee remain anonymous for the purpose of insulating them from any influence from the applicant, the applicant’s family or friends, or the community.
Each member of the committee reviews and scores the applications separately, and not in a group. Applications are scored on three elements: academic achievement (includes GPA and classes taken), the written essay, activities/experience. The results of the review and scoring process are not shared with the board until all applications have been reviewed.
The Education Together Foundation Scholarship Chair and Scholarship Committee makes the initial assignment of applicants to available scholarships based upon the scores received from the Scholarship Review Committee and the specific scholarship requirements. The Scholarship Chair then presents the recommendations to the board for vote of approval. The recommendations are presented by assigned designator (number) rather than by applicant name to further protect the selection process. Any board member who may have a potential conflict of interest with any applicant is required to announce that conflict of interest and excuse themselves from the discussion and vote.
Each applicant is notified in writing whether they are awarded a scholarship or if they will not be awarded a scholarship. The Scholarship Chair is available for questions on the status of an application only after the applicant has been notified in writing.
Education Together Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization and is bound by fiduciary and legal constraints. These determine in some instances how we can award scholarships so there is no impropriety and so can we can continue to function as a non-profit organization, accepting donations that are tax deductible for the donor. In line with that, we have a policy that does not allow us to share specifics of the scoring and why an applicant may or may not have qualified and received a scholarship.
Not every applicant is guaranteed to receive a scholarship. As the Junction City School District grows these scholarships will become more competitive and there is a higher chance that an applicant may not receive a scholarship.
Education Together Foundation will only provide information to the applicant if there are any questions on the process or receipt of awarded scholarship funds. This is done to protect the privacy of our applicants.