Beyond the Classroom

At Widener University, faculty support takes many forms.

Beyond the classroom, professors and lecturers collaborate with students on research projects, offer countless hours of mentorship, and impart career and life advice.

And for years, faculty members have been digging into their wallets to offer students financial support.

Through the endowed Faculty Scholarships Award program, generous donations by faculty members fund merit-based scholarships for undergraduates. Each year, about a dozen rising seniors, selected through a nomination process, receive a minimum $1,000 scholarship to help offset tuition costs.

“The faculty are saying we want to support our students, we’re with them, we know what excellence is, and we want to award students who go above and beyond,” said Marina Barnett, associate professor of social work and chair of the Admissions and Financial Aid Committee of Faculty Council, which selects the annual recipients.

This year, 13 students received scholarships. Awards are presented to individuals who demonstrate outstanding academic achievements inside the classroom and out. Recipients are typically active on campus, demonstrate leadership, and exemplify the university’s mission.

Aishah Dukes ’19, a social work and criminal justice major, is one of this year’s scholarship recipients. A Presidential Service Corps/Bonner Scholar, Dukes is also a decorated sprinter and hurdler on the women’s track and field team, serves as program planning chair for the Black Student Union, and is a member of the Senior Committee.

“To be a recipient and winner of this scholarship that is funded by the faculty allowed me to realize that the faculty members were recognizing my hard work and dedication in and outside of the classroom,” said Dukes. “They believed in their dear hearts that I was a student that deserved to receive this prestigious reward.”

Individual faculty members nominate students, and each school/college puts forth names to the Admissions and Financial Aid Committee of Faculty Council. Each school/college is given a set number of nominations based on its size.

“This scholarship provides a special kind of financial aid, that which is distinctly funded and awarded by faculty,” said committee member Ilene Lieberman, director of the Honors Program in General Education and the Gabriel Lukas Professor of Fine Arts. “It reflects the hard work of our students and the commitment they’ve made to themselves and their education.”

Civil engineering major Joel Given ’19, also a scholarship awardee this year, said being nominated and chosen made him feel “like a valued member of Widener’s community.”

“I've been working hard for four years at Widener, and being recognized by others showed me that my effort has not gone unnoticed,” said Given, a goalkeeper on the men’s lacrosse team, who is eying graduate school to study geotechnical engineering.

Scholarship recipient Carlie Sisco ’19, an English and creative writing major, said she’s grateful for the generosity of the Widener faculty for supporting her, as well as for supporting those students that came before and those who will come after her.

“The fact that people we likely cross paths with on a daily basis, or even people we may never see in our day-to-day lives on campus, care about the students that much, to assist in any way that they can financially to continue furthering our education, is incredible,” said Sisco.

To support the Faculty Scholarships Award program, visit https://give.widener.edu/