Thousands of students compete each year for a relatively small number of nationally competitive awards. Though receiving an award is not in itself an end goal, it can help launch a talented and dedicated student on a career path where they address important social or political issues, assist communities in need, or pursue research questions of global significance. The potential rewards are high for students, the institutions that support them, and the communities that will benefit from their hard work.
The ninth collection of essays produced by the National Association of Fellowships Advisors, Saving the World in Five Hundred Words offers a unique set of resources for advisors negotiating the complex world of nationally competitive awards. The essays here focus on three main aspects of fellowships advising—serving students, ensuring access, and developing the profession—and range from practical advice on how to assist students with applications, to recommendations for recruiting a broad range of students more effectively, to innovative teaching and advising practices. This volume will prove invaluable to anyone who advises students through this sometimes daunting application process.
Suzanne McCray is vice provost for enrollment services and dean of admissions and nationally competitive awards as well as an associate professor in higher education in the College of Education and Health Professions at the University of Arkansas.
Craig Filar is associate dean of Honors, Scholars, and Fellows in the Division of Undergraduate Studies at Florida State University.
Kyle Mox is the associate dean for national scholarships at Arizona State University. His office provides advising resources to the largest student body in the US.
Part I: Preparing Students
1. Saving the World in Five Hundred Words or Less: The Truman Scholarship Policy Proposal
Tara Yglesias
2. Major Awards Interview Preparation: Campus Strategies
Lucy Morrison and Gwen Volmar
3. What Did I Do Wrong? Counseling the Unsuccessful Fellowship Applicant
Gregory A. Llacer
Part II: Increasing Access
4. Community College and Transfer Student Access to Nationally Competitive Awards
Cassidy Alvarado
5. Exploring Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Issues for Scholarship Offices: A Personal Journey
Karen Weber
6. Connecting and Supporting Historically Marginalized Students: Access, Opportunity, and Empowerment
Elizabeth Rotolo
7. Toward an Antiracist Fellowships Advising Model
Kurt Davies
Part III: Developing the Profession
8. Zero Searches Found. Try Again? The Journey of a Fellowships Research Collective
Catherine Salgado
9. Beyond the Pandemic: Harnessing Insights from Bichronous Online Teaching to Inform
Fellowships Advising
Richelle Bernazzoli and Meredith Raucher Sisson
10. Fellowships in Support of Graduate Professionalization
Matthew Klopfenstein
