Scholarship Committee Member Roles & Responsibilities

Why do we need scholarship committee volunteers? If the awarding of scholarships were based merely on financial need or academic merit – or a combination of the two – there would be no need for volunteers or committees. While computers can rank candidates by who is the neediest or who has the best grades, they cannot measure heart, drive, desire, or talent, the qualities of character that allow individuals to overcome the hardships in life to become successful contributors to society.

This is what we ask you to do.

If you are interested in using your passion and energy to assist local students on Cape Cod and the Islands with pursuing higher education, please review the qualifications and commitments below and contact Dara Gannon, Program Officer, at dgannon@capecodfoundation.org or 508-790-3040.

Listed below are some qualifications and commitments necessary to be a member of The Cape Cod Foundation Scholarship Committee:

– Willingness to spend time individually evaluating and reviewing scholarship applications based on materials that will be supplied to you

– Open to learning a numerical rating system and submitting written notes to keep in files to document process and decisions that were made

– Available for one meeting (typically 3 hours) during the day at the beginning of May

– Ability to work with other reviewers in a team environment

– Openness in revealing any conflict of interest with potential scholarship applicants

– Understanding the need for fairness, objectivity and nondiscrimination within the scholarship selection process

– Ability to focus on the specific selection criteria in determining the award winners

– Under the guidance of The Cape Cod Foundation staff, make recommendations on recipients for each assigned scholarship to the Foundation Board for final approval

We are continually impressed with the seriousness with which committee members approach the task of selecting recipients. The high level of participation by volunteers and the willingness to objectively judge applications ensures that recipients are selected in a fair and consistent way. Scholarship committee members bring to the selection process the benefits of their life experience, their diverse outlooks, their local knowledge, and their human touch. We hope you will find this experience rewarding as you help Cape Cod students reach educational goals that will benefit them personally as well as the community as a whole.