Raymond Baccari
Editor-in-Chief
Students at Rhode Island College interested in traveling and personal growth can apply for $5,000 fellowships. Applications for both the Michael P. Metcalf Memorial Fund and the Christine T. Grinivac Adventurer’s Fund is now open.
Those who are interested in applying have until Feb. 21 to apply for these fellowships offered by the Rhode Island Foundation.
“These fellowships can be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for students to follow their dreams,” Monica Benson, Scholarship and Special Funds Administrator at the Rhode Island Foundation, said about the fellowships.
According to the Rhode Island Foundation’s website, students are able to receive $5,000 intended to “broaden their perspective and enhance personal growth.” Those who have received these fellowships in the past have traveled all around the world, which includes performing improv in Minnesota or even volunteering at an orphanage in Costa Rica.
The money is allowed to be used for travel in the United States and abroad as well as an internship or public service programs. However, the money can’t be put toward any equipment, capital expenses and study abroad programs colleges offer or have in their curriculums.
Students who apply need to be a legal resident of Rhode Island, but could also attend a college or university from out-of-state.
Created in 1989, the Michael P. Metcalf Memorial Fund honors Michael Metcalf, who was the publisher for the Providence Journal.
“I wanted to provide an opportunity for students to imagine an experience that might be transformative and to be bold enough to leave their normal course of study to live it,” said Charlotte, Metcalf’s widow who helped create the Fund.
Awards from the Metcalf Fund are also supplemented by the Christine T. Grinivac Adventurer’s Fund. The Christine T. Grinivac Adventurer’s Fund was created to honor the memory of Christine Grinivac. Grinivac was a URI graduate that won the Metcalf fellowship in 2001 and was lost at sea in 2007.
Those who apply for these fellowships will find out if they won in March.
The Rhode Island Foundation’s website adds that “Those awarded must accept funding by December 31, 2023,” and “Plans must include a well-defined program and demonstrate clear purpose. Applicants must show financial need for support in completing the project.”
The winners will have until Dec. 31, 2024 to have done their enrichment experience by. A final project is also part of the process after the applicant has their trip, which is expected to include “the value of the experience in furthering their long-term goals.”
Alongside completing the online form, applicants applications must include the following:
An official college transcript.
Resume.
A completed financial information worksheet.
A financial aid award letter from their college or university.
The applicant’s final Student Aid Report.
Two proofs that the student lives in Rhode Island.
Two letters of recommendation.
A description of how the experience would further the applicant’s long-term goals.
The Rhode Island Foundation says that criteria used during the review of applications includes, “clarity and thoughtfulness of application, creativity and motivation of proposed project, evidence of self-direction and initiative and financial need.”